Chocolate Cream Biscuit

Chocolate Cream Biscuit


I am quite sure Bourbon biscuit would have been popular among most growing children and many adults would have memories of opening up the biscuit, licking the cream first and then eating the rest of the biscuit. I had not really thought of making them at home but that was only until I came across a recipe on a book I had bought in India. I had put it in my to try list for ages but never got around to do it. Finally it saw daylight and I tried it with a bit of scepticism about how the cream will turn out. Well, it all turned out to be very good and it went down a treat – with adults and kid. I am not sure how well it will last in warm regions as the cream is primarily butter and wonder if it will melt (although I think the sugar will prevent this from happening). Here is how to make it...

250g flour (I used a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat flour)
125g butter/margarine
125g sugar
3 teaspoons coco powder
½ teaspoon soda bicarbonate

For cream:
25g butter
50g powdered sugar
½ teaspoon coco powder

Cream together the sugar and margarine/butter until combined

Sift together the flours, soda bicarbonate and coco powder

Add the sugar and make a soft dough. Try to avoid temptation to add milk or water, instead rest the dough for five minutes and it will become softer

Divide into portions and roll into about 2mm thick disc. Cut to desired shape and place on a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180degC for 13-15 minutes

Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely

For the cream, bring together the butter, powdered sugar and coco powder and mix well

Put this on the centre of one biscuit and place another on top to sandwich the cream

Yum Yum!

Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake


It was a special person’s (actually two of them) birthday and every year I would make a gift for them. This year however, circumstances did not allow me to find the energy and time to make a gift. For time being, a handmade cake was going to be it. However, I did take a lot of effort and care to make the cake and decorate it as well. I am not usually a frosting or cake decoration person because we do not usually like cakes loaded with sugar and cream. As the occasion was special, I chose to make a special cake. I chose a black forest cake, eggless though and had to make couple of substitutes. Usually it is made with dark chocolate and cherries. My wee one picked up couple of milk chocolates for baking and insisted we buy them so had to use those up. Not complaining because it was a good brand of chocolate at very little price. I had no cherries on stock as it is not a fruit we normally buy and substituted it with strawberries. I used evaporated milk instead of plain milk as it has about 605 of the water content evaporated and is thicker than regular milk. This makes teh cake taste slightly richer. Usually the whipped cream is sweetened with couple of spoons of sugar spread between layers of the cake. I chose to spread a layer of cream as well as melted chocolate to suit our preference. I also did not add sugar to the whipped cream, you could if you like but be gentle while mixing. The cake was a instant hit and am super chuffed with the result!

2 cups all purpose flour
4 tablespoon cornflour (refer notes below)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoon vinegar
8 teaspoons coco powder
1 cup caster sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
100g butter, melted
1 can evaporated milk
6-8 tablespoon water

Decoration and assembly
1 tub whipped cream
1 pack of chocolate, grated
½ pack chocolate (about 75g)
2 tablespoon milk
Few strawberries or rasberries or cherries

Sift together the flour and cornflour atleast twice. Then add baking powder, baking soda, coco powder and sift well so the flour mixture is aerated

In a separate bowl, bring together the sugar (caster and brown) and melted butter until combined

Add the evaporated milk and blend together

Gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Add vinegar and mix briefly

Transfer to lined cake tin, tap gently about ten times to release excess bubbles and bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 30-40 minutes. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. I rested the cake in the oven for further 10 minutes with oven turned off. Then cool outside for five minutes before transferring to cooling rack

Start the decoration only after cooling the cake completely. Slice the cake into two halves

Melt the half pack of chocolate along with couple of tablespoon milk in a double boiler

Spread this on the bottom part of the cake. Allow to cool

Take some whipped cream and spread on the chocolate already spread

Place the top part of the cake and spread whipped cream on the sides of the cake

Spread whipped cream on the top of the cake. Also put some whipped cream in a piping bag and make your own designs. Cover the cake with grated chocolate and cherries/strawberries/raspberries

Notes:

I chose to use my own cake flour, which is for every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons of flour and replace with cornflour. If you chose not to do this, skip the cornflour in the recipe and use just 2 full cups of all purpose flour

Make sure you keep the cake, cream and chocolate in the fridge every now and then else the heat could disrupt the workability

You will have to store the cake in the fridge as it is decorated with cream

For ease, I bought readymade whipped cream instead of buying heavy cream and whipping it myself

Kala Channa Cheese Balls

Kala Channa Cheese Balls
With the hope to make healthy snacks for afternoon tea, I try to soak legumes and had kala channa soaked. I must admit that I am not a big fan of it but respect it and eat it for the wealth of goodness it possesses. I had pressure cooked half of it and left another half to sprout. I was wondering what to make with it while thinking of a good breakfast for my wee one and myself too. He likes to have baked beans but I do not like giving him the same food everyday. It then occurred to me that I could sneak kala channa into his breakfast. Normally, I would not give him kala channa or any channa as it is a choking hazard at his age but this recipe calls for grinding the channa making it safe. I wanted it to be a wholesome dish so combined carbohydrates in the form of potato, calcium from cheese and ofcourse protein from cheese and the channa itself. The channa is also rich in fibre and when combined with aromatic coriander leaves which are rich in minerals, it was a superb combination. It was neither too heavy nor too light and helped us keep full until mid morning snack. It is important not to fill a toddler’s tummy with just one meal and better to stagger the intake throughout the day. Same applies to us also but I must admit it is a struggle sticking to that regime while having a house to run and child to care for. I made this recipe very recently and while there are almost a hundred other recipes to be drafted and posted, this has jumped the queue really because I thought it would be a good dish for parents to give their little ones and ofcourse nourish themselves. Sticking the wee toothpicks makes it more attractive to wee ones and helps them gobble the dish!

½ cup cooked kala channa
1 medium sized potato
Handful of coriander leaves
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder
½ teaspoon chilly powder (optional)
2 heaped tablespoon grated cheese
2 heaped tablespoon all purpose flour
Cooking oil

In a food processor, bring together the kala channa, potato and coriander leaves and blend but do not add any water. The consistency should be such that it forms a ball when held together. To achieve this you need to ensure you drain the channa and potato well to avoid them forming a paste

Add the cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt, cheese, coriander powder and mix well

Make a runny paste by bringing the flour and water together

Make balls of the channa cheese mixture and dip in the flour paste to coat uniformly

Cook with little oil in kuzhi paniyara koodu. If you do not have one, make patties and cook on hot tava with little oil

Serve hot!