All about baking

[Minni]

Hi Ash,

Have you ever had a croissant ?
Its flaky too like a puff pastry. Basically, how a croissant or any other flaky texture is made is : you need to fold several layers of dough brushing each layer with fat like butter or margarine.
Did your experiment involved several foldings?

Let us know,

Minni

[ash_970]

Hi Minni,

Yes , I did followed the folding and applying butter and keeping
aside in freeze and again folding and applying butter as the original recipe had recommended but the end product was a nice crisp biscuit instead of the layered version...

Though the taste was good....

If you have made the the croisants with success , please let me know the right method I should follow

[Minni]

Ash,
Haven't experimented it cos of the fat contents! I am "TRYING" to be on a deit

However, that motivates me to try out croissants myself. Will let you know the results of my experiment.

Minni

[kavithasenthil]

Hi,
Anybody have a recipe for varuki or varki which is famous in erode and ooty.?

[ash_970]

Hi Minni,
You are allowed to bake and cook even you are on diet ...we will eat and you will bake... ...just joking ...I have a funny bone.

Will wait for your croissant trial...let me know how it goes..thanks for considering the request..Cheerrss!!!!!!!!

[tastemakers]

Hai Minni

Have you tried making Danish cookies . I would like to try them . If you have the recipie can you please post it.

Thanks in advance

priya

[Minni]

Banana Walnut Cake

A very simple cake. Whenever I am left with that last couple over riped bananas, I make this cake. Especially, it seems to have appealed my kiddie friends!

I tried both the versions with/without Egg and had good results. Can be made in a regular cake pan or in a muffin pan. The only difference is the time to bake considerably reduces(to 30 minutes approximately) if you use a muffin pan.

Ingredients:

1 c Sifted Cake flour
1.5 c Regular White Sugar
1/2 c = 1 stick = 1/4 lb Room Temperature Unsalted butter
1/2 c Walnuts or any other nuts(I like Cashew nuts)
1 tbsp Vanilla Essence/Banana Essence/Mixed Fruit Essence
1 1/2 to 2 mashed Very ripe Bananas
1 tbsp Extra flour for dusting

With Eggs:
2 Eggs
(1/2 tsp Baking powder + 1/2 tsp Baking Soda + 1/2 tsp Salt)

Without Eggs:
1/2 cup Evaporated Milk
(4tsp Baking Powder + 1/2 tsp Baking Soda + 1/2 tsp Salt)

Note: If cake flour is not available, using the substitutions that I suggested in the previous posts...you can use the appropriate flours.

Method:

Measure all the ingredients and get organized before you begin to make the batter. The butter should be soft.

Sift the cake flour, scoop into a measuring cup, scrape a knife across the top of the cup to level it, and measure 1 cup in a separate bowl. Measure the salt, baking powder & baking soda and add to the flour. Mix together. Butter the insides of a 8 in cake pan/muffin pan.
With an extra tablespoon or so of flour in the pan and turn it all around so the pan is completely dusted with flour. Turn the pan upside down, and tap the edge on the table to let the extra flour fall out.

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees F.
Now everything is ready to make the batter. Beat the butter with a wooden spoon or in a mixer until light and fluffy(3 minutes). Add the sugar and beat again until very fluffy and light yellow(approximately 6 to 8 minutes). This is what it means to cream the butter and sugar.

With Eggs:
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition(30 seconds). Add Mashed bananas. Fold the flour into the mixture.

Without Eggs:
Add Mashed bananas.
Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

Gently fold in the walnuts into the batter. Add vanilla(essence) and continue to beat until just mixed. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan. Level batter in the pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake.
Depending on your oven and size of the pan used bake for 30 to 50 minutes or until done.

When is it done?
Open the oven door, insert a tooth pick in each pan at the center, and remove it. If the toothpick comes out clean, then the cake is done. If not, continue baking closing the oven door for another 5 minutes and check again.

Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely. Frosting is optional. I like mine without frosting. So if you want you can spread cake layers with your favorite frosting to make a layered cake.


Let me know your experiences.

Minni

[Minni]

Hi Tastemaker,

I haven't tried any Danish cookies. What variety interests you ?

Let me know.

Thanks,
Minni

[tastemakers]

Hai Minni

The plain ones and the ones with butter my daughter likes them a lot

[Minni]

Wonder how cheesecake is made ?
Yes ofcourse its with cheese, infact its cream cheese...yes like Philedelphia cream cheese!
Thought I would post a Basic Cheesecake recipe today and later on I can suggest several variations to it.

For beginners, a word of encouragement:
Its simpler than the traditional flour cakes. And needs the least amount of expertise. Its the first cake I ever learnt to make.
I was scared of baking cakes for some years as my very first two experiments had disastrous results to the utter dissappointment of the b'day guy/girl whoever's birthday party I was hosting.
But with a friend's encouragement I tried out this cake for another friend's Surprise B'day that I was hosting. The B'day friend savoured it for few more days saving the cake.

Basic Cheese Cake

Well, the basic ingredients are as follows:

3 - Eight oz Packages of Room temperature Cream Cheese
1 c graham crackers(usually 12 crackers measure up to it, i.e., 1 1/2
packets.
1/2 cup or 1 stick Room Temperature Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
5 Eggs or 1 1/4 cup Evaporated Milk
1 tbsp any essence, I like Mixed Fruit essence the best, but you can use Vanilla too.
1/2 tsp Salt
If using Evaporated milk, please add 2-4 tsp of Baking Powder + 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
1/2 tub Cool Whip

Special Requirements:
You would need a 9 in springfoam pan to make this cake as it cannot be overturned onto a cooling rack.
What if you do not have one ?
You can line the inside of your cakepan with a double or triple layer of heavy duty aluminum foil such that you have enough wrapped around the pan so serve as handles to pull the cake out of the pan. You get the idea of what I am talking about! Good!

Method:

Get organized before you begin to make the batter. The creamcheese should be at room temperature.
Pre heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Crumble the graham crackers coarsely. Melt the butter and add it to the coarsely crumbled graham crackers. Now pour this into the cake pan and with the bottom of a steel glass or a measuring cup(anything that has a flat bottom) spread it as evenly as possible through out the pan. Some crumbs would rise to the walls of the pan. Let them be so.
Now bake this cake pan with the crumbs in the 450 degree oven for 4-6 minutes.If you bake any longer the crumbs give a bitter taste for the end product. This blind baking is basically to ensure the crumbs stay in plac(crisp) when you pour the batter into it and bake.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, beat the creamcheese(all 3 eight oz packets) and add sugar, salt, (baking powder+baking soda) and cream for about 5-8 minutes. Now add eggs(one at a time beating 30 seconds after each addition)/ evaporated milk and beat for couple minutes. Now add vanilla essence or any other essence you like.

This batter is rather loose, i.e., thinner in consistency when compared to flour batters. Thats perfectly the way it is supposed to be.

Pour the batter into the blind baked cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Watch for doneness when using a different sized cake pan. When is it done ? When it is not any more runny in the center of the cake. It usually becomes a little brown on the top. Thats perfectly fine. You may observe a crack or so. Do not wory about it too.

When done, turn off the oven and leave the oven door ajar and let the cake cool in the oven for 15 minutes. Then take it out and let it cool completely. Then in the little trough that formed due to the sinking of the top, fill in the coolwhip. You can decorate the cake with chocolate bar shavings or cherries or strawberries.

Refrigerate atleast 6 hours before serving it.

For more enthusiasts, I suggest you fill a small layer of any kind of berries/cherries on the bottom of the blind baked crumbs in the cake pan before pouring in the batter. This way when cut, the cake looks layered and so it tastes. When using berries, you can reduce the amount of sugar added in this recipe.

I never fancied cheesecake before I made one myself. So even if you are not cheesecake fans, try it and let me know how you liked it.

Minni