It’s actually a cake with two treasures, it has vanilla pudding inside it and chocolate glaze over it; what more do I need? Just gobble up…

Finally spring has sprung and we are enjoying unbelievably beautiful and sunny weather for the last couple of weeks. Hope the weather is not going to trick us by acting anymore weird. As spring arrives, first thing that comes to my mind is it’s time to barbecue. We love to BBQ and we really don’t miss any great sunny day that’s good for BBQ. Yesterday, we had our first BBQ of this year with our good friends. Even though it was slightly chilly in the evening, we had a fun time and we grilled Tandoori chicken, Scallops, Shrimp, Asparagus and of course Corn on the cob. Everything was delicious. To end the fun filled BBQ I had made Boston Cream pie and my friend had made Chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Two of these delicious desserts gave the BBQ night a sweet ending.

Every time when I feel like having cake, I end up making my Dates cake. So this time I really wanted to try a different cake. While searching for some kool cake recipes, as usual I bumped into Martha Stewart’s website and chose Boston Cream Pie from the dessert category to bake.

Even though it’s called as a pie, it’s actually a cake filled with vanilla pudding and frosted with chocolate. The main reason why I chose to bake this cake was that I could enjoy vanilla pudding along with the cake. Vanilla pudding being my favorite pudding. And my husband will get to enjoy chocolate from this cake.

I made the cake, vanilla pudding and the chocolate glaze from scratch. I had some leftover vanilla pudding which I had this morning topped with fruits and nuts.

Happy Easter!

Boston Cream Pie

Step 1: Making the Cake:

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour- 1 1/2 cups + more for sprinkling on the cake pan
• Baking powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Sugar- 1 cup
• Eggs- 3 large
• Milk- 1/2 cup
• Butter- 6 tbsp + more for greasing the cake pan
• Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with 1 tsp butter and sprinkle 2 tsp flour on the pan; keep aside.
• In a small bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder and the salt; set aside.

• Combine milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat and let it come to a boil.

• Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed for 4-5 minutes or until thick, lightened in color and the mixture holds together for several seconds when the beater is lifted.

• Gradually whisk in the dry ingredients (flour/baking powder/salt) just until incorporated (don’t over mix it).

• With mixer on low speed, add the hot milk mixture to batter; mix just until smooth.

• Mix in vanilla and transfer the batter to the cake pan and smooth out the top.

• Bake until golden, about 35-40 minutes, until a fork when inserted comes out clean.

• Cool cake for 10 minutes in the pan, remove from pan and transfer to a rack or a platter to cool down, side up.

Step 2: Making Vanilla Pudding:

Ingredients:

• Sugar- 2/3 cup
• Corn starch- 1/4 cup
• Salt- 1/4 tsp
• Milk- 2 1/2 cups
• Egg yolks- 4 large
• Butter, unsalted- 2 tbsp, cut into small pieces
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Preparation:

• Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, combine together sugar, corn-starch and salt.

• Add milk slowly and dissolve the cornstarch completely.

• Whisk in the egg yolks.

• Place the saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until the first large bubble forms and it sputters.

• Reduce heat to low, whisking constantly and cook for 1 minute.

• The mixture will start to thicken, whisk constantly.
• Remove from the flame, immediately pour the mixture sieve into the bowl (this is to remove any tiny particles that might be present in the pudding).

• Stir butter and vanilla extract into hot pudding and combine well.

• Place a plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding (to prevent the formation of skin on the pudding).

• Chill for 3 hours in the refrigerator.

• We will be using only half of this pudding to fill in the cake, rest you could place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and have it later topped with fruits, nuts etc.

Step 3: Chocolate Glaze:

Ingredients:

• Heavy cream- 1/4 cup
• Semi-sweet chocolate chopped- 4 ounces

Preparation:

• In a saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil.

• Remove from heat, and add chocolate, stir in smooth.

• Set aside to cool to room temperature and to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes.

Step 4: Filling the cake with vanilla pudding and topping with chocolate glaze:

• With a serrated knife, cut the cooled cake horizontally into two parts.

• Spread the bottom half of the cake with half of the prepared vanilla pudding and spread it evenly on the cake.

• Gently place top half of the cake over the pudding layer.

• Using a small spatula, spread the prepared chocolate glaze over the cake.

• Allow it to set for 15-20 minutes.
• Leftover cake can be refrigerated , covered up to 2 days.

Every bite of truffle I slip into wild ecstasy and I turn into its humble slave…

I dedicate this post to all the chocolate lovers out there, that means to each and everyone living on this planet. Is there anyone who are bold enough to say NO if they are offered some chocolates? I truly guess none.

In the chocolate world, I love truffles the most. It’s heavenly, it’s enslaving and it’s therapeutic. I think of enjoying one truffle and end up having many in just one sitting. I’ve never quite thought of making truffles in my kitchen, every time I get the craving I know I could get it from the nearby chocolate stores. So why go through the trouble of making it at home, that’s what I thought all these days. But making truffle in my kitchen had been one of the things I wanted to accomplish and this wish was buried deep inside the corner of my mind.

Yesterday, I had gone to Barnes and Nobles (my favorite book store) with the sole intention of reading a book. How could I possibly read any other book if an aisle of cook books were lined in front of me. The whole time I surfed through those cook books. I flipped through the cookbooks with my eyes glued to the stunning pictures and soon my mouth turned into an ocean. And I stumbled upon the recipe for chocolate truffles in one of Martha Stewart’s cookbooks. Truffles made with just 3 main ingredients and in just 15 minutes, Voila this was the kind of recipe I had been looking for. Clicked a picture of the recipe and rushed to my kitchen without wasting a minute. I was so eager to make this and to take a bite of my homemade truffle.

The actual recipe called for brandy which I ignored.

Chocolate Truffles= simmer milk and butter+ pouring it over chocolate + constant whisking on an ice bath+rolling the chocolate over your favorite coatings+refrigerate to set= awesomeness…

Box these homemade truffles and wrap it with a ribbon, this will make a perfect gift for your dear ones.

Chocolate Truffles:

Makes: 8 truffles

• Milk- 1/4 cup
• Butter- 1tbsp
• Bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped- 5 ounces

For topping:

• Pistachios, coarsely ground- 2 ounces
• Almonds, coarsely chopped- 2 ounces
• Cocoa powder, unsweetened Dutch-Process- 3 tbsp
• Peanut brittle, finely chopped- 2 ounces

Preparation:

• Create the truffle work station: Place pistachios, almonds, cocoa powder and peanut brittle in separate bowls.

• Prepare an ice-water bath: Put 2 cups of ice on a large glass bowl and keep aside.
• Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and keep aside.
• Bring milk and butter to a simmer in a saucepan.

• Pour this over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

• Place this bowl over the ice bath and constantly whisk it.

• Whisk, whisk and whisk until the mixture is thick enough to scoop with a spoon, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• At this point you might be skeptical about how this melted chocolate mixture would turn thick: Just keep on whisking over the ice bath and you’ll see the magic of liquid state transforming into a solid state.

• I know this whisking might hurt your hands, but your mind has already fallen into the yummy truffles you are going to devour soon, so you are not going to give up in the middle.
• When the mixture has turned thick, using a tea spoon or mini ice-cream scooper- form the mixture into mini balls.

• If you find it hard to make the balls with the spoon, go ahead let your hands do this.
• Drop the balls into your favorite topping and roll it to cover with the topping
• You could do the assortment, by coating with pistachios, almonds, cocoa powder and peanut brittle.

• Place the truffles on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate to 10- 15 minutes or until set.

• Just like me, you’ll be also checking the truffles a million times, the moment it sets it will be taken out of the refrigerator and gobbled up so fast beating the speed of light.
• These truffles will keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator, keep in a single layer in air tight container.

Tips:

• Whisk the chocolate mixture constantly over the ice bath, it takes 5- 10 minutes for the mixture to turn thick.
• You could use skim milk.
• You could use any one of these toppings or try all of these toppings.

Bon bon is a french word which means “good”. It refers to a chocolate or truffle confection. It need not be always covered with chocolate, sometimes any candy can be called as bon bon. Making homemade bon bon wouldn’t have struck my mind if I hadn’t seen the recipe of making peanut bon bon on the back of the Graham-cracker crumbs box. I told ya, I wouldn’t let go any of these recipes. I had bought a box of Graham-cracker crumbs for making lemon pie and had saved the remaining unused crumbs. I didn’t have to search anywhere for kool recipes as the back of the box had few recipes I could make with the crumbs. Of those recipes, the recipe for making bon bon drew my attention as it covered all my expectation of being easy breezy and quick yet yummy recipe. I didn’t procrastinate any longer, after making few variations to the actual recipe I instantly made this using ingredients that’s always found in my pantry.

I never thought that this easy recipe would give such delicious and exquisite outcome. This was unbelievably yummy and it tasted like peanut truffles. Anyone who tastes this would definitely think these are bought from some gourmet chocolate shops, and they are going to make you reveal the name of the shop and the recipe. This would be the proud moment for you, you could say with all dignity that you made this from scratch in your own gourmet kitchen.

The actual recipe called for Kellogg’s Rice krispies cereal and chocolate confectioner’s coating. But, I used my favorite Post Honey bunches of Oats cereal with almonds and covered the bon bon with melted chocolate morsels.

The crispy flakes, crunchy oats and the touch of honey from the cereal, the creamy peanut butter and the rich chocolate coated on it made this bon bon taste heavenly and hard for anyone to stop munching this. It’s that good, not just kids even old people are going to go crazy for these. Trust me!

Also, I haven’t shared this exciting news yet to my dear readers that I’ve become an Aunt for the first time to my beautiful niece, Aleena. She has completed her 53 days on this magnificent earth. She’s such a darling and is growing real fast. My new obsession is looking at her pictures and I never seem to get tired of seeing her. Waiting to embrace and play with her soon. God Bless her! Here is a picture of my doll:

Cereal Peanut butter Bon Bon:

Ingredients:

• Post honey bunches of oats with almonds cereal- 1 cup
• Graham-cracker crumbs- 1 cup
• Peanut butter- 1 1/4 cups
• Powdered sugar- 1/2 cup
• Semi-sweet chocolate morsels or chips- 2 cups

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, stir together the cereal, graham-cracker crumbs, peanut butter and powdered sugar without any lumps.

• Keep the well combined mix in the refrigerator for one hour.

• In the meantime, on a double-boiler melt the chocolate morsels or chips and let cool down.

• Double-boiler: Boil water in a saucepan and place a glass bowl with the chocolate chips over the  pan making sure the bottom of the bowl is dipped in hot water.

• After an hour, take the mix from the refrigerator.
• Shape the crumbs into small balls, using one level tablespoon or ice cream scooper for each and place it on a baking sheet.

• Dip each ball gently into the melted chocolate and let the chocolate cover the entire ball, letting excess drip off.

• Place it on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and immediately refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set.

• You could store these in an airtight container for few days, I tell you there is no chance of any leftovers. You’ll be surprised to see how fast this is gobbled up by everyone in your house.

Tips:

• You could use any kind of crispy cereal.
• While coating the balls with chocolate be gentle as the balls tend to fall off.

The queen of spices and the symbol of love blended together with the nature’s perfect food, and served in a sweetheart cup…

The inspiration for this post is my new “sweetheart cup” which was gifted by my sweetheart on a perfectly casual day. How I adore this cup, it’s cute and cute. I’ve been wanting to introduce my sweetheart cup to everyone the moment I had received it. I wanted to inaugurate this cup by sipping something special from it. While thinking about the hot drinks I could make instantly, hot chocolate was the one that first flashed through my mind. Before my mind got diverted to something different, I started my hot chocolate preparation. Hot chocolate itself is rich and needs no further enhancement. Yet, I decided to add my favorite spice Cardamom to make it even more aromatic and delicious.

It turned out to be a perfect evening to sip this hot cardamom chocolate. It was a foggy and a gloomy evening. I entertained my body and mind with this aromatic, rich and chocolatey hot drink…

Hot Cardamom Chocolate

Ingredients:

• Milk- 2 cups
• Whole cardamom smashed or ground- 2
• Semi-sweet chocolate morsels or chips- 2 ounzes
• Sugar- 2 tsp
• Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp
• Whipped cream- for topping
• Cocoa powder- for garnish (optional)

Preparation

• In a saucepan, combine milk, cardamom, semi-sweet chocolate and sugar in medium heat.

• Stir constantly to melt the chocolate.

• When it heats up, lower the flame and let it simmer for few minutes.

• As soon as the mixture starts to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract.
• Whip the hot chocolate with hand mixer or a whisk to make it creamy.

• Pour into your favorite cup and garnish with whipped topping and cocoa powder.
• Serve hot and sip hot with your sweetheart or your dear ones.

Tips:

• For chilled cardamom chocolate: keep this in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
• You could even try adding different spices like cinnamon, cloves etc.
• Adjust the amount of chocolate and sugar according to your needs.

Make this Valentine’s day more personal, give a touch of love to everything, make it delightful and romantic…

This V-day skip making a reservation to a restaurant, instead whip up a delightful  dinner in your kitchen in under 30 minutes. Oh ya, you heard me, Valentine’s day dinner in under 30 minutes which includes appetizer, main course, salad and dessert. If you think that you can’t make restaurant style fancy dinner at home, then you are totally wrong. If I can make it, you can make it too.

Here are a few special dishes I whipped up in under 30 minutes which could be made for V-day dinner. It’s not about just cooking food, give your special touch to everything you make, get creative and you will see the magic. Everything will turn out as perfect as you want.

Also, while serving food for special occasions, do spend little time on plating and arranging the table. Make it simple and it will look elegant!

Appetizer:

• Onion Rings: Click for recipe

• Scallion Tempura: Click for recipe

Main Course:

• Baked Succulent Salmon: click for recipe

Salad:

• Romaine Sweet Hearts: click for recipe

Dessert:

• Chocolate Pistachio covered Strawberries: click for recipe

Fruits:

• Strawberry and Raspberry

Sharbat:

• Rooh Afza

Chocolatezzz, is there any taste buds that wouldn’t surrender to this???

The thought of chocolate itself is enough to tantalize my taste buds. Everyone, irrespective of age loves it, adores it and never will be able to resist it even if it is miles away from them.

This weekend being the Valentine’s day weekend, there will be high demand for chocolates all over the world. Obviously, chocolate has been the most selling gift in any store for valentine’s day and other special occasions. Without a box of chocolate, any gift for our dear ones would be incomplete. It’s the perfect gift to express your love.

Lately, I have been thinking what makes it so absolutely perfect gift for someone we love. While doing some internet research about chocolates, I read these interesting facts about chocolate.

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine-the same chemical that is released in our brain when we fall in love which then leads to the increase in the pounding of heart and the sudden gush of excitement, which is also called as the ‘love chemical’. The sweetness from the chocolate also triggers the production of endorphins, which gives the blissful feeling after a wonderful session of love making.

In the fruit world, strawberry with the shape of a real heart and being an aphrodisiac has been considered as the fruit which symbolizes love.

After knowing these, for this valentine’s day I decided to combine the two symbols of love: Chocolates and Strawberries. For an extra flavor, I even added pistachios.

Chocolate Pistachios covered Strawberries make the perfect dessert to end your romantic candle light dinner or just a platter of this on the table would make the whole setting even more elegant. This could be made in just a matter of seconds.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Chocolate Pistachios Covered Strawberry

Ingredients:

• Fresh strawberries- 1 box

• Semi-sweet chocolate chips – 1 1/2 cups

• Coarsely ground pistachios- 1 cup

Preparation

• Coarsely ground the pistachios and keep aside in a bowl.

Melting chocolate  in a double boiler:

• Fill bottom of a double boiler with water and place on low heat.
• Place the chocolate chips in the top of the double boiler over hot water ( not boiling water) and let the chocolate melt.

• Do not cover the pot.
• Stir constantly until the chocolate melts and is smooth.

• Remove the top of the boiler from the hot water.

If you don’t have double boiler:

• Fill the saucepan half full with water and place on low heat.
• Put the chocolate chips on a glass bowl and place the bowl on the hot water in the saucepan.
• Stir constantly and let the chocolate melt.
• Carefully remove from the glass bowl from the saucepan, it will be hot.

Dipping the strawberries:

• Take one of the strawberries, first dip it in the melted chocolate.

• Then dip it in the pistachios.

• Place the chocolate pistachio covered strawberries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to harden.

• Repeat the same with other strawberries.
• It will take around 20-30 minutes for the chocolate to harden.

Tips:

• If you don’t like pistachios you could avoid this, dip just in the chocolates.
• You could do this with other fruits or nuts like cherries, apples, cashew nuts, walnuts etc

Seeing marshmallows in my pantry, I got creative and made these:

It’s munch time..

If there’s anyone who hates to munch, then they should try this crunchy, chewy biscotti filled with almonds, coconut and chocolates. Every bite makes you trip into the the delish world.This was the first time I baked biscotti, as soon as I got the recipe, one glance at the recipe and the ingredients it had, made me wait for not even a single second and there I started baking this. I love almonds and coconut in almost anything, oh yeah not to miss the chocolate goodness. You could make this just for you or if you are having a tea party this would be the perfect biscotti to have with coffee or tea. This will soon become the favorite snack of your family. This recipe is adapted from the magazine”Fine Cooking”.

So let’s trip into the delish world with these biscotti…

Ingredients:

• Unbleached All-purpose flour-2 1/2 cups
• Baking powder-1 1/2 tsp
• Table salt-1/4 tsp
• Unsalted butter, softened-1/2 cup(4 oz)
• Firmly packed light brown sugar-3/4 cup
• Eggs( at room temperature)-2
• Vanilla extract-1 tsp
• Sweetened shredded coconut-1/2 cup
• Chopped toasted almonds-1cup
• Semisweet mini chocolate chips or chocolate bar, cut into small slices-1 cup

Preparation:

• In  a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3  minutes.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed after each addition until incorporated.
• Mix in the vanilla and then the coconut until well combined.
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. The dough will be sticky.
• With the mixer still on low, mix in the almonds and chocolates chips.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment.
• Divide the dough into equal halves and place on the cookie sheet.
• Working on the sheet, shape each half into a loaf about 10 inches long, 3 inches wide, 3/4inch high.

• Bake until the tops are browned, cracked and crusty and spring back slightly when gently pressed, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Take out of the oven and cool about 30 minutes on the cookie sheet.

• Reduce the oven temperature to 325F.
• Transfer each loaf to a cutting board and with a sharp serrated bread knife, cut 1/2 inch slices crosswise on the diagonal.
• When slicing, hold the sides of the loaf near each cut to keep the slices neat.

• Put the slices cut side down on the cookie sheet and bake again at 325F, until the biscotti are dried and the cut surfaces are lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack and let the biscotti cool completely.

• The biscotti will harden as they cool.

Tips:

This recipe yields about 20 biscotti, store in an air tight container and it will stay longer.