Baking with Merry

Aparna chose the Black Forest Buns for the February month's We Knead to Bake #25, as a Valentine's day special. Whereas, the Black Forest cake is made with chocolate cake, cherry compote and kirsch and lots of cream; these Black Forest Buns are filled with chocolate sponge cake and cherry compote or jam. These buns were new to me, since I haven't heard of them nor seen it sold in any bakeries.... And so was eager to bake and taste them and viola! it tasted yummy... It's a perfect snack for kids, you could use their favorite jam instead of the cherry compote.  Now, on to Aparna's recipe: Black Forest Buns Ingredients: For the Dough: 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup milk 50 gm butter 1/4 cup sugar 1 egg (at room temperature, optional) 3/4 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast 3 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour For the Filling: 3/4 cup cherry/ strawberry jam or compote 2 1/2 to 3 cups crumbled...

We Knead To Bake!  is a bread baking group on FB, hosted by  Aparna Balasubramanian  of My Diverse Kitchen . Though I had joined this group couple of months back, I haven't baked anything to date except for pizzas. Now, baking bread is not a child's play. So, I waited until I get to bake something easy. And this month's recipe proved to be the right one to bake for an amateur like me!! Julekake (or Julekaka/ Julekaga) is a rich holiday bread flavoured with cardamom which is traditionally served at Christmas in many Scandinavian countries. It is particularly popular in Norway and Denmark. Incidentally, Julekake means “Yule Bread” in Norwegian.  This bread is more cake-like in texture and sometimes it is dusted with powdered sugar or glazed with a white sugar icing. If it is not glazed or left plain, then it is usually served warm at breakfast with butter or a goat milk cheese called geitost/ brunost.  In Norway, Julekake traditionally only a...

When Subhashini of Fondbites baked the Chicken Wreath for this week's Bake Along Challenge #52 , I seriously couldn't wait to try it out....But as it is Advent, which means abstinence from non-vegs, I gave it a try with paneer.....And now, can't wait for Christmas to try it out with chicken *winks*...... So, here it is my second special recipe for this month!!! I have tweaked the original recipe according to our taste buds.....Next week, is a big week for me!!Keeping my fingers crossed for it *smile*..... Ingredients: For the Wreath: All-purpose flour – 300 gms Instant dry yeast – 1 tablespoon Salt – 1 1/2 teaspoons Granulated white sugar – 2 tablespoons Olive oil – 2 tablespoons plus extra for basting Water – 180 ml Egg – 1, for egg wash For the Filling: Paneer – 250 gms, crumbled Onion – 1 large size, chopped Tomatoes – 2, processed into puree Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp Green capsicum – 1, chopped Red capsicum - 1, chopped Frozen...

Now-a-days, the ads on TV influences kids a lot and they would just like that demand whatever they feel to have, right then! With my kids, it would be a biscuit, a noodle/pasta, a juice or even a pizza.... It was one such demand that led me to bake a pizza at home. The first time I baked, I used a Maida based base with lots of cheese, but my kids preferred less cheesy!! So, the second time I baked, I used wheat flour for the base to make it more healthy and of course less cheesy!! So here are the recipes for both.... However, the toppings for the pizzas are left to you....    Let's go for the healthy one first!!! Whole Wheat Pizza Base Ingredients: Recipe Source: Sharmis Passions Wheat Flour/Atta - 1 1/4 cups Yeast - 1 tsp Water - 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup Sugar - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Olive oil - 1 1/2 tbsp Method: Preheat oven to 200 C. In 1/4 cup warm water, add yeast and keep it aside to bloom. In a mixing bowl, add the bloomed...

Reposting my earlier post on Whole Wheat Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls for Aparna 's We Knead to Bake Event .     Whole Wheat Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls Ingredients: Recipe Source: Easycooking Whole Wheat Flour/Atta - 1 cup All-purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup Lukewarm water - 1 cup Dry yeast - 1 tsp Sugar - 2 tsp Salt - to taste Olive Oil - 2 tsp For Garlic spread Olive Oil - 2tbsp* Garlic cloves - 4-5 finely chopped Green chilly - 1 finely chopped Method: Mix together warm water,sugar,salt and yeast and keep aside for 5-10 minutes to froth. In a bowl, add atta and maida. Pour in the yeast mixture along with olive oil, little at a time and knead the dough to form a smooth dough. (You may not require the entire quantity so add as required) Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes or till the dough becomes smooth and elastic. (Add flour a tsp or two if you feel the dough is too sticky) . Coat the bowl with some olive oil and place the...

Well, I am not crazy about doughnuts, but I do munch on them, given a chance. Usually, doughnuts are deep-fried, which makes them calorie laden. And so when I decided to make doughnuts, I decided to bake it. As usual, Google helped me in my search for baked doughnuts. Heidi of 101 cookbooks had baked doughnuts and followed her recipe to the core. As I said before , breads have never disappointed me. This time too it was no difference. Ingredients: Recipe Source: 101 Cookbooks For Dough Warm milk - 1 1/3 cups (divided) Yeast - 2 1/4 tsps Butter - 2 tbsps Sugar - 2/3 cup Eggs - 2 All purpose flour - 5 cups Nutmeg, grated - a pinch Salt - 1 tsp For decoration Butter, melted - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1 1/2 cups Cinnamon - 1 tbsp (optional) Method: Place 1/3 cup of warm milk in a big bowl. Stir in the yeast and set aside for 5 mins or so for the yeast to bloom. Stir melted butter and sugar and the remaining cup of warm milk in a bowl. Add this to...

Unlike cakes, breads have never disappointed me. So, this year, as a part of my NY Resolution, I have decided to concentrate more on baking with yeast. So to start off, I baked this brioche bread and it turned out quite well. Now, you can find different variations of brioche if you google for it. I choose to bake the one which had come in the latest issue of Vanitha Pachakam.   Ingredients: Recipe Source: Vanitha Pachakam (Issue:Dec 2012-Mar 2013) 1. All purpose flour - 500 gm     Sugar - 90 gm     Salt - 10 gm     Dry Yeast - 10 gm     Butter - 125 gm     Eggs - 2     Milk - 100 ml 2. Cardamom/Nutmeg powder - 4 gm 3. Golden raisins - 5 gms   Method: Mix all the ingredients listed under #1 in a large bowl and knead the dough. Add the 2nd and 3rd ingredients to the above mixture and knead well to form a smooth dough. Place the do...

Sausage Rolls, one of my childhood favorites ( I still love it! ). I decided to bake it at home by using the same recipe of whole wheat garlic pull-apart rolls. And the result is what you see in the below pics.. Though I used both atta and maida, you can use just the maida for the base..... Ingredients: Recipe Adapted from Easycooking Whole Wheat Flour/Atta - 1 cup All-purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup Lukewarm water - 1 cup Dry yeast - 1 tsp Sugar - 2 tsp Salt - to taste Olive Oil - 2 tsp Method: Mix together warm water,sugar,salt and yeast and keep aside for 5-10 minutes to froth. In a bowl, add atta and maida. Pour in the yeast mixture along with olive oil, little at a time and knead the dough to form a smooth dough.  (You may not require the entire quantity so add as required) Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes or till the dough becomes smooth and elastic.  (Add flour a tsp or two if you feel the dough is too sticky) . Coat the bowl with s...

Finally, I baked the Whole Wheat garlic pull-apart rolls about which I mentioned in my last post. Since this was my first bake with yeast, I was quite anxious!! But at last, everything went fine - the yeast frothed at the right time, the dough doubled before and after applying the spread and the rolls got baked at the right time too...... except for the photo sessions (as usual) ... Ingredients: Recipe Source:  Easycooking Whole Wheat Flour/Atta - 1 cup All-purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup Lukewarm water - 1 cup Dry yeast - 1 tsp Sugar - 2 tsp Salt - to taste Olive Oil - 2 tsp For Garlic spread Olive Oil - 2tbsp* Garlic cloves - 4-5 finely chopped Green chilly - 1 finely chopped Method: Mix together warm water,sugar,salt and yeast and keep aside for 5-10 minutes to froth. In a bowl, add atta and maida. Pour in the yeast mixture along with olive oil, little at a time and knead the dough to form a smooth dough. (You may not ...