Post for Theo

I wanted to share the story of an amazingly brave woman who went through a horrible ordeal recently. She had Theo at 33 weeks, born sleeping! Just few months back she was strutting around the office with her huge bump, so happy, so proud. Then one day, out of the blue, we got a message that Theo  is not with us anymore. It was a huge shock for us and I broke down as soon as I heard it. For anyone in this situation, it's a roller coaster of emotions, no matter how hard they try, it is difficult ride to get off. I am one of them who lost a baby many years ago and still clueless on why it happened. Please read the story below and please dig deep to donate for the noble cause.

On 21st April 2012 Dan and I were overjoyed to find out that we were having a baby. We had already had a miscarriage the previous Christmas so we were understandably nervous but we couldn't wait to become parents.

I loved being pregnant, every second of it, every ache, every headache, every stretch mark and every toilet stop because this baby was going to make us a family.

In October we knew something was wrong and went to Leighton Hospital. We were scanned and told that the baby wasn't growing or putting on weight as quickly as he should. We were told we would be monitored closely.

At first appointment we heard a strong heartbeat but the kicks just weren't as frequent as normal. The hospital said that they were happy with the test results and the baby might just be lying funny and we were sent home.

We returned 3 days later and as soon as the monitor was placed on my tummy I knew we had lost our baby. There was silence. Any parent who has lost a child through stillbirth will tell you that the silence they hear is the loudest noise that they will ever hear and the words that follow from the doctor or midwives - "I'm sorry" are heart-breaking....

Read the complete story here https://www.justgiving.com/Theos-Star/

Tiramisu and my New Year Resolutions

I am not very big on New Year resolutions. I always think one does not need New Year to make changes. I just want to make a few changes and enjoy my blessed life a bit more.

Enjoy life more:  Pausing and enjoying little moments life has to offer amidst all the crazy schedules. Enjoying simple things like coffee and conversations on a Sunday or walking on fresh snow (that always results in a snowball fight).

Read a new blog a month: Amidst all the work and studies I have somehow forgotten how much I loved discovering new blogs and following them. I have started making a note of all the new blogs I visit and it is looking good.

Bake more: Not just for the blog but also for the zen like feeling I get out of baking.

Be truthful to myself:  This is something I need to do when I get caught up in feeling like I'm failing. Sometimes when things do not go the way I want to, I tend to get frustrated quickly and occasionally, in those moments of doubt, compare myself to others.  I need to start believing in myself more and (start listening to my husband more). I have to probably start chanting more positive mantras during these episodes of self doubt.

What are your resolutions?Let me know.

Amaretti biscuits are domed-shaped biscuits, light and airy, crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. Originated in Venice, Italy during the Renaissance period, these cookies are made from either ground almonds or almond paste, along with sugar and egg whites, ground apricot kernels and flavoured with liqueurs, mostly the Almond flavoured Amaretto Liqueur. Amaretto is an Italian sweet almond-flavoured liqueur.

Note: Serve these trifles in recycled (small) nutella jars or yoghurt jars.

Amaretti Tiramisu Trifle

For the Mocha Zabaglione Cream

2 Egg Yolks

85g Sugar

1 tbsp Amaretto Liqueur

1 tbsp Kahlua/Tia Maria

250g Mascarpone

1 tbsp Cocoa

1 tsp strong coffee granules (like Starbucks Via)

2 tbsp freshly brewed Coffee

For Layering Trifle

200ml double cream whipped with 3 tbsp sugar to soft peaks.

Amaretti Biscuits

200ml Freshly Brewed Coffee mixed with 1 tbsp Kahlua/Tia Maria & 1 tsp Amaretto

2-3 tbsp Cocoa

50g chopped Hazelnuts

Method:

Prepare the zabaglione by whisking the yolks with sugar until pale. Now cook the yolks along with the liqueurs, over a double boiler set over simmering, not boiling, water until it doubles in volume about 10 minutes. Cool slightly and gently fold the Mascarpone, both Coffee and Cocoa.

Layering the Trifle:

Dip the Amaretti biscuits in the Coffee- liqueur concoction and place onto the form you are using to layer the trifle. Pour a layer of the Mocha Zabaglione next. Cover this with a layer of whipped cream and repeat the layers until you have reached the top of the form & make sure whipped cream layer is on top. Chill the mixture for 2-4 hours. To serve, mix the chopped roasted hazelnuts with a teaspoon of cocoa and sprinkle on top. Dust more cocoa if desired on top.

Panettone

The best thing about any festive occasion is family/friends get-togethers. Since I live abroad away from my beloved family, every year we try to spend Christmas & other festivals with friends. Each of us make a dish and gather around, eating and drinking all day, playing games, watching some good old movies. Tasked as the official Baker, I bake batches of traditional fruit cake, along with festive favourites like panettone or stollen, christmas pudding, steamed ginger pudding. I make this bread every year and we like this for breakfast on holidays. Trust me , it is not as hard as it looks, do give this a go.

Panettone

For the Biga*

Ingredients

200g strong breadfFlour

½ cup cool water

1/16 teaspoon instant yeast

Method:

Combine the flour, water and yeast, stirring with a wooden spoon to make stiff dough. Place the

dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rise overnight or until it become bubbly.

For the Bread:

Ingredients

300g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting

2 whole eggs + 6 (med) egg yolks, beaten

2 sticks softened butter, plus extra to grease

½ cup caster sugar or mixed spice sugar

7g instant yeast

1/3cup jumbo golden raisins

1/4 sultanas

1/3 cup mix of cranberries, blueberries, sweet morello cherries & inca berries

1/4 cup candied peel, finely chopped

seeds scrapped from 1 vanilla pod

1 tsp vanilla extract

Lemon Extract 1tsp

grated zest of 1 large orange

grated zest of 1 lemon & 1 lime

¼ cup warm milk

1 tsp salt

pinch of freshly ground nutmeg & cinnamon

3 tbsp dark rum or brandy

1 tbsp Amaretto

1 yolk+1tbsp olive oil, beaten together for glazing

1 tbsp vanilla sugar to sprinkle on top

Method:

Soak the fruits in a bowl with both rum/brandy & amaretto. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with dough hook, combine all of the ingredients except the dried fruit. Knead the dough till it's combined; it will be very sticky at first, but should come together eventually as you knead. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rest for an hour. Knead the raisins, sultanas and candied peel into the dough gently, until evenly distributed. Form the dough into a ball and place it in 8 inch springform tin or a ready-made panettone mould. Cover with cling film or towel and leave to rise for 2 hours in a warm place until the dough has tripled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle vanilla sugar. Bake the panettone for about 40-45 minutes, covering it with aluminum foil for the final 15-20 minutes of baking if it browns too quickly. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean without any crumbs or wet dough. Allow panettone to cool and then brush with melted butter. Dust liberally with icing sugar on top before serving.

Note: Panettone can be served toasted with Zabaglione or with coffee. Stale panettone can be used to make bread & butter pudding or French toasts.

* Biga is a type of starter used to make traditional Italian breads. It gives bread a light, open texture with holes.

Note: Yeast & flour measurements are in grams to be precise.

Change... This 5 letter word is a biggie. Something that is hard to accept, but inevitable. You know its coming, but still afraid of it. This happens to me every year. The change sets in so quickly, it gets harder to accept Summer is no more. As I look out of the window on my drive to work,   it seems only yesterday the leaves turned from green to mellow yellow. But today its various shades of yellow, auburn, burnt orange and reds covering the ground. The days have gone shorter and the long sunny days replaced by chilly autumn evenings. The weather’s unpredictable, it’s cold one day and colder the next. Berrymania replaces the grocers by Pumpkinmania. And before you know it its Halloween. 
In the hope that Summer is not far-off, I embrace this change,  welcoming it with these Pumpkin cupcakes and more such cosy comfort food (soon to follow). 

I find comfort in food, so I know I will wade through this season with steaming mugs of home-made soup, freshly baked bread, these cupcakes curled on the sofa...staying cozy, safe & warm. 

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Cupcakes (Adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar 
1 cup caster sugar 
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
4 large eggs, lightly beaten 
1 can pumpkin purée 
Handful of white chocolate chips 
Method: 
Preheat the oven to 180C & line the cupcake tins with liners. I have used gold here. In a bowl mix the dry ingredients and in another bowl mix all the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients slowly into the wet ingredients with the mixer running on low. Stir in the white chocolate chips. Carefully ladle the batter onto the liners and bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool Completely. 
Icing: 
1(300g) pack cream cheese (philadelphia) 
1 cup double cream 
Pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon & all spice 
1 tsp vanilla extract. 
Method: 
Whisk everything together until smooth and has reached a soft peak stage. Either pipe or spread liberally on the cooled cakes.

*I have used home-made roasted pumpkin purée. The result is a much sweeter & dark coloured purée.

*Chuck in some pecans for added texture & flavour.
I also made made these from the leftover puree. 

Butter Cookies and Mac & Cheese very grown-up style

I am really truly disappointed that I was unable to get any spare time, in the past few months, to do a blog post :-(. I so wanted to, but working full time equated to it being really impossible. I am in the process of organizing work + studies in the next few weeks, which means I can find more time to update the blog with some interesting posts. I did manage to bake some cookies for a 14 month old angel & some cakes for work/friends that I never got a chance to click! I made these butter cookies recently, a fairly straight forward recipe, but you can jazz it up as cookie kisses by sandwiching them together with butter cream or melted chocolates; A very chic after dinner coffee nibbles. I also have to share this very grown up Mac& Cheese I made for dinner on a Friday, with veggies and chilli cheese for a spicy kick . I know what you'd think when I say Mac & Cheese..but this one you've gotto like. Its baked in a very cheesy white sauce with a bread crumb topping that turns crispy and golden on baking! Finally, I have also included a Biscotti recipe that is definitely a keeper, turns out awesome every-time! Happy Long Weekend and Happy Baking!!

Butter Cookies

Ingredients (Adapted from Donna Hay)

175g Butter

1/4 cup Icing Sugar

1tsp Vanilla

1 cup Flour

1/4 cup Corn-starch

Pinch Salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy and gently fold in the vanilla & flour. Put the dough in a piping bag with star nozzle and pipe rosettes onto a baking tray lined with silpat. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes. Let it cool. Once cooled store them in an airtight container or if you wish to sandwich them together, pipe a little  butter-cream onto two matching cookies.

Variation:

Lime-Vanilla: Fold in some lemon zest into the above mixture.

Coffee-Kisses: Add a tsp of espresso powder to the above mixture and pipe some  butter-cream with a dash of espresso in it as well.

Chocolate: Add a tsp of cocoa to the mixture and sandwich them with some melted chocolate or chocolate ganache.

Raspberry/Strawberry: Add a tsp of freeze dried raspberry/strawberry powder to the mixture and sandwich them with vanilla butter-cream.

Grown-Up Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

Cooked Macaroni according to packet instructions (I use 75g per person), tossed with a little olive oil

Mix of vegetables like carrots, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, corn..

1 clove of garlic chopped

For the cheese sauce:

75g Grated Chilli Cheddar Cheese

100g Vintage Cheddar

75g Parmesan

Salt to tast

500ml Milk

80ml Cream

Bay Leaf

Pinch Nutmeg

1tbsp Flour

1tbsp Butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C. Heat some butter in a pan and stir in the flour and cook till the raw smell is out. Slowly whisk in the milk, bay leaf, nutmeg and cream. Let thicken. Stir in the grated cheese. Toss the pasta and the vegetables into the sauce and sprinkle some bread crumbs and extra cheese on top. Bake in a greased tin/bowl for 20 minutes until its bubbly and golden. Serve with a crunchy salad.

Vanilla-Almond Biscotti

Ingredients

250g flour plain or wholemeal or a mix of plain & cornmeal

180g caster sugar/vanilla sugar

11\2 tsp. baking powder

150g blanched almonds

2tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla paste

3 large eggs

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix everything together in a hand mixer or with a wooden spoon. It will be sticky dough, just dust the kitchen top with flour and knead the dough slightly and form 2 logs. Bake them for 40 minutes. Allow to cool completely and then cut them using a sharp knife and bake the slices again for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

For the coffee-chocolate-hazelnut Biscotti

Use 220g flour, 1tsp instant coffee and 30g cocoa & used a handful of dark chocolate chips. Replace the almonds with hazelnuts.