Cookies Over the years

 

2024 - 9th grade UniHigh

2024 - Masala Cookies by Jeo - still wrapping my head around if we can call it cookies. Was Super yummy. 

2021 Covid Vaccines

2020 - covid mask cookies :D

Cakes over the years

 

Every year in March, as birthday approaches for our one and only one kiddo, our wonderful Tara, we get into the cake spirit. We ask her what kind of cake she wants and what theme does she want it in. Then its time to explore, plan, enjoy the baking and decoration!! 

Her very first cake was made by a special friend of ours, Papa Pat and Nana Jan. It was a chocolate cake with fudge in a star shape.

The next year onwards, we started making cake on her birthday. Some years, in preschool and kindergarten, she preferred stored bought cake - with decorations she chose.

Here are the cakes we baked: 

2023 - 14 year old - SailorMoon

2023: 14th Birthday - Year 2023 and some years before, kiddos show theme has been all Anime. We saw some amazing anime movies as family too. For the cake, she gave us some options including SailorMoon, which we chose to make :)

2022 - 13 years - Frogs and Mushroom phase

2022: 13th Birthday - With her interest in frogs and mushroom through the year, what makes a better cake than this one?? Still wondering why interest in mushroom and frogs!!! Parents ask too many rhetorical questions :D.

2022 - second cake - evil eye phase :)

2022 was a year of amazing blessings for us - along with kiddo stepping into teenage, we had another big reason to celebrate. Her love for "Evil Eye" was showing up in her jewelry, art, cups and where every possible,  and so for the second cake went with evil eye as the theme. 

2021-  12 years old - Cherry Blossoms 

2021 - 12 years: Cherry blossoms everywhere - in her art, room decor, perfume, body wash and everything.. 

2020 - 11 years - Covid year - IceCream cake

2020 - 11 years: Covid year - just as we were to celebrate the birthday the next week, Covid shutdown hit - lot of uncertainty and was a tough year. Thankfully we had the ingredients needed for an ice cream cake she wanted that year. 

2019 - 10 Year old

2019: Big 10 - After 2 years of exploring outside cakes, she decided she wanted us to make cake for her - chocolate cake & flowers, is all her wish list was. 

2016 - 7 years - shopkins

2015 - 6 years old - rainbow phase

2013 - 4 years old.. Cinderella attempt :)

2012 - 3 Years

2011 - 2 years old

Family Cake:  Our default cake for ANY celebration, Jeo's Birthday or New years or any happy time we want a cake, is of course our own pound cake with orange essence. If you are wondering why that is, its the same reason any time we make payasam - it is gothambu payasam 😆.. Just adding one pic as representaion for our pound cakes here 😈

            

 

And then of course, every year from 2011 onwards we make our Christmas cake:   

For Other Heart Connections :) 

2024 - 5 years - Rainbow Friends

2021 - 2 year old - CocoMelon

2011 - Iza - chocolate cake :)

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2½ cups (318 grams) all-purpose 

flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1¼ cups (250 grams) granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup (50 grams) for rolling
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to combine.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed to beat the butter and 1¼ cups sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, and vanilla, and beat until combined. Slowly beat in the flour mixture.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow dish. Using a large (3-tablespoon) spring-loaded scoop, divide the dough into balls, then roll in sugar to coat evenly. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart, and flatten slightly with the bottom of a measuring cup.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies set and begin to brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Note: roll some in colored sugar for festive colored cookies :)

Christmas Plum Cake(Kerala Bakery)

Baking the Christmas cake is our holiday ritual. We look forward to it every year and in fact come November, we start preparing for it. Our 7 year old also is very much part of the team.
After 11 years of trial and error, this year we feel we have reached the perfection -the smell, the taste and the texture. And this year, we did it without any leavening agents.  Those who  know my better half know exactly what I am talking about, wanting the perfection ;)..

We took 1 Pound combination (1 Pound butter - 1 pound sugar including 1 cup (0.25 lb) for caramel -1 Pound flour).  6 inch circle pan is used. We got three, 2 pound cakes.

Ingredients:

1. Raisins : 1/2 Pound  - black currant
2. Black dates: 2 ounce
3. Old English Fruit and Peel Mix - 1 ounce
4. Orange Peel - fresh - 2 Tbsp
5. Candied Papaya : 1 Ounce
6. Candied ginger : 1 Ounce
7. Brandy :1 Cup.
8. Cashew nut : 1/2 Pound.
9. Sugar for caramel syrup: 1/4 Pound. ( 1 Cup)
10. Eggs (room temperature): 1 pound
11. lemon juice : 3 tsp.
12. All Purpose Flour : 1 Pound (4 Cups).
13. Butter (unsalted,room temperature): 1 Pound.
14. Cane sugar: 3/4 Pound ( 3 cups).
15. Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp (heaped)
16. Nutmeg: 1 tsp (heaped)
17. Cloves Powder: 1/2 tsp(heaped)
18. Dry Ginger powder: 1 tsp(heaped)
19. Cardamom Powder:1 tsp(heaped)
20. Cocoa powder: 1 tsp (heaped)
21. Vanilla essence: 4 tsp.

Steps:

1. Soak Raisins and Dates in Brandy or Rum at least 2 days before making the cake. Chop the raisins and dates into small pieces before soaking them.
2. To prepare the cake pan, butter it, add parchment paper at the bottom, add wet cotton cloth around the pan(This ensures the sides are not burnt while the center is cooking).
3. Heat over to 350 degree F.
4. Chop ingredients 2-6 well and keep aside.
5. Crush cashew nuts (each kernel into about 5-8 pieces)
6. Next to make Caramel: Heat sugar in a heavy bottom pan, till it becomes blackish in color.  Add 1 Cup boiling water and reduce it till you get 1 thread consistency. Keep the caramel warm (place the bowl in hot water), till you are ready to use it.
7. Separate the egg whites and yolks.
8. Beat the egg whites with lemon juice, till steady peaks form. it becomes at least 10 times the volume.
9. Beat butter and sugar well till it becomes creamy yellow in color. This is very important step to make sure the bubbles are trapped well, esp if you are not using leavening agents.
10. Add egg yolks and beat well - more like mayonnaise consistency.
11. Add vanilla essence
12. Add caramel and mix well - use a hand beater.
13. Sieve flour and powdered spices together - trapping in more air here again :)
14. Add the flour to wet ingredients in step 11 - add till incorporated - DONOT overbeat.
15. Add the fruits mixture and cashew nuts and mix well - mix with spatula
16. Fold in the egg white - try to do this in as little strokes as possible - we do not want to break the bubble as much as possible.
17. Pour in the pans and bake for 30-45 mins. Keep a watch after the first 30 mins. Check every 10 minutes after that.
18. While baking, keep a small bowl with water in oven - this make sure that the cake is moist.
19. About 15 mins after the cake is out, transfer to cooling rack
20. Once cakes are lukewarm, brush with Brandy or rum - on all sides and the top. about 4-8 tsp can go on each cake.
21.Let the cakes cool well, wrap it well with wax paper and keep in air tight container for next 7 days at least.

Tips:

1. If you need to add leavening agent, use a mix: baking powder: 1tsp, baking soda: 1/2 tsp. This must be added along with the all purpose flour, while sieving.
2. Egg and butter MUST be at room temperature.
3. To make fresh orange peel - use tangerine peels and get it to dry nicely .
4. Caramel - is the one that gives the nostalgic Kerala taste and color. Make sure its uniformly melted and blackish in color. It should taste slightly bitter when you taste it :)
5. The best cake seems to be when there is about 1  - 1.5 inch thick batter. 1 inch was cooked really good and dry inside. Thicker, the more moist and takes more time. Like other cakes, when a toothpick comes clean is when it is cooked. However, we keep it a bit more to get the dry feel Kerala cakes have. 

Marble CupCake:

 

Ingredients:

 

All-Purpose flour                         - 210g

Butter (At room temp)                 - 115 g

Sugar                                            - 200 g

egg (at room temp)                       - 1 no

yoghurt                                         - 60 g

milk or whipping cream              - 3/4 cup

Vanilla extract                             - 2 tsp

Cocoa powder                             - 1/4 cup

 

 

Directions:

1. Preheat 350 degree
2. beat sugar and butter well
3. add egg and beat well
4. add yoghurt, milk
5. add vanilla extract
6. add all purpose flour (if adding baking soda, mix well with all purpose flour and add to mix)
7. add cocoa to 1/3 of batter
8. fill the cupcakes alternate vanilla and chocolate batters to make it marbled.
9. bake for 8-10 mins - for mini cupcakes

 Tips:

• if you are using baking soda add 1/2 tsp
• makes 24  mini cup cakes and 4 cup cakes
• keep a bowl of water so that the moisture is maintained..

Gumbo

Gumbo

1. thyme 1 tsp
2. oregano 1.5 tsp
3. basil - optional 1 tsp
4. bay leaf - 2
5. pepper -
6. paprika - 1 tsp or sriracha sauce :)
7. parsley leaves 1 tsp
8. celery  - 1/2 cup
9. tomatos - 5 medium
10. chicken - 1/ cup
11. shrimp - 6 or so
12. sausage - 1/4 cup - optional
13. capsicum - 1
14. shallots - 3
15. green onion - 1 bunch if needed
16. wheat or rice :) - 1 cup - uncooked

in oil, sauté all vegitables together, including tomatoes..
add meat, sausage and shrimp
add wheat rice and add water for all of it cook
add spices


enjoy :)

Chilly Turkey

A very easy recipe to manage your show during weekdays or when you have very little time :).

• Turkey - cubes - 2Cups.  I use the cooked turkey breast from Costco
• corn starch - 1.5 tbsp.
• Soy sauce - 2 tbsp.
• sri racha sauce - 2 tsp
• snow beans or other vegitables you want to use
• green chilly - 4 nos - more or less as per your spice level
• shallots - 1
• garlic - 1 clove
• ginger - little bit

1. mix corn starch, soy sauce and sriracha together. add more soy sauce if you need to make it more watery
2. marinate the turkey pieces using the mix above
3. since the meat is already cooked - no need to wait for marination to set in..
4. heat oil - I use coconut oil - pan fry the marinated turkey cubes very lightly.
5. remove from pan.
6. in same pan, add chilly, shallots, ginger, garlic and sauté well
7. add snow beans.
8. mix with turkey

enjoy turkey chilly with rice or noodles :)