Banofee Pudding

Banofee = Banana + Toffee , a classic English dessert. Made originally as a pie, this version of mine just assembles layers in a glass serving bowl. The same can be made the original way, in a pie dish or a springform cake dish. The layers are of a biscuit base, topped with a toffee sauce and then finished off with bananas and whipped cream. I spiked mine with some Irish Bailey's liquor , just to break the slightly over sweet taste of this dish, optional of course. Super easy and loved by all, this one ought to be tried.

Ingredients (serves 8)

For the biscuit layer
200 gms powdered digestive biscuits
80 gms melted butter

For the toffee sauce
1 can (400gms) condensed milk
100 gms salted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (necessary for the colour)
30 ml Irish Baileys liquor (optional)

For the topping
4-5 ripe bananas
20 ml Irish Baileys liquor (optional)
3 cups whipped cream
Grated dark chocolate (to garnish)

1. I used a rectangular baking glass dish, about 12 X 5 inches. You can make two medium pies if using a 9 inch pie base, divide the ingredients equally.
Mix the butter and the biscuits for the biscuit layer. Spread uniformly over the base of the dish (or along the base and the sides if using a pie dish) and leave to chill while the rest of the ingredients are prepared.
2. For the toffee, melt the butter in a non stick pan and add the brown sugar on a slow flame. Stir till the sugar melts.Pour in the condensed milk and mix well. Boil this liquid for a minute or two till it thickens and the texture appears like toffee (see picture below). Turn off the gas and add the liquor
3. If using a pie dish, carefully separate the pie from the dish and keep on a serving plate (requires some expertise) .Pour the toffee sauce uniformly over the biscuit layer.
4. Next layer the sauce with sliced bananas. Pour the liquor over the bananas and top with the whipped cream.
5. Finally top with grated chocolate. Chill for 4-5 hours before serving

Baked Mango Yoghurt

This is the quickest dessert I have ever made. So simple and still delicious. Once you get the basic curd mixture baked properly, you can choose any topping of your choice. I went with the obvious choice,being the flavour of the season - mango. Instead of making a mango sauce, just add chopped mango to make this even easier. Talking about flavour choices,I have once eaten a gulkand flavoured baked yoghurt at a wedding- was divine! Also, using curd made from full cream milk would make this creamier but at the cost of some extra calories:)


Ingredients (serves 2-3)

1 cup hung curd (Read here how to)
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 mango, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon custard powder (or cornflour)

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees Celcius
2. Whisk together the curd and condensed milk
3. Pour into a ceramic bowl or individual ramekins. Sprinkle the cinnamon and the grated lemon rind on top of the curd.
4. Bake on the center rack for about 25 minutes till the curd mixture looks set. The edges will turn a light brown and the mixture will wobble very slightly.
5. Dissolve the custard powder in the milk. For the mango topping, heat the mango pieces in a pan with the custard powder and milk paste on a low flame . Turn off the gas when the mango looks cooked and the paste thickens, roughly 2-3 minutes.
6. Pour the mango sauce over the curd and serve. This dessert tastes as good warm as it does chilled.

 

Lebanese Pizza

After Tex-Mex Bruschetta (Read recipe here) , tried a variation on the pizza to combine Italian with
Lebanese, and this worked too! I soaked the vegetables for the topping in vinegar for an hour , to give them a slightly pickled flavour. A small bit of cheese retains the pizza bit of the taste. Try this at your next dinner party!

Ingredients (for 1 base)

1 pizza base (I used a whole wheat base)
1/2 cup hummus (Read recipe here)
2 tablespoons grated cheese
1 small onion,finely chopped
6-7 pitted olives
1 cup sliced bell peppers
Salt to taste
Few basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon paprika(or chilli flakes)
Olive oil
Vinegar for soaking the vegetables

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees Celcius.
2. Lightly grease both sides of the base .
3. Spread the hummus uniformly over the base. Sprinkle the cheese over the hummus
4. Place the vegetables over the hummus and cheese layer. Top with olives.
5. Finally, sprinkle salt and paprika. Put chopped basil over the vegetables.
6. Before baking, pour about 1 teaspoon of olive oil over the pizza.
7. Bake on the top rack till the base becomes crisp and the vegetables are slightly browned.

Brownie Cupcakes

This is a really easy brownie recipe that can be made as it is in a rectangular baking tray. I just borrowed the idea from joyofbaking.com and made these cupcakes to take to a friend's housewarming party. I love gifting cupcakes - the expressions they generate when the box is opened is usually worth all the effort in the kitchen. For these cupcakes, I did not make and frosting - just had some left over plain chocolate in the fridge which I melted,added a little milk and drizzled over the cupcakes. Feel free to use any frosting of our choice or just serve them plain.

Ingredients (makes 12 medium sized cupcakes)

125 gms dark cooking chocolate
3 eggs
100 gms butter
1 and 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup maida
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius
2. In a pan ,add the chocolate and the butter. Place this pan over another one with water and bring to a boil to melt the chocolate and the butter. When melted whisk together and remove from the gas.
3. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, just till beaten together with the mixture
4. Add the sugar and the vanilla essence and mix.
5. Next, fold in the flour and salt. There is no need for an electric beater for this recipe, just whisk in all the ingredients together with a hand mixer/whisk
6. Divide the batter among 12 paper lined muffin cases and bake on the center rack of your oven for 20-25 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. The brownies will deflate a bit on cooling.
8. Drizzle with melted chocolate or dust with icing sugar.

 

Tex -mex Bruschetta

Combining my two favourite cuisines (Mexican and Italian) into one yummy antipasto.
I used left over rajma for this recipe, you can boil fresh rajma or use any canned beans instead. Also, instead of using store bought sour cream, you can just mix hung curd and any cooking cream like Amul. For even lower calories, skip the cream and just add some lemon juice to the cream.

Ingredients (makes about 16 pieces)

1 french loaf
Olive oil for brushing

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cooked rajma
1 small onion , finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1/2 tablespoon paprika (or chilli flakes)
1 tablespoon jeera
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon ajwain seeds
1 tablespoon ketchup
Salt to taste

For the toppings

1/2 cup hung curd Read here how to
1/4 cup cream

Salsa (Bell pepper salsa (omit the bell pepper salsa for a regular salsa recipe)
Crushed nacho chips
Grated cheese

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
2. Diagonally cut the loaf into 1/2 inch thick slices
3. Brush the slices with olive oil and place on tray. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes till the bread is toasted well and crisp.
4. In a pan, roast the jeera,coriander and ajwain till brown. Cool and grind to a fine powder.
5. Heat the oil. Fry the garlic for a few seconds. Toss in the onion and cook till soft.
6. Add the roasted powders and fry for a minute.
7. Mix in the rajma,salt ,paprika and ketchup. Cool to room temperature.
8. To assemble, place a spoonful of the rajma mixture on the bread. Top with 1 teaspoon of the salsa, then 1 teaspoon of the sour cream.
9. Finally garnish with the nacho chips and grate a little cheese over each bruschetta.

 

Strawberry and Lemon Curd Trifle

Trifle is one of the easiest and most glamorous desserts to serve at a dinner party. Let your imagination run with what layers to make for the trifle, choose a big deep glass bowl and layer up- You can never go wrong with any trifle!!
This summer heat is only for fresh,chilled and fruity flavours. While I had made this when strawberries were in season, it will be an even better treat with the king of fruits -mango, plenty abundant now.
The lemon curd recipe is adapted from joyofbaking.com and it serves as a creamy,tangy custard like filling for trifles/pies/tarts/cakes.  For the cake layer, I used sponge fingers (originally used for Tiramisu) which can be substituted by any sponge cake.


Ingredients (serves 6-8)

20-24 sponge fingers (or 1/2 kg sponge cake)

For the lemon curd
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
50 gms butter
1/4 cup lemon juice(freshly squeezed)
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup light cream (optional)

For the strawberry sauce
18-20 medium strawberries, cut into big chunks
3/4 cup sugar

To garnish
Strawberries, sliced
Walnut halves

1. For the lemon curd, in a steel bowl placed over a pan of simmering water , whisk together all the ingredients (except the butter and rind). Keep whisking till the mixture begins to thicken (about 10 minutes) and you get a sauce like texture (see pic below). Turn off the gas and whisk in the butter and the rind. Let it cool, covered to prevent a film from forming. If a film forms, then re-whisk till there are no lumps. Whisk in  the cream when the lemon curd has cooled.
2. For the strawberry sauce, heat the sugar and the strawberry in a pan on a slow flame just till the sugar melts and the strawberries soften (see pic below) . Cool the sauce.
3. To make the trifle, first layer the dish with the strawberry sauce. Place the crumbled sponge cake/fingers over this sauce. Next pour the lemon curd over the cake.
4. This recipe makes one layer only, for a larger gathering you can double the quantity to add another layer.
5. Garnish the top layer with strawberries and walnuts.
6. Chill for 5-6 hours before serving.