Mango pie in 20 minutes!

Dear Appu,

This is one of the quickest desserts to whip up! And what’s more, its interesting too. Guests have always been fascinated with whole act of drizzling the whipping cream and adding that luscious cherry on top. Curious? Here’s the inside details!

Ingredients

Bananas – sliced, 1
Mango Nectar – 1 and 1/4 cups
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Ginger powder – 1/8 teaspoon
Cinnamon – 1/8 teaspoon
Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Cornstarch – 3 tablespoons
Cold water – 3 tablespoons
Baked pie shell – 1 large round one, or individual pie shell cups (such as the graham cracker crust shells, which I get with 6 in one pack)
Whipped cream – I used the fat free one
Maraschino cherries – for topping (can alter the topping to anything you like, even raspberries, strawberries)
Chocolate syrup – for final drizzle (Optional)

Method 

1. Combine mango nectar, lemon juice, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt in a pan. Bring to boil on a low flame.

2. Mix cornstarch in the water to a smooth paste and stir into mixture. Stir until thickened and clear. (about 7-8 minutes)

3. Allow it to cool. Then add the bananas, mix it in and pour into the pie shell. Store it in the fridge until ready to serve.

4. Just before serving, drizzle the whipped cream on top and add a maraschino cherry for topping and that pretty as pink look!

5. All done!  

Carrot cake – to die for!

Dear Appu…

In honour of R’s birthday, I searched online for a nice new cake recipe. Something I had not yet tried before. My search criteria on google was ‘awesome birthday cake recipes’, and the second link led me here. I have tried recipes from AllRecipes before and this sounded like a very good one.

Now R loves carrots. And I love carrot cake. And I guess, on its own it would have been quite amazing. But being a birthday occasion, I wanted icing, so I could write something on it. So instead of following the made from scratch cream cheese frosting recipe from this one, I tried out this recipe instead. Oooooo! Totally out of this world. And instead of plain cream cheese, I got one pack of strawberry flavour and the other was plain and mixed together, there was this pale pink look and a faint strawberry flavour which was amazing. Here’s the process in detail.

Ingredients for the cake

3 cups grated carrots
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine grated carrots, flour, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. Stir in eggs, oil, 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, pineapple and 3/4 cup chopped pecans. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Directions for Frosting

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (I used one part Strawberry, and one part plain flavour)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese, butter and the pecans until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Spread evenly on the cooled cake. Store in the refrigerator after use. I also put the frosted cake in the fridge, and took it out just before it was time to cut it.

This recipe, of course, can also be used without any frosting. If you have noticed, the cake does not use any butter, which is such a pleasant change. And what’s a little unusual is that it uses pineapples alongwith the juice. Enjoy!

Kulfi – Malai and Mango

31st December 2006. A New Year’s get-together. A chaat party. That is the time I tasted my very first homemade kulfi. It was oh so yum! I asked for the recipe. It seemed ridiculously simple. Was this really the way? Could such great tasting kulfi come from a process as basic as this? It seems so. Because I have given it about 3 trial runs now, and its been a hit each time. Most recently, I made it for Thambi’s birthday party. And the feedback was pretty good. So, on that note, let me share the secret with you. Just remember, make this sparingly, because it involves the most fattening, and most sinful of ingredients! Here we go…

Ingredients for Malai Kulfi

Condensed Milk - 1 can
Evaporated Milk – 1 can (basically, equal portions of condensed and evap. milk)
Heavy Whipping Cream – 2 cups
Almond and Pistachio Powder 1-2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder (optional but nice) – 1/4 tsp
Saffron (Optional but nice )
Few Drops of Kewra Water (Strictly Optional) – I didn’t use it

Method

Mix all the ingredients together in the blender and whip it up for about 2 minutes continuously. Then pour into a container or the kulfi moulds and freeze for 6-8 hours.

Ingredients for Mango Kulfi

[This was something I customised myself from the recipe above.]

Use 1/2 a tin of mango pulp, and slightly reduce the quantity of the condensed milk, say to about 3/4 can. This is because the mango pulp itself is quite sweet, and you can always adjust the sweetness later after blending. Also, reduce the quantity of nuts added. Rest all ingredients are the same, as is the method.