Last week it was a time well spent with family at home, outings, meeting friends and not to forget special cooking ! It was 9 days holiday at work on account of Eid celebrations, the news of which was surprise to me as previously it was mentioned for 5 days only. Now with 4 more days added, I decided atleast now I should be spending some more time in the kitchen and try few of the recipes that I had bookmarked from a long time.
  
So here comes the dessert that was prepared on last day of Eid holidays and it tasted so delicious that I am eager to share its recipe here. No bake Eggless Blackberry Cheesecake, that turned out to be a hit at home. I have posted the recipe before, for No bake Eggless Mango cheesecake  with cheese and cream in it. Below recipe has been adapted from here which uses hung curd and paneer instead of regular cheese and cream. I reduced the quantity by half and used small glasses to make individual portions. These individual dessert glasses will surely impress your guests and not just that, it will be convenient while serving too. Though the recipe method may look lengthy, but this is a really simple to make dessert. We all enjoyed it.





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Almost towards the end of mango season this year and not even a single mango post from my side. Unfair, right? I did prepare mango icecream, mango flavoured lassi and the recipes have been lying in my drafts, but today its mango sago pudding which I thought should be published before any of my other recipes. And why is that because more than the recipe I am excited to inform all of you that the wait is over and my dear friend Archana [remember her guest post on Pomegranate sheera?] finally has ventured into blogging world. Do visit her space at Kitchen Tales and read about the healthy tales from her kitchen. Wishing my friend a wonderful and colorful culinary journey ahead !

Though long back, I had bookmarked a recipe for mango sago pudding prepared from coconut milk I didn't get chance to try it as mangoes were out of season. While browsing through Archana's blog I found her recipe for mango sago pudding to be quick and easy, moreover the ingredients were sitting in my pantry while I was reading her recipe. So I immediately tried it at home. The only extra step was addition of cardamom powder. This dessert is definitely a crowd pleaser and one more way to enjoy king of fruits when in season.



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"Rendez Vous with a foodie" is an event hosted by Priya on her blog Priya's Versatile Recipes. This event has been running successfully till now and you can read through the list of her guests here. This month I get an opportunity to be guest in this event and share about my blogging space.

Apt to her blog name, Priya is indeed a versatile cook/blogger who has shared many interesting recipes varying from traditional foods, to fusion foods and healthy innovations. The first recipe that caught my attention was her guest post on Aps Kitchen sharing Pumpkin and red rice flakes kheer. I liked it and attempted this healthy kheer immediately which my family loved it. She is an expert baker and has the longest baking list I have come across till date.If you notice most of her posts carry one beautiful photo about the dish with minimal or no props and its the napkin placement around each dish that I like very much. These napkin placements only made me realize that she has another blog named Cook Eat N Click where she shares easy to make recipes. She has always inspired me to try and beautifully place these napkins while clicking food photos besides her innovative recipes. Happy to have known her through this platform and all my best wishes Priya, to carry on with good work. Thanks for being so supportive, encouraging and giving chance to new bloggers through this event.

Now coming to the dish, I opted to share about Papaya pudding, an incredibly easy to make dessert that can be relished guilt-free!



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Days pass by so quickly, same thing applies to week. As soon as they begin they end especially the weekends ~ there is never enough time to do all things that needs to be done. First quarter of 2014 already gone and month of April soon touching its mid-mark point.  Phew! Every time I think and try to manage my time efficiently, I end up wishing for more hours in a day... does that happen to you ? While checking my to do list for the coming week, I suddenly realized its 2nd Monday of the month and I need to post the 4th session in my guest post series. 

So friends, today I would like to introduce my friend Jayashri Baleri on Flavors and Colors. I met Jay on FB food group. Initial interactions were just related to our recipe posts. Her posts have been inspiring with interesting recipes always and classy presentations that will never fail to tantalize your tastebuds. Many times I have tried her recipes like for Besan Laddoos and Badam Burfis and have been successful with the results. After about 6 mnths time, we became friends, started exchanging messages and in no time our wavelength matched. Now we are close friends as if we have known for years interacting on topics other than recipes. Though our paths crossed on a virtual platform, I am glad to have found a wonderful, loving person like her and hope to meet her in person in near future. 

Jay is popular on our food group as a dessert queen, who amazes and tempts all of us everytime with her perfect desserts posts! So when I asked her to be my guest she happily agreed. I was super duper excited to see the recipe of Bhapa doi cheesecake being shared by her. I know you want me to stop here as I can imagine your excitement to read through her recipe and drool over those tempting pics.




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Universally, Children's day is celebrated on 20th November to create awareness and encourage the welfare of children in order to ensure a better future. However this date varies in India and it is preponed to 14th November which coincides with the birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to commemorate his great love for children. Pandit Nehru emphasized on welfare of the children and worked towards it. He was fond of children and thus became popular as Chacha Nehru [Uncle Nehru] among them. Kids are eager and look forward to celebrate this day with lot of fun activities and party organized in their schools. 

At home, I thought to prepare something sweet that they love which means something with chocolate. Since long time, I have been thinking of preparing a mousse. Mousse is a French dessert prepared with different techniques. I opted to prepare it without eggs and gelatin and narrowed down to its recipe from Rak's Kitchen. 




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Doughnuts or Donuts is a type of fried dough confectionary food. Chocolate glazed doughnuts is favourite of my elder one  and for some people having it with coffee is like a match made in heaven . My favourite is plain glazed ones with a glass of milk. There are deep fried ones which are considered not so healthy and then the healthier baked ones but whichever recipe you opt there is nothing like freshly home made doughnuts. I thought of treating my family to doughnut similar to the ones bought from shops, so gave in to the deep fried version and tried this recipe from here [which I had bookmarked almost 18 months back,,,finally managed to do them !!!]



Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp powdered sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
Glaze as per choice

Method :

Make the water lukewarm in a long glass, add yeast and a tsp of sugar to it. Leave it for 10 minutes covered. After 10 minutes you will see the foam/bubble froth at the surface in the glass. Mix well till the yeast dissolves.

Now mix the flour, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla essence, milk. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. The mixture will be bit sticky. With the help of a spoon continue kneading the mixture into a soft pliable dough. Allow the butter to come to room temperature and mix it to the dough. Knead again till the dough is smooth and elastic. Now place the dough in a vessel covered with a cling film and leave it untouched until it doubles.

As you see the dough has doubled in size, press it lightly to remove the air and knead lightly. Dust your work surface as well as the rolling pin with flour. Place the dough on the work surface, sprinkle some flour over it and roll it into 1/4" thickness. Use doughnut cutter to get the desired shape. I dont have a cutter so used empty bottles of different size to get the desired disc shapes. Place these disc rings on floured butter paper and cover them loosely. Allow them to rise for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan. Once the temperature is reached slide in 2-3 disc rings into the pan and fry both sides on medium to low flame till they are golden brown. Drain them on kitchen tissue.

For glaze

Chocolate glaze
Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar/confectioners' sugar
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
5-6 tsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir well in order to remove the lumps if any. Once u get the desired consistency, dip the top halves of the doughnuts in the glaze, allow some excess to drip and then place it back on the wire rack, glazed side facing upwards. You may leave as it is to set or sprinkle some confetti of your choice.



Cinnamon sugar glaze
Mix powdered cinnamon powder with castor sugar and spread it on a plate. Dip the doughnut in it until it gets coated with sugar on all the sides.

Sugar icing
Take few tsp of icing sugar and add desired food color [ Here I have taken orange food color].Mix well to form a thick paste. With the use of plastic bag to make a cone and fill it with paste. Pipe the desired designs or drizzle on the surface of doughnuts.

Jam
Spoon a dollop of preferred jam and apply it on the doughnut.

Serve these doughnuts with a glass of milk/ coffee once the glaze gets set.


Note:
Doughnuts at room temperature can be stored in plastic box or cover it with plastic wrap for 2 days. 

Ending this post with a quote related to doughnuts. Hope you agree with it :)



Sending this entry to Kid's Delight Potluck Party

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A gap of almost 2 weeks between this post and last post :( ... That's because first I had been busy with my kids exams, followed by a busy schedule at office where in our department [Health planning and follow-up] was involved with organizing a conference on strategic planning in healthcare at national level under Ministry of Health, Kuwait. With consultants and speakers from different countries sharing their experiences and expert opinions about planning, it was helpful not just brushing up/ updating myself in the subject but getting the hands on experience to work at an individual level and in a team while arranging this event and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now back to my space/blog [a place that helps me in relaxing and this is what I am looking for post conference]

After the first successful attempt to prepare Tiramisu and Pannacotta [Cardamom flavored and Mango chocolate flavored], the next recipe on my "to do list" was a cheesecake. With mangoes in the season the flavor already got decided in my mind. Yes, it was a no-bake eggless chilled Mango cheesecake.


The recipes that I came across various food groups and blogs had different combinations of ingredients. I opted for the vegetarian version that had used either hung curd and paneer or cheese with cream besides mango puree and vegetarian setting agent in it as filling layer. I adapted from different recipes as per the availability of ingredients at my place.

Ingredients

For the crust
Digestive biscuits 250 gm  + 4 biscuits
Butter 100 gms
2 tbsp cocoa powder

For the filling
Philadelphia cheese 200 gm
Whipping cream 250 ml
Mango puree 1 3/4 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup
Agar Agar 15 gms * [See notes]
Water: to soak as well as prepare the agar agar solution.

For the glaze topping
Mango puree 3/4 cup
Agar Agar 5 gms
Sugar 1 tbsp
Water 1/4 cup water
Mango diced for garnishing
Few fresh mint leaves
Cake Sprinkles [optional]


Method: 

Crush the biscuits with hands on a plate. [You can even put them into a ziplock and use a rolling pin to crush these biscuits or whiz them in food processor to coarse powder]. Now add melted butter and blend well until the mixture comes together. Divide this mixture into two parts and add cocoa powder to one part.

Press the plain biscuit powder mixture into the bottom of 8 " springform pan [Alternately you can use individual glasses and divide the mixture equally into all the glasses]. On top of this mixture press the cocoa biscuit mixture firmly using back of your spoon [You may omit dividing the mixture and adding the cocoa powder to proceed further as mentioned below]. This mixture will form the base of the cake. Refrigerate the mixture for 30-40 minutes while you proceed to prepare the filling.

Prepare agar agar solution as per the packet instructions depending upon the brands that you use. [I had to soak agar agar flakes for 10 minutes, drain the water]. Take enough water to immerse the agar agar and warm it. Warm up mango puree in another vessel. Once the agar agar gets dissolved in the water, reduce the flame and add the mango puree stirring continuously on sim flame. Switch off the flame after 2-3 mins. Allow it to come to room temperature.

Meanwhile, whisk the whipping cream in a large deep vessel until soft, then whisk in the Philadelphia cheese and sugar. Add the mango- agar agar mixture into cream mixture. Beat gently with a hand held wire whisk until well combined. Pour this mixture over the prepared crust, level with the back of spoon. Chill for 3 - 4 hours in the fridge.

For glaze, soak the agar agar as per packet instructions and warm it up along with water and sugar. Prepare the mango agar mixture using the same steps as mentioned above. (optional step: you can add 1 tbsp lemon juice). Allow it to come to room temperature. Now spread the glaze over the set cream layer and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours or till you serve it.

Keep the cake at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before serving. Now slowly release the cake from the pan. Garnish with mango cubes/pieces, cake sprinkles and mint leaves. You can also top the cake with chocolate sauce and strawberry.



And that's a slice of delicious cheesy cake, a virtual treat to my readers and friends.

* Notes :
I am still experimenting with agar agar and the measurement may differ little-bit with respect to the brands that are used or the form [powder/ flakes] that we use. Its bit tricky but once you get the real science, then you would know the correct ratio of the setting agent that should be used. Read more about properties of agar agar and the steps required to cook it from here

Update: Thanks to Meena Dhage, who messaged me and gave the equivalents of agar agar if flaky or powdered and her experience to get the cheesecake (with hung curd and paneer) right using the below formula -
"4 tablespoons agar agar flakes = nearly 3 tsp agar agar powder "

Happy cooking!!!
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I have fallen in love with pannacotta and feel like eating them again and again. This time I was keen on experimenting it with two flavors at one time and so went ahead with mango and chocolate flavors [These ingredients were available at my place ]. You can try any other flavor of your choice like strawberry, peach, avocado, vanilla,etc by using respective purée/ essence.

Mango and Chocolate Panna Cotta

Milk 6 tbsp
Sugar 3 tbsp
Agar agar 1 1/2 tbsp
Water enough to soak the agar agar flakes 
Cocoa powder 1 1/2 tbsp [The quantity may change according to the brand that you use]
Mango purée  5 tbsp [You may increase or decrease the quantity, I had used storebought puree]
Oil to grease the mould

Method:

Soak half the quantity of agar agar (china grass) flakes in enough water for 7-8 minutes. Drain the water. Add fresh water and keep it on medium flame. Stir at regular intervals till the flakes get dissolved completely. [done as per the instructions on my packet]... [If you see some some agar agar not dissolved after some time, better to strain the water before mixing into the cream mixture.]

Meanwhile mix milk, thick cream, sugar and allow it to boil. Switch off the flame. Divide the mixture into two parts. Take one part in a bowl and add the dissolved agar agar [or strained water] and the mango purée . Whisk it well and pour it evenly into the greased moulds. Referigerate until set. 

Boil the remaining quantity of agar agar till they dissolve completely, add this and cocoa powder to the 2nd part of milk cream mixture and stir it well. Pour this mixture over the set mango jelly and refrigerate it until set. I kept for 4 hours.

[For vice versa layers, you can pour in the cocoa cream mixture first into mould, once set top it with mango cream mixture and refrigerate until set.]

Take the moulds outside, turn the panna cotta over the serving plates. If you find difficult then dip the moulds for few seconds in hot water and try again.


Garnish it with pistachio pralines and serve chilled to beat the heat !!!


Pistachio pralines

Ingredients

Chopped pistachios 1 tbsp
Caster sugar 25 gms
Water 1 tbsp

Method:
Spread pistachios evenly on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil. 
Heat sugar with 1 tbsp of water over low flame. Stir it until the sugar gets completely dissolved. Bring to boil [ on low flame itself] and continue cooking without stirring. The syrup will start to caramelise and will change its color. Keep an eye on the color change and switch off the flame once the syrup gets the golden color. 

Switch off the flame, let the bubbles subside, then pour it carefully on the pistachios. Keep it aside to cool and become hard. Once hard, break/crush the praline pieces.

Note: If you consume gelatin, you can substitute agar agar with gelatin.
Instead of pistachio pralines you can garnish the dessert with fresh mango pieces and chocolate shavings/curls.
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Yippee!!! My 50th post. I am so so so happy to do it and take this occasion to celebrate with a creamy Italian dessert. 

A simple dessert recipe here using agar agar, a vegetarian substitute for gelatin. No baking required and can be prepared in the shortest available time [excluding the time required to set the dessert]

Recipe credit: Indian Cuisine


Ingredients

Whipping cream 1 cup [250 ml]
Milk 1/4 cup
Sugar 2 tbsp [You can increase as per your preference for sweetness]
Agar agar - 1 tbsp [had strips of agar agar which I crushed to get 1 tbsp of small flakes]
Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Water enough to soak the agar agar flakes
Oil  to grease the moulds



Enjoy !!!

Note to my readers: Now you can not only see my experiments here, but can like and follow me on my Facebook page "Flavors and Colors"
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