Vanilla and orange-pomegranate parfait

The dessert recipe I am posting today came together as I had bought some pomegranates last week and wanted to try out something new with them. Of course I thought of making a dessert. :-) As I mentioned earlier we have a big sweet tooth, but I didn’t want to make anything heavy or overly sweet, so this dessert turned out just right. It has a nice tangy flavour and just the right sweetness.

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:
For the vanilla creme
- 2 lb vanilla yogurt ( I used low-fat)
- Pinch cardamom powder
- ½ cup chopped walnuts

For the orange-pomegranate mush
- 2 pomegranates
- 2 oranges
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar

Method:

For the vanilla crème line a mesh with a thin cloth, place over a bowl and fill in the yogurt. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight to drain the whey.
In the meantime cut pomegranates in half and take out all seeds. Place in a small pot. Zest the oranges and add zest to pomegranates. Peel oranges and remove all skins to get filet's. Add to pomegranates along with cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods and brown sugar. Let it come to a boil, cover and let simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes with occasional stirring. Remove cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom and blend or grind to a puree. Filter through a fine mesh to remove small seed particles. Let cool.
Mix vanilla yogurt with cardamom and add in the walnuts. Layer vanilla crème and orange-pomegranate mush in glasses, starting with vanilla crème. According to your liking you can make 3 or 4 layers.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Tiramisu

Hi to you all. Hope you are all doing good. Today I am posting another dessert since S. and I both have a big sweet tooth. :-)
Tiramisu is a popular Italian dessert which is one of my all-time favourites. It is however also very heavy, so that one can’t eat too much of it. It is traditionally made with raw egg, which I don’t like to use, so I used whipping cream instead in this recipe. Wishing you all a wonderful day!!!

Serves 8-10 people.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups Mascarpone crème
- ¾ cup espresso, cooled
- 1 ½ Tsp. Vanilla essence
- about 300g Italian ladyfinger biscuits
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 Tbsp. Amaretto
- 3 Tbsp. Cocoa powder, unsweetened

Method:

In a bowl whisk together mascarpone crème, vanilla essence and powdered sugar. Beat the whipping cream until fluffy and stiff and fold into the mascarpone mixture. Cover the bottom of a rectangular form (I used 8x11 inches) with half of the ladyfinger biscuits. Mix espresso with amaretto and drizzle half over the biscuits. Spread half of the mascarpone crème evenly on top. Place the rest of the biscuits on top and drizzle with rest of the espresso mixture. Spread the second half of mascarpone crème evenly on top. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or more to soak. Before serving sift the cocoa powder on top. Serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Apple tart for my 50th post!!!

This post today is my 50th post, and since I started this blog with a sweet cake, I also post something sweet today. :-) So far I enjoyed blogging and it has been fun to share recipes with you. I am thankful to the few who dropped me a note or comment and will be happy if more people give feedback or comment on my posts and recipes in the future.
This recipe is a simple apple tart which is not overly sweet. The dough is light, thin and crisp. Within no time half of the tart was easily finished in our house. :-)

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups unbleached white flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar + 1 Tbsp. reserved
- ½ Tsp. salt
- 6 Tbsp. cold butter + 1 Tbsp. reserved ( I used vegan butter for this recipe)
- 1 ½ apples, quartered and finely sliced
- 1 Tsp. cinnamon
- 4 Tbsp. ice cold water

Method:

For the dough combine flour with salt and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Cut the 6 Tbsp. butter into cubes and add to the flour. Incorporate with your fingertips. Step by step add the ice cold water and knead to a smooth dough. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
In the meantime preheat oven to 375 F and grease a 9 ½ inch spring form.
Roll out the dough on a flour dusted surface and place into the form. Cover the bottom and press up slightly at the sides. Place the apple slices in a round on the dough. Mix ¼ cup brown sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle evenly on top. The sugar will caramelize and give a nice brown colour to the apples. Place the 1 Tbsp. butter in flakes on top. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Sabudana kheer

Hi to everybody on this nice and sunny day. Fall already started but it is still very warm over here.

Today I am posting one more recipe which is common with my family in India for Navratri. Sabudana kheer or tapioca pudding is made from tapioca pearls and is a nice alternative to the common kheer made with rice.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup sabudana/ tapioca pearls
- 5 cups milk
- 1 Tsp. Cardamom powder
- ¾ cup crushed jaggery

Method:

Wash sabudana and soak in 1 cup of water for about 5-10 minutes. Heat milk in a pot on medium heat and add the sabudana along with the soaking water. Let it come to a boil and turn heat to medium-low. Add cardamom and jaggery and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. The kheer will be ready when the sabudana pearls are soft but not mushy. Serve hot or cold.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Cherry-chocolate cake

Since I am a little child I love baking. When I got my very own baking recipe book one day, I was in heaven. One of my first baking attempts was a lemon cake recipe, made with biscuit, cream and a lemon glaze. As far as I remember, it turned out quite good. Since then I have tried out many different recipes and have experimented quite a bit with different ingredients.
This cherry chocolate cake came together through many trials, some of them egg less, some of them not. Somehow the egg less versions never turned out well enough to post it here. So last weekend I wanted to give it another try with eggs and this time it turned out nicely.

Ingredients:

- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup finely ground almonds
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- ½ Tbsp. Rum
- 3 oz. Milk chocolate
- 1 Tsp. Cinnamon powder
- 1 Tsp. Baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 10 oz pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
- Powdered sugar for dusting


Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a bowl beat softened butter and sugar. Mix in the egg yolks. Grate the chocolate with a hand grater finely and add step by step to the batter along with ground almonds, cinnamon powder and rum. Mix everything well together.
In another bowl combine flour and baking powder and add to the batter. Mix but don’t over mix. Beat the egg whites with pinch of salt until stiff, then fold in to the batter along with the cherries.
Grease a 9-inch cake pan and fill in the batter. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and dust some powdered sugar on top.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Sweet dumplings with plum jam (Germknödel)

As a child coming home from school I was always excited to see what my mom would serve for lunch. My stomach rumbling of hunger I was almost running the steep way from the bus stop to home and what a wonderful delight it was to discover these sweet dumplings steaming on my plate. Though not homemade my mom used to buy the dumplings already filled with sweet plum jam from the small grocery store in the next village and serve them with a delicious vanilla sauce. Some days ago I was remembering those days and all those forgotten traditional delights and dishes. I was missing home so much that I decided to bring back some memories and make this dish by myself. It turned out well enough to get back the taste of these days though it was not perfect.
This dish, originally coming from Austria, is perfect as a dessert but also very filling. It can easily make a main dish by itself. The recipe calls for eggs and as I mentioned in earlier posts we rarely eat eggs but I make exceptions for traditional dishes and cake recipes which would just not turn out well with substitutes.

Makes 6 dumplings.

Ingredients:

For the plum jam:
- 1.5 lb plums
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4-5 cloves

For the dumplings:
- 3 Tbsp. lukewarm milk
- 1 Tsp. active-dry yeast
- 1 Tsp. brown sugar
- 2 Tsp. flour
- 2 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 egg+ 1 egg yolk
- ½ Tsp. grated lemon zest
- 3 ½ Tbsp. softened butter
- Pinch salt

For topping:
Powdered sugar, poppy seeds, melted butter to taste

Method:

For the jam wash the plums, cut in half and remove the pit. In a pot arrange the plums with the cut side downwards and then sprinkle the sugar over it. Also add the cloves and cinnamon stick. Cover and let it stand over night to soak.
The next day you will see the plums have given out lots of juice. On low-medium heat let the plums simmer for about 1 ½ hours without stirring. Stir and let simmer for 30 more minutes with occasional stirring. Take off heat.

For the dumplings mix milk, yeast, 2 Tsp. flour and 1 Tsp. sugar. Leave it in a warm place for 10 minutes. The mixture should foam.
In a large bowel add the flour and pour the yeast mixture over it. Add egg, egg yolk, 2 Tbsp. sugar, lemon zest, salt and softened butter. With your hands incorporate all ingredients and knead well till you have a smooth dough. Cover and let it rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Knead again well and divide into 6 portions. Roll out into balls and cover again. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime heat water in a large pot and slightly salt it. Let it come to a boil, then turn heat to medium-low. Add the dumplings. The water should not boil anymore at this point. Cover the pot and let the dumplings soak for 15-20 minutes. Remove from water and immediately top with some melted butter. Sprinkle some powdered sugar and poppy seeds over it. Serve with the plum jam.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Mango-pineapple compote

One week ago I had gotten a pineapple from the grocery store and it had been sitting in the fruit basket ever since. Yesterday I started thinking what I could do with it since apparently nobody in the house was ready to eat it. First I wanted to make a cake but since I had mishaps with pineapple cake before where the cake did not bake properly because of the juicy pineapple I dropped the idea. Instead I made this compote which goes great with ice cream as a dessert or with a rice dish as a chutney.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups pineapple, cubed
- 1 large mango, cubed
- ½ Tsp. Cardamom powder
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- ½ Tbsp. Grated ginger
- ½ Tbsp. Grated lemon zest
- Sugar to taste
- About 1 ½ cups water

Method:

In a pot bring water, mango and pineapple to a boil. Mix in cardamom powder, cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest, ginger and sugar. Cook till almost all water has evaporated and pineapple and mango have become mushy. Stir frequently.
Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009 All rights reserved.

Coconut ice cream

The last days I was missing ice cream from home so much that I decided to make some on my own. In Europe you can find many Italian ice cream shops which sell just the most amazing ice cream in all kinds of flavours. This coconut ice cream tastes almost as good as the ice cream I know from Europe and makes a delicious dessert. The sweetened condensed milk makes it so sweet that you don’t need to add extra sugar.

This recipe requires an ice machine.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup half & half
- 1 cup grated coconut (frozen)

Method:

Combine condensed milk, heavy cream, half & half and coconut and freeze according to your ice machine. Some ice machines require adding the coconut later.
Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009 All rights reserved.