Date & Walnut Bundt#BundtBakers

I don't remember my father baking for us. Only when my mummy would be ill, my dad would go into kitchen and cook for us something that was the easiest, omelette and fried bananas, then he would cut plenty of fruits and keep them for us to enjoy for lunch on that day only. For the rest of the days and meals when mummy was in bed my aunt would come and cook for us. As such my father never cooked in the kitchen. 

This is one of my dad's favorite cake. My dad must have something to with his evening tea. This is delicious enough on it's own and requires no frosting.

Ingredients
225 Grams Seedless Dates - chopped
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
100 Ml Warm Water
85 Grams Butter
115 Grams Caster Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
115 Grams All Purpose Flour
2 Eggs - separated
¾ Teaspoon Baking powder
60 Grams Walnuts - chopped

Method

Soak the dates overnight in warm water mixed with baking  soda.

Separate the eggs - yolks and whites. Whisk the whites till stiff and keep aside.

Cream butter and sugar well till light and fluffy. Add the yolk one at a time and beat it well then add the other and beat that well. Add in the essence and mix well. Now fold in the flour alternating with the dates and walnuts. When all the flour and dates and walnuts are incorporated then gently fold in the whites. 

Pour this in a greased and floured bundt pan and bake in a preheated oven 150°C for about 30 - 35 minutes. 

Let it cool for 10 minutes.

 Then un mold and

let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Slice & Enjoy !!
Labels: Bundt, Bundt Bakers, Dates, Walnuts  

  

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or themeYou can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page. ;">

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Carrot Cake Mini Bundt
• Sneha's Recipe: Date and Walnut Bundt Cake
• Magical Ingredients: Eggless Basundhi Bundt Cake 
• Making Miracles: Fresh Apple Bundt Cake 
• Palatable Pastime: Lemon Raspberry Marbled Bundt Cake 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Oreo Bundt 
• Food Lust People Love: Passionfruit Pound Cake Bundt 
• Patyco Candybar : Sangria Bundt Cake 

Sourdough Discard Pancakes#BreadBakers

Our breakfast is a most important meal of the day, where we, have a scrumptious and delicious one. There are many choices for breakfast like pancakes, idli, dosa, upma, poha, crepes, chillas etc. But this is my new found liking , a fluffy sourdough pancake made with sourdough discard, a another way to use the discard and make something deliciously good for breakfast. 

These pancakes are so easy to make you preferment the dough and keep it aside in your kitchen counter, next day morning add rest of the ingredients and your ready to make breakfast.
The pre-ferment, means, the pancakes will get a lot of developed taste.

Makes 10 Pancakes
Ingredients
For The Pre-ferment
250 Grams All Purpose Flour
30 Grams Sugar
250 Grams Sourdough Starter Discard -** My Notes
500 Ml Buttermilk

For The Batter - To Be Added In the Morning
2 Eggs
50 Grams Unsalted Butter - melted - I used salted
¾ Teaspoon Sea Salt - ** My Notes
1 Teaspoon Level Baking Soda - ** My Notes

Method 
For The Pre-ferment

The night before mix in all the given ingredients and cling wrap the bowl. Leave covered at room temperature overnight.

For The Batter - To Be Added In the Morning

In a medium mixing bowl add eggs , melted butter, mix until combined. Tip in the pre-ferment, mix in the baking soda, salt and mix it well. The batter should bubble up.

To Make The Pancakes

Heat a small or medium pan on medium flame.
Melt about a teaspoon of butter and distribute evenly on the pan. Pour a ladle full of batter on the pan ( Do not spread) and let it cook until the top is full of holes and it's slightly cooked. 

Flip the pancake and let it cook until the other side is golden brown. Continue until all of the batter has been turned into pancakes.

Place the pancake on a serving plate, place a small cube of butter on top. 

Do this every time you place a pancake over each other.

They are all ready and looking deliciously good!!

Enjoy these pancakes with some fresh fruit or with maple syrup!

These are light, fluffy, deliciously well-fermented and enriched flavor pancakes, you will love them!!

My Notes

** I have used salted butter hence reduced the salt to ½ teaspoon.
** The sourdough discard was semi active, hence the batter was double and bubbly in the morning, so I, used only ¾ teaspoon level baking soda.
If you don’t have buttermilk you can use regular or plant based milk and mix it with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Leave on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes after mixing and you have a buttermilk.
If you want to make the pancakes vegan you can use either vegetable oil or a plant-based butter and omit the eggs.

Labels: Breakfast, Dessert, American, Pancake, Sourdough, Sourdough Discard, Healthy, Bread Bakers, International Cuisine

#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.
This month’s event is Breakfast Bread hosted by Zesty South Indian Kitchen

                                           

And don’t forget to check out all the amazing Breakfast Breads baked by our talented bakers ~ Bread Baker's Event for June 2021 . 

• Breakfast Garbage Bread Making Miracles
• Danish Crisps A Messy Kitchen
• English Muffins Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Flax Meal Breakfast Bread Ambrosia
Fresh Cherry Chocolate Sourdough Bread Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Multigrain Blueberry Bread What Smells So Good?
• Montreal-Style Bagels Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Rhubarb Strawberry Spiced Sourdough Bread Cook with Renu
• Sausage Stuffed Sourdough Crescent Rolls Food Lust People Love
• Spicy Masala Veggie Paratha Magical Ingredients
• Sourdough Angel BiscuitsPalatable Pastime
• Sourdough Crepes A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Discard Pancakes Sneha’s Recipe

White Chocolate Chunk Oats Cookies#BakingBloggers

These are bakery style White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with golden brown edges with gooey centers.

They are so delicious perfect cookies to go with your tea or coffee. I have made big ones weight is 45 grams each. But they are so crisp and bake in just 12 to 14 minutes.

Makes 14 Big Cookies 
Ingredients
75 Grams Softened Butter
38 Grams Vegetable Shortening
140 Grams Caster Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla essence
175 Grams All Purpose Flour
¼ Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Baking soda
½ Teaspoon Baking powder
46 Grams Oats - make it into a powder
100 Grams White chocolate chips

Method  

Beat butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy, then add in the egg and vanilla essence, sieve the dry ingredients, with a spatula mix it till no dry spot of flour is seen. Cling wrap the bowl and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. After 2 hours I weighed each cookie 45 grams. Make round balls and placed them in a lined baking tray and again refrigerate the tray till the oven is pre heated.

In the meantime pre-heated oven to 170°C . Place one tray at a time in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes, half through the baking time, change the sides of the tray. Check if the cookies are done after 12 minutes. Mine were done at 13 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and place the other tray. Lift each cookies with a spatula and place them on a wire rack, till they cooled completely. 

When completely cooled, store them airtight container. Enjoy with your tea or coffee. 

My Notes
You can make these all butter, but, I have used vegetable shortening a little so that these retain they shape and do not spread while baking. These retained their shape as your can see. They have perfect top. 

These are so crispy and chewy, you will love them.
Chilling the dough is a must or else you want be able to roll them or shape them.

Labels: Oats, White Chocolate, Cookies, Biscuits & Cookies, Baking Bloggers, Butter, Vegetable shortening, Egg, International Cuisine 

Baking Bloggers

Baking with Oats or Oat Flour 

• • • Baked Oatmeal with Rhubarb by A Day in the Life on the Farm
    • Buttermilk Oat Flour Pancakes by The Redhead Baker
    • Cherry Rhubarb Crisp by Palatable Pastime
    • Chewy Oatmeal Cookies by Making Miracles
    • Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
    • Fresh Cherry and Nectarine Crisp With Oat Streusel by Magical Ingredients
    • Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake - Hjónabandssæla by Food Lust People Love
    • White Chocolate Chunk Oats Cookies by Sneha’s Recipe

Kokum Sherbat#SundayFunday

The Summer heat is full on now and the never ending thirst to have cool treats and drinks which will soothe the swelter, scorching heat. One such drink that will cool down the heat and give a soothing effect to our body and its system it this apt drink. Kokum is a berry like fruit native to Western Ghats and the coastal region of India, it's an Indian Super fruit.
In English Kokum is known as Garcinia indica, a plant in the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae), which in India known as kokum, which is used in culinary, pharmaceutical and industrial. This drink is prefect and prepared in a jiffy it's no fuss. So lets go to the drink and cool down. 

Ingredients  

5 -6 Nos Kokum
1 Green chilly - de seeded & finely chopped
2 Tablespoon Jaggery or according to your taste
A pinch or two of roasted Cumin powder
4 Cups water
Shendav Namak/ Salt to taste
1 Teaspoon Lime juice
2 Tablespoons Coriander leaves finely chopped

Method
Rinse the kokum fruits in water. Lightly heat the water and add all the ingredients except coriander and green chilly, stir well and let it rest for a hour or two. When the juice and color of the kokum has been absorbed in the water, strain the juice. Then keep this in the fridge to cool. When ready to serve add the coriander leaves and green chilly, ice cubes. Serve chilled kokum sherbet and feel super cool. The lime juice in this drink gives a lovely tangy feel.  

My Notes 

 This juice can be prepared with sugar also. You can also store this juice in the fridge for a two to 3 days. If you want to store it for more days then do not add the green chilly and coriander leaves .

This is what Maharashtrian's used as a souring agent (apart from tamarind and before the tomatoes came along.)

Labels: Kokum, Juices, Healthy, Preservative free, Summer Fruits, Maharastrian Cuisine, Maharashtra, Sunday Funday

Magic with Berries

• Berry Spinach Salad by Making Miracle
• Blackberry Spinach Salad by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Blueberry & Grape Smoothie by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Blueberry Picking and a Summer Salad with Microflowers and Berries by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Eggless Strawberry Banana Muffin by Cook with Renu
• Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Sandwiches with Blackberry Jalapeno BBQ Sauce by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kokum Sherbat by Sneha’s Recipe
• Sparkling Strawberry Cocktail by Food Lust People Love
• Summer Berry Turnovers by Karen's Kitchen Stories

A Healthy Salad With Sumac Yogurt Dressing#Improv

This is a salad with sumac yogurt dressing. It's makes a filling meal too. You can make the salad and dressing the day before, separately, cover and chill. Serve it just when you want.

Makes 2 Large Plates Salad
Ingredients
1/3 Cup Brown Rice
1/3 Cup Sabut Masoor / Puy lentils
2 Firm Tomatoes - de seeded & diced
1 O0ty Carrot - diced
2 Celery sticks - diced
1 Cup Colored Bell Peppers - diced
1 Cucumber - diced
1 Small Onion - diced
1 Green chilly - deseeded & finely chopped
A Juice of One Lemon
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 Tablespoons Chopped Coriander
Salt & Black Pepper to taste
For The Yogurt Dressing
250 Ml Fresh Thick Yogurt
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
A Juice of One Lemon
1 Teaspoon Sumac
1 Clove Garlic - grated
Method

Wash and soak the brow rice and lentil separately for at least 2 hours.
Cook the rice and lentils in pressure cooker separately with water one inch above the rice / lentils and salt to taste.  The lentils are cooked on high flame for one whistle. Drain well and set aside to cool. In the same cooker, add the brown rice, water and salt to taste, cook it on high flame for one whistle then reduce the flame and cook it for 15 minutes on low flame.  Drain well and set aside to cool.
In small jar mix in the lemon juice, oil, season it with salt and pepper. Set this aside.

Mix the yogurt dressing ingredients, season and sprinkle with sumac.

In a large plate arrange each in color contrast. Sprinkle the chopped coriander and chilly on top.  Cling wrap and refrigerate till ready to serve. 

Stir the lemony oil into the salad just before serving; serve the yogurt dressing on the side.
Labels: Sabut Masoor, Salads, Carrots, Tomato, Brown Rice, Garlic, Radish, Healthy, Improv Cooking Challenge, Sumac, Yogurt, International Cuisine

Improv Cooking Challenge: June 2021

Sumac & Yogurt

• Iranian Beef Stew with Yogurt Sauce from Pandemonium Noshery
• Persian Kebab Kubideh from Palatable Pastime
• A Healthy Salad With Sumac Yogurt Dressing from Sneha's Recipe
• Garlic and Herb Marinated Chicken from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Curried Eggplant and Chickpea Fatteh by Magical Ingredients
• Mussakhan (Roast Chicken with Sumac and Red Onions) by Making Miracles
• Mediterranean Chicken Gyro from Cookaholic Wife