No Knead Spicy Buns - Beginner's Perfect Bread!

How do you feel when you bake something very easy and its turns out great? I made these AMAZING buns yesterday and they turned out fabulous! Very soft, great textured, very good in taste, relatively quick and easy to make. There, I have used so many adjectives in one sentence to describe these! Yes, they were really very good! And if you are someone who has never handled yeast or previously tried baking with yeast and did not really go ga-ga over the experience, here is one recipe which will make you fall in love with yeast. You don't need to know a lot about yeast, you don't need to know great techniques. This is one super easy recipe which will work just fine for anybody. All you need is one very important ingredient... good yeast. And the rest is a breeze..

These are No-Knead Spicy Buns, bread wherein you do not need to do any amount of kneading at all. Kneading for the right amount of time is one of the key factors which results in good bread. Using the right amount of liquid when you are mixing and kneading the dough is another related key factor. And these 2 things taken care of will up your chances of baking a good bread to a large extent. If you have been baking breads, but not tried this category of the clan, please do! Having baked a few breads including the No-Knead Date And Walnut Mini Buns, the ease with which I baked these buns and the result left me smiling all day.

These buns can be baked with minimal effort and fuss and absolutely worth your while. Please do try these out, in fact I INSIST you try these out . At the cost of sounding very immodest, I want say you will thank me for this. Just as I have been thanking Champa for this keeper, keeper of a recipe.

Instant Microwave Brownie - Eggless, Warm and Chocolaty - Just 2 Minutes!!

My old basic model microwave conked at last! .YAAAAYYY!!!!! How I had been waiting for this joyous day!! Am so so happy to finally replace it with a bigger convection model:-))). My old microwave which had been my kitchen companion since years conked:-((.. sighhh... And hubby had to get me another one offered to buy me another one. I now have a big 30 liter convection microwave which occupies a ( good lot of) place of pride on my tiny kitchen counter in my even tiny kitchen.  A peek into the new microwave makes me feel like I am looking into a HUGE baking chamber no less! Oh joy!! It can fit a good number of my bigger baking tins. Much to the amusement and bewilderment of the electronics store guy, I had carried my big baking tins to see if they will fit in the oven. Oh well, its a very big decision and an even more important gadget in  the kitchen and I wanted to do all possible to ensure I made a decent choice. 3 visits (these are few considering that I can be extremely indecisive when it comes to buying most things) to the store, some internet searching and some mails to blogger friends and the microwave was on the counter.  And yes, I very much have my loved small 14 liter Morphy Richards OTG which introduced me to the pleasure of baking.

There are so many microwave recipes I have been wanting to try, but could not due to the growing inefficiency of the old gadget. One of the recipes being Instant Microwave Brownie which will take 1.5  minutes to get cooked and 3 minutes to put together. Forget the  pictures here which I took in a hurry - this tastes good!! Mind you, I am not very much of a believer in these recipes, had tried a similar one sometime ago and it was a put off. But I liked this instant version from Art Of Dessert and I must share this with you.

This will help you give a good brownie to your chocolate hungry kids in a flash, will see you through your dessert craving on a long tiring day and still leave you pretty satisfied. Sounds good eh? And with Valentine's Day around the corner, this serves-2 dessert is a good one to make for a cozy two-some - particularly if you are not a hands-on person in the kitchen. If you love your brownie warm and gooey but iffy about uncooked batter with eggs, you are in luck as this one is egg-free too! As Rianne says, you could mix up the dry ingredients and store in a zip-lock bag, just mix in the wet ingredients and zap in the microwave.. and you are good to go!

Aren't these enough reasons to give a try at this?

Eggless Basic Cookies - Very Versatile!!

For someone who was not very keen on baking cookies until very recently, I suddenly seem to be looking out for and trying out more and more cookies! Of late I have baked Eggless Coconut Macaroons, Eggless Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies and Eggless Coffee Walnut Cookies. In fact I baked the Coffee Walnut Cookies again as it became a huge hit with my family and friends. Not surprising since they are yum, yum, yum... The cookie recipe hunt took me to Rachel Allen's Basic Cookie Dough which I had bookmarked long ago after seeing her bake these on her show. This down-to-earth, unassuming lady is my most favorite celebrity baking chef .She makes everything look so easy and do-able and fun. I loved her show 'Bake'.

I remember this episode in which she bakes the basic cookies and takes around the tray of additions to the cookie dough. Poppy seeds, lemon zest, dark chocolate, orange, white chocolate, mixed spices, chocolate chips are mixed with the basic dough to give entirely different flavored cookies with no extra effort. Isn't that great? Specially if you would have to please kids with different tastes or different demands of the moment. Or for baking with kids and their friends during the holidays. Or just for the high you will get to turn out varieties of cookies at short notice for your guests.. Sounds good to me! Its quick, easy, its fun, and egg-less too!! Hope I have sold the idea by now? Not yet? Well, you can also make the dough ahead of time and put in the fridge for 2 weeks or freeze for a couple of months.

This is a great egg-less basic cookie recipe. Let me show you the Dark Chocolate And Orange Cookies, Pistachio and White chocolate and the Chocolate Chip cookies I made. You could get more imaginative and try the variations above and more like coffee, double chocolate chip, lavender, saffron, dry fruit and nuts, cardamom-coconut... the possibilities seem endless.

Nimbe Hannina Saaru - Lemon Rasam

Hot rice and piping hot rasam with loads of palya (vegetable) is one simple meal I really enjoy any day. Give  some good pickle to go with it and it becomes a gourmet meal for me. Rasam or saaru being a staple in the South Indian meal, I can never get bored of eating it. I like eating on a plantain leaf for the flavor it imparts to food, specially if the food is hot. We tend to eat more of rasam as compared to rice and its difficult to eat on one if you are not used to it, particularly rasam. I normally make it with  rasam powder, but hugely relish a change now and then. Hubby is not much of a rasam person, but likes this relatively non-spicy variation.


Nimbe Hannina Saaru or Lemon Rasam, along with a lot of other traditional recipes, bring back memories of my childhood visits to my maternal grand-parents' home. The huge family comprised of  lots of Uncles and Aunts, cousins, Tatas and Ajjis( as a kid left me confused as to who was who) and a few people who served the family for generations. The house had 2 huge kitchens with one of them meant for cooking lunch and snacks, the other one for the evening meal and cooking during festivals. The regular rasam was part of lunch and the Lemon Rasam was what was prepared invariably with the rest of the dinner. And how we used to anticipate and love eating it, with home-made ghee and the subtle smell of food cooked on wooden fire stoves.

I can still close my eyes and smell the rasam the way my grand-mother made it, but can never really bring that taste to it she brought. She had scores of small spice boxes on her kitchen shelf from which she would put 'something' into the huge vessels of food and it would taste magical. I do wish she were alive today, the foodie in me would have loved to pull out her culinary secrets...

Here is an attempt to share one of my most favorite dishes, hope you do enjoy it as much as I do..

Orange And Chocolate Whole Wheat Rolls

If you could see me write this post, you could see the excitement I am barely able to contain!! I baked bread with whole wheat only and successfully!! I had tried this earlier a couple of times, but not with great results. The very first time I tried was when I had barely baked one good bread, and I failed... miserably. I had chosen a recipe not apt for a beginner and yeast let me down too. The bread turned out as dense as the Amazon forests. After the next attempt, I realized after I failed, that different kinds of wheat take different quantities of liquid. So in-spite of using my no-fail yeast, and a no-fail recipe, the bread was a failure. Yesterday, again, I garnered enough courage to try baking with whole wheat, hoping my past few successful breads have given me some sense of handling dough. And am so glad, I finally baked some Orange And Chocolate Whole Wheat Rolls, which taste good and are good textured too !

I baked this bread yesterday and again today just to make sure that the recipe will surely work. And I will tell you what worked better for me. Thankfully, good sense prevailed (at last!) and I have baked in small quantities. I am going to stick to this quantity like super-glue if I try another bread recipe I am not sure about. Sensible - thinks hubby, who will not risk being politically incorrect when I am in my 'obsessed - baking' state. If you are learning your way with breads, I very seriously recommend this quantity. And for beginners like me, I will share another seemingly almost insignificant but, result altering lesson I learnt...

Caramelized Pears With Roasted Almond And Vanilla Ice Cream

The SCS Group which promotes USA Pears, Washington Apples and California prunes, along with Caperberry hosted an exclusive tasting and lunch for food bloggers and food journalists recently. Which meant we would get to taste some pear recipes dished out by Chef Abhijit Saha, a very familiar face to me, a reader of Bangalore Food Lovers since the past few years. Having read much about Caperberry, I was looking forward to the event and eventually when I did attend it, it was a very pleasant experience. The beautifully lit restaurant with large suspended glass windows allows a profusion of natural light into the very elegant and chic dining area. Its hard not to notice this and harder not to feel envious of people who get to savor this natural light, a real luxury in city spaces. The restaurant also has an art gallery where art pieces from new artistes will be displayed and sold. As Shurthi Saha, wife of Chef Abhijit Saha put it, its a perfect place to see art in a very casual setting, even if you do not know the intricacies of painting and art.

Tasting and getting to know USA pears was a revelation in itself. Having eaten only the Chinese pears so far, I loved the taste and texture of the USA pears. Really juicy, sweet, buttery in texture, your taste buds will ask for more. They come in different colors,shapes and flavors allowing you to play around with them in your salads, drinks, main course and desserts. You could of course eat them raw, grill them or poach them and they will give you delicious results. USA pears are sodium free, fat-free, cholesterol free and an excellent source of Vitamin C. The best part of is pears provide 24% of your daily fiber intake. And for only 100 calories per serving! - Source USA Pears.

USA pears claim to be one of the world's finest pears, available in India from September to February. I would surely say yes to pears and their versatility. Absolutely loved it in the very refreshing Virgin Pear Sangria, in the Grilled Pears Stuffed with Cherry Tomato Mozzarella (wanted more of pesto sauce for the very first time!) and as the very delicately flavored saffron poached pears among other things.

And we all got to take home some pears as well as some prunes and I was itching to try out my hand at cooking pears. Being the dessert loving person I am, simple and quick, yet delicious, Caramelized Pears With Roasted Almond And Vanilla Ice Cream seemed to be the perfect dessert on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Eggless Apple Pie - My first!

I just can't wait to show you my first Apple Pie! Well, my first pie ever to be precise! I had bought a pie tin and tartlet molds years ago without even the faintest idea as to what I would do with them. But of course never got to baking a pie for some reason I don't really know. Until I started to look for new things I can try. A pie seemed a good idea, specially since I had some Granny Smith apples in my fridge. I am the fruit eater in the family and have to generally push hubby and kids to eat fruit. But when I save fruit for a specific purpose, I have a tough time keeping them from eating it:). And my kids complain that 'I don't let them eat even something like a healthy fruit'! This in the context that my kids keep raiding the fridge for chocolates, butter or cheese slices which I painstakingly hide from their prying eyes. They do get away with eating some of these things, with and without my knowledge...sometimes with a chastising mini lecture and sometimes to allow some small kiddie indulgences..

The only time I ever tasted an apple pie was at a well known restaurant here and I must say, it did not really leave me wanting to go back there for more. And to think we ate the pie on the recommendation of the staff there!! And of course it also put me off the idea of me wanting to bake one at home. The home-made pie however, made a nice change from the regular tea-time treat, the buttery and crumbly-crisp shell a perfect contrast in texture to the slightly tart, soft, cinnamon flavored apple filling. An enjoyable treat if you love the cinnamon-apple combo...

Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

 After Tiramisu Cake, I just had to tell you about the mascarpone cheese I made at home, how could I not! Sounded like a simple enough process, but somehow a bit intimidating as a thought for some strange reason. I very rarely make cottage cheese or paneer at home, so you can imagine me shying away from making mascarpone. I do love cheese in my pizza and pasta when we eat out, but cheese at home is limited to getting slices of low-fat cheese for the kids' sandwiches. I finally took the plunge and made Mascarpone Cheese and absolutely loved it! I am not a butter cream person at all and most of the cakes I make are with whipped cream as you would have noticed. Oh, you did not ?? !!, puhleez do!!:).

Mascarpone added a delicious new dimension to the taste of the frosting and am I glad I got introduced to it! It made a finger-licking, lick-the-bowl and lick-the-spatula uber yum coffee mascarpone. Thanks so much Vera for this recipe which has created quite a stir! And you can surely expect more versions of the Tiramisu and more desserts with mascarpone on Cakes And More..

And The Cake Bible Goes To...!

  Alright! I meant to put this up within exactly 24 hours of the round up, but couldn't do so due to some logistical reasons. The round up here once again... Have included the 6 entries I had missed out earlier, so making a total of 65 entries.

Am going to keep this post very short as I know if that if I go on writing here any more, I am going to be getting more virtual thumps on my back!! So, here goes...

Here they come in the order I have received them...

1. Short Panettone From Ayeesha Riaz

2. Orange And Almond Sponge From Ayeesha Riaz

3.Garlic Knots From Musica

4. Masala Vegetable Pie From Ayeesha Riaz

5.Mango Choco Chip Loaf From Veggie Hut

6.Gingerbread House From Preeti

7. Squash Muffin From Ayeesha Riaz

8.White Chocolate And Pistachio Macaroons From Reva

9. Time For X-Mas Cake From Monika

10.Chocolate Ginger Cake With Custard From Rachana Kothari

11. Christmas Fruit Cake From Swathi

12.Chocolate Risotto From Reva

13. Christmas Panforte From Ally

14.Orange Flavored Tutti Frutti Cake From Sayantani

15.Linzer Cookies From Sayantani

16.Mince Pie From Sayantani

17.Peanut Butter And Chocolate Marble Cookies From Sayantani

18.Baked Savaory Onion Crackers From Sayantani

19. Tomato Tart From Sayantani

20.Stollen Wreath From Ayeesha Riaz

21.Christmas Fruit cake From Divya Kudua

22. Date And Walnut Cookies From Divya Kudua

23.Old Fashioned Cherry Loaf Cake From Divya Kudua

24.Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls From Divya Kudua

25. Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes From Gayathri

26. Choco Maple Brownies From Reva

27. Almond Biscuits With Chocolate Ganache From Ayeesha Riaz

28. Gorgeous Chocolate Cupcakes From Mehnaaz

29.Brownies From Padhu

30.Raisin Tea Rolls From Ayeesha Riaz

31.Katherine Hepburn Brownies From Divya Kudua

32.Lemon Ricotta Cake From Ally

33. Candy Cane Cookies From Sayantani

34. Marble Sugar Cookies From Sayantani

35.Eggless Sugar Cookies From Spice

36.Bread Basket From Ayeesha Riaz

37.Vegan Banana Muffins From Dhivya

38.Spanish Flan From Ally

39. Mini Carrot Cone Cakes From Ayeesha Riaz

40.Chilli Garlic Bread From Mallika

41.Blueberry Cupcakes From Mallika

42. Raisins And Cornmeal Bread From The Foodie

43.Chocolate Meringue Cake From Ayeesha

44.Chocolate Cake With Fudge Icing From Veggie Hut

45.French Spice Bread From Sweatha

46.Microwave Eggless Apple Cake From Padmajha

47.Chocolate Tarts From Nachiketa

48. Chocolate Chip Pound Cake FromVani (non-blogger)

49. Garlic Rolls From Vani (non-blogger)

50. Black Forest Cake From Rekha of The Key Bunch

51.Eggless Vanilla Cake From Harini-Jaya

52.Sugarless Banana Walnut Bread By Harini-Jaya

53.Sugarless Date Cookies From Harini-Jaya

54.Eggless Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake From Madhuri

55.Scones From Torview

56..Baked Cheesecake With Blueberry Topping From Hasna

57. Eggless Pumpkin Pie From Spice

58 .Devils Food Cake From Hasna

59 .Strawberry Ripple With Mascarpone Cream From Hasna

60 .Tiramisu Cup Cake From Hasna

61.Cream Cheese Bundt Cake From Cakes And More

62.Golden Almond Cake From Cakes And More

63 .Eggless Coconut Macaroons From Cakes And More

64 .Chocolate Chip Bread From Cakes And More

65.Tiramisu Cake From Cakes And More

66.Triple Mousse Cake From Hasna

I wish I could have given a copy to each of the participants, but then there has to be only one winner. And The Cake Bible goes to...

DIVYA KUDUA!!! 

Congratulations Divya!! Please mail me your shipping address and your win will be on its way!!!!

Bakeomania !!

    Here I come with the round up and a little adrenalin for you! I could actually hear some of you muttering away as to what can take someone so long to post a round up and announce the winner:). Specially since I had mentioned the last date for accepting entries as 8th January and the round up on 10th January.  I know there are no excuses for this , so my apologies! For those of you coming in late, I had announced an event and a giveaway as my blog turned one. And the giveaway is The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum! This book actually needs no introduction , being a very famous book by a very famous author and a must-have on the shelf of every true-blue baker. 

The response has been very heartening and I have received 61 entries (55 if you exclude my entries and yes, all of these are fresh posts). My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has participated, am truly honored you took time to bake something for me. Without further ado, here comes the round up. A visual treat for all us bakers looking out for new and inspiring bakes to fill our homes with the aroma of baking and the satisfaction it brings. Here are 60 recipes for you to try out...I hope I have not missed out any entries here, if I have, please do mail me, I will immediately include yours. 

Oops...!!! Have missed out on 6 delicious entries! Have updated them, sorry about this ladies..

Here they come in the order I have received them...

1. Short Panettone From Ayeesha Riaz

2. Orange And Almond Sponge From Ayeesha Riaz

3.Garlic Knots From Musica

4. Masala Vegetable Pie From Ayeesha Riaz

5.Mango Choco Chip Loaf From Veggie Hut

6.Gingerbread House From Preeti

7. Squash Muffin From Ayeesha Riaz

8.White Chocolate And Pistachio Macaroons From Reva

9. Time For X-Mas Cake From Monika

10.Chocolate Ginger Cake With Custard From Rachana Kothari

11. Christmas Fruit Cake From Swathi

12.Chocolate Risotto From Reva

13. Christmas Panforte From Ally

14.Orange Flavored Tutti Frutti Cake From Sayantani

15.Linzer Cookies From Sayantani

16.Mince Pie From Sayantani

17.Peanut Butter And Chocolate Marble Cookies From Sayantani

18.Baked Savaory Onion Crackers From Sayantani

19. Tomato Tart From Sayantani

20.Stollen Wreath From Ayeesha Riaz

21.Christmas Fruit cake From Divya Kudua

22. Date And Walnut Cookies From Divya Kudua

23.Old Fashioned Cherry Loaf Cake From Divya Kudua

24.Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls From Divya Kudua

25. Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes From Gayathri

26. Choco Maple Brownies From Reva

27. Almond Biscuits With Chocolate Ganache From Ayeesha Riaz

28. Gorgeous Chocolate Cupcakes From Mehnaaz

29.Brownies From Padhu

30.Raisin Tea Rolls From Ayeesha Riaz

31.Katherine Hepburn Brownies From Divya Kudua

32.Lemon Ricotta Cake From Ally

33. Candy Cane Cookies From Sayantani

34. Marble Sugar Cookies From Sayantani

35.Eggless Sugar Cookies From Spice

36.Bread Basket From Ayeesha Riaz

37.Vegan Banana Muffins From Dhivya

38.Spanish Flan From Ally

39. Mini Carrot Cone Cakes From Ayeesha Riaz

40.Chilli Garlic Bread From Mallika

41.Blueberry Cupcakes From Mallika

42. Raisins And Cornmeal Bread From The Foodie

43.Chocolate Meringue Cake From Ayeesha

44.Chocolate Cake With Fudge Icing From Veggie Hut

45.French Spice Bread From Sweatha

46.Microwave Eggless Apple Cake From Padmajha

47.Chocolate Tarts From Nachiketa

48. Chocolate Chip Pound Cake FromVani (non-blogger)

49. Garlic Rolls From Vani (non-blogger)

50. Black Forest Cake From Rekha of The Key Bunch

51.Eggless Vanilla Cake From Harini-Jaya

52.Sugarless Banana Walnut Bread By Harini-Jaya

53.Sugarless Date Cookies From Harini-Jaya

54.Eggless Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake From Madhuri

55.Scones From Torview

56.Cream Cheese Bundt Cake From Cakes And More

57.Golden Almond Cake From Cakes And More

58.Eggless Coconut Macaroons From Cakes And More

59.Chocolate Chip Bread From Cakes And More

60.Tiramisu Cake From Cakes And More

61.Baked Cheesecake With Blueberry Topping From Hasna

62. Eggless Pumpkin Pie From Spice

63.Devils Food Cake From Hasna

64.Strawberry Ripple With Mascarpone Cream From Hasna

65.Tiramisu Cup Cake From Hasna

66.Triple Mousse Cake From Hasna

And the winner is.....

Scroll down slowly.....

Oh, did I tell you that I loved thrillers as a kid before I got buried in cook books? Thought I will put you on the edge of your seat for a while;-)... I used to hate it when an episode ended right at the time you would know who was the culprit..But then it was real fun too. I like to build a little more anticipation and suspense... I will announce the winner real soon..Watch this space, winner to be announced very, very soon!!! Cross my heart!!

Tiramisu Cake - Happy Birthday Cakes And More!

We turn one today!! Happy Birthday Cakes And More! 

Thanks to all my friends and readers for helping me reach this milestone, look forward to your support and love for many many more years to come! Festivity and cheer continue to be in the air in our home post Christmas and New Year as hubby celebrates his birthday in the first week of January. Kids get all excited about the return gift he will 'have' to buy gift them! They hush-hush about the surprise small cards they make for him (right under his nose!) and give it to the groggy-eyed Dad first thing in the morning screaming "Happy Birthday's. My three year-old daughter drew a house, half-colored it and scribbled a curve, maintaining that it meant "Happy Birthday'. My eight- year old son, not to be left behind, made a pop up card with gizmos drawn all over it. They reluctantly went to school, thinking its unfair they must go with a birthday being celebrated at home. A promise of a dinner out and the ceremonial birthday cake does help in getting them ready to school. Whew! 

My passionate entrepreneur hubby takes off to work as usual promising to come home early - just when the kids' and my phone calls begin to get more and more frequent. And then I get to finish my cake baked the day before and hidden away. The allure of a coffee soaked cake, filled and frosted with coffee mascarpone is too much to resist for a die-hard coffee lover like me. I just needed that special occasion that would have me happily putting in that time and effort for this particular cake. A cake which has haunted me since long - Tiramisu Cake. 

Chocolate Chip Bread

"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts." - James Beard .

If you would have to believe this quote, you would have to bake bread at home, fill your home with the aroma of freshly baked bread and eat it. When I started to bake and until very recently, a bread never figured on my list to try out. It was just a lifesaver to pick up from the supermarket and have on hand in my bread box. The versatility with breads restricted to a variety of sandwiches, bread upma or a french toast. A couple of tempting sounding loaves from a famous bakery left a lot to be desired in terms of taste. Paah!! So is that all that's there to breads, I was left wondering. 

Only after I started baking bread, I realized, there is so much more to a bread per se. I will tell you why I am telling you all this - if you have not baked a bread yet, please, please do! Don't shy away from yeast. I promise, you will enjoy baking breads - tremendously. There is no reason why you shouldn't as you would be baking gourmet bread to suit your taste at home! After a couple of successful breads with all purpose flour, I tried baking bread with just whole wheat flour. I admit, I have not been very successful, not yet - am optimistic I will succeed after torturing my family with just  a few more misses:-) . Different kinds of whole wheat take in different quantities of liquid. And the ratio of liquid to the flour being accurate is the key to a great textured bread. This being the case, you would need to know what you are doing, when you are baking a bread with only whole wheat. 

I made an attempt at baking bread with a mixture of whole wheat and plain flour and loved the end result. The Chocolate Chip Bread was light textured and just delicious toasted, lightly buttered and drizzled with honey.  In fact, we baked this bread a friends' place too. She took one look at the big loaf baking in her microwave and remarked that a loaf of bread usually lasts a week at her place and this huge a loaf would probably last even longer. Surprise, surprise! when she found that the entire loaf disappeared at breakfast the next morning:-). This is one of those recipes, you must, must give a shot at and you will find yourself baking this time and again.

Eggless Coconut Macaroons

    

Wish You A Very happy New Year! Having left behind a wonderful and memorable 2010, hoping to have an even better 2011.

School reopens today after the Christmas break and I am one of those relieved and wickedly happy Moms to be seeing the kids off to school. Even if it means missing the luxury of snuggling cozily into the blanket and waking up late at 7.30 as compared to my otherwise earlier start at 5.30. Sigh!! I know, I always sound like Cinderella's step-mom when I talk like this, but sleeping in late is a luxury I would gladly forgo, compared to having four and half hours of peace and having my home all to myself. So when the world has weekend blues, I guess I am one of those people who would happily welcome a Monday morning anytime:-). Yes, I am done with cooking, cleaning and my walk by 8.30 so that the rest of my morning can be spent on baking and work. Counting my blessings, I am one of those lucky few, who have the luxury of working from home and also have enough scope to fuel my passion for baking.

On this positive note, here's a sweet beginning on Cakes And More with some Eggless Coconut Macaroons I baked yesterday. These are extremely easy and quick to make and taste delicious! You hardly need any time to put these together and you can sink your teeth into these sweet things, which are crispy on the outside and chewy inside.