And the Giveaway Winner is...

I made these very boozy truffles with my friend & dearest neighbour Neelu...she is not that into baking or desserts but was very keen to make these boozy truffles for some reason ;-) After much argument on the flavours we settled for Champagne, Lemon-Limoncello & Strawberry-Cardamom(cant believe she hates cardamom and it took a while to convince her). 
For The Truffles
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate 250g
Heavy Cream 125ml
Butter 2tbsp
Egg Yolks 2
Method:
Make a ganache by warming cream and add the chopped chocolate and stir till smooth. Slowly add the butter & yolks and stir.
For the Champagne Truffles - add a 1/4 cup of good champagne to the mixture. Chill it preferably overnight and next day using a melon scooper scoop out the truffles. Roll them in Cocoa or Icing sugar.
For the Strawberry-Cardamom Truffles - Add a couple of pods of cardamom while warming the cream and strain. Add 2tbsp of Creme de Fraise. Chill it preferably overnight and next day using a melon scooper scoop out the truffles. Roll them in Cocoa or Icing sugar & some freeze dried raspberry powder.
For the Lemon-Limoncello Truffles - Add grated zest of lemon and 3 tbsp of limoncello to the ganache.Chill it preferably overnight and next day using a melon scooper scoop out the truffles. Roll them in Cocoa or Icing sugar.


OOPS...Before I forget, the winner of "Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from the Macaron Cafe" by Cecile Cannone is...Renata of Testado, Provado e Aprovado! (The winner has been picked by Random.org). Please e-mail me (DebugcookingATgmailDOTcom) your snail-address so that I can send the book to you. A massive thanks to those who took the effort take part in this give-away and have left your precious comments.

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:14Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Mets la main à la pâte/Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake my way for Daring Bakers

“A cup of coffee - real coffee - home-browned, home ground, home made, that comes to you dark as a hazel-eye, but changes to a golden bronze as you temper it with cream that never cheated, but was real cream from its birth, thick, tenderly yellow, perfectly sweet, neither lumpy nor frothing on the Java: such a cup of coffee is a match for twenty blue devils and will exorcise them all.”

– H. W. Beecher

I dont have to tell you about how much I love coffee everything and being a coffee snob I simply love good coffee....I am no Barista and definitely can't brew a fancy one like Starbucks, but can manage to make a decent cuppa. I particularly love incorporating coffee in baking. So I found this inspiration from Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte and made a Pumpkin spiced Coffee -Hazelnut Chocolate Meringue cake for the Daring Bakers. 

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake, a gorgeous brioche-like dough is rolled jellyroll style around a whipped meringue and filling of our choice, shaped into a wreath and baked.Pumpkin spiced Coffee -Hazelnut Chocolate Meringue cake
Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough (I halved the recipe to make 1)
4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour
¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar
¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) instant yeast
¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk
1 tsp instant coffee like Starbucks VIA
¼ cup (60 ml) pumpkin purée
1 tsp pumpkin spice
½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
Method:
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, coffee, sugar, salt, pumpkin purée, spice and yeast. In a saucepan, combine the milk, and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed. Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.
For the Filling:
150g hazelnuts toasted and skinned & roughly chopped
150g dark chocolate (atleast 70% cocoa chopped)
1 heaped tsp cornstarch
Method:
Combine the chopped chocolate, nuts and cornstarch in a small bowl, and set aside.Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue.
For the meringue
Ingredients
3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar
Method:
Place the whites in a clean mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until frothy. With the mixer running, slowly add sugar and continue beating until very stiff, glossy peaks form.
Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue.
Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.
Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring. Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings. Cover the coffee cake with plastic wrap and allow to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.
Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.
Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with confectioner’s sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. These are best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.

Verdict: Absolutely loved the pumpkin-coffee flavoured bread with a surprise hazelnut-chocolate meringue on the inside. The flavours worked like charm and will definitely be baking more of these. My friend who gave up desserts for Lent cheated a bit and had this for breakfast, which I think is a fantastic idea. Thanks Jamie & Ria for such a great challenge.

HomeMade Pizza VS Domino Pizza: And the winner is.....

I grew up in the 80s and 90s, that I would like to call as the revolutionary period back home, because this was the time when internet was easily available to the us; youngsters looked beyond becoming either a doctor or an engineer and instead ventured into something new & trendy called the "IT jobs". Kellogg’s and instant noodles like Maggi became our breakfast favourites and Pizzas became the food of the "Yo" generation!
This is the time Domino’s pizza entered the Indian market with their endless pizzas and bottomless Coke deals, making it the ideal place to chill out with friends and family. Their Indian twist to the classic Italian made them very hard to resist and soon became our comfort food.
So, when I was offered to take up a challenge of making a classic Domino’s pizza from scratch at home and compare it with the original, I was ecstatic! I chose Veggie Volcano from their pizza menu and made it Roman style. I used basil flavoured olive oil to make the dough, a dash of barbeque sauce along with the pizza sauce and olives & grilled artichokes as additional toppings.I brushed some garlic butter for extra pizzazz. I also made another one with sautéed leeks, potato with mozzarella & pecorino romano skipping the tomato sauce. I would recommend you to read this before you make your own pizza.
Home-made Pizza recipe

For the dough

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2-3/4 cup warm water

1/2 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mixed italian seasoning

3 tsbp olive oil (I used basil olive oil)

Method:

Mix the flour, salt, herbs, yeast, oil in a food processor to blend. With the machine running, add the warm water and whiz just until the dough forms. Dump the dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead well. Dough will be a little sticky. Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl. and toss the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with cling and set aside in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume, about 1-2 hours. Punch the down dough and form into ball. The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Suggested toppings

Ingredients

Onions sliced

Tomatoes

Olives

Artichokes

Peppers

Jalapeño

Home-made pasta/pizza sauce

Barbeque sauce

Seasalt flakes

Chilli flakes

Italian seasoning

Pecorino romano

Mozzarella

Cheddar

Parmesan

Assembly

Roll out the prepared dough as desired and spread the tomato & barbeque sauce liberally. Arrange desired toppings on this and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bake this for about 15 minutes or until golden & bubbly. Cut into squares and serve immediately.

Verdict:

My neighbours have pizzas regularly and I knew they would be the right people to give an unbiased opinion on which one is better. My home-made pizzas won this challenge hands-down. When I asked the little kids for their "expert" opinion, they felt the one I made at home had more interesting toppings, the crust didn't go soggy even when cold and had more cheese options. Personally even the adults felt the same. I do think Dominos could include more interesting toppings & cheese varieties. At the end of the day, its much easier to just call and order a large pizza than making your own and covering yourself in flour whilst entertaining. I wish BKEnergy could try this irresistible pizza (it happens to be his favourite..cheeky me).

Strawberry Cheesecake Icecream and Strawberry HolyBasil Macarons

My friend’s 3 year old, quite naturally, goes on and on and on about pink all the time and the other day ‘S’ suddenly came up with this weird question…”Are girls crazy about pink from the day they are born or are they taught to like pink or is it just butterfly (as he fondly calls her)?”. Probably true or maybe not! Nonetheless the fact is, toddler or an adult, girls always go crazy over pink and I am no exception. I adore everything pink… pink roses, pink dress, pink shoes, pink pen and even the pink limo that goes past our street every now and then. Every girl definately owns at the least one t-shirt in either a (or all...no surprises here) baby pink, cherry blossom pink, carnation pink, shocking pink... One of the many advantages of owning anything pink is, none of the boys will ever think of stealing borrowing them because pink is officially a girl's color!This month Sarah of Maison Cupcake is hosting the Monthly Mingle and the theme is Think Pink. I made this luscious Pink strawberry cheesecake icecream and some Pink strawberry & holy basil macarons to go with it.  Yes, you read it right, Strawberry and Basil, very unusual and it so totally works!
I am also sending these Strawberry Basil macarons to MacTweets Jamie and Deeba.

Strawberry Cheesecake Icecream (adapted from not quite nigella)

Ingredients

600ml heavy cream

150g icing sugar, sifted

250g mascarpone

250g strawberries hulled and halved

3 tbsp icing sugar 

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1tbsp Creme de Fraise
Method:
Whiz the washed and hulled strawberries in a processor along with balsamic vinegar, strawberry liquer and 3 tablespoons of icing sugar. Whip cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form (watch to ensure that the firm peak stage is not reached). Add the mascarpone and beat until incorporated. Mix this with the strawberry liquid and then freeze in your ice cream maker according the manufacturer's instructions. 

Strawberry Basil Macarons

Ingredients

30g almond meal
58g powdered sugar
36g aged egg whites
18g caster sugar
pinch salt
pinch egg white powder
5g strawberry powder
3-4 fresh basil leaves
Method:
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with silicone sheet. Pulse the Icing sugar with the almond powder, food colour, strawberry powder& basil leaves in a processor. Sieve this & set aside. Beat the egg whites until foamy and add the granulated sugar, whites powder. Beat until very stiff and firm. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding. The mixture should be thick and fall in ribbons when lifted. Fill a piping bag with this and pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced apart. Tap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest to form a skin for about an hour. Bake them for 12-15 minutes depending on size. Once done, transfer them to a cooling rack.

I have used leftover vanilla buttercream recipe from here for sandwiching the macarons.

MacAttack #17 Blackberry Cardamom Macarons

Its Mactweets time of the month and this time MacSweethearts Jamie & Deeba asked us to create macarons incorporating both fruit & spice. 

Sugar & Spice everything fruity....perfect for spring!

I have made blackberry macarons with a hint of cardamom..my favourite spice after saffron. I made the macarons using the Italian Meringue method as I find them the best. I find feet consistently now.
Coming back to Cardamom, its a very unique spice native to India and grown especially in and around the places I grew up in, South India. Its used in most of our everyday cooking, especially Indian sweets, and also added as an important ingredient in Ayurveda. Our early morning Masala Tea is always enriched with Cardamom and Ginger. Although, with the black berries, its very unusual, its a combination that cannot go wrong. 

Blacberry Cardamom Macarons 

Ingredients

27g egg whites
75g caster sugar
20g water
1tsp cardamom powder
75g ground almonds
75g powdered sugar
1tbp freeze dried blackberry powder
27g egg whites

Method:

Pulse the almonds,blackberrypowder, cardamon powder and icing sugar in a processor until fine. Sieve twice. Mix one part of the egg whites to this. Meanwhile whisk whites till frothy. Bring the sugar and water to boil and let it reach 115-118 C in a candy thermometer. Add this to the whites and whisking all the while on high as you pour till it form glossy peaks. Mix a part of the whites to the almond mixture gently folding it. Mix in the remaining whites till you get a smooth mixture that forms ribbons when lifted. Do not over-mix as the mixture will turn liquidy and difficult to pipe. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and pipe onto a baking sheet with silpat/ non-stick sheet. Leave it to form a skin for 30 minutes. When you touch them they should not stick to your hand at this point, if they do leave them for some more time. Preheat oven to 140C and bake these babies for 12-15 min depending on size. They should come off the sheet once cooked. Transfer to wire rack and cool. Pipe desired filling and sandwich the macarons.

For the filling I used buttercream with a drop of violet colour.

SoulCurry celebrated its 1 year bloganniversary and I am giving away a fantastic cookbook "Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from the Macaron Cafe" by Cecile Cannone to celebrate this grand day. A winner will be picked at random by entering the names in random.org. If you would like to win it , please leave a comment in this post before the 30th of March 12 midnight GMT and and I will announce the winner in the following post.