Home- made Vanilla Icecream

Ingredients

Full cream 1 cup
Milk 1cup
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Sugar 1 cup (accordingto sweetness)
Eggs 1
Cardamom 1
Nuts (cashews)

Directions -How to make

Collect cream from milk for a week or two until you get a cup full of cream. Whisk the eggs and sugar together so that you get a fluffy mixture. Whip the cream well in a blender. Mix both together and add the vanilla essence to it.

Heat a wok. Add the mixture to it. Keep stirring and add cardamom and nuts to it. Remove from heat once you get a smooth mixture. Ice cream is ready. Refrigerate for a while and then keep it in the freezer. Serve with chocolate syrup poured over it.

Coconut Dessert

Ingredients

Freshly grated coconut  2 cups                         

Powdered sugar 1 cup

Powdered cardamom 2

Milk 1 cup

Nuts (Cashews or almonds)

Butter or ghee

Directions- How to make

Fry the grated coconut in little ghee till it turns light brown and the moisture goes away. Keep aside.

Boil the milk in a wok. Then add the grated coconut and powdered sugar and cardamom to it. Keep stirring till it thickens. Transfer it to a tray and let it cool. Cut it into desired shapes and decorate with nuts. Store it in a container and refrigerate.

Pineapple Dessert

Ingredients

1 Pineapple (crushed and seived)
5-6 Custard cream biscuits ( any cream biscuits can be used)
1/4 cup milk
Custard powder 1 tbsp
Butter 1 tbsp
Egg 2
Sugar 1 cup

Directions - How to make

Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 190 C.

Grease the baking tray with butter and layer it with crushed cream biscuits mixed with butter. In a separate bowl whip the eggs well. Add sugar, custard powder diluted in cold milk and crushed pineapple. Pour this mixture over the biscuit layer. Place the baking tray inside the oven and let it stay for 20-30 minutes. As soon as the sides brown, insert a fork and check if it comes out clean. If the fork comes out clean, it means it is baked. Let it cool and refrigerate. Decorate the dessert with small pineapple pieces and serve.

Fruit Custard

Ingredients

Milk 1/2 litre
Sugar 4-5 tbsp
Custard powder (Vanilla flavour) 2 tbsp
Banana 1 (sliced)
Apple 1/2 ( cut into small pieces)
Strawberries 1-2 (cut into pieces)
(Add the fruits of your choice)


Directions - How to make

Boil the milk. As soon the milk starts boiling, add custard powder diluted in little cold milk. Add slowly to the boiling milk and keep stirring to ensure no lumps are formed. Add sugar now. Once the custard thickens, take off and transfer it to a bowl. Refrigerate for a while and the fresh fruits to it and enjoy the fruit custard on a hot summer day.

Strawberry Ice-cream

Ingredients

1 cup sweet and juicy Strawberries (cut into pieces)
4 Strawberries for the topping
1 cup Sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup cream

Directions - How to make

Blend well the strawberries, milk, sugar and cream. Pour it in a bowl and keep it in the freezer. Blend it again after 30 minutes. Repeat the process around 4 times. It will make the ice-cream smooth.

Keep it for 2 hours and serve with fresh strawberries on top.

Note: Keeping in the freezer for long will make the ice-cream icy and hard as we are not adding gelatin and other ingredients normally used in the ice-creams. Also, the temperature needs to be taken care of which might not be possible when prepared at home.

Easy Sponge Cake

This is a plain Vanilla sponge cake. If the cake is made for some special occasion, then it can be decorated  with chocolate syrup, choco chips, nuts or readily available topping mix. For making Chocolate sponge cake, you just have to replace 100 gms of flour with 100 gms of cocoa powder.

Ingredients

200 gms Maida ( All purpose flour)                                        
150 gms Butter
150 gms Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Cardamom powder (2)
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Baking Powder
Cashews and raisins (Optional)

Directions - How to make

Preheat the oven at 190 C.

Blend all the ingredients together in a large bowl one by one. Start with the butter and sugar, eggs, baking powder, cardamom powder, nuts and finally the flour. Make sure the batter is smooth and of right consistency but not watery. If it is bit dry, one can add little cold water. Finally add the vanilla essence and mix well.

Pour the batter in a greased baking pan. Place the pan at the centre of the oven. It takes around 15-20 minutes. Once the cake puffs up and the sides turn brown, insert a knife and check if the knife comes out without sticking. If it does not stick, the cake is ready and it can be taken off from the oven. Cut it into small pieces and store in an airtight container. It can be kept for 2-3 days.

Strawberry Milkshake

Ingredients

Strawberries 6 or more (Makes two glass of milkshake)

Milk 2 cups

Sugar 1 cup

Directions - How to make

Blend all the ingredients in a mixer. Refrigerate it for sometime. Enjoy your strawberry milkshake after a while.

Bread Pudding

Base of the bread in the bread packets are usually thrown away as the crust is very thick to be eaten.  Those who buy bread every week might be facing this. I would like to share on how to use it without wasting and relish it in the form of pudding.

Ingredients

Bread crust (base) 4

Milk 1 1/2 cup

Eggs 2
Sugar 1 cup

Vanilla Essence 1 tsp (or) Vanilla custard powder diluted in little milk

Cinnamon powder ( a pinch)

Raisins and cashews (Optional)

Directions - How to make

Preheat the oven at 190 C.

Toast the bread and break them into small pieces. Layer them over a baking pan greased with butter. In a small bowl blend the milk, eggs, vanilla essence and the sugar well. Pour them over the layered bread pieces. Make sure it covers the bread pieces evenly. Sprinkle some cinnamon powder. Finally layer it with raisins and nuts.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and take it out after 25-30 minutes. The pudding puffs up like a cake. The sides turns brown. Insert a knife to check if its baked well. Once the knife comes out without sticking to the pudding, take out the pudding from the oven. Either eat it hot or refrigerate it for an hour before serving.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

Strawberry 10-12

Crushed cream biscuits (Chocolate or Vanilla)              

Butter 50 gms

Milk 1 1/2 cups

Cream cheese 50 gms ( I used grated mozarella cheese which I melted in the boiled milk)

Eggs 2

Whipped cream 50 gms

Sugar 1 cup

Vanilla Custard powder 1 tbsp

Directions - How to make

Heat the pan over sim flame. Melt the butter and add crushed vanilla cream biscuits to it. Mix them well and layer it to the greased baking tray to form the base.         

Now for the filling, heat the pan again. Boil 1 cup of milk, add 1/2 cup sugar and cheese to it and keep stirring till it melts. Let it cool and blend them together. Now take a bowl and beat the eggs well. Add the whipped cream to it. Now mix all together and pour it over the layer of crushed biscuits. Place the baking tray in a preheated oven (190 C or Gas Mark 5) for 25 -30 minutes. When the sides becomes brown and leaves the tray, poke a fork in the cheesecake. If the fork comes out clean it means it baked and can be taken out of the oven. Now let it cool. After cooling it, keep it in the refrigerator for 5 hours.

Finally for the topping, heat the pan. Boil 1/2 cup of milk. Dilute little vanilla custard powder into it (used as a substitute for cornstarch). Once the milk thickens add 4-5 strawberries cut into small cubes. Mash them well in the custard. Let it cool and refrigerate for an hour. Spoon this on top of the cheesecake and decorate it with sliced strawberries on top.

Keep it in the refrigerator for a while till it gets set and enjoy your strawberry cheesecake.

Baked Cassava Pudding

Before starting with this dish, let me tell you about Cassava. Cassava is a wild yam largely produced in Nigeria and is a major source of Carbohydrates. It is also very rich in starch and contains significant amounts of Calcium, Phosphorous and Vitamin C. It can also be cooked normally like a potato and fried. Though cooking or boiling them results in loss of nutrients. Baking them is the best way to consume it. I used the readily cut frozen cassava that is available in the Asian stores here.

Ingredients

1 Cassava grated

1 cup Sugar (powdered)

1 cup Coconut milk

1 tsp of Baking powder or 1 tbsp All purpose flour
1 Egg

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom powder (Optional)

Directions - How to make

Mix together grated cassava, sugar, coconut milk, cinnamon powder and cardamom powder in a bowl. Beat the egg well and add the baking powder to it. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl. Now transfer the contents into a baking tray greased with butter. Preheat the oven at 190 C for 10 minutes. Place the baking tray in the centre of the oven. Let it get baked for 25-30 minutes. Insert a fork or a knife into the pudding if it comes out clean, then that is the time to remove it from the oven. Either have it hot or let it cool, refrigerate it and then have your pudding.

Baked Broccoli Souffle

Ingredients

1 cup cooked Broccoli
1 chopped Onion

1 Capsicum ( Cut into small pieces)

2 cup milk

3 tbsp All-purpose flour

1 tbsp butter

Grated Cheese ( According to your requirement)

Salt - 1 tsp

Pepper - 1-2 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

1 Egg - beaten well

Directions - How to make

Take a pan. Add some butter to it. Now add the chopped onions, capsicum, salt and little pepper. Next add the milk with the flour diluted well in the pan. Add the cooked broccoli , grated cheese and allow the mixture to thicken. Once it thickens, take off and let it cool. Transfer the contents to the baking tray greased with butter.

 

Pour the beaten egg over and spread it well.  Sprinkle the cinnamon powder. Again add little cheese over it. Place the baking tray in the pre-heated oven at 190 C for 45 minutes. Once it is baked, remove the pan and have it with toasted bread and tomato sauce. Enjoy this continental food at home. 

Home- made Cake

I wanted to bake cake at home for a long time and I got the ocassion to make it. It is my husband's birthday today and would like to share my experience of baking cake at home for the first time. I was delighted to see the cake which came out like a cake bought from the bakery. As my husband does not like chocolate much,  I made Vanilla cake with buttercream topping.

Ingredients

All purpose flour flour/ Cake flour 1 cup                          

Sugar 1 cup
Baking powder 1 tsp

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Eggs 1-2
Salt 1/4 tsp

Directions - How to make

Cake mix

Combine all ingredients together. Beat them to form a thick batter adding little wateer. Whisk together for 2 minutes until the batter is creamy enough. Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F) or Gas mark 5.

Grease the baking pan with butter. Pour the batter into it and bake in the centre of the oven for 10-12 minutes until the cake rises and becomes spongy. Take a fork and prick it over the cake to check if it is baked well. Take the pan out, invert it over the plate and let it cool. Once the cake is ready, next step is to decorate it with cream.

Topping mix

You can either buy the ready made mix or fresh cream or chocolate sauce to layer it over the cake. I got the ready buttercream topping mix. Empty the mix in a bowl. Add little warm water and 75 gm softened butter to the mix. Beat it well till its creamy. Pour the mixture evenly over the cake.

Finally decorate it with the decorating gel and sugar sprinkles. Vanilla cake with buttercream topping is ready.