Tag: baking

Here is why you should stop eating bread

Bread is one such food item which we extensively use in our daily life. It is prepared by mixing flour with water. The mixture obtained is then baked. If you will look at the history of the bread you will find its existence in almost every civilization. People find bread as the easiest food option available in front of them, so whenever they feel hungry, they eat the dishes made using them. But most of the people are not aware that the white bread consumption affects the human health in many ways. It simply means that bread isn’t healthy at all and you should start avoiding bread instantly. Many research conducted on this topic have yielded the same result. It is so recommended by the dietitians to stop eating bread and instead go for other food items which are available. We will hereby give you some of the adverse effect which bread can cause on the human health.

Bread is a rich source of the protein named as Gluten which has the properties found in glue and it is responsible for the viscoelastic properties of the dough. It has been proved in various research conducted worldwide that those people who regularly eat bread have the excess amount of Gluten in their body. This in turn seriously damages the digestive tract which results in lots of pain, tiredness and inconsistency in stool. The Gluten also causes disorder in brain and people get affected by the cerebellar ataxia disease. So you should stop eating bread and go for other options that are available.

People believe that bread is made using grains and is healthy for the body but they are not aware that it is not made using actual whole grains. They are made using grains which have been pulverized so as to get fine flour. Because of this process the breads gets digested easily and moreover the starch present in the bread also breaks down and so they enter as glucose into the bloodstream. This results into the steep rise of the insulin and blood sugar which is not at all good for human body. Again when the blood sugar level comes down we feel hungry. That is why people who are dieting and those who are affected with the blood sugar disease should avoid it instantly. Moreover if the blood sugar level is above the permitted value, it results into the formation of glycation and it is one such component which results into aging.

Bread is deprived of any sort of nutrients which is beneficial for the human body. Bread contains fructose which if present in access amount affects the health. This is proved worldwide that bread has sugar in it which is not at all healthy. They also have phytic acid in it which is generally known as the anti-nutrient. This phytic acid if present in the body makes the minerals required by the human body for growth and development to get stick to each other and so they do not get absorbed. The human body produces two types of cholesterol. While one is bad for the human health, other one is actually good and its presence is required. If you are a regular bread consumer then it is likely that the LDL cholesterol of the body will increase by 60 % which is quite a big figure and for your information LDL cholesterol is in fact the bad cholesterol which we have in our body. So it makes you prone to the different diseases such as the heath and lung diseases.

In all the bottom line is bread is not at all good for you as it is not at all nutritious. If we compare bread with other food items which are easily available to us, bread lie below them in terms of essential nutrition and minerals that they provide. Since the acid formed due to the bread consumption damages the intestinal lining, the absorption of the minerals and nutrients is not carried on by the human body and consequently its deficiency causes various diseases.

While this may be a bad news for all those people who love to eat bread or the dishes made using breads, it is for their own safety and healthy body that we hereby ask them to stop eating bread. It is not that you should completely eliminate it from your diet but then the frequency with which you eat bread and bread products must be decreased. So the next time you feel like eating bread, just remember that it will not only affect the functioning of your digestive system but will also not allow you to lose weight. We have given enough evidence which clearly states the adverse effects the human body. Other than bread there are various food items which are available and if you will eat those then you will certainly have a healthy body. So go for those and stop eating bread. Stay healthy.

June 26, 2014
For the love of Chocolate!

That silky, smooth, velvety, so yum, exotic thing, we can’t resist is CHOCOLATE. Just the addition of Chocolate can make anything to everything delicious. It is such a thing that everyone craves and loves. It can lift up your mood and has the goodness of antioxidants. Chocolates are lovable and are a sheer bliss to humanity.
For the love of chocolate, here are some too popular chocolate delights, easy to make at home and are fancied too.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(Recipe)

Preparation time: 20 minutes Servings: 25 Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients: 1 and half cup chocolate chips
Four ½ cup flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup white sugar
1 and half cup brown sugar
2 cups butter, softened
2 packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 cups dark chocolate, chopped.

Procedure: Sift together flour and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Add eggs and vanilla in the creamed mixture. Now, blend in the flour mixture which was kept aside after being sifted. Finally, stir in the chopped dark chocolate, chips and nuts.
Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets or parchment paper.
Put it in the preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes for soft or crunchy cookie as per your taste. Edges should be golden brown, it will look nice.
This is a true chocolate lover’s cookie and can add optional ingredients like walnuts or almonds or pecans or white chocolate. Large chunks of chocolate chips is what make them extra special. Famish it. Bake it and Eat it all by yourself.

DARK CHOCOLATE SAUCE

(Recipe)

Preparation time: 15 minutes Serves: 10
Ingredients: 6 ounces Dark chocolate bar, broken into pieces (77% dark chocolate)
Half cup sugar
Half cup water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce butter
8 tablespoons heavy cream
Procedure: Stir in water and sugar in small pan. Simmer over low heat and stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves in water and forms a simple syrup.
Transfer the simple syrup on the top of double boiler over a low heat, slowly add pieces of dark chocolate and butter, whisking occasionally until the chocolate is melted.
Slowly add in vanilla and cream until fully blended and smooth.
Keep stirring and when it is smooth. It is ready to serve. Serve it warm.
This glossy dark chocolate sauce has a rich bittersweet chocolate flavor and is perfect treat for dark chocolate lovers. As, having rich cocoa content of dark chocolate, it has antioxidant benefits in good amount. Having velvety smooth texture, it tastes wonderful when served warm dribbled over icecreams.

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
(Recipe)

Preparation time: 1hour + freezing time
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar
2 ½ cup milk (with full cream)
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon custard powder
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup nuts, cherries or berries to garnish
Procedure: Mix custard, sugar and cocoa in half cup of milk.

Heat the remaining milk and when it comes to boil, add custard mixture and boil again stirring continuously otherwise lumps are formed.
When it boils, simmer the gas for 30 seconds, shut off the heat and leave it to cool down.
When it reaches room temperature, mix the cream and vanilla essence and transfer onto a container with a tight lid.
Freeze it in refrigerator till almost set, then take out and whip up in a blender and place it back in the same container into the freezer.
The lid should be tightly shut as it prevents the crystals from forming. Blend once more when almost set and place back in freezer. You can adjust the cooling to normal in about two hours after the blending.
Serve it by garnishing nuts and cherries.
Scream, scream Icecream is like perfect treat on a hot day. Chilled icecream when made at home becomes more special and everyone loves it. Especially children. Chill out with the chilling effect of the chocolate icecream!
After all these easy to make recipes at home, I know craving for them is at peak. These are super easy, super awesome, yum and delicious recipes with the loveliness and richness of chocolate and its chillness and warmth . Its a perfect treat for children and your loved ones. No occasion required, just make them, freeze them, bake them whenever you want to. You don’t need a reason to put these recipes into practice in your kitchen. They are just all time comfy, cosy, rich and creamy, chocolaty recipes. If its long time you havn’t been in your kitchen, then just go Start making and baking it. Put on that apron and use your wit. Be creative and add your stuff too in these recipes. You never know what magnificent taste you come out with. You can even dip the chocolate chip cookies in dark chocolate sauce or you can even drizzle this sauce on the chocolate icecream. In a way, these recipes are connected and enjoyed with one another. For me, cooking is happiness and I get excited and calm at the same time whenever I get time to cook. Cooking is worth it, So make some time out of your busy schedule and start with these Chocolaty desserts. You will love it and people in your life too.
Keep cooking, Baking, Eating and Partying.

June 11, 2014
Red is the colour I’m looking for!

Red is the colour of passion. One sees red when they’re angry and one picks up a red heart to show that they love someone. Love and hatred, two sides of the same coin, can be expressed by a single colour – red. So when it’s someone’s birthday and you want to show your love for them by baking, why go with the classic chocolate cake? Maybe it’s time to get a little more creative. Show your love with the colour red. Bake a red-velvet cake!

Even though it sounds like a complicated thing to make, a red velvet cake is perhaps one of the easiest cakes to make apart from the classic chocolate or vanilla cake . A red velvet cake is basically a light chocolate cake with red colouring in it. A red velvet cakes speaks out and shows that it’s a special occasion cake because if you bake regularly, then you need a special recipe to mark a special occasion. A red and fluffy cake is perhaps one of the easiest and also one of the prettiest way to mark a special occasion. However, there are no rules against baking and indulging in this cake without a special occasion. The melt-in-the-mouth buttercream frosting used in this recipe is one of the most amazing comfort food that you can ask for.

so to celebrate or to indulge with style, here’s what you will need:

ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

¼ cup milk

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon red food colour

Once you have everything, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and the food colour in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk and the oil.

Once done, mix both of them together.

If the batter is too thick, add some warm milk.

Make sure the batter is not too dark in colour because the cake gets darker after it’s baked.

Grease and flour a pan and bake the cake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean and dry.

Let the cake cool for around ten minutes before taking it out of the pan. While it’s cooling, pour yourself a drink and sip at it, Nigella Lawson style. Or you can catch up on wrapping up those gifts or putting up finishing touches to the birthday decorations. If you’re not doing any of these, you could make the frosting for the cake. The perfect frosting for a red velvet cake, in my opinion, is butter-cream frosting.

To make the butter-cream frosting, you will need:

100 gm butter

1 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup cold milk

(if the butter is unsalted, you will also need a pinch of salt)

Soften the butter by either leaving it out for a while or by heating it up in the microwave for ten seconds.

Add the salt, if you’re using unsalted butter.

Add the icing sugar and beat until it’s light and fluffy.

Mix the flour in the cold milk. Heat it on a low flame while stirring constantly. If the mixture is not being stirred constantly, it will form lumps.

Once the mixture is thick and cooked, let it cool. Cover it while it is getting cooled so that it does not form a crust.

Once it has cooled, add it to the butter and sugar and beat. This mixture will provide the extra volume and fluffiness without the extra butter.

Before applying the frosting on the cake, make sure that the cake is cold or else the frosting will melt off. Dip a knife in warm water and use it to smooth-en the surface of the cake.

Cover the cake with the frosting. If you’re making a layered cake, apply some frosting between the layers as well. Sprinkle some brown sugar or nuts for decorations. Pop it in the fridge for an hour to make sure the frosting sets well. Take it out, put it on a plate and you’re ready to celebrate!

When you come to think of it, a red velvet cake is just a chocolate cake which is red in colour. But when you present it to someone you love, it says a lot more than a chocolate cake. Unless that person is a chocoholic, in which case, you should just go with the chocolate cake because the warm brown of chocolates is what will really please that person. Otherwise, nothing can express your love more that a red velvet cake simply because it is the universally known colour for love, for passion. It also brings a little variety and adds a little difference to the regular cakes which are either brown or white. It is also the perfect cake for kids because for a little child, it is fascinating to be able to eat something red and delicious because, let’s face it, most of the kids out there don’t really like tomatoes.

Everyone loves a little colour in their lives and perhaps the colour you’re looking for this time is red. Try it out and let us know if it worked for you!

Bon appetit!

June 11, 2014
Baking A Cake – Do it YOUR Way!

While baking a cake, I love to experiment and try out new stuff. Maybe add some blueberries or crushed almonds or simply drizzle some fruity syrup over the plain old basic cake – Anything. Anything and everything will do. Gradually you inherit the good sense of what goes with what. And if not, what’s life without a few mistakes, or in this case, a few badly turned / burnt cakes?

First, you need to know how to bake the basic cake. Once that foundation is made, it is easier to branch out, give a solid structure to your new ideas and bake.

Here are a few extremely basic age-old favourite cakes. Feel free to dab in your innovative ideas anywhere.

Let’s start with the basic Vanilla Sponge Cake. It is pretty easy to make and you can tempt your inner creative genius to work. (I usually add some raisins and cashew nuts to it.)

Vanilla Sponge Cake

Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients: 200g plain flour, 2 tablespoons cornflour, 200g caster sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 70g margarine,150ml milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract,1 egg

Method: Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease and flour a 20cm square tin.Sieve flour, cornflour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add margarine and milk. Mix until smooth, then add vanilla and egg. Mix well.Pour into prepared tin. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Princess Cake (this cake was invented in the 1930s )

Time: 1 hour

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients: 1 ready-made 18cm round vanilla sponge cake, 500ml double cream, 200ml thick vanilla custard, 3 tbsp raspberry jam, 200g fresh raspberries, 350g marzipan (coloured pale green), icing sugar (for dusting)

Method: Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the sponge cake through the middle into3 layers. Whip the cream until stiff. Spread a thin layer of cream on top of the bottom cake layer, then carefully spread over the vanilla custard within 2cm of the edge. Spread the raspberry jam on top of the middle cake layer and arrange about half the raspberries in the centre. Place on top of the bottom cake. Position the final top layer of the cake on top of the raspberries. Using a palette knife, spread a little of the whipped cream around the side of the cake. Keep the best-looking raspberry for decoration, pile up the remainder in the centre, then cover these with the remaining cream. Try to create a dome effect across the top of the cake. On a surface dusted with icing sugar, roll the marzipan to a circle large enough to cover the cake completely. Carellfully drape it over and gently smooth it in place, letting it fall into neat folds. Using scissors, trim away any excess marzipan around the base. Sit your star raspberry on top, then dust with icing.

Basic Chocolate Cake

Time: 1 hour

Serves: 9 – 10 people

Ingredients: Cooking Spray, 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 3 large eggs, ¾ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup sour cream, 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method: Preheat the oven to 170C. Coat two 9-inch-round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Whisk the cocoa powder and 1 ½ cups boiling water in a medium bowl until smooth; set aside. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until combined. Add the eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream and vanilla and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low, beat in the cocoa mixture in a steady stream until just combined, then finish mixing with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and tap the pans against the counter to help the batter settle. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment. Trim the tops of the cakes with a long serrated knife to make them level, if desired.

Marble Bundt Cake

Time: 1 hour

Serves: cuts into 8 – 10 slices

Ingredients: 300g butter (softened, plus extra for greasing), 300g golden caster sugar, 6 medium eggs, 150ml whole milk, 280g self-raising flour (plus extra for the tin), 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 100g dark chocolate (coarsely chopped into chips or chocolate chunks, plus extra for decorating (optional) ), 25g cocoa powder (sifted), 1 tbsp dark rum, icing sugar (optional)

Method: Heat oven to 170C. grease a 25cm bundt ring mould with butter, then dust with flour. Cream together the butter and sugar in a food processor. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the milk. Divide the mixture between 2 large bowls. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add 150g of the flour to one bowl and fold in carefully with the vanilla, then fold in the chocolate chips. Fold the remaining flour and the cocoa into the other bowl, along with the rum. Spoon the cocoa mixture into the base of the mould, creating a slight trough, then smooth the vanilla mixture on top. This arrangement of the 2 mixtures with the cocoa mixture on the base should minimize the possibility of the cakes sticking. Bake for 50 minutes until risen and set. Run a knife around the inner and outer edges and leave to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes. Put a cake stand or plate on top of the mould and invert it. Leave to cool completely.

So grab your aprons, take the baking tin out, pour in some batter and start baking!

“Let them eat cake.”

–Marie Antoinette

Recipe Courtesy: foodnetwork.com, bbcgoodfood.com

Image Courtesy:foodlibrarin.com, flick.com, yourrecipesonline.com, foodnetwork.com

May 29, 2014
It’s Choco-Orange Season!

When Adriano Zumbo’s lolly-bag cake made an appearance on Masterchef, I was intrigued. It was colorful and it boasted of a variety of flavors. It was also one of the trickiest and most complicated recipes I have ever come across. Naturally, the little chef in me was excited to try it out. However, after spending two weeks hunting for the ingredients in the city, I had to give up. Not everything was available and I could only handle so much disappointment.

To lift up my mood, I decided to bake something else but something unique. I decided I needed an ice-cream to tickle my creativity. I picked up a choco-orange bar from a stall and that is when inspiration hit me. I loved the choco-orange ice-cream and I loved chocolates with orange essence in it. It is an interesting and emerging trend and it’s delicious. Why not try a cake which had those same flavors?

Coming up with a good way to mix those two flavors was difficult. I wanted something eccentric but something that tasted good. After a lot of failures, I realized that eccentric wasn’t going to work and I had to settle for classic. So I went ahead and baked a triple layered choco-orange-choco cake with dark chocolate ganache.

If you like to bake and you like the new and trendy choco-orange flavor then this is something that you really should try because it tastes really good and is fun to make. It has two layers of chocolate with the layer of orange flavored cake in the middle.

For the chocolate layers of the cake, you will need:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder
1-1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1-1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Once you have all the ingredients, what you need to do is –

Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two round baking pans. Alternatively, you can bake one huge cake and cut it through the middle into two cakes.

Mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt (dry mixture). Keep it aside.

In a bowl, mix the butter, eggs, vegetable oil, and the vanilla extract. Beat together till it forms a light and fluffy mixture

Add the dry mixture and the milk to it alternating between one part of the mixture and one part of the milk.

Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Once it’s out of the oven, cool the cakes for ten minutes before removing them from the pans to the wire racks. Set it aside to cool.

For the orange layer of the cake, you will need:

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup flour
½ cup orange juice

After gathering all the ingredients, you need to –

Soften the butter by leaving it out for some time. Whisk the softened butter. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until even lighter and fluffier but make sure not to overdo it.

Add the baking powder, the baking soda, the vanilla extract, the orange extract and the orange zest. Mix well. Add the flour and mix it until the batter is uniform. Add the orange juice and mix it until it’s smooth and well blended.

Flour and grease a pan and line it with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the cake pan.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until golden and the cake is pulling away from the edges of the pan. Try the toothpick method. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer it to a cooling rack.

For the ganache, you will need –

200ml Fresh cream
400gm Dark chocolate

Grate or chop the chocolate into pieces and melt it either in a microwave or in a bain-marie (shown in the picture below). Heat the fresh cream until bubbles form on the edges. Pour the heated cream over the melted chocolate. Make sure the temperature of the cream is higher than that of the chocolate or else the chocolate will form granules. Leave it for three to four minutes. After three to four minutes, mix them together well and the ganache is ready.

Place one chocolate cake and apply the ganache on top of it. Leave the sides bare. Place the orange cake over it. Make sure it doesn’t slide off. Once it’s settled, apply ganache on top of the orange cake and put the second chocolate cake on top of it. After letting it settle for a few minutes, apply ganache over the whole surface. Grate/chop some chocolates and spread it on top of the cake. Pop on a few candles because having made this cake is reason enough to celebrate, and you’re good to go.

The dark chocolate ganache and the slightly citrus flavor of the orange cake balances the sweetness of the two layers of chocolate cake and it provides you with a new, different, tasty treat to enjoy.

Bon appetite!

May 23, 2014