Christmas in Canada is incomplete without Kuswar ‘ Traditional Indian Christmas goodies’.

As is my yearly tradition, I’ll be preparing roce cookies, nevris, chaklis and many more mouth watering delicacies.

If you would like to enjoy these treats with your loved ones on Christmas day, you can place an order with me.  Please see the attached flyer for details.

So Come All Ye Faithful and spread some Christmas cheer.

Share this with your friends and family as Christmas season is near.

Mango Raspberry Mousse

Mango Raspberry Mousse

It was my hubby’s  birthday. I wanted to throw him a nice surprise party and I decided to make all the desserts for the party. This was one of the desserts I made and it turned out really well. After all the heavy Indian food, this dessert was perfect to wash it all down. Very refreshing taste to welcome the spring season. An all time favorite among kids. You must give this dessert a try especially when it is so effortless to make it.

Ingredients:

1 tin Mango Puree

1 packet of Peach Jello

1 packet of Raspberry Jello

½ cup water

¼ cup sugar

500 ml whipping cream

15 strawberries

15 maraschino cherries or fresh cherries

Method:

Heat Mango Puree with half cup water on slow flame. When it is slightly hot, add the peach jello and raspberry jello powder to the mango mixture and stir well. Also add in the sugar and stir till everything is dissolved well and no lumps are formed. Let this cool down to room temperature.

In the meanwhile, take 500 ml of whipping cream and whip it well with a beater or hand whip till it forms soft peaks. Fold the whipping cream in to the mango mixture. Use cut and fold method until everything is well incorporated.

Now, take a trifle bowl. At the bottom of the bowl, add freshly cut strawberries. On top of it pour the mango mousse mixture. Let this set in the refrigerator overnight. Just before serving, garnish it with fresh cherries or maraschino cherries. Serve chilled.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

This Thanksgiving I was looking for new ideas for a dessert. I didn't want to make the pumpkin pie as I  made it last year. So, decided to browse through some sites online. I came across this recipe of Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake on the internet and liked it a lot. When I read it, I thought it would be a lot of work, but the effort was worth trying it out. So, decided to share it with all of you. I tweaked a few ingredients to my liking.

INGREDIENTS

CRUST

• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk

Filling:

• 4-8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tins of Ed Smith Pumpkin Pie filling
• 2 tbsp Jamaican Spiced Rum

Pan:

• 1 9-inch diameter, 3 inch tall spring form pan

METHOD:

• Pulse pecans, flour, sugar, and crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and egg yolk. Pulse until mixture is combined together. Press into bottom of 9” spring form pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375°F. Remove from oven and let cool.
• Drain or strain any liquid from pumpkin pie filling. Take pumpkin purée and strain all the liquid using a muslin cloth. Two cans of puréed pumpkin should yield a little more than 2 cups of purée, with the excess moisture removed. You want exactly 2 cups of the purée.
• Whisk together the flour, pumpkin spice powder in a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon (no need for a mixer for this step), mix in the salt, pumpkin purée, vanilla, and spiced rum. Beat in the eggs.
• In a large bowl with the help of a mixer combine the cream cheese and the brown sugar until fully creamed and smooth (no lumps). Gradually add the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
• Place crust-baked spring form pan in the middle of two layers of large sheets of aluminium foil (to help prevent water-bath moisture from leaking into the pan). Fold the aluminium foil up the sides of the pan and trim. Place the aluminium wrapped pan in a large roasting pan (large enough so that there is room on all sides). Pour the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the spring form pan.
• Place the roasting pan containing the spring form pan in a 325°F oven on the middle rack. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the side of the spring form pan. Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven heat and prop the oven door open. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven, cooling for another hour. Then remove from oven and let come to room temperature. Once it has cooled down, chill for several hours in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
• When ready to serve, gently remove the cake from the spring form pan.Serve cheesecake with caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Banana Walnut Muffins

Last month, one of my friends gifted me with a Wilton Baking Set. I was waiting to experiment with it. So, decided to start by using the muffin tray. Emily loves bananas and hence, I decided to make banana walnut muffins for her. We made the muffins together and had so much fun doing it.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Baking time : 20 - 25 minutes

Makes : 14 muffins

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp cinnamon powder (optional)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 11/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

• First put the bananas in a big bowl and smash it using a potato smasher or a fork. Ensure that all the bananas are smashed well are there are no lumps left.
• Now, mix the melted butter into the mashed bananas.
• To this, add the sugar, beaten egg, cinnamon powder and vanilla essence and mix well.
• Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix it well.
• Finally, fold in the flour gently in to the mixture with a spatula. Add chopped walnuts and gently fold it again.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
• Grease the muffin tray and gently pour the mixture into a prepared muffin tray. Bake for 20 minutes. To ensure that the muffins are ready, slowly insert a knife in the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, that means the muffin is ready and done.
• Cool on a rack and then serve it warm or at room temperature.

Tiramisu

My all time favorite Italian dessert. I always thought this particular dessert was extremely difficult to make. But, I was wrong. One day I was watching this show on TV called Kitchen Boss and the host of this show who is a renowned pastry Chef was showing how to make Tiramisu. It looked so simple and easy that I had to give it a try.

Last month, I had organized a party for about 30 people where I cooked everything at home right from starters to dessert. I decided to make this particular dessert for the first then. It was a big challenge for me because, I never made it before and I decided to try it out for the first time and that too make 2 trays of the dessert. But, the end result was phenomenal. I was extremely happy and both the trays were swiped clean. Everyone simply enjoyed this dessert, more so because I put a lot of booze in it :) I have used Buddy's recipe and added a little of my own personal touch to it.

Preparation Time : 1 hour +

Serves : 12 - 15

Makes : One (9x13) tray

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups american strong coffee / espresso

11/4 cup sugar

6 tbsp plus 1 tbsp coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

4 extra large egg yolks

1 pound marscarpone cheese

2 tbsp sweet marsala

1 cup heavy cream

48 store bought saviordari biscuits

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 slab of milk chocolate

Method:

• Put the espresso / american coffee, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and 1/4 cup of the coffee liqueur into a heavy saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool.
• Put the yolks, marscapone, marsala, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and remaining 1 tbsp of coffee liqueur in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment and whip on medium speed until light and airy, approximately 7 minutes. You can also do this using a hand mixer. Transfer the mixture to another bowl and clean and dry the stand mixer bowl and the whip attachment, returning them both to the mixer.
• Put the cream in the bowl of the stand mixer and whip until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the cream mixture into the marsala mixture.
• First spread some cream mixture at the bottom of the 13 inch x 9 inch pan.
• Then one by one, dip the saviordari biscuits in the espresso syrup / american coffee syrup and arrange a layer in a the bottom of a 13-inch x 9-inch pan. Spoon a layer of cream over biscuits. Sprinkle some cocoa powder over top of cream. Dip and arrange another layer of biscuits over the cream, with the second layer perpendicular to the first. Spoon the remaining cream over the top.
• Dust the tiramisu with cocoa powder. Finally, grate some milk chocolate all over the cocoa powder. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or upto 2 days.
• To serve, use a kitchen spoon to scoop out portions into small bowls or glass dishes.

Mango and Pepper Salad

It is summer season in India and it is time for my favorite fruit which is "Mangoes". In Canada, we don't really get nice mangoes but I found the Ataulfo mangoes pretty good for this recipe. This is a Mexican variety and I found this particular variety of mangoes simply perfect for this recipe. But, you could really use any ripe mango. This recipe was passed down to me by a close friend of mine and I really liked it and hence decided to share it with you all.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Serves: 3- 4

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow bell pepper

1 medium red bell pepper

2 medium sized mangoes

3 small shallots sliced or you could use 1/2 red onion

3 tbsp of Jufran hot banana sauce (easily available in No frills)

2 tbsp of roasted salted peanuts chopped

1 green chilli chopped

a few coriander leaves finely chopped

Method:

• First cut the peppers lengthwise into thin strips and after you have finished cutting them, try to pat them dry using a kitchen towel. Make sure you remove all the excess water from the peppers.
• Once you have done that, combine the rest of the ingredients with the peppers and garnish with some peanuts on top.
• Serve it chilled.

Sprouted Moong Dal Curry

Recently, my husband has decided to go on a complete protein diet in order to lose weight. He is completely off carbohydrates, and that keeps me thinking which protein to cook every day for him. I came across this particular dish at a friend's place and found it to be very healthy, nutritious and also delicious. So decided to give it a try.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 cups sprouted whole green moong dal

1 tsp garam masala powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida (hing)

1/2 can of coconut milk

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• In a vessel, add sprouted moong dal and enough water (around 4 cups) and bring to a boil on medium heat. Cover and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cook for about 30 minutes till the dal is tender.
• Now, add the red chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and add the coconut milk and lemon juice. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then taste to adjust seasoning.
• In a pan, roast some cumin seeds, hing and mustard seeds on medium heat and add this to the dal.
• Serve hot with rice or chapattis.