Chocolate Rolls

Phyllo sheets can be used to make lots of delicious dishes.. Here is a quick and tasty dessert.
I made these rolls for my friends and they loved it :) :)

Things Needed:
6 phyllo sheets (or more if you want more rolls)
Melted unsalted butter - half stick
Chocolate chips - half pack

Method:
Cut the phyllo sheets into 3 rectangles. Each rectangle will look like the picture below.

Take one piece and brush melted butter on the sheet and fold once to form a square.

 Place chocolate chips along the center of the square and fold once to form a triangle.

Then roll and place in a baking tray. Repeat for each piece of phyllo.









Bake at 275 for 15 mins or till the rolls turn a pleasant brown and smell like delicious pastry.

Cool and serve.. My friends loved it and I'm sure it will be a crowd pleaser. 

Choco Banana Tofu Panna Cotta

Have you ever had tofu in your dessert? Before you say "yew" think again..This is my first trial with tofu as a dessert ingredient. I watched this episode in Food Network where they made honey lemon Panna cotta and I had an instant urge to make something similar but healthy. So I saw some other recipes where they substituted heavy cream with Tofu..I thought it was very interesting and surprisingly I had tofu in my pantry..so I came up with this yummy and healthy panna cotta recipe that you will definitely enjoy!!!

Servings : 4-5


Ingredients:

Tofu - 1/2 lb

Banana, ripened - 1 no

Milk, 2% - 1 cup

Cocoa powder - 3 Tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp

Gelatin powder - 1 pouch

Method:

1. Add tofu, banana, cocoa powder, sugar and half the milk in a blender and blend it to a smooth liquid.
2. Add the gelatin powder to the remaining milk and let it dissolve for a few minutes. 
3. Mix the blended liquid with the gelatin mixture and heat up in a pan. When the mixture starts to froth remove from heat before it starts boiling. 
4. If you want a smooth panna cotta strain the liquid in a strainer to remove any lumps. If you are like me who likes little surprises, just add the mixture to individual serving dishes and refrigerate for at least an hour to cool down. 

Serve chill and enjoy.
I was surprised that I couldn't taste the tofu at all..The banana and chocolate masks the tofu really well..

If you want to make it more interesting, try adding chopped nuts or chopped chocolate chips to the mixture right before refrigerating.
This is a guilt free dessert that you can enjoy anytime!

Pineapple Kesari

If you ever attended weddings or receptions in chennai, you would've definitely tasted pineapple kesari.
It's my all time favorite kind of kesari..sweet and delicious with a little hint of sourness from the pineapple..literally melts in your mouth..

Ingredients:

Rava/Sooji - 1 cup

Crushed Pineapple (in sugar syrup) - 1 can

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Cashews - 10 nos

Golden raisins - 10 nos

Ghee - 1/4 cup

Yellow food color - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Dry roast rava in a pan until slightly brown and keep aside.
2. In the same pan, heat some ghee and roast cashews and raisins until golden brown and keep aside.
3. Drain the pineapple from the can, add 2 cups water and bring it to a boil in a pan. 
4. Add sugar and as soon as the sugar dissolves, add shoji and mix and let it get all cooked through.
5. Add the roasted cashews and raisins, remanning ghee and mix. Remove from heat and let it cool.  

I used the dole crushed pineapple can. The reason I suggest pineapple in sugar syrup is because that will take the sourness of the pineapples out. If you use the one without, you can still taste the sourness in the kesari. 

2 Minute Chocolate Cake

Craving for a chocolate cake out of the blue? anybody?? This recipe will answer all your prayers for an instant chocolate cake that you can make in less than 2 minutes conveniently in your microwave..

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 Tbsp

Brown sugar - 1Tbsp

Sugar - 2 Tbsp

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Vannila Essence - 1/4 tsp

Egg whites - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 1 pinch

Milk - 2Tbsp

Veg Oil - 1 Tbsp

Cocoa powder - 1 Tbsp

Instant coffee - 1/4 tsp

Chocolate chips - 10 nos (optional)

Method:

1. Take a Microwavable bowl or a coffee mug, Mix all the ingredients above except chocolate chips. 
2. Microwave it in 50% power for 1 minute. 
3. If you are adding chocolate chips, mix them with a pinch of flour to coat them so they don't sink to the bottom and add it to the bowl.
4. Now, microwave again for about 30 seconds until it's cooked through. If not done, cook it for 20 more seconds or so..Your delicious chocolate cake is ready!!

If you are a person who takes 2 spoons of sugar for your coffee, like me :) you may add 1/2 Tbsp extra sugar or a splenda pkt to make it much sweeter..You can decorate it with whipped cream or chocolate icing..I couldn't resist the temptation to eat it right away..So no patience for decor :)

Do let me know how this turns out!!

Easy Chocolate pudding

I thought Chocolate pudding was a little complicated with eggs, baking and water bath and stuff..until I saw this recipe..It's easy, light, and yet rich, creamy and silky, perfect for Valentine's day or some other good excuse you can come up with :P :)

Ingredients:

Milk - 3 cups (2% or better)

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Cornstarch - 1/4 cup

Chocolate Chips, semisweet - 3/4 cup

Vannila Extract - 1 tsp

Butter - 1Tbsp

Salt - 1 pinch

Method:

1. Add sugar, cornstarch, salt and milk and whisk everything together on top of a double boiler. 
2. Keep stirring for 15-20 minutes scraping off all the sides until the mixture thickens and starts coating your spatula. 
3. Add chocolate chips and stir in for a few minutes until it forms a pudding like consistency. 
4. Remove from flame, add vanilla and butter and mix. 
5. Pour into individual cups and cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

Double Boiler: Heat 1-2 inches of water in a wide shallow pan in medium flame and bring to simmer.

Place a smaller pan which can hold 3 cups of milk, on top of the simmering water in the other pan.

Since this recipe does not use eggs, I used whole milk to add a little bit of richness..you can try it with 2% milk as well. If you use bittersweet chocolate chips because that's what you have, I would suggest adding 3/4 cup sugar to maintain the sweetness. Once you add the chocolate you will note that they melt almost instantaneously forming this thick yummy pudding..

Hope you enjoy and Have a Happy Valentines day everyone! 

Strawberry Cake

Fruit cake recipe

This is  an interesting cake recipe I learnt from a friend’s mother my freshman year in college. It uses no oil or shortening of any kind and it still turn out moist.

Things Needed:

6 eggs
1 and a quarter cups flour or a coffee cup of flour
1 and a quarter cups sugar or coffee cup of sugar
Two tables spoons confectioner's sugar
1.5 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 box strawberries
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 teaspoons baking powder

Baking:
Mix the eggs, sugar and flour and vanilla extract into a batter. It helps to add the egg, flour and sugar little by little into a bowl instead of mixing all of it at once. In a small cup, mix the vinegar and baking powder .. it will fizz. Then add it to the cake batter and mix it in. Immediately pour the batter into a 9 inch cake pan or two round cake pans ( I used two round pans). Wait for about 5 minutes. The vinegar baking powder mixture will make the batter bubble. Bake for 45 mins at 325 F or till a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.

Frosting and Layering
Cool the cake and remove from pan. To decorate slice each cake into two layers. Take the whipping cream and add the confectioner’s sugar to it. Then whip using an electric blender till the heavy cream has a spreadable consistency ~ AKA  till stiff peaks form.

Slice strawberries lengthwise and keep aside.

Pick a tray to serve the cake in and place one of the four layers of cake it with the crumby side down. Spead a quarter of the whipping cream on the layer and add bits of strawberry to the layer. Save the bigger pieces for the uppermost layer. Repeat this two more times with two more layers. For the uppermost layer, spread the whipped cream and arrange the bigger strawberry slices in circles or any way you fancy. If any cream is left over, the sides of the cake can also be frosted. Other fruits like banana and orange can also be used. Chill overnight and serve.