Vanilla pound cake

This is one of the first cakes, which I baked....I got the recipe from one of our neighbor aunty....I have been baking it since then, and believe me, this cake is addictive...You cannot eat just one slice....The taste will leave you craving for more....It's very buttery and has a strong vanilla flavor....Do give this recipe a try.....

All you need is

• All purpose flour-1 and 1\2 cups
• Baking soda-1\4 tsp
• Salt-1\4 tsp
• Butter-3\4 cup
• Eggs-2
• Sugar-1 cup
• Vanilla extract-1 and 1\2 tsp
• Yogurt-1\2 cup

Method of preparation

Grease and flour a loaf pan
Pre heat the oven to 160 degree C
In a bowl, whisk together, all purpose flour, salt and baking soda
In another bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy
Add vanilla extract
Add eggs, one at a time and whisk till incorporated
Add half of the flour and fold till it is mixed well
Add the yogurt and mix nicely
Add the remaining flour and fold till nicely incorporated
Pour the batter in the loaf pan
Bake for 60-65 minutes
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes
Take out from the pan and cool on a cooling rack
Serve warm or cold with some fruits and whipped cream

Grilled chicken Quesadilla made with home made tortilla's

We tasted Mexican food, only after we came to the US....I just loved it...Be it Burritos or guacamole or tacos, Mexican cuisine is one of my favorite now....Today , I tried to make Quesadilla and it turned out very nice....There are endless filling options for the Quasedilla....Just be creative and you have an entirely new dish every time....So here is what I did...

All you need is

For tortilla

All purpose flour-1 cup
Whole wheat flour-1\2 cup
Salt-1\4 tsp
Baking powder-1\2 tsp

For Quesadilla

Onion-1 ( thinly sliced )
Red bell pepper-1 ( thinly sliced )
Green capsicum-1 ( thinly sliced )
Olive oil-3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Chicken breast-2
Yogurt-2 tbsp
Garam masala-1\2 tsp
Cheddar cheese-1 cup
Mozzarella cheese-1 cup
Butter-2 tbsp

Method of preparation

For tortilla

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl
Add little water and knead to form a soft dough
Keep the dough covered for at least half an hour
Heat a griddle
Make 6-7 equal balls of the dough
Dust and roll to a very thin disc
Transfer the disc, on to the griddle and cook till bubbles appear on the surface
Turn and cook on the other side till brown spots appear
make all the tortilla's in the same manner
Always cover the tortilla, after removing from the griddle

For the Quesadilla

In a bowl, add chicken , yogurt, garam masala and salt
Marinate for an hour
Grill in the oven for half an hour at 450 degrees
remove from the oven and cut into small pieces
Heat oil in a pan
Add onion, red bell pepper, capsicum and sat
Cook till onions turns slightly brown

Add little butter to the griddle
Put one tortilla on the griddle
Put little onion filling on one side of the tortilla
Add little chicken and sprinkle 1tbsp of both the cheeses on top
Flip the other side on top of the filling
Cook the quesadilla from both the sides, till both the sides are nicely browned and crispy
Cut into half
Serve hot

Strawberry hand pie

 We all  loved the Mushroom and caramelized onion Galette that I made a few days back ...The crust was so flaky and crispy  and left a wonderful buttery flavor on the palate....This time, I wanted to use the same crust for some thing sweet....We got a big box of strawberries and I could sneak out a few before Bhavye finished them all....So it was strawberry hand pies for the dessert today...It was very easy to make and the crust was a winner again...So here is the recipe...

All you need is

For the crust

All purpose flour-1 and 1\4 cup
Sugar-2 tbsp
Butter-120 gms ( cold and cut into 2 inch cubes ...Cut the butter and then refrigerate for at least  an hour before using it in the recipe....)
Salt-1\2 tsp
Ice cold water-5-6 table spoon

For the filling

Strawberries-1 cup ( chopped )
Lemon juice-2 tbsp
Sugar-1\3 cup

For the topping

Milk-1\2 cup
Sugar-1 tbsp

Method of preparation

For the crust

Add all purpose flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and whisk
Add cold butter cubes to the bowl, and with the help of a pastry cutter mix till the mixture appears crumbly ( Butter should be coarsely cut and some should be size of oats and some should be size of peas... If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can use your food processor...I have never used it , but a lot of people finds it equally good....Do not over mix...Do not use your your hands to mix, as the heat from your hands will melt the butter and the crust will not be flaky )
Add ice cold water to the bowl ( one table spoon at a time ) and mix until the flour just comes together ( Do not add more water and do not over mix...The flour should just come together...It is not important for the dough to be smooth....I used 5 tbsp of water )
Divide the dough into 2 parts and cover them with a plastic wrap
Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or overnight

For the filling

Add strawberries in a pan and cover and cook for 5 minutes
Add sugar and lemon juice and cook until it is thick
Remove from heat and cool
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Take out one of the dough balls
Lightly flour the work surface
Roll the dough to 1\8 inch rectangle
Cut 2x2.5 inch rectangles from the dough
Refrigerate for another 15 minutes
Pre heat the oven to375 degrees
Take the pieces from the refrigerator
Keep 1\2 tsp of filling in the center of one piece and cover with another piece
Press gently around the edges to seal
Press with fork tines,all around the corners
Brush with milk and sprinkle sugar on the pies
Prick each pie 2-3 times with a tooth pick
Bake for 15-17 minutes

These are wonderful to have for breakfast with a glass of milk....Although we kept munching them throughout the day...They were so good....

Coco cola and chocolate cake

Another week....Another missions to be accomplished....Another wait for the next weekend....and the life goes on...I am the kind who doesn't like to be at home on the weekends...So I keep on searching for the new places to visit...One of our cousins told us about this garden and we made a plan with them to go there...The visit was truly worthwhile with the weather on it's awesome end.....We spent an entire day there and kids had a real good time....

Park had a small patch of tulips in lots of colors....There were water bodies through out the park with lots of fishes and ducks...I saw the cherry blossom first time ever in my life...It was magical....I just felt like sitting there forever and absorb all the beauty that nature has offered us....If you guys are near La, you must plan a visit to Descanso garden....It's worth the 8 dollar ticket.....

last weekend , I made a doll cake for a friend's daughter's b'day....I want to share the pic with you guys...It was my first attempt at making a doll cake, and it came out decent enough.....

I have bookmarked today's recipe from http://mayflaum.com and was wanting to make this for a long time...The recipe is very easy and can be done in a jiffy...So here it is....

All you need is

All purpose flour-2 cups
Sugar-2 cups
Baking soda-1 tsp
Baking powder-1\2 tsp
Cocoa powder-1\4 cup
Salt-1\2 tsp
Cinnamon powder-1\2 tsp
Eggs -2
Butter-1 cup
Coco cola-1cup
Butter milk-1\2 cup (I didn't had buttermilk so I made mine by adding 1\2 tsp of lemon juice to 1\2 cup of warm milk and  let it rest for 5 minutes )
Vanilla extract- 1tsp

For the Glaze

Butter-1\2 cup
Cocoa powder-1\4 cup
Coco cola-1\2 cup
Confectioner's sugar-4 cups
Walnuts-1\2 cup ( chopped )

Method of preparation

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour a 8'square pan
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt in a bowl
In a pan ,heat butter, coco cola, cocoa powder and buttermilk, until it starts boiling
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients
Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix
Pour the batter in the baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, till a toothpick comes out clean

For the glaze

Heat all the ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil
Remove from heat
Pour over the warm cake and let it set for an hour

I like to eat mine warm with a dollop of ice cream...

This is probably the moistest cake I have ever made.....and the easiest one too....It just took me 5 minutes from start to putting the cake in the oven...This recipe is surely a keeper....