Caprese Chocolate and Almond Torte 

Recipe from Milk Street Cafe

This flourless chocolate cake from Capri, Italy (where it is called torta caprese), gets its rich, almost brownie-like texture from ground almonds and a generous amount of egg. Before grinding the nuts, we toast them to intensify their flavor and accentuate the deep, roasted notes of the chocolate. We preferred the cake made with bittersweet chocolate containing 70 to 80 percent cocoa solids. You can, of course, use a lighter, sweeter bittersweet chocolate, but the cake will have less chocolate intensity. Serve slices warm or at room temperature dolloped with unsweetened whipped cream.

Don’t forget the reduce the oven to 300°F after toasting the almonds. Also, don't overbake the cake or its texture will be dry and tough. Whereas most cakes are done when a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, a toothpick inserted into this one should come out with sticky, fudgy crumbs, similar to brownies.

10 servings     

233 gms sliced almonds

5 large eggs

2 tsps vanilla extract

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

199 gms packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp table salt

Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Spread the almonds in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once about halfway through. Cool to room temperature.

While the almonds cool, reduce the oven to 300°F. Mist the bottom and sides of 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with kitchen parchment, then mist the parchment. Crack the eggs into a liquid measuring cup and add the vanilla; set aside.

In a food processor, process 185 grams (2 cups) of the almonds until finely ground, 20 to 30 seconds. Add the chocolate and pulse until the chocolate is finely ground, 10 to 15 pulses. Add the sugar and salt, then process until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl as needed. With the machine running, gradually pour in the egg mixture. Continue processing until the batter is smooth and homogenous, about another 15 to 20 seconds. Remove the blade and scrape the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle evenly with the remaining 48 grams (⅓ cup) almonds. Bake until the center feels firm when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out with moist, fudgey crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.

Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cake, then invert onto a rack. Peel off the parchment and reinvert the cake onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Thirattipal

 

 

Thiruvathirai kali

Wash & dry required quantity of raw rice. Then fry it till it turns slightly

 Week 22 - Cocoa muffins

Vinku's Badam Halwa 

Ingredients

I usually make it with 1 cup badam but maybe you should use 2 cups. 2 cups badam (peeled or unpeeled) 1 3/4 cups sugar 

3/4 tsp saffron 

1/2 tsp cardamom 

1. If badam is already peeled, soak in hot water for an hour or more. 

2. If badam is not peeled, then in a stainless steel vessel, add the badam and enough water to cover it. Heat until the water boils and let it boil for 2 minutes. When it has cooled down, peel off the skin. There are two ways to do this. Rub the badam together and most of the skin will come off. The second way - hold each badam by the pointy end and squeeze lightly. the whole skin will come off. 

3. Grind the badam to a smooth paste using enough water. 

 4. Place the badam paste in a pan and add the sugar. Keep the heat on low to medium and keep stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. After about 15 minutes, add saffron - crush it with your hand as you are adding it. 

 5. The mixture will slowly start turning translucent - it will take a good 30 to 30 minutes Make sure the heat is low. 

6. When it is semi-solid and translucent, turn off the heat and add the cardamom. The above tastes really good even without any ghee. You could even mix it in milk and drink it like badam kheer.

Seven Cup Sweet

1 cup besan
1 cup coconut
1 cup milk
1 cup ghee
3 cups sugar

Add everything to a pan and cook.  When it thickens, pour onto a greased plate and cut.

Mango Ice Cream

I had couple of baking disasters last week. I tried to make baked samosas at home. They were really really bad! Some things should just be had fried :-). Then I made buns but it came out rock hard. I hate throwing food but it was either that or a visit to the dentist. No more baking for some time! Mango season has started and it is a good time to make some mango ice cream. I followed this recipe from jugalbandi and the ice cream was delicious. You do not need an ice cream machine to make this. The ice cream was too hard to scoop though so I just kept it out for few minutes before serving.

Chocolate Fudge

Ma used to make her version of chocolate fudge often when we were kids. I got the recipe from her and have tried making it many times but I never get the texture right. Most times the fudge comes out soft and sticky. I asked Ma to make it today and the fudge turned out just perfect. Trick is to turn off gas at the right moment. A minute earlier and the fudge will be soft and sticky. A minute later and the fudge will be too hard. Hopefully I will get it right someday!

Chocolate Fudge

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp cocoa (sugarless)
13 tbsp milk powder
3 tbsp unsalted butter

Sieve cocoa and milk powder together. Make sugar syrup to one thread consistency. For this, mix sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan and set to boil on medium flame. Once sugar dissolves, keep checking consistency of syrup. To do this, dip a spatula into the syrup and lift it out. Allow to cool for few seconds and then touch the syrup with forefinger and then touch your thumb and forefinger together and pull it apart gently. When a single thread is formed and does not break then one thread consistency has been reached. Add cocoa and milk powder mixture to this, stirring constantly (on medium flame). Add butter and keep stirring. If too dry, add 1-2 tbsps water. When it is thick enough (this should approx. take 25-30 minutes), turn off gas and pour onto greased plate. When slightly cool, cut into pieces.
You can also add chopped nuts (cashews and almonds) to the fudge.

No-cook chocolate balls

I am planning to make pizza for dinner tonight. This is the first time I will be making pizza at home from scratch and I am pretty excited. Hope it comes out well. For dessert, I wanted to make something simple. Did not feel like baking a cake or making any of our Indian sweets like gajar ka halwa or gulab jamun etc. Then I remembered that Mom once made this yummy dessert with condensed milk and drinking chocolate powder and it required no cooking. It was a long time ago and she had forgotten the recipe but luckily I had it in my recipe collection. The chocolate balls were ready in 10 minutes.

No-cook Chocolate Balls (makes about 20 small balls)

Marie biscuits, 13-15
Condensed milk, 1/2 cup
Drinking chocolate powder, 2 tbsps
Dessicated coconut, about 1/4 cup

Mix the condensed milk and chocolate powder in a bowl. Keep aside. Put the biscuits in a ziploc bag and crush to a coarse powder with a rolling pin. Add this to the condensed milk and mix well. Make into small balls. If the mixture is not thick enough add more crushed biscuits. Roll the balls in dessicated coconut till the coconut sticks onto the ball. Chill or eat as it is.

Instant Rabdi

My daughter does not like milk and refuses to drink it. Every morning this is the conversation we have:

D, drink your milk
No
D, drink your milk please
Nnnnno
D, DRINK YOUR MILK
Nooooooo
After 40 minutes, "D, FINISH YOUR MILK. RIGHT NOW"

 She likes other milk products though like cheese and yogurt. And she loves desserts like kheer and custard. Oh well, I guess I should be happy that she eats stuff made from milk! I was looking through my recipe books for some quick recipe for her evening snack when I came across this instant rabdi recipe by Tarla Dalal. This can be made in a jiffy. I reduced the sweetness and did not add cornflour as I wanted the rabdi to be liquidy.

Instant Rabdi

 2 cups milk
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
5-6 almonds, lightly toasted for garnishing

Boil the milk. Reduce heat, add bread crumbs, condensed milk and cardamom powder and stir for 6-8 minutes. Divide into bowls, and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Serve chilled or warm. You can also chop up some dates and raisins and add to the rabdi.

Ice-Cream cake

I watch Nigella Lawson's show regularly. The other day she made quick ice-cream cake on her show. Very simple and easy to make and your kids will love it. Here is my own version of the ice-cream cake. The basic concept is to mix vanilla ice-cream with biscuits and chocolates. In the original recipe, the cake is served with chocolate and butterscotch sauce but I did not opt for the sauces as I felt the cake was already too rich and sweet.

Ice-cream cake
(Select some chocolates with nuts in them for that extra crunchiness)

400 gms vanilla ice-cream
6 bourbon biscuits
Assorted cadbury chocolates (or any chocolates of your choice)

Keep the ice-cream in the fridge or outside so it softens. Keep ready a springform pan with the bottom and sides lined with clingwrap. Next, crush the biscuits and the chocolates coarsely in a zip lock bag. Keep 2-3 tbsps aside and put the rest in a bowl. Add ice-cream to this and mix well. Pour this into the springform pan and sprinkle the remaining biscuit-chocolate mixture on top. Cover the pan with clingwrap so no air gets inside. Freeze. When you are ready to serve, keep the cake out for 2-3 minutes before cutting.