My birthday cake this year was a homemade Cherry Ricotta Cake. Not a lover of rich frosting, fondant and other forms of coloured sugar decorations, baking a light, egg-rich ricotta cake full of the season’s plumpest cherries, was my way of showing some self-love. Ricotta makes the lightest cakes A Cherry Ricotta Cake, if you think about it, is a cheesecake; albeit made with a light cheese. Ricotta is similar…
I cannot let the summer go by without making my Mango Kesar Kulfi. I’m sure you have your own favourite kulfi recipes, but do try this one. It’s easy and a delightful embodiment of everything that is an Indian mango – sweet, fragrant and indulgent. How to make a luxe kulfi Traditional kulfi recipes require patiently boiling milk to reduce it to a desired thickness. This is time consuming and…
Mango Yogurt Popsicles are probably one of the easiest mango desserts I’ll make this summer. They’re cold and bursting with mango without being icy. It’s wise to make a big batch and line them up like little orange minions in your freezer, because you’ll be surprised how fast they’ll disappear. How to make a creamy mango yogurt popsicle Since popsicles aren’t ice creams, they don’t have cream or custard as…
Thandai mousse is such a perfect dessert for our scorching summers. It’s airy, tangy with a gentle sweetness that hints delicately at roses and saffron. Nothing about a thandai mousse should be overpowering. When you put a cloud-like spoonful in your mouth, it should dissolve on your tongue, like you’re getting a cool, butterfly kiss of sweetness. Keep it light I’ve eaten many mousses, and a large number were too…
I made the softest, moistest, amaranth muffins to kickstart 2023. The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2023 to be The International Year of Millets, and what could be more apt than getting back on my blog with a millet-based recipe. These made-for-breakfast muffins are fibre and nutrient rich from amaranth flour, whole wheat flour and rolled oats and bursting with banana. The chocolate chips are the cherry on the…
A chocolate cherry clafoutis eats just as elegant, luscious and sophisticated as it sounds. It’s stone fruit season and I’ve been bingeing on darkly delicious cherries, which are at the cheapest right now. Apricots, plums, nectarines are filling fruit stalls now, jostling with mangoes, watermelons, litchis and melons. The abundance of fruit is my silver lining this scorching summer. What is a clafoutis? Trust the French to make even a…
This recipe for whole grain chocolate banana bread is another step in my learning towards developing, baking and eating more whole grain foods. I don’t always succeed in this and recipes don’t always turn out the way I had visualised them. But every once in a while something works and that joy and satisfaction is what keeps me going further on this journey. Baking with barley flour Barley or jau…
A lifelong lover of lemons, I baked a lemon sheet pan cake with sorghum or jowar (hindi). It was a happy surprise with its light, flaky crumb. And so here I am, sharing it with you. With the summer heat steadily rising, I crave tart, lemony flavours and skinny sweets. This lemon sheet pan cake fits the bill perfectly. Why you should bake with sorghum Sorghum or jowar as it…
A chocolate strawberry cake is always welcome on any table, especially if it’s a flourless cake. Strawberries in India, arrive at the end of the year; a happy coincidence when the mood and food are both celebratory. At a time when menus are loaded with rich offerings, a skinny yet scrumptious cake is a smart way to cut out a few calories. A flourless, butterless batter There’s no grain flour…
Pineapple is passe ́ when there’s an upside down orange cake on the table. A full orange – flesh, juice, pith and skin, goes into this grown-up, bittersweet cake. A generous drizzle of brandy and the golden crown of candied fruit slices on top make this upside down orange cake worthy of parties and celebrations. Choose your orange The Nagpur orange is India’s most popular orange. I use the term…