I Sugges this Recipes

Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Banana Cardamom Bread Eggless Baking from blogs continues

I have tried several recipes for Banana bread and they have all turned out well. Even a vegan one that uses in all just 2 Tbsp of oil and a mixture of warm water, oil and baking soda to fluff up the mixture.

This one that I found at Simply recipes,yesterday, was slightly richer with 1/3rd cup butter and 1 cup sugar. I kept the butter in as I was baking it for my family and my mom maintains that she doesnt like butterless cakes. Weighing just around 50 kg, she is well justified.

A few modifications that I did-

My usual aversion to using too much refined flour made me replace half of it by whole wheat flour.
Reduced the 1 C sugar to 3/4 C but next time will use only 1/2 C. The 3/4 C sugar was also a little too sweet. Guess it also depends on the degree of ripeness of the bananas and the sugars in the banana.
Didnt use the one egg, replaced it with 2 T milk.
Added 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder to the batter
Sprinkled some cardamom powder and sugar on the top before baking.
I had to bake for just 35 minutes at 175C and then reduced to less than 170C for 5 minutes. By 40 minutes the cake started charring a bit on the top, so I got it out.

A loaf of Banana cardamom bread

The result was a perfectly browned and intensely aromatic cake. The cardamom and banana combination is as magical as the banana-cinnamon combination, if not better. My aunt-uncle and mom called up to say that they loved it. It didnt taste like one of my low sugar, low fat ventures and they were glad about it!

Bake this one, and wrap it in a nice paper and send it across to your friend or relative. Home baked goodies always make the best and most personalised gifts.

Or simply bake it on a Friday and you can enjoy a thick slice of this as a breakfast-dessert.

This is my entry for Weekend Breakfast Blogging # 4 that Pavani has agreed to host end of this month, while Im away on a short break. Do send your breakfast entries to her before August 31st at cookshideout@gmail.com .

For details of the event, click here.

Related posts:

Honey Banana Muffins
Guiltfree Gingerbread

Tags:

Banana bread, cardamom, breakfast, WBB, Baked gifts, dessert

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Vegan Cupcakes and Baking and Why You Need an Oven Thermometer

Before you bake these cupcakes, get an oven thermometer.

I attempted my first baking recipe yesterday. In the new apartment, that is. The kitchen is new, not the baker. I've been around the block a time or two when it comes to batter and dough (so if you're new to the blog, Darling, don't panic- I've got armloads of gluten-free recipes waiting for your brilliance to coax them to life). See that sparkling little cupcake gem above? Try it's zesty orangeness on for size. Because the recipe I was developing for you... Well.

It failed.

What was it? you idly wonder. Zucchini bread. A bread that should have been moist and tender and bursting with juicy bits of zucchini. A perennial August favorite I haven't sunk my teeth into since going gluten-free nine years ago. So I was due.

What happened?

Here's the thing. The thing I have to share with you that could change your gluten-free baking life. The back story: the stove is new. As in brand spanking new. No gluten has ever darkened it's white enamel door (a psychological plus). And it's a gas stove (heats quickly, super efficient). So what I am about to tell you may surprise you.

The oven temperature was off. As in way off.

How do I know? I had an inkling. I bought an oven thermometer. I installed it. And I set the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. When the preheat light went off I opened the oven door. It read 400 cussing degrees.

What?

How can a brand new oven be off by 50 degrees? Turns out ovens can be off by all kinds of degrees, Babycakes. A little high. A little low. This is not uncommon. New or old, stoves can be persnickety. So if you're one of those readers who find my baking times too short or too long? Get an oven thermometer stat and take your oven's temperature. Play nurse to that Bad Boy. And find out exactly where you're at. Because the sunken loaves with gummy centers you felt guilty about? Might not be you at all, Darling. The burnt cookies that made you feel like a Martha Stewart failure? Could be your over zealous gas burner.

To test this out we set the oven temp to 300 degrees. And guess what? The thermometer read 350 degrees. On the nose.

So Steve rustled up some cookies to cheer me up in my zucchini bread grief. And not just any cookies. These Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies. Because a girl needs a dunk worthy cookie for breakfast.

And there will be zucchini bread in the near future. Oh yes.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Friday, December 27, 2013

My interview with Kate Bracks Masterchef Australia winner at the Whitefield Baking Company Bengaluru Marriott

Ever smiling Kate Bracks

If you followed my Facebook Page updates and the Twitter updates over last two weeks, you might have known how crazy excited I was to get a chance to meet Kate Bracks, winner of Masterchef Australia 3. Kate was here for the opening of Whitefield Baking Company at the Marriott Bengaluru.

The raspberry-chocolate-hazelnut muffins Kate made for us

It was lovely to be able to meet her twice, once as a part of the Press Meet and another ladies soiree organised by GM Matthew Coopers wife, Lynden, where Kate demonstrated some of her favourite recipes and we could exchange conversations over a superbly laid out special lunch spread.

Marriott Bengaluru GM Matthew Cooper with Kate

Some of the colourful treats at the Whitfield Baking Company, which is very tastefully done up and the several baking implements giving it a very homely feel. Id like to thank Marriotts the GM for allowing us this wonderful experience of meeting Kate and getting thoroughly inspired.

For entire set of pictures, check the album on Saffron Trail Facebook Page

Never imagined Id be with Kate in one frame :)

I managed to have a one-on-one interview where I asked her about food, Masterchef, family & India. Here are some of the excerpts...

[This was first published in livemint.com on 15 March, 2013]

Kate Bracks, winner of the third season of the hugely popular cooking reality showMasterChef Australia, was in Bangalore recently to help promote the café Whitefield Baking Company at the newly opened Bengaluru Marriott. We got a chance to ask her some questions. Edited excerpts:

When did you get interested in cooking and what is your first memory of cooking?

As a kid, I remember standing next to my Nanna in the kitchen helping her out with an apron wrapped around me. But my first real memory of cooking by myself is from when I was 8. It was the long summer holidays and I was terribly bored when my mum asked me to cook something. So I went into the kitchen and I spent a good amount of time making this layered coffee cake with piped icing. I remember feeling all happy about how it turned out. And I guess that’s when I fell in love with cooking. And this was the exact same dish I made in the initial round of the MasterChef contest where they asked us to make something that was a dear memory.

Even during the seven months that you were away from home for the ‘MasterChef Australia’ contest, it must have been tough to stay away from your children in a somewhat restricted set-up. How did you manage that?

It was tough. I went in thinking I’m not going to last the entire contest and that somewhat helped me hang in there. Towards the end I was torn between wanting to go ahead in the contest and wanting to go back home to be with my family. I managed to handle it solely by taking each day as it came. The episode where MasterChef brought in our families as a surprise, asking us to cook for them, was one of my favourite moments in the show.

How did you handle the pressure of cooking in the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen?

To be honest, I kept reminding myself that it’s just food and it’s just a contest. Many times I felt incredible nervous energy before a challenge, so yes the pressure was there. One of the things that helped me a lot was being a mum. Especially when you are a mum to young kids, there are times when you don’t get sleep one night and the next day you just have to be up and going. And it wasn’t much different on the show. My mantra was “just keep going, it’s just food, it’s not a matter of life and death”, and that helped.

How has winning ‘MasterChef Australia’ changed your life?

The biggest change for me was going from full-time home-based mum to full-time working mum. It also gave me a job dealing with food and people, two of my biggest loves, and I get to do work that doesn’t feel like work. Even now, I’m in India on work, but this hardly feels like work! I do feel blessed.

Before ‘MasterChef’, what was the favourite dish your family would ask you to make for them?

My kids always loved burritos, so that’s what was made by popular demand at home. I don’t know if that’s our favourite but we had to go with the kids’ favourite. Otherwise the standard Aussie family dish is sausages and veggies and we used to have that often. We still do.

After ‘MasterChef’, does your family expect you to cook more gourmet stuff?

Once I got back home after winning the MasterChef title, my kids were actually scoring my dishes and telling me things like “this is not your best dish, Mum!”. Yes, there were slightly raised expectations but I quickly brought them back to reality (giggles). But on a serious note, in the MasterChef kitchen, you get 2 hours of uninterrupted time, equipment and ingredients all laid out for you to put up a dish whereas at home, with the kids around, the phone ringing and other chaos, I’ve got just 20 minutes to put food on the table. So that makes a big difference.

What’s a traditional weekend meal on your family table like?

Our traditional Sunday table would have be a roast, especially lamb. My father was a meat wholesaler and he specialized in lamb—so it was always roast lamb with gravy, baked potatoes, carrots or pumpkin with either lemon pudding or lemon meringue pie for dessert. Those are still my favourite desserts.

You’ve been a teacher, are mum to three children and now you teach children how to cook. How early do you think children can be introduced to cooking and what are the top three dishes you think they can manage well?

I think they can help from the day they can stand up but you should be willing to put up with the mess. When my son was two years old, I stood him up on the table and said “let’s make a cake”, and even at that age he could name the things that went into making a cake.

Young kids can pour, spoon, mix—yes, it’s a bit messy but it’s about sharing that experience with them. Older kids can handle heat, fry-pans and more advanced cooking with adult supervision. Kids enjoy making pancakes. Older kids can help in making vegetable fritters, which I feel is a great way to make them eat veggies. Cakes are a good start, helping with the measuring, stirring, spooning, etc.

My 10-year-old daughter comes up to me on a Sunday morning with the offer of making porridge for the family. So our kids are capable of more than we think they are.

Your book ‘The Sweet Life’ is out. What are your other plans?

At the moment I’m working with the local awarded chef on putting out a product line. I get to work in the chef’s kitchen all day and then I get to pick up my kids from school. It’s totally different from the pressures of working in a restaurant kitchen and the late nights. This way I get to do the things I love and be there for the family as well.

Is this your first trip to India? Do you cook/eat Indian dishes back home? If yes, what’s your favourite?

This is indeed my first trip to India and I’ve been loving the food that I’m tasting here, my favourite being the Indian nachos at Queens (a restaurant in Bangalore)—little crispy discs with yogurt and sweet and sour stuff (she means sev puri). As long as the food doesn’t get too spicy and overwhelm the flavours, I can handle Indian food. As clichéd as it gets, I was given a butter chicken to eat here at the restaurant, but this was nothing like what we get back home. It was that delicious!