Watermelon Mojito Sorbet

(I apologise for the lack of a picture here. It was one of those times when we were running out the door, sorbet in a cooler, trying to make it in time for an ice-cream social at a friends place. It was a ton of fun! We sampled some amazing desserts, home made wines and ice cream. I think it's an awesome idea and want to plan something myself soon!)

This summer I have been experimenting with ice cream and gelato recipes. I still haven't found that perfect 'healthy' recipe for ice cream. The consistency is always a little icy-er than I'd like it when I skimp on the heavy cream. Or it could be my ice cream maker. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

This weekend our new mint bush was taking over the deck, so I decided to chop it down to size and use the fresh mint leaves in a multitude of things- punch, soup and a sorbet! 

This sorbet is very fresh tasting. It would make a perfect palate cleaner between courses of a heavy meal!

Ingredients:

3 cups watermelon juice
1 cup water
1 cup cane sugar 

(or to taste- depends on the sweetness of the watermelon. Also remember that once churned, the sweetness intensifies. So aim for a moderate sweetness before the mix goes into the ice cream maker)
1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
2 tsp corn starch (dissolved in 2-3 tbsps of water)
Zest of 2 limes
1/2 cup lime juice (I used about 4 limes)
1/2 cup vodka (A citrus liquor would also work here- I used part vodka part limoncello)
2 Tbsp mint chiffonade

Bring the water, juices (watermelon, lime) and sugar to a gentle boil
Stir until the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat.
Chop the mint and add this and the zest to the juice. Steep for about 20 minutes.
Add the cornstarch mixture and bring to a gentle boil again. Stir for a couple minutes until slightly thickened.
Stir in the liquor/vodka and mix well until combined.
Chill in the refrigerator until cold and freeze in an ice cream maker (5 minutes before it is done, add in the mint chiffonade)
Place the sorbet in the freezer (front portion- the back is too cold), for a couple hours to harden

Blueberry Maple Coffee Cake

Continuing the saga of blueberry related recipes, here is a coffee cake that will pick you up any afternoon. Enjoy with your favorite mocha or a cold coffee on a hot summer day!

It is not very easy to lighten up baked goods but I've been inspired by many culinary blogs out there that focus on natural cooking. This cake is sweetened mostly with maple syrup and blueberries. Feel free to substitute for any other berry as well. If you dont like the flavor of maple syrup (what!!), you could use equal parts of agave nectar, brown or cane sugar, even honey!

The cake is moistened with the berries and greek yogurt. The amount of butter has been more than halved from a traditional coffee cake recipe. I used fat free yogurt.

The whole wheat flour makes for a more crumbly cake and is substantial. So a thin slice goes a long way with this cake! I think the orange and the rosemary bring out the freshness of the berries and just remind me of summer. I think next time I'll experiment with raspberries, honey and lemon zest. Maybe a different nut as well- pine nuts?

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: ~40 minutes
Serves: 12 modest slices

Ingredients:

Cake-
1/2 stick of butter- room temperature
1/2 cup maple syrup- room temperature
1 egg or 1/2 cup applesauce- room temperature
1/4 cup greek yogurt (fat free is ok)
2 tbsp milk (reduced fat is ok)
2 tsp vanilla
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups blueberries

Topping-
1/2 stick butter- cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Beat the butter until fluffy in a large bowl with a whisk. Add in the maple syrup, egg/apple sauce, vanilla and zest and beat well. Sift the flour with the baking powder and soda. Mix in the rosemary. Add half of this to the butter mix. Stir. Add the greek yogurt, stir well. Add the rest of the flour and stir until barely combined. Moisten with the milk and add 1.5 cups of the berries in. Stir gently. Scrape the batter into a well buttered and floured cake pan (1 used a 1 pound loaf tin. You could also line the pan with parchment paper instead of flouring it)

Heat the oven to 350F

Make the topping- In a food processor- pulse all the ingredients about 20 times until the mixture resembles a crumbly, doughy texture. Using your fingers crumble 1/2 of this onto the cake. Sprinkle the remaining berries on top and crumble the rest of the topping onto the cake. Flatten very gently very with your fingers.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean. Cook in pan for a couple minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Butterscotch Banana Bread

This recipe started out with 4 really ripe bananas and some butterscotch chips that I picked up the other day at the grocery store on a whim!

Serves: About 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes. Bake time: 60 minutes

2 cups cake flour
8 tbsp butter
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
4 bananas, overly ripe (skins are almost blackened)
1 tbsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 tspsalt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
1 tsp butter (to grease the pan)
*1 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup caster sugar or 1/2 cup maple syrup (garnish)

Sift the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside
Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
Puree the bananas with the yogurt, eggs and vanilla
Mix with the sugar and butter until combined

Add the wet to the dry in 3 batches, mix well until you see no lumps
Stir in the walnuts and butterscotch chips into the cake batter
Grease a 9 inch loaf tin with 1 tsp butter
Pour the batter into the pan evenly

Bake at 350F for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake, comes out almost clean (a few crumbs are ok since this is a moist cake)
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before trying to turn out from the tin.
Sift the caster sugar or swish the maple syrup across the top of the cake before serving (optional)

* Can substitute chocolate chips,  cranberries, chopped dates etc in place of butterscotch. They all make for a tasty treat.

Zesty Lemon Curd

A fridge overflowing with eggs and lemon made for an easy citrus decision. Lemon curd (as I've found this week ...) can be used in many delicious ways. On pancakes, panna cotta, ice cream or just folded into whipped cream and topped with fresh berries! Quite a yummy week, dessert wise! :)

5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest 
1 stick butter, chilled
1 cup water
 
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until smooth.
Bring the water in a medium saucepan to a simmer. Place a bowl on top of the pan without touching the water. (This is called a water bath) Lower the heat.
Place the egg mixture in the bowl on top of the pan and start whisking in the lemon juice and zest.
Whisk for about 10 minutes or until mixture has thickened like a simple sryup.
Turn off the heat and stir the butter in- cutting little pieces of it at a time.
Place in a very clean and dry bowl, cover with some plastic wrap pressing it directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a film forming.
Will store in the fridge for upto 2 weeks or freezer for a month.

Maple Date Sticky Toffee Pudding

(Sorry for the poor quality of this photo- I couldn't wait to dig in!) :)

Just in time for Valentine's day- voila a dessert perfect for sharing! Well, I don't really succumb to the V-Day traditions but there's always room for a sweet-excuse. :)

H loved the Sticky Toffee pudding we had in London. He couldnt get enough of it and went from one M&S to another in search for this traditional English dessert. Back home, we found it hard to find and like so many things that fade with time- the memories of this dish were replaced by other concoctions ...

Until today! Some research and a great many variations later, I stumbled upon what I think is a pretty good match to the flavors of it's British counterpart. I tried reducing the fat and sugar in the recipe and I think this version holds it own.

Serves 8, Preparation time 90 minutes

Maple Toffee sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup reduced fat milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Toasted walnuts or pecans

Bring all the ingredients except nuts to a boil and reduce to a simmmer. Stiring constantly, simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture is thick. Pour half of the sauce into a baking tin and put the tin into the freezer to set the sauce.

Date Pudding
1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
8 oz dates, chopped
1 cup water

Bring the water and dates to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add 1 tsp of baking powder, mix and keep covered.
Cream the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one and beat for a couple minutes
Add half the flour, baking powder and salt- mix well. Stir in the vanilla
Add half the date mixture, mix, add the remaining flour and mix until just incoorporated.

Pour mixture into baking tin and bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out with moist crumbs only.

Once cool, overturn onto a plate, cut into 8 pieces and serve with toffee sauce, toasted pecans/walnuts and whipped cream (optional). Serve warm or cold.

Caramel Chocolate Bites of Heaven/ Torte

I had to up the name on this version of Decadent Bars. They are yummy with a scoop of vanilla icecream or all on their own, cut into bite sized squares warm from the oven. It was a huge hit at a recent soiree we hosted over appetizers and good conversation. I did realise that with recipes like this, cutting corners isnt so easy. However, margarine, half-and-half and reducing the sugar in this recipe didnt seem to eat into the decadence.

Makes about 20 servings. Preparation time about 60 minutes.

Crust
100 g all purpose flour
50 g brown sugar
50 g pecans or hazelnuts
100 g cold butter, cubed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor until crumbly. Press into a springform pan and bake in a 355F oven for 20 minutes or until golden at the edges.

Filling
250g heavy cream (100 g cream + 150 g half-half is okay)
25g butter (10g butter + 15g margarine is okay)
100g brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp hazelnut liqueur or grand marnier
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp orange peel, grated fine
100 g pecans/hazelnuts
100g walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat all the ingredients except the orange peel and nuts in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Add the orange peel and lower the heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
Arrange the nuts over the cooled crust and gently pour the filling over the crust.

Bake in a 355F oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden.

Topping
125g dark chocolate, chopped

When the torte is out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate and wait a couple minutes until the chocolate melts. Spread it evenly around and let it cool before cutting into it.

Serve as bite size pieces or small slices with whipped cream or ice cream.

Nutty Carrot Pudding

There's nothing crazy about this pudding, unless you think, "Boy, it's crazy that something so tasty is so easy to make!"

A dutch oven or a heavy pot will go a long way in making this even easier!

2 lbs carrots, washed, peeled and grated
4 cups milk, reduced fat is ok (For vegan option, use almond milk)
2 cups ricotta cheese, reduced fat is ok (For vegan option, use coconut CREAM)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 cloves, ground
2 tbsp honey or cane sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup toasted, slivered almonds or pine nuts
1 tbsp butter (optional)
2 tbsp rose water (optional)
2 tbsp toasted coconut (optional)

Put the heavy pot on the stove, add the milk and bring to a medium heat.
Add the carrots, honey and salt, stir.
Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 30 minutes
Cook uncovered for another 30 minutes or until liquid has reduced by 60%
Add the ricotta and mix well. Cook uncovered on medium low heat until the mixture is almost dry (but still moist and sticky) (About 20 minutes)
Turn off the heat and add the cardomom, clove, nuts, butter and rose water. Mix well.

Serve warm or cold with vanilla ice cream and some honey and nuts drizzled on top!

Creamy Cheesecake

(Thanks Poori for the picture. Poori, a cousin of mine took this picture after she made this cheesecake. Look how scrumptious it looks- and no cracks! On her very first try that to!)

I made my first cheesecake when I was in school. I read about a light and "fluffy as air" cheesecake in a novel and I couldn't get it out of my head. A couple trials later, I found a recipe I love! It has been a hit and I have been requested to make it time after time.

I'll include a couple variations I've tried below as well. This one is a Chocolate Swirled vanilla cheesecake

Crust:
12 oz reduced fat honey graham crackers
4 oz butter

Pulse the crackers in a food processor.
Melt the butter and pulse with the crushed cracker mix.
Press into the bottom of a greased 12" springform pan .
Place the crust in the preheated 350F oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden
Cool

3 packages Neufchâtel cream cheese (a reduced fat version of regular cream cheese)
8 0z ricotta or mascarpone cheese
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 c sour cream
1/4 c flour
4 tbsp dark cocoa powder
1 c cane sugar
1 tbsp good vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix the cream cheese, milk and eggs until smooth.
Add the flour, sour cream, vanilla and sugar one by one, process until smooth and creamy
Divide the mixture into 2 halves
Mix the cocoa powder into one half of the filling

Take the cooled crust and pour 1/3rd of the vanilla mixture into the crust, wait until it spreads
Pour 1/3rd of the chocolate mixture into the center of the crust over the vanilla
Repeat with the vanilla and chocolate until you end with the chocolate mixture in the center of the cake.

Pour some hot water into a large roasting pan and place in the bottom rack of the over. Set another rack right on top of it. Set the cheesecake on this rack.
Bake for 40 minutes to an hour. (Knock the side of the pan and if the cake doesnt jiggle too much, you're done)
Cool to room temperature and then chill for 6-8 hours.

Variations:
Make a chocolate crust by adding some melted chocolate to the crust recipe
Make a plain vanilla cheesecake (omit the cocoa powder) but add the zest of one lemon and 2 tbsps of brandy or grand marnier during the processing stage.

Top the plain vanilla cheesecake with:
Lemon basil syrup (Combine the juice of 2 lemons with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar over low heat until mixture is syrupy. Mince a couple of basil leaves and add it to the syrup. Cool and top the cheesecake with this mixture)

Fruit topping (Combine 1 cup of frozen fruit with 1/2 cup of honey. Pour this over the cheesecake before serving)

Mango Cheesecake:
Substitute the milk and sour cream in the recipe for 2 cups of mango puree. The lemon basil syrup goes well with this cake!

My favorite Cupcake recipe

The not-so-secret ingredient in this recipe is mascarpone cheese. It makes a light fluffy cupcake!

1 cup mascarpone cheese, softened at room temperature
2 egg whites
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 box white cake mix (I used betty crocker)
1 c h2o

Beat egg whites, cheese and oil until creamy
Add cake mix and h2o and beat until smooth
Fill cupcake pan/muffin tin (line them with cupcake liners) and bake 18-20 minutes or until golden (350F preheated oven)
Cool for a while in the tin and then on a wire rack

Topping ideas:

Fresh whipped cream flavored with vanilla, chocolate etc
Fruit glaze- Puree frozen berries/fruit. Mix with powdered sugar and whisk. (Glaze the cooled cupcake and let the topping firm up)

Chocolate Coconut pudding

Speaking of chocolate- I made this pudding a couple weeks ago. It is an adapted version of Heidi Swanson's recipe.

1 can of light coconut milk
3 tbsp sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup corn starch
3 tbps dutch-cocoa powder
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut flakes, toasted in a dry skillet
3 ounces of semi sweet chocolate, chopped (Vegans, ensure chocolate does not contain dairy)

In a heavy saucepan bring 1 1/4 cups of the coconut milk, sugar, and the salt (just) to a simmer over low heat.
While that is heating, in a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining coconut milk, corn starch and cocoa powder.
When the coconut milk and sugar mixture has started simmering take about 1/4 cup of it and whisk it little by little into the starch mixture.
Turn down the heat to the very lowest setting.
Now drizzle the mixture into the simmering pan of coconut milk whisking vigorously all the while.
Keep whisking until the pudding comes back up barely to a simmer and thickens up a bit, about a minute.
Remove the saucepan from heat, continue whisking while it is cooling for about a minute.
Now whisk in the chocolate and vanilla.
Keep stirring until the pudding is smooth.
Place in a refrigerator to chill thoroughly.
To prevent a skin from forming press plastic wrap up against the surface of the pudding.
When ready to serve, dust with cocoa powder and coconut flakes.

Ultimate chocolat pots de creme

This is the ultimate chocolate pudding! I cant say more, the recipe speaks for itself! Savor the chocolaty goodness. One ramekin of this potent stuff is *more than* enough for 2! (And coming from a chocoholic like me, that's saying something!)

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I actually use Valhrona, Schraffen Berger 95% or more! It makes a bitter rich chocolate pudding)
5 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon vanilla (increase this a little if you're using the 95% chocolate)
1//2 teaspoon instant espresso powder mixed with 1 tablespoon water, or 1 tablespoon strong brewed coffee
Whipped cream and cocoa powder or chocolate shavings for garnish

Place chocolate in medium heat-proof bowl; set fine-mesh strainer over bowl and set aside.
Whisk yolks, sugar and salt in medium bowl until combined; whisk in heavy cream and half-and-half. Transfer mixture to a medium saucepan.
Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon, until thickened and silky and custard registers 175 to 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 8 to 12 minutes. Do not let custard overcook or simmer.
Immediately pour custard through strainer over chocolate. Let mixture stand to melt chocolate, about 5 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth, then whisk in vanilla and espresso. Divide mixture evenly among 8 (5-ounce) ramekins. Gently tap ramekins against counter to remove air bubbles.
Cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 72 hours.
Before serving, let stand at room temperature 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve topped with a dollop of whipped cream whipped to soft peaks with a little sugar and vanilla and garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder or chocolate shavings