Caramelised Onion Dip

The crazy summer is here ! Beat the heat with cool summer salads and dips - I am always on the lookout for new dip recipes. A dip is so versatile and can help you whip up a meal so quickly! With pita or as a sandwich filling or a salad dressing, the uses are plenty . This recipe uses cream cheese but you can omit it totally for a lighter version or maybe just add a spoonful of regular cheese spread instead.

Ingredients (make a a medium bowl)
1 cup hung hurd
1/2 cup cream cheese (optional)
1 large onions, finely sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Salt
Pepper
Mint/Coriander leaves (for garnish)

1. Heat the olive oil. Fry the onions on medium heat till dark brown in colour (like the color of onions used for biryani)

2. When brown, add the sugar and fry again for a minute. Turn off the gas and cool.

3. Mix the onions with all other ingredients (save a little for garnish). Garnish with chopped mint and serve chilled.

Mango mousse mini cupcakes

King of fruits is in season ! I was actually searching for a recipe for eggless mango mousse and most of the ones I came across simply said to mix whipped cream and mango and that's mango mousse ! So I decided to try two recipes with a single one - cupcakes with mango mousse. Feeling lazy to make the cupcakes, just use this light and delightful frosting over store bought plain vanilla muffins, topped up with fresh mango pieces and you have the perfect summer dessert. Any left over frosting can be piped into shot glasses for mango mousse dessert shots :)

Ingredients (makes 12-15 mini cupcakes)

50 gms butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest

For the mousse frosting
1 cup heavy whipped cream
Pulp of one mango
Mango pieces, for the garnish

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degees Celcius
2. Powder the sugar and beat with the butter till smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg till the mixture is light and fluffy.Add the vanilla essence and the lime zest.
3. With a spoon/spatula fold in all the powders - flour and baking powder . Do not over mix.
4. Line muffin cups/sheet with paper liners and spoon the batter into the moulds till half - full. 
5. Bake on the center rack for 15-18 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean.
6. When baked, remove from moulds and cool
7. For the frosting, beat the cream till you get stiff peaks ( basically the cream becomes stiff and does not run at all ). Keep in the freezer for 15 minutes
8. Remove the frosting from the freezer and then gently beat in the mango pulp. Pipe onto the cupcakes and chill till ready to serve. Take out from the fridge 15 minutes prior to serving to soften the cupcakes.

Nutella filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Who doesn't love Nutella! After trying this flavour  at a baby shower, I could not wait to try these. Although what I had were plain vanilla muffins with Nutella filling, I tried to add to the chocolate flavour with these choco muffins - adapted from a beautiful recipe book gifted from a dear friend. Make these as mini cupcakes and they will soon become your favourite tea time treat


Ingredients (makes 6 medium)

50 gms butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 large egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Nutella - for the icing (as much as you please)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degees Celcius
2. Powder the sugar and beat with the butter till smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg till the mixture is light and fluffy.Add the vanilla essence.
3. With a spoon/spatula fold in all the powders - cocoa, flour and baking powder . Do not over mix.
4. Line muffin cups with paper liners and spoon the batter into the moulds till half - full. You can make mini cupcakes instead of medium ones (will make around 15 mini cupcakesand baking time will be less)
5. Bake on the center rack for 18-20 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean.
6. When baked, remove from moulds and cool
7. You can scoop out a little bit of the muffin from the top and fill the empty space with Nutella and then spread more Nutella over the top- or just ice the top with Nutella if you do not want to make a filling of Nutella (but guaranteed that the filling ones taste better :)
8. Serve cold or at room temperature - personally I prefer the room temperature ones.