Eggless Jam Shortcake Swirls#SundayFunday

These shortcakes are so delicious and buttery. To make these I used aluminum muffin mold, would suggest that you use a silicon muffin/cupcake molds to make these. While un molding these tend to break. Felt sorry for not using my silicon cupcake molds to make these delicious shortcakes, no doubt the broken ones my hubby enjoyed. The good ones I took for our Hi Tea Party with friends.

Makes 13 -14 Shortcake Swirls
Ingredients
200 Grams Butter - I used salted butter
75 Grams Icing Sugar
220 Grams All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Jam or as required
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
Icing sugar as required for dusting - optional

Method

Grease silicon cupcake molds and place them in the muffin tray (do not use liners).  

Beat butter and icing sugar well until creamy, stir in the flour, mix gently. Refrigerate this batter for at least 20 minutes. In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C.   

Pour the mixture into a large piping bag with a large piping nozzle. Pipe swirls of mixture into the molds. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes ( depending on how many swirls you make into the molds).    

Once the they are golden, take them out of the oven and keep them on a wire rack to cool.

Un mold each shortcake gently, sprinkle with icing sugar, put a small spoon drop of jam into center of each.   

Serve with tea or coffee. These got over in one go for our party. 

Labels: Biscuits & Cookies, Shortcakes, Jam, Eggless, Hi Tea, Party pleasers, Kids delight, Sunday Funday, Baked 

For Sunday Funday our theme is "Shortcake"

• Buttermilk Shortcakes with Macerated Berries from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes from Palatable Pastime
• Eggless Jam Shortcake Swirls from Sneha's Recipe
• Leftover Lemon Loaf Mixed Berry Shortcake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Mini Strawberry Shortcake Parfaits from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Strawberry Lemon Shortcake from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Strawberry Shortcake with Sweet Biscuits from Amy's Cooking Adventures

A Rustic Homemade No Knead Bread#BreadBakers

This is an easy Homemade No Knead Bread which is rustic and flavorful! It’s a no knead Dutch oven bread that tastes like a loaf of artisan bread made from a high end bakery. The bread is super delicious it can be enjoyed slathered butter or with soups or stews. 

I made this in my mud style Dutch Oven and it turned so beautiful with a crispy top.

Makes One Loaf
Ingredients
350 Grams All Purpose Flour
280 Ml Water
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Teaspoon Instant Yeast
Method

Into a bowl, add in the lukewarm water, add in the honey, salt and yeast. Mix until the ingredients get dissolved in water.

Now tip in the flour. Combine everything together with a back of a wooden spoon to form a shaggy mass of dough,  

making sure there are no dry patches.

Our bread dough is ready. Cover the bowl with a cling film and let the dough sit and proof for an hour.
The Next Step
To transform this dough into a well structured dough.  

After one hour of proofing , dip your finger in water and shake your hands to remove any excess water. Place your hands lightly underneath the dough and lift it up like a light stretch and fold the dough on to it self, rotate the bowl and from all the sides , do the same. Again rest the dough for half an hour covered .
After half and hour do the same stretch and fold method. Rest the dough again for half an hour. Again stretch and fold the dough. Total stretch and folds are done 4 times after every half an hour.

Dust a parchment paper with a mix of rice and whole wheat flour well and place it in a round bowl. If you have Benetton basket then dust that with the flour mix.
After the half an hour of the last fold. Transfer this dough
onto another bowl lined with parchment paper. Just lightly wet your hands and place one hand on the dough and the other under the bowl and lightly transfer this on the bowl lined with the parchment paper.  

Cover the bowl with a plastic film and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
As the bread is kept to rise, let's preheat the oven with the Dutch oven at 225°C. After 30 minutes , your Dutch oven is pretty hot and the oven. So take the Dutch oven out carefully with gloves on.  

Place the risen dough along with the parchment paper into the hot Dutch oven. With a blade slash it on top. 

Close the pot with lid and place it in the oven. Bake bread for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes remove the lid and reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 10 minutes.

The more you bake at this point, the more crispy the crust become.  
This extra baking will give that outer crust of the bread to get a more crisp and caramelized golden brown color and a nutty flavor.   

When baking these last few minutes, heat is directly acting only on the surface of the bread. 

So reducing the temperature will help not to over burn the crust and at the same time will make it more crunchy.

Cool this dough on a wire rack for at least an hour before you slice it.

Labels: No Knead Bread, Homemade, Breads, Bread Bakers, Eggless 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
The Badge:  

Sneha Recipes is hosting this month's event and asked the others to join me in sharing No Knead Breads    

A Rustic Homemade No Knead Bread From Sneha’s Recipe
Chocolate Chestnut Bread From A Messy Kitchen
Easy No Knead German Crusty Rolls From Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Mixed Grain Sourdough Soda Bread From Food Lust People Love
No Knead Knead Marbled Brioche From Passion Kneaded
Pide Ekmek (Turkish Flatbread) From A Day in the Life on the Farm
Vegan No Knead Tomato Basil Bread Form Magical Ingredients    

Paneer Lollipops#SundayFunday

A yummy combination of paneer slices on stick marinated with spices, called paneer lollipop is a perfect snack to prepare over the weekend or a party! These are a realy kid's delight.
Ingredients
250 Grams Paneer
For The Marination
¼ Teaspoon Vegetarian Stock Powder
2 Tablespoons Red Chilly Garlic sauce
¼ Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
¼ Teaspoon Coriander Powder
¼ Teaspoon Amchur/Mango Powder
2 Tablespoons Corn flour
For The Paste/Slurry
¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
¼ Cup Corn Flour
Salt & Black Pepper Powder to taste
Water as required to make a thick paste
Other Ingredients
Toothpicks as required 

¼ Cup White Sesame Seeds
Corn Flour as required for rolling
Oil as required for frying

Method

Wash and cut the paneer into broad/lollipop sticks.

In a large bowl add all the marination ingredients and make thick paste, add paneer sticks and toss it so that the spices stick to paneer sticks and leave aside for about 20 minutes,
Now take another bowl and add the slurry ingredients to this and add salt n pepper and dissolve with water to make a thick coating paste. 

Pierce each paneer lollipop to a stick one by one and roll each in dry corn flour and then roll in slurry, shake this lightly to make a even coating. Then roll in  sesame seeds. 

Heat oil in broad frying pan, shallow fry each paneer lollipop on medium high flame till one side is golden brown then flip and fry till all sides and golden. Serve hot with ketchup or any chutney or your choice.  

Very yummy and delicious .......crispy from outside and soft from inside with a rich garlic flavor.

My Notes 
I haven't used any salt in this recipe as chilly garlic sauce and stock has already lot of salt content in it ..you could check the marinade and use according to your taste.       

                                      

Labels: Paneer, Starters, Appetizer, Kids delight, Party pleasers, Sunday Funday, Vegetarian, Eggless

For Sunday Funday our theme is Something On A Stick, Host is Mayuri.
Here are some delicious recipes of Something On A Stick:  

  

Something On A Stick:

• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Bacon Mini Cheese Balls on a Stick
• A Day in the Life on the Farm Homemade Corndogs
• Food Lust People Love: Marinated Turkey Kabobs - Shish Hindi
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Mini Caprese Salad Skewers
• Sneha’s Recipe: Paneer Lollipops
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Vegetable Seekh Kababs 

Eggless Gajar Halwa Cake /Carrot Halwa Cake#SundayFunday

This Indian Gajar Halwa is famous and when in season you it's a must for even function or party. This is made in my house at least 3 times during the winter season, since my hubby and son in law loves it. My hubby was going to attend his music group get to gether and he wanted me make an eggless cake to take. Had made this gajar halwa, so decided to try this cake. It was a hit.

In this gajar halwa then is no khoya/mawa or milk powder the milks evaporates and forms in mawa itself.  You will love this gajar halwa.

Ingredients 

For The  Cake
½ Cup Fine Semolina / Rawa - not roasted 
¼ Cup Caster Sugar
1 Teaspoon Level Baking powder
½ Teaspoon Level Baking soda
1½ Cup All Purpose Flour
A Pinch Cardamom powder
½ Teaspoon Milk Essence
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Oil
¼ Teaspoon Salt
¾ Cup Prepared Gajar Halwa
1/8 Cup Pistachios - chopped
⅓ cup Condensed milk
¾ Cup+- Milk
¼ Cup Yogurt - beaten
For The Gajar Halwa
1 Kg Red / Winter Carrots - grated
¼ Cup Desi Ghee
1½ Liters Milk ( Full Fat)
⅓ Cup Heaped Granulated Sugar
½ Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
A Pinch Of Saffron Strands

For The Compote
4 Strawberries - slice
1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar
½ Of Red /Winter Carrot - julienned
½ Teaspoon Lemon juice

Method
For The Gajar Halwa

This halwa does take time but in the intial stage till the sugar is not added you need not stir. You can leave this on the flame and after every 10 minutes come and give it a stir. No fuss gajar halwa. Only once you add the sugar you need to keep on eye on it, stir it continuously till the sugar melts. Worth the effort and trouble.

Heat ghee in a kadai, add grated carrots. 

Cook till they are soft. 

Add milk and saffron strands, 

let this cook on slow flame till all the milk is evaporated.

Then add sugar in it. Now keep an eye on the mix and stir it continuously till the sugar melts and the mixture thickens.

Add the cardamom powder and mix well, 

switch off the flame.

Gajar Halwa is ready. Keep the halwa on room temperature. Let it cool then only use it to make the cake.

For Eggless Gajar Halwa Cake

Butter a pan ( I used two square ones) well then line the bottom with a parchment paper, dust it with flour, keep a side ( the ideal pan is a round one 6" with height, gives a nice height and looks beautiful). Since this was going for my hubby's music group party, had to make many slices so used a square one. The cake was flat but so delicious.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

In a bowl, add all dry ingredients semolina, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, flour and cardamom powder mix it well. Add butter and oil in the dry mixture and mix well with a hand whisk. Add gajar halwa, pistachios and condensed milk in dry mixture. Now, add milk, yogurt, essence, cardamom powder in the mixture and mix it well. 

Transfer the batter in the cake tin. Place it in a the preheat oven for about 25 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the cake. 

Check the cake with a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clear take the cake tin out of oven. Let it cool on the wire rack.
For The Compote
Heat a pan add sliced strawberry, sugar and julienned carrot in it. Cook if for 3-4 minutes and then add lemon juice in it. Switch off the flame.

When the cake cools un mold and spread the prepared compote. 

The cake is ready to serve. 
Labels: Gajar Halwa , Carrots, Eggless, Cake, Sunday Funday

For our event called Sunday Funday, wherein we share recipes our families will love to enjoy on a Sunday. Our host for this week's event is Stacy of Food Lust People Love and the theme is Birthday Party Potluck .  

• Bhagar Rice from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen
• Borage Sparklers, Both Boozy and Not from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Burmese-style Bean Thread Noodle Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Cheeseburger Sliders with Homemade Slider Buns from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Eggless Gajar Halwa Cake - Carrot Halwa Cake from Sneha’s Recipe
• Four Cheese Ravioli Skillet from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• French Macarons from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Greek Feta Spread (Kopanisti) from Palatable Pastime
• Maple Panna Cotta With Roasted Figs from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese from Making Miracles
• Tandoori Aloo Platter from Sizzling Tastebuds

Caramel Bread Surprise - No Bake#Improve

An Easy Caramel Bread Surprise makes the perfect dessert. You have to prepare this a day in advance if you want to serve it for a party. It has to set/chill in the refrigerator, then only, you will be able serve it in slices, as this a not bake dessert.

Ingredients

For The Caramel

190 Grams Homemade Dulce De Leche
1/3 Cup Milk
4 Large Bread Slices - trim off the sides 
For The Cashew Caramel Crunch
½ Cup Cashew Nuts
¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Butter
For The Caramel Cream
2 Cups Whipping Cream
2 Tablespoons Homemade Dulce De Leche

Method
Dry roast the cashew lightly.
For The Cashew Caramel Crunch

Take a nonstick pan add the sugar and on low flame let is melt do not stir, when the sugar completely melts and starts to 

caramel then stir till it turn light golden, add the butter and switch off the flame

add the cashew and give it quick mix.

Pour this on a greased plate and let it cool. Then break this into pieces and place it in a zip lock bag, crush it with a rolling pin till coarsely powdered.

Keep aside our caramel crunch is ready.
For The Caramel Cream

Whip the cream till it forms soft peaks, add the Dulce De Leche and whip it for a minute or till well blended, if your want a dark color then add more Dulce De Leche. Keep aside
For The Caramel

To make the Dulce De Leche spreadable. Add the Dulce De Leche with the milk and cooked it on low flame till it becomes a little thick but spreadable caramel consistency. Switch off the flame and let it cool.

For Assembling The Bread Surprise
Lightly butter a 6" Pyrex dish.

Pour little thin caramel on the base, arrange bread slice

with a spoon spread the caramel on it then sprinkle the crunch.

Then whipped caramel cream mixture
Again bread slice with a spoon spread the caramel on it then sprinkle the crunch. Again whipped caramel cream Mixture. Drizzle a caramel , sprinkle the crunch on top. 

Cling wrap it and let it chill in the refrigerator over night so that is sets well.

Serve this chilled. 

It's super delicious, enjoy!!
Labels: Improv Cooking Challenge, Caramel, Cashewnuts,No Bake Desserts, Whipping Cream, Dulce De Leche, Bread Slices, Eggless, No Gelatin

 Improv Cooking Challenge

Caramel & Cashew

• Vietnamese Caramel Chicken by Pandemonium Noshery
• Cashew Caramel Cookies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Caramel Falooda by Magical Ingredients
• Caramel Bread Surprise - No Bake by Sneha's Recipes
• Vietnamese Caramel Beef an Cashews by Making Miracles