Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Pina Colada - In A Trifle!!!! - Well, Almost...!

Whats the easiest thing to put together when you have a sponge sitting in your fridge?? A make ahead, elegant dessert which can feed a crowd as well?? A trifle, a trifle, a trifle!!! No fuss, no sweating over slicing the cake neatly, perfect frosting not needed, just assemble however u fancy and chill. And then you sit back and chill.

I love Pina Colada, the pineapple drink with a hint of coconut. And the idea of making a similar cake or dessert had been on my mind since months. My new bottle of pineapple essence had to be tried and tested. I am quite fussy about buying essence as I have had a couple of bad experiences. The essence was so very over-powering, I had to throw the other wise good cake into the trash can:-(. Thankfully the pineapple essence was good.

I made a pineapple sponge with my favorite recipe for a fat-less sponge and put it in the freezer... waiting for an excuse to make a dessert out of it. Vani, initially an acquaintance through my blog and now a friend,  was to drop by at my place. How can I have a guest, a baking enthusiast at that, and not bake something?

Whipping cream whipped with coconut cream, layered with cubes of pineapple sponge, pineapple bits and a sprinkling of grated fresh coconut conjured up in my mind. And at last, my fantasy of making a Pina Colada Trifle came alive.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pistachio Chocolate Fudge




When Nags posted the recipe for Pistachio Chocolate Fudge, I could not wait to try it out... real quick, easy, chocolaty and filled with nuts. Just the way I love to eat chocolate, paired with its irresistible partner - nuts - pistachios in this case. My can of condensed milk was waiting to be opened since days and I had a whole packet of pistachios in my freezer. This is a Nigella, yes, Lawson(who else??) recipe.  Love watching her shows, drool over her don't- give- a -heck- about -the- calories desserts, her huge, airy and bright kitchen, her kitchen gadgets. And I bet, the way she manages to look so very beautiful in the kitchen makes the entire female population envious.

I remember watching her making this recipe in the marathon Christmas episodes aired the last couple of years during Christmas time. The fudge looked particularly good gift wrapped in small transparent pouches, replete with festive ribbons tied around them. But then, most of the things she puts together, seemingly carelessly, look so very gorgeous, wouldn't you agree??

Monday, September 13, 2010

Confetti Cupcakes


I must admit, I am not a regular when it comes to participating in blog events. Not that I don't want to, in fact I would love to participate - its just that I find it too much of an effort to come up with a recipe which meets the event specifications. I hope I don't sound pompous when I say this, but I cook or bake whatever is or has been cooking in my mind. Many a times its also the 'I see now, got to try it the next instant' kind of recipe, the kind which makes me run to my kitchen, don my apron and get started at it. And yeah, finish it by the time my daughter comes back from school:-)) 

 I read about Srivalli's 'Tried and Tasted' event featuring one of my favorite blogs!  Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen has been one of my most visited blogs since the time I woke up to food blogs. And she is one blogger I am in awe of - for her superb collection of recipes, her picture perfect photographs and her elegant style of writing. Oh, how I would love to try each of her tested recipes - this is exactly where indecisive me got stuck for a long time. Breads, my new love, was one of the things I spent a lot of time browsing and drooling over. But when yeast did not oblige a couple of times, I ran back to my old love - cakes and desserts. With just a day left to send in my entry, these colorful and delightful Confetti Cupcakes, at last materialized on my table.

If you have kids around, these are a must bake! Try stopping kids from squealing in delight when they see these cupcakes or try stopping them from asking for a second or third serving!! Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe Aparna!!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Chocolate Cream Cake

 'Its great to have a son, but to have a daughter is to be in heaven'.

I had read this somewhere, yeah at a maternity hospital.  This was firmly etched in my mind and I had actually believed this when I was carrying my daughter and was desperately hoping and praying that it should be a baby girl this time around. My son Anirudh was quite a handful for me when was a toddler and I had had a tough time with him. Back then, I was not working and I had all the time in the world to take him to the park every single evening. I would really enjoy meeting other mothers there, but would dread the moment when I would see a kid coming running towards me- for sure, with a complaint about my son!! "Aunty, Anirudh took away my ball', or' He poured sand on someone's head' were the common ones I recall.  In retrospect,  it was my inability as a first time mother, that had stressed me out:-))

But we had always wanted to have a daughter too, a sweet cutie pie, who would be easy to look after, not climb windows or pour sand on others' heads. A docile daughter, like my niece and my cousin's daughters. We were so happy when Aditi was born, sweet, chubby and angelic. By the time, she turned one, the halo around her head had started disappearing.... and I now have one feisty, extremely naughty, totally unrestrained daughter who is anything but docile...lol!


Sorry, I got a little carried away!! I meant to write a post about the birthday cake I had made for her birthday in May. Well, I had not posted it so far as I thought it did not look good enough, though it had tasted good. Witnessing sibling rivalry in its nascent stages, am sure Aditi will not forgive me later if I don't post her birthday cake ,as I have posted Anirudh's birthday cakes, Helicopter Cake and Mocha Chocolate Gateaux. So here comes Aditi's Chocolate Cream Cake.