Trifle Pudding - Sweet New Year Special

Many of you may have leftovers of Christmas Pudding. What better way to make use of the Christmas Pudding than to make a Trifle Pudding for New Year. I would suggest that you add your own creative layers to this Pudding.

I made this one for Christmas as New Year would be spent in my parents' home. I would like to wish you all the very best for the New Year! There are many ways to make this Pudding. This pudding requires a layer of cake, so your Christmas cake could act for the layers of cake or you can get a store bought one. I used the one I made for my daughter's Christmas Class Party. You may need to moisten the cake and traditionally sweet sherry or wine is used. You can also just add sweet juices or non-alcoholic ginger ale. I made mine the non-alcoholic way as my guests of honour are expecting their first bundle of joy! Lots of various fruits can be used in the trifle.

You need:

• 1/2 kg Christmas cake (or any cake)
• Sweet juice or non-alcoholic ginger ale to moisten the cake layers (Sweet sherry or wine can also be used)
• Fruits - Strawberry and Mulberries (you can also use seedless grapes, blackberries, clementines or oranges)
• Whipped Cream - 1 packet  or you can try my Homemade Whipped Cream
• Homemade Custard or leftover Christmas Pudding or Packet custard - 2 packs(follow the instructions on the pack)
• Bar of chocolate - grated
• Strawberry Jam (remember not to add much sugar in the whipped cream in case of using jam)

The make:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes | Assembling time: 20 minutes | Setting time: 4 hrs | Serves 6-8 adults

1. Start by making the custard (if no leftover Christmas Pudding) and the Whipped cream. Make sure to cover the custard bowl with some cling film to avoid thickening on top.

2. Take a large glass bowl. I like to use a glass bowl as it distinguishes between the various layers of the trifle. First place some of the cake and drizzle some of the sweet juice or ginger ale or sherry or wine. Next add some jam, top with custard, whip cream and top with fruits of your choice.

3. Repeat until the bowl is full and top with some whipped cream and grated chocolate.

If you want an extra chocolatty flavour, add some melted chocolate or sifted cocoa while making the custard.

4. Cover with cling film and set for 4 hours before serving.

Tip: You can use walnuts or almonds for some extra crunch! Also remember that since the custard may already be sweet, try to use a less sweeter variety of jam or do not add any additional sugar to the Trifle.

Hope you have a 'sweet' New Year celebration and enjoy with the trifle as a start to sweet beginnings! Good luck and God Bless your families and you for the New Year 2013!

Mummy's Special Christmas Cake

I would like to wish my eldest sister a very Happy Birthday today! Without you sis, this life would not be the same! Thank you for being such a wonderful big sis! I love you and can't wait to see you home soon (just a few more days...yaay)!

This is one cake that featured in all our Christmas-es to date. The last two years have been different as I was the one baking as per Mum's instructions over the phone. Simple to make and  has one pre-baking task, which is soaking the nuts and raisins . The earlier you do it the better.

This year I did not use only the cashew nuts and included raisins and soaked them way in advance in October. So there is a slight difference but the rest is just the same.

Christmas 2012

I have not eaten a whole slice as we are on pre-Christmas lent. So I cannot tell you how it tastes but textural there is a very slight difference from Christmas cake 2011 and 2012.

Mum used to make this cake for our family and relatives and this cake has been tasted and feasted by many as she used to pack them up and send it to us when we were studying away from home.

This year I have staged the Christmas meals (unlike last year...whew!) since the last few days however I still have a lot to do before I am done with final touches, as I am sure you do to, so I will get right to it.

You need:

• 500 gms of cashew nuts
• 250 gms of raisins (optional - mum used to soak cashews only)
• 700 ml of brandy or rum (* instead of alcohol)
• Zest of 1 orange (optional)
• 1 tsp of nutmeg 
• 1 kg flour
• 1 kg castor sugar or powdered sugar
• 500 gms of butter, room temperature
• 12-14 eggs
• 2 tbsp of extra flour**
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup of sugar (burnt sugar process. Please check Ginger Wine)

The make:

Preparation time: 1-2 months for soaking the nuts, 1 hour pre-baking time | Baking Time: 2 hrs, 10 minutes

1. Soaking the nuts: This is normally done at least a month in advance. Soak the whole cashews 1-2 months in advance with brandy or rum in a tightly sealed jar.Remember the level of the alcohol dips as the cashew nuts absorbs the alcohol and increases in size. So top up by add the alcohol in stages. I added first 175ml, followed by another 175ml and them 350 ml. *Tip:If you do not want to use alcohol, you can also just soak the nuts a few days in advance in cranberry or grape juice and store in a cool, dry place.You can add the raisins if using during the mixing process or after chopping cashew nuts. Chop the cashew nuts, add the raisins to it and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 250◦C. Grease the cake tray(s) with butter on all sides. If your cake trays are a little old, then I would suggest using a foil and then greasing the foil before lining the cake tray. I did that with one of my cake trays that had a few scratches or you can just use butter paper. Now I cannot tell you how many cake trays each of you would need. However what I can tell you is that it would fit approximately two 9" * 10" * 2" cake trays.

Ready to go into the oven

3. Add the flour, baking powder and sugar and fold in with a spoon. Allow it to stand for at least 20 minutes.
4. Whisk the eggs in a large deep-bottomed bowl until fluffy. Add the butter and blend well.
5. Slowly add the flour mixture one ladle at a time to the egg-butter mixture until cake consistency is achieved. Add the nutmeg and/or the optional orange zest. I have never used this so far as Mum does not include the orange zest.
6. Next add the chopped cashews and raisins with the residual alcohol. Now with the ladle just mix in the the cashews and raisins. No need to beat the mixture at this stage. Add the burnt sugar. If the mixture seems to be slightly watery its either that you have not mixed the nuts, raisins and alcohol enough or that the mixture has thinned due to the alcohol quantity, in which case dust the top of the mixing bowl with the extra flour** and mix again with a spoon (although this is not advisable so try not to add all of the residual alcohol if over a few tablespoons).
7.  Allow the mixture to stand for another 20 minutes before pouring into the cake tray(s). Pour the mixture halfway of  the cake tray leaving room for the cake to rise.
8. Lower the oven heat to 170◦C and slowly place the cake tray. The first cake tray may take a tad longer than the subsequent ones by 10 minutes. Check in 30 minutes, if the cake has risen to a full. Then open the oven and using a fork or skewer, check if the cake has cooked. If cooked, the fork would come clean. The first cake tray may take between 40-45 depending on the size of the cake tray. Repeat until all of the batter is used.

This cake will go well with the Ginger wine recipe I posted recently. Enjoy!

I assure you this cake is one to be served during Christmas week and I sincerely apologise for the delay in posting this recipe. Hope you try it anyways or next year is always there. Over the next few weeks I will be away but will find time to post you more treats of the Christmas week that you can try over the New Year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2013 from our family to yours.

Mama Mary's Birthday - Special Love Cheesecake

I have been offline for quite a few days as I mentioned in my recent post on Onam's Special Vermecilli Milk Pudding. Mama Mary's Birthday falls on September 8th. The Virgin Mother Mary as we affectionately call her Mama Mary is a proud celebration in our home everyday. Especially because my daughter Izzy inherited her baptismal name Mary from her Godma and ever since she was a baby we have noticed how she has been drawn to Mama Mary. She calls her fondly as Ammama (which is our native language means Mother of my mother). Rightly said by a little one! Mama Mary is definitely her patron saint! September 8th is celebrated as the Nativity of our Virgin Mother or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. If you would like to learn more, please visit this link

Mama Mary's Birthday Love Cheesecake

We had been fasting for 7 days prior to the Nativity Feast and I wanted to do something special for her birthday. So I decided to bake her a cake full of love. I had posted a Cheesecake recipe of George Colambaris, one that I had made on A's birthday last July. Well this is a less complicated one and is more in line with the cheesecakes I have made since I was all of 18 yrs old. I think George made a reference to this type of 'cake base' in the MC Australia when he made his unforgettable Cheesecake.

For those of you in India, please do not be tempted to buy Amul's Cheddar Cheese as it turns out to be too salty and if you have no other option, then do add an additional cup of cream to the cheese mix. Try to get the uncanned variety of cheddar cheese that you could get from Godrej's Nature basket or Spar or some such other outlet that sells loose cheddar cheese. These varieties normally have less salt in the mix. You can also opt for the imported Kraft in case you are opting for the canned variety

You need:

• 300 gms of cheddar cheese (grated)
• 250 gms of Ricotta Cheese
• 400 gms of fresh full cream or whipping cream (if you are using one with less fat%, try not to add the loosened water that settles at the base of the pack. Also try to get gelatine and use as per package instructions if required)
• 500 gms of powdered sugar or castor sugar
• 1 packet of your choice of packaged jelly powder (I used raspberry, you can favour your choice of flavour)
• 1 large packet of Marie Biscuits (break each biscuit into quarters)
• 400 gms of butter (room temperature, cut into cubes)
• 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 8-10 blanched almonds - chopped finely (optional)

The make:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes| Cooking Time: 20 minutes| Serves 6-8 adults

• Powder the quartered biscuits. In case you have a food processor or a grinder, you can use this to powder the biscuits. Otherwise, just place some of the biscuit quarters in the middle of a newspaper and fold the newspaper. Run a rolling pin over the biscuits. Check to see if the biscuits are powdered well and no lumps are present. Repeat this until all the biscuits have been powdered and set aside in a large bowl.
• Add about 100 gms of the sugar to the biscuit mix and mix well (either by hand or with a spoon). Add the butter cubes bit by bit into the biscuit mix and mix well. You will wind up with a rough edges but well-oiled biscuit mix. If you think it is still very dry, add some more butter but do ensure it is not too oily or runny. Tip: Do not melt the butter over heat
• Choose a cake tray of a size that will ensure that the biscuit mix once pressed and set at the bottom of the cake tray, will provide at least 1/2" or 1" height. A 7.5" to 8" round cake tin should suffice. I used a heart-shaped tin of 8.5" as I did not have a smaller tin of the same shape. Grease the base (in case you are using a spring cake tin) or line first with foil only on the base (not sides) and then with double-sheets of parchment paper/butter paper so as to enable to pick it out of the tray easily once done. I would recommend with cheesecakes to invest in a spring cake tray (I need to get one for myself as well) as the edge gets uneven even if you use parchment paper.

Biscuit base on parchment paper

• Now place the biscuit mix on the base of the tin evenly and press down. I normally do not bake the base but you can bake it for at least 15 minutes if you want a golden brown crust at medium heat about 215°C (415°F). Once this is  done, leave it to cool to room temperature and turn it to the refrigerator at normal temperature. Ensure that your fridge is not set on high or your biscuit base would be too hard. 
• Next turn the grated cheddar cheese to a blender and add the ricotta, vanilla and cream. Blend for about 3-4 beats on medium setting. Do not over beat or you will end up with a runny mixture. Tip: please keep a packet of gelatine handy in case you end up with a runny mix. The cheese mix should be slightly less thick than a normal flour based cake mix. Gently fold in the remaining sugar bit by bit into the cheese mix. Taste the mix if it is too salty, add another cup of cream. It should only be a tad salty or it will overpower the cake and make it difficult to consume. After all a dessert should be more sweet or bitter than salty any day.

Layering the cheese on the biscuit base

• Take out the cake tray from the fridge and layer it with the cheese topping. Top with chopped almonds. Return it to the fridge to set on a higher setting(not highest).

• After about 20-30 minutes, when the cheese topping is firm, prepare the jelly mix and allow it to arrive at room temperature and add it on top of the cheese mix. Tip: Please be careful to ensure that the jelly mix is not hot or set otherwise you will end up with the cheese of the jelly's colour or a lumpy topping. Since I was making a heart shaped cake, I wanted a layered topping and hence I had placed the jelly in the fridge to set first and then I scooped it out with a flat spoon and layered it on top of the cake to give a more 3-D heart image.

Layered with almonds and jelly mix on the side

• Return it to the fridge on normal setting until ready to serve. Once ready to serve, slowly lift the parchment paper, taking care to ensure that it does not tear. You will need a cake spatula so as to remove parchment paper from the base and carefully place it on your serving tray/cake board. Tip: To avoid this please invest in a spring tray. 
• You can top the cake slices with whip cream while serving if you like.

Closeup of the cake

Layered Cheesecake

Special Love Cheesecake

Anniversary Chocolate Love Cake Surprise

I had made this Chocolate Surprise for my partner last Anniversary and he loved it to bits. He is not a very Chocolattey fan but this one definitely took a large share of his heart! Not to forget my lil' munchkin Izzy who had her face full of chocolate as she enjoyed it to bits. She like me loves chocolate. I gained a nickname of being called "Chocolate" by one of my ex-colleagues Thomas Forsch. Every time I achieved something at work he promised me a bar of chocolate, instead one fine morning he surprised me with the most moist melt in your mouth chocolate cake from one of the bakers in Sharjah, UAE.

Anniversary Love Cake

I must confess that I started my cooking and baking adventures with baking chocolate cakes. Every birthday I remember my parents used to get me chocolate cakes only as they knew I loved it. Going through family pictures, one thing that remained constant in all my birthday pictures was the assured chocolate cake and I pride in making good chocolate cakes. Its a sure way to get my heart thumping!

Ready to Surprise

I do not enjoy sugar coated icings or butter icing as much as I do the one made with bitter-sweet real chocolate. This is a simple chocolate cake guaranteed to melt-in-your-mouth! Please do not expect this cake to last long on the cake tray but I would ask you to share the cake as it is quite rich in flavour.

To make this cake,

You need:

• 1 cup (250ml) water
• 150g unsalted butter, cut in medium pieces and softened naturally
• 4 tablespoons cocoa, sifted
• 2 cup (300 g) sifted plain flour (You can also use all-purpose flour ideally but I do not have this available in India)
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, sifted
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups (440 g)powdered sugar or castor sugar(11/2 cups would also be ok if you do not want it too sweet)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) fresh full-cream milk (sieve the cream out after boiling and cooling)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Chocolate Cream Icing

The make:

Cooking Time: 45 minutes| Preparation Time: 30 minutes| Serves 8 adults

1. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda  and keep aside in a separate bowl (this is going to be your main mix bowl so make sure its fairly large). Leave this to rest for at 20-30 minutes. You can do this well ahead of the preparation and baking time owing to the resting time required.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs well until fluffy. Add the sugar and whisk further for another 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

3. Add the egg mixture to the flour bit by bit and mix well as you add the egg mixture. Add the softened butter to the mix and continue whisking well.  Leave the cake batter to rest for about 15 minutes. Add the milk bit by bit checking for consistency. Note: You may not need to add all of the milk.

4. Preheat the oven for about 10 minutes on a medium heat.

5. Dab a little butter on your cake tray to moisturise the cake tray (you can also used baking paper). Lower the heat to about 150C (which is normally on the lower end of the heat scale).  Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a toothpick/skewer.

(Hint: Be alert of the cooked smell of the cake and check through the oven window to see  if the cake has risen. wait a few minutes, open the oven door and check with a skewer to see if it is cooked. The skewer should come clean, i.e. no wet batter on the skewer).

6. Allow to cool in the cake tray for 5-10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks/ clean tray to cool completely.

7 . Touch the cake top. If it has cooled completely, use a butter knife to dab the chocolate cream icing or Nutella and run the knife evenly across the sides of the cake and the top. Smoothen out any uneven layers. The kids normally love it when you top it with Gems or on the sides of the cake or shaved chocolate pieces.

The First Slice Shared

The Moist Cake Center

And there you have it your Chocolate Love Cake ready to Surprise your Love! Enjoy (I'm sure I do not have to say that;-) )

Close Up

George Colambaris' Lemon and Ricotta Cheesecake with Fruit Salad

I thought that since this is a month of celebrations, an innumerable of my loved ones' birthdays and anniversaries this month and also because my blog crossed 2000 visitors, this post would be a celebration of all sorts. Thank you for visiting my blog and for cheering me on through your wonderful inspiration and kind words.

My take on George Colambaris' Lemon and Ricotta Cheese cake with  Fruit Salad

Georgie aka George Colambaris is also one of my favourite chefs and no its not only because of his name being similar to mine and us sharing a common nick name.

It was my hubbykins birthday about two weeks ago and I made him this divine cheese cake. 'A' does not have a particular favourite cake per say(can you imagine) but he did want a cheese cake so I decided to go with GC's Cheese cake. Given the limitations of availability of some of the ingredients and kitchen equipment that Mr. Colambaris used in his original recipe, I made best of what produce and equipment I had available in Hyderabad, India and at home. I decided to also put up some of the pictures which are not so pretty to let you know what not to do when you make this cake (get the right sized cake tray and the correct shape. Make sure it is a spring cake tray if you are following this recipe to the 'T').

For those of you in Hyd., I got my Ricotta cheese from Godrej's Nature Basket which incidentally also hosted a pin-up ad of MasterChef Australia's judges on one of their walls. Ricotta had the best price at this store among the many I visited. Also since there were not many options for the fruits, I chose cherry and plum (from what was left over from the sorbet) and some fresh sweet lime. It was a winning compliment for the cheesey cake (no pun intended).  I could have used pomegranate, melons, tender coconut and mango. May be next time!

I used the right quantities of George's cheese layer as I had to make it as perfect as possible for A's birthday celebration. Two things I used that did not work in my favour. One was that I never lined up a cake tray with parchment or butter paper ever, especially in a spring cake tray. So this was my first of doing so and the second was that, of my available spring cake trays, the one I used was probably better for a quiche as it had a rim which was not plain round and with arches. So that was a mistake as you would see from the rim in the picture that it was uneven but when served, it did not pose much of a problem. Also I had to redo it with foil as the cake tray I used was the wrong kind causing the cheese to run the first time. 

Birthday cake

I would have loved for a taller and less wider cake tray. So I will make sure to buy one before attempting this recipe the next time around. I have made many a cheese cake earlier but always similar to George's mention in MC where his friends used a basic Marie biscuit for the base ingredient. Since I also had some utility issues in our apartment, I chose to do the same as I did in the past for my base. Other than that the cheese mix was exactly how George mentions in his recipe. 

For the Plum Sorbet, I used my mixer since I did not have a ice cream churner. It turned out fine in terms of flavour but not perfect in terms of its texture (not as perfect as George's I would imagine considering the lack of the ice cream churner!).

So for my home version of George's Lemon and Ricotta Cheesecake with Fruit Salad

You need:


Biscuit base

• 2 large packs of Marie Bisuits (powdered) *I used only one but its best to use 2
• 50 gms of powdered almond or almond meal
• 25g of castor sugar or powdered sugar (you can also used refined sugar)

Ricotta Cheesecake Mix

Vanilla bean

• 200g cream cheese
• 160g ricotta, drained through a muslin cloth
• 100g whole eggs (or 2 whole eggs)
• 25g egg yolks (or 1 egg yolk)
• 70g caster sugar
• 90ml pure cream (I got mine from Ratnadeep which was the closest to full pure cream)
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (again from Nature's basket)
• Zest of one lemon (I used the sweet lime as the large lemon was unavailable)

Plum sorbet

• 170ml water
• 170g sugar
• 450g blood plums, roughly chopped and seeds removed (I got this from Nature's Basket as well - Indian variety. Luckily it came in different sizes in one pack so I used the smaller ones for the fruit salad)

Fruit salad

• 1 tbsp  of Crème fraiche (or light sour cream)
• Cherries, Sweet lime, Small plums (remove seeds)

The Make:

Serves 6-8 adults, Preparation Time: 8 hrs(min. resting time), 1 hour, Cooking Time: 45 minutes

For the Biscuit base (my make - George prepared one with flour):

1. Preheat oven to 165°C(which is medium heat or Gas Mark 3). Grease and baking paper line the base of a 20cm 'round' spring form cake tin.

2. You can choose to powder the biscuits in a food processor or grinder or use a parchment sheet to place hand-broken biscuits and roll over with a rolling pin until powdered ensuring no lumps. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter bit by bit and slowly bring together forming a firm crumb. Tip crumbs into prepared tin and smooth over with the back of a spoon to achieve a thin even layer. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Base of the cheese cake

For the Ricotta Cheesecake Mix:

3. Reduce oven to 90°C (lowest Gas Mark). Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pass though a fine sieve to ensure there are no lumps.

Into the blender

4. Pour mix over biscuit base, tap tin firmly on the bench to release air bubbles and bake for 25-30 minutes. Test touch lightly, it will appear still very soft, leave to set in the fridge for 6-8 hours or overnight before serving. Make sure the fridge is normal temperature and not high cool.

Passing through the sieve

For the Plum sorbet:

5. Place water, sugar and chopped plums into a saucepan over a medium-high heat and cook until plums are tender. Allow to cool slightly. Pour into the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Cooked Plums

6. Chill over an ice water bath(a must). Pour into a pre-chilled ice-cream machine or blender and churn according to manufacturers instructions or until blended well.

For the Fruit salad:

7. To serve, spread a little crème fraiche or light sour cream down the centre of the plate. This will serve as a base to place the fruits around the cheese cake. Place a slice of the cheesecake in the centre and cover the crème fraiche with the fruit salad.

Happy Birthday Hun!

Although the chef was not happy, she was glad to have had two loved ones enjoy this treat to the max!
Thanks George C. for sharing this lovely, delightful cake recipe.

This is a make to share with the family, friends and loved ones as it is quite rich. Enjoy! Share the joy of this light and creamy Goodness with your loved ones!