September 9, 2011

Guest Post | AFBHLS … and ‘My 7 Links’

“Have a focus, creativity loves constraints. Be able to answer the questions, who is your audience and why would they be interested in your site?” “Who are you trying to reach?” Answer the following question to yourself, “my blog is for ________ who are looking for _______.” Find your genius!”
Todd and Diane @ White on Rice Couple

When Sanjeeta @ Litebite {don’t you just love the name?} asked me if I’d like to be part of her series ‘Awesome Food Bloggers and Their Healthy-Living Secrets’, how could I say no. I feel honoured to share my thoughts on ‘healthy living‘. AFBHLS attempts to bring forth some food bloggers who will share their experiences on food, recipes, health and ways of cooking with you all.Sanjeeta runs a wonderful blog in India, healthy and delicious, and keeps a hawks eye on nutrition, diet and healthy stuff that she churns out of her kitchen. ‘Have kids, will innovate’ seems to keep her going, yet she manages to take out time to introduce her 97 year old grandmother to new cuisines! Bravo…. I will attempt to add my own two penny bit to the healthy series, things that are important to me, things that shape the way my world is. The word cloud above might give you a sneak peek…

Catch the rest @ Lite Bites with a recipe for a Peach & Plum Crostata.

Meanwhile I shall continue an invite from my dear friend Hélène Péloquin @ La Cuisine d’Hélène who has a beautiful food blog in Canada. We met virtually about 3 years ago, and have been in touch over Blogger Aid, chocolate and much more! Both our better halves are in the aviation line, while family, food and blogging fill our days! It’s a pleasure to do the project ‘My Seven Links’ that she nominated me to join!

The goal? Katie @ Tripbase spells it out … To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

How wonderful is the idea behind My 7 Links. I think this has a lot in it for the blog author as it does for the reader! I ♥ it! Forgive me if I go overboard as I’m having a field day diving into my little blogs past!

Your most beautiful post

Quark Mousse Cake with Roasted Balsamic Strawberries. This was one of my favourite posts {and desserts}. It has a bit of everything I really love. Baking {♥♥♥}, fruit, roasted strawberries, homemade curd cheese, and a dark chocolate filigree border to the cake. I feel inspired each time I look at it {if I may say so myself} …

Your most popular post

I think this turned out to be the granola that changed my life {in some ways}, Chocolate Granola {gluten free}adapted minimally from Bea’s gorgeous La Tartine Gourmande.

Easy as can be, healthy beyond belief, and addictive as a snack anytime of the day. I put together some parfaits using the granola with left over quark cream and strawberries from this Strawberry Meringue Chocolate Layer Cake. The possibilities are endless.

Your most controversial post

I must be blessed as I haven’t run into a controversial post {as yet} … Amen!

Your most helpful post

… is one of my favourite food related subjects, Say CHEESE; It’s Homemade, a 24,24,24 I did for Foodbuzz in 2009 on making soft cheese at home. It covers cottage cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, quark and mozzarella {I didn’t have much luck with the mozzarella though}, and recipes that used each. I really enjoyed doing it, and have helped loads of foodies try their hand at making some.

A post whose success surprised you

It was a Secret Recipe Club post, and I was assigned my sweet friend Barbaras beautiful blog for it. I picked Old Fashioned {Eggless} Layered Chocolate Cake with Balsamic Strawberries & Cream. It tasted fabulous, but I was amazed at the runaway attention it got!Later learnt that the cake was picked by Ree Drummond @ Web Deliciousness: Strawberries! @ The Pioneer Woman Cooks where she said “This is the first time I’ve seen this food blog and the photos are just spectacular, not to mention the treats themselves. Wow. Here’s another one. Whipped Strawberry Curd Cream Tartlets with Walnut Shortbread Crust. My, oh my. I don’t know what to say.” … that day my page hits soared to 11000!!

A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

… was this Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise with Crème Chantilly & Balsamic Cherry Sauce that I posted on Mothers Day. It was the first time I had ever heard of a marquise and was absolutely charmed by it! Blog visitors were busy celebrating Mothers Day too so this delicious dessert got a tad neglected!As you might see by now, I have a firm fruit accent to my blog. I ♥ pairing desserts with fruits. And bittersweet chocolate? Yes please!!

The post that you are most proud of

Food bloggers are a community that take pride and value everything they blog about. I am no different; I bake, cook and blog with a passion, and really enjoy what I do. One post that made me happy was Matcha Macarons with Mascarpone Cherry Filling that I made to mark World Macaron Day / Jour de Macaron for MacTweets {a macaron blog Jamie & I co-host}.This post was also a tribute to the spirit of the Japanese people who displayed strength and dignity in the face of unimaginable adversity when the horrific tsunami hit their nation in the beginning of March 2011.

My 7 Links is a wonderful initiative, one I absolutely enjoyed.Thank you Katie & Hélène.
My nominated bloggers are…

Jamie @ Lifes A Feast

Shulie @ Food Wanderings

Amanda @ Amanda’s Cooking

Suma @ Cakes & More

Barbara @ Barbara Bakes

As I end, I’d like to thank BlogAdda.com, the largest community of bloggers in India who provide a platform to showcase Indian bloggers and help them promote to a large audience, for interviewing me so graciously.

I was honoured by this introduction… “We are all set to welcome the person who has made baking very interesting and taken to the next level in India. Say Hello to Deeba Rajpal, the blogger behind one of the finest baking and food blogs in India, Passionate about Baking. Pre-heat your ovens as we are sure, you will get the urge to bake something after reading this interview.” {you can find the rest here…}

Don’t miss a post
Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

February 18, 2011

Baking| Ottolenghi’s Olive Oil Crackers … catering to the dieting diva!

“I have never gone to the bathroom in my life that a small voice on the other side of the door hasn’t whined, “Are you saving the bananas for anything?”
Erma Bombeck

“I’m on a diet!!” she declared yet again, perhaps trying to convince herself more than anyone else. It was the typical troubling tiresome teen time all over again. The diet drama is into its second week, but is wildly swinging, and so is the mood!Most discussion takes place over the after school snack. Much to his delight, junior happily tries to grab the cookies off her plate. “I’ll take it if she doesn’t want it,” he charmingly whispers. One withering look from me, and the cookie is left alone, under her nose, tempting her, yet not quite. Then I sit and try and get her attention. “I haven’t eaten anything all day,” she mumbles. Do I sense self pity?

Then the Mama begins to talk, maybe preach. “Eat sensibly. These cookies have oats and whole wheat. These are healthy, eat them”. Home made fresh lime juice is grabbed out of the fridge and guzzled. How long can we stay hungry? Milk is given a withering look, yet its arrival in the garb of a strawberry banana smoothie {banana not disclosed} meets sweet surrender. Slurrrp!! Game on! Next day… “Will you have some chocolate granola? It’s got complex carbs, no butter, well almost none”. “Yes please.” An orange is always eaten without a whine…she loves it! Vary the platter is my inner call, so it’s Orange Marmalade Oats Energy Bars on offer another day … always a winner!All this drama got me thinking, and reminded me of these olive oil crackers. A sweet charming Delhi foodie called me a few days ago, was between jobs, and wondered if I would teach her to decorate a cake. ‘Of course’, I said. She was over a few days later. We talked non stop for the 3 hours that she was here. While the banter hung around cookbooks for a longtime, we discussed Ottolenghi The Cookbook, and she mentioned making the olive oil crackers from an Ottolenghi recipe off the net. She was determined to get herself a copy of the book as she leafed through mine. {I ♥ that book that Hilda gave me}.We had a great morning decorating her home baked cake. Nidhi is a quick learner and a wonderful person. She brought an eggless cake {she’s severely allergic to eggs}, and we gave it a dark chocolate ganache, a spiderweb on top, made a chocolate lace border and topped it with a fanned out strawberry… all in the span of an hour. She loved it!!The ‘cracker conversation‘ came back to me a few days later when the teen said she was ‘still’ on a diet. Ottolenghi time again, a cookbook I love to use. I’m surprised I never did these crackers before! They’ve become a staple at home. I’ve made them over and over again with different toppings. I substituted a little plain flour with whole wheat flour, and they were very very good indeed. Toppings I used were sea salt, Tuscan dried herbs, minced garlic, pepper, sesame, poppy seeds. The next batch included garlic paste added to the dough … yes, we love garlic! Did I tell you I finally got my Thermomix? Santa got here late, but in many ways, better late than never is great!! Making this dough is an absolute cinch in the machine!Made a roasted red bell pepper garlic dip to go with the crackers, spiced by a dash of home made sriracha type sweet chili garlic sauce which was finger licking good. For another batch I made a home made quark dip - tangy, garlicky and ever so creamy! Ottolenghi has the dough divided into 25 walnut shaped balls, and each rolled as thin as possible into ‘witches tongue‘ like shapes! I just divided the dough into 4, rolled it out as thin as possible, splashed it with EVOO, sprinkled the toppings and cut rectangles with a pastry wheel. I think this is a lot easier than rolling individual crackers, though the witches tongues sound wickedly enticing! You must try whichever grabs your fancy, and if you like crisp savoury crackers then these are for you! Healthy and addictive!!

Olive Oil Crackers
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50gm whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
115ml water
25ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Maldon flaky salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, minced garlic etc for sprinkling/topping

Method:
Combine all the ingredients except the sea salt in a large bowl. Bring it together, and then turn onto a work surface and knead briefly until smooth. Wrap in cling film and leave it to rest for an hour in the fridge. {I kept a batch overnight as well, and it worked just fine}.
Line 2-3 trays with baking parchment.
Preheat the oven to 220°C . On a well floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll a quarter of the dough at a time, as thin as possible. {or you can divide the dough into 25 pieces and roll out thin tongues as described by Ottolenghi.}
Use lots of flour to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to the surface. Brush the top generously with olive oil, then sprinkle on the sea salt, or topping of your choice. Cut into rectangles with a pastry cutter.
Place the crackers on the prepared tray. Bake for 6 – 7 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Store in an airtight container.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Featured as the Food News Journal Daily Recipe for March 28th, 2011

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

September 30, 2010

{Baking} CHOCOLATE BUTTERMILK POUND CAKE … Change is the only constant!

“The only constant is change”

Ηράκλειτος /Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher

A short while ago I revisited one of my all time favourite cake, the Lime Buttermilk Pound Cake and blogged about it. Was thrilled that everyone liked it as much as I did, and received many suggestions for an orange variation on it. I thought that was a great idea, and those comments set me thinking, especially this one from an anonymous reader “Hey Deeba…made the cake 4 times over this weekend…we just couldn’t get enough of it…thanks for such a marvelous recipe…when lemons were over i used orange juice for the glaze……”
If the buttermilk lime cake was so good and light on the crumb, then surely chocolate would be as good too, if not better! If you would rather have chocolate instead of citrus, now with the weather getting cooler, this seems a good idea. Just perfect comfort food with that cup of tea or coffee, with milk for the kids, and great for a picnic too! It bakes well and keeps well too. What I have begun to do is to make a 2 egg cake every few days, play around with ingredients here and there to see how much it affects the texture. I have to say that this is a pretty accommodative recipe and responds well to change!
I often recall a few words that Sir Colin Marshall said at British Airways where I worked many many moons ago … “Change is the only constant…“. Upon his arrival in 1983, Colin Marshall, the new CEO, wasted no time in commanding dramatic change. His first two years were characterized by ambitious and rapid change. {MIT mentions this in an interesting read on business and change here}. I joined the company 5 years later; the dramatic changes were still underway. The memories have always remained as large as life, the words even more. They’ve been my guiding force for years, and continue to be significant even for something as small as everyday baking too. I counsel myself with these lines; the words often give me hope for tomorrow on a bad day when things aren’t looking all hunky dory. In my kitchen adventures, they egg me on, motivating me to follow my heart.
Change? Big change for me at PAB. Reminds me of Peter Parker in Spiderman: ‘Change? Yep. BIG change’. Of late, life has been a little topsy turvy and full of change. Began with a blog redesign by a very talented lady Lauren @ Designer Blogs sometime in June ’10. She taught me to be patient, ever so patient, and to deliver my best, no matter what. She never said no to anything, and assured me a million times that she would load the new look only when I was a 100% happy. If you are looking for a blogger blog redesign do get in touch with her here. I loved what she did for me.

Next we had the kitchen remodeled and it took all of 2 months and a bit, with a lot of heartache thrown in, but in the end it is everything I ever wanted, maybe more. I love it – warm, open, minimalistic with clean lines. Soon enough, another bug bit me … a transfer to WP. I’ve wanted to do that for ages, but didn’t know where to begin from. I got help from many sources {thank you Mayank}, and then it was finally Sarah @ Maison Cupcake who gave me the final push in the right direction, sharing all her knowledge like an open book! I thought I’d try migrating on my own, but time, lack of knowledge and googling led me to Katie @ Lemon Cherry Blogs. She was my knight in shining armour and is working to transfer PAB and tweak the design as I type this post. WP is VERY new for me, and looks like a steep learning curve, but I’ll get there one day. Until I iron out the creases, please bear with me. Thank you Katie, you are the best!

So all that said, here’s my take on the Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake, a cake I’ve made three times over the last 10 days with great results. The first time with the recipe as below, the second time with 75gms butter and 25gms olive oil, with ¼ cup whole wheat flour in place of all purpose, and no ganache to cut down the calories. I was just curious to see how it would taste. Needless to say, it was moist and delicious! I did a third attempt with pistachios and that was wonderful too.

Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup cocoa powder {I heaped it}

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature{or 70gms butter & 30gms olive oil}

1 cup vanilla or plain sugar

2 eggs

100ml buttermilk {or substitute recipe below}

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

To make buttermilk substitute at home:

Take 100ml milk at room temp; add 1 tsp white vinegar. Let it stand 5-10 minutes. When it curdles, it’s ready.

Method:

Grease and flour the sides of a 8″ ring tin, or a 6″ round tin. Line the bottom. {I play safe line the sides too}.

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.

With beater on low add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three lots. {Stir in chopped nuts at this point if you like. Walnuts, almonds and pistachios go well with chocolate. Hazelnuts too.}

Bake for 50-60 minutes till golden brown on top, and the tester comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make the glaze…

Ganache

100gms dark chocolate

3 tbsps low fat cream {might need a little more}

Method:

Gently simmer the two over low heat, stirring constantly until the chocolate melts. Take off heat and stir briskly till nice and shiny. The glaze should be nice and thick, yet of flowing consistency. Add a little cream if the glaze is too thick, or a little chocolate if it is too thin. It will continue to thicken as it cools down.

Finishing off…

Overturn the cake out gently on rack, and remove the lining. Turn it back on another rack. Let it cool for about 15-20 minutes. Pour the glaze evenly over the hot cake, coaxing it all around, letting some drip over the sides. Dust the edges with chocolate shavings if you like.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

To finish off, I have a winner for the 250 Die-Cut Business Cards for One (1) Winner from Uprinting. The winner is Silence Sings. Congratulations!

Don’t miss a post

Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

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