Fondant Work - Game Of Thrones Themed Cake

Recipe #35 Classic Baked Cheesecake

Servings- 12

Ingredients

Base
-1 cup multigrain biscuits crumbs
-1 tbsp powdered sugar
-3 tbsp cold butter (unsalted)

Filling
-226 grams/1 pack of cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
-1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
-1 tbsp lemon juice
-2 tbsp vanilla essence
-3 eggs, lightly beaten

Method

-In a bowl, mix sugar and biscuit crumbs, cut the butter into small pieces and using your fingers, rub the butter with the biscuits crumb until butter well incorporated

-Grease a 7 inch spring base pan, pour in the crumbs mix and press it evenly and bake it in a preheated oven at 180 deg c for 10 mins. Cool it 

-In a large bowl, using an electric beater, beat in sugar and cream cheese until well incorporated, add vanilla essence and lemon juice. Add eggs, beat on a low speed. Pour the filling in the cool biscuit pan

-Bake it at 180 deg c for 45-5 minutes or until the centre is almost set

-Cool it for 10 mins

- Carefully remove it from the springform pan and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving

-Serve it as it is or with any berry coulis

-Happy Baking

Recipe #34 Churros with Chocolate Sauce

Yield - 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

Churros
-1/4 cup superfine sugar (Caster sugar)
-1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
-2/3 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tblsp olive oil
-1 cup freshly boiled water
-2 cups of vegetable oil for frying

Chocolate sauce
-113 grams dark chocolate
-28 grams milk chocolate
-1 tbsp golden syrup/honey
-2/3 cup cream

Method

Churros

-Mix sugar and powered cinnamon together in a deep dish, this will be used to coat the churros when serving

-Put flour into a bowl and stir baking powder, then beat in the olive oil and 1 cup of freshly boiled water. Keep mixing until you have a warm sticky dough and let it rest for about 10 mins or until the oil heats up for frying

-Heat oil for frying in a medium sized pan, the oil should come about a third of the way up the sides of the pan. To check whether the oil is ready to fry, put a small piece of bread in the oil and if it turns golden brown in 30 seconds then the oil is ready to start the frying

-Load up the dough in a piping bag with a 8mm large star nozzle. Squeeze short lengths, approx 1 1/2 to 2 inches of the dough into the hot oil, snipping them off with a pair of scissors as you go. Cook about 3 to 4 at a time and fry them until rich golden brown

-Fish them out with tongs onto a kitchen towel

-Rest for 5-10 minutes and then coat with the sugar mix

-The churros can stay upto 1 hour

Chocolate Sauce

-Chop dark and milk chocolate together in a medium sized heat pan

-Boil the cream and remove from heat, add golden syrup in to the milk pan

-Pour the hot cream on the chocolate, let it stand for 1 minute and then using a spatula mix the chocolate until well incorporated and smooth

-Serve churros with chocolate sauce

-Happy Baking!!

Deconstructed Mango Cheesecake

When I was making a cake for my mother's birthday, I had cream cheese left. So, what do I do with the excess cream, I don't want to waste it, so then I chuck in some alphonso puree, some icing sugar and beat it with a spoon rigorously until its smooth and light and put it in a piping bag and keep it in the fridge to chill

For the biscuit base, I take 7 biscuits - multigrain, crush it in a a disposable bag using a rolling pin, crush it to a breadcrumb texture, add unsalted butter and caster sugar and place it on a greased pan,  bake it in a preheated oven at 180 deg c for 10 mins

Place the cooled biscuit crumb in the glass and keep it in the fridge for 5 minutes, take out the cream cheese till then

Once 5 minutes are over, add the mango cream cheese in the glass and decorate it with mint leaves

I do not have the exact measurements for this recipe, it was all very intuitive!! . hopefully this will help

Happy baking!!

Recipe #33 Chocolate Panna Cotta

Makes - 10 small cups

Ingredients

-2 tsp unflavoured gelatin
-1 cup milk
-1 and 3/4th cups of cream
-2 tblsp sugar (any type)
-1/4 tsp salt
-170 gems of dark chocolate (chopped)

Method

-In a small bowl, sprinkle powdered gelatine over 1/4 cup milk and let it stand until gelatine has softened, about 5 minutes
-In a saucepan, combine the remaining 3/4th cup of milk and 1 and 3/4th cup of cream with salt and sugar. Bring it to a simmer over low heat. remove milk from the heat (don't let it boil), whisk the milk in the softened gelatine until dissolved
- Melt chocolate over a double boiler
-Once the chocolate is completely melted, mix it with the hot milk mixture until creamy
-Pour it in buttered moulds if you want to serve it without the moulds and refrigerate it for 3-4 hours and gently remove it from the mould and serve chilled
-If you want to serve it with the moulds, just pour the batter in the moulds and serve chilled

Happy Baking!!

Recipe #32 Caramel Sauce

Makes  - 100ml

Ingredients

-100 gms granulated sugar
-30 gms butter (unsalted - room temperature)
-60 ml single cream (I used Amul cream)

Method

-Put sugar in a medium sized flat pan. Spread the sugar evenly on the pan and cook it on medium heat, stirring the pan at regular intervals to avoid burning
-Once the sugar starts to melt, gently move the sugar about the pan (do not use a spoon or a spatula)
-Continue until the colour of the sugar turns golden brown, stretch it to the point where its colour is like honey
-Now add butter and mix it well with the sugar using a spatula
-Turn off the heat and add cream into the pan and mix it with a spatula
-Pour the sauce in a bowl or a jar and keep it in the refrigerator
-It can easily be used for a week (I'm sugar it won't last so long at your home, cause its super yummy)
-Inorder to make salted caramel sauce, add salt according to your liking!

Happy Baking!!

Recipe #31 Mango Jam

Easy to prepare recipe , which can be used for varied fruits as well!!

Ingredients

- 3 medium sized mangoes 

- 1 1/4 cup of water

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1 tsp lemon zest

- Pinch of ginger powder

- 2 tblsp lemon juice

Method

- Peel the mangoes and cut them into cubes 

- Boil the water with brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and ginger powder

- Add the mango cubes when the boiling mixture starts to thicken

- Mash the cubes while cooking,when it starts boiling, switch to low heat

- Cook until it reaches the jam consistency

- Can it in an airtight container and refrigerate it

- You can preserve it for a year, if you store it in a refrigerator

Happy Baking!!

Substitutes- "This For That"

Found this really cool substitutes for ingredients picture online!!

Recipe #30 White Chocolate Mousse

I discovered this recipe when my white chocolate truffle recipe failed miserably. At 12 in the night, I needed a plan B as to what was I going to gift to my professor!!.. I wanted to give a farewell gift to the professor.. And then.. I thought why not make a mousse out of it .. Cause my batter was neither too thin nor too thick.

Many recipes in this world are discovered by chance... so just 1 piece of advice, keep baking and keeping discovering new recipes, cause its the best thing in this world..to see someone smile!!


Makes: 3 portions

Ingredients
-150 grams of white cooking chocolate (chooped)
-50 grams of amul cream
-1 tblsp of cocoa powder

(Always remember - White chocolate and cream are in the proportion of 3:1, for ganache,cream, mousse, anything!)



Method

-In a heat resistant pan, take chopped white chocolate and cream and melt it over a double boiler. White chocolate takes time to melt, so be patient. Stirring it occasionally with a spatula
-After the chocolate has melted 80%, remove it from the heat and let it melt in the residue heat of the cream
-At this point, the mixture will look yellowish, to make it look white and shinier, use an electric beater and beat it for a minute
-To this add cocoa powder and mix gradually until well incorporated
-Keep the pan in the freezer and remove it and stir it well until smooth, repeat this process until it becomes of a pipeable consistency
-Using a star nozzel, pipe the mousse into moulds or cups and let it sit in the fridge and serve!!
-Garnish it with desiccated coconut

Recipe #29 No bake Vanilla Cheesecake

Finally a compliment for my cheesecake from my brother!!.. It's a huge relief for me.. Here's this super easy recipe I found on the internet and tweaked it wherever needed

Prep Time : 25 minutes                                                                  Total Time : 3 hours and 30 minute

Ingredients

-20 digestive biscuits
-11 tblsp salted butter (melted)
-2 tblsp castor sugar
-400 gms cream cheese (room temperature)
-1 & 1/4 cups condensed milk
-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence


Method

-Put the digestive biscuits in a large plastic bag, and crush them using a rolling pin until the texture becomes like breadcrumbs

-Pour the crumbs into a medium sized bowl and add melted butter and sugar to it. Mix well using a spatula

-Press the crumb mixture into a 9 inch springform pan (a loose bottom mould), spreading it 1 1/2 to 2 inch up the sides (do this step properly cause this cheesecake when it is chilled in the refrigerator, it still has a soft consistency so the crumbs will give it structure), press flat with your fingers. Chill the crust in the refrigerator until the cheesecake batter is ready

-Meanwhile, make the filling- Using an electric beater- beat cream cheese in a large bowl at a medium speed until soft and fluffy. Add condensed milk to it and beat it well until well incorporated. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla essence

-Pour the filling into the biscuit base pan, smoothen the top with a spatula. Cover the top with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 4 hours. Eat it as it is or pour some fruit coulis and enjoy it with your friends and family!!

Happy Baking!!

Recipe #28 Butterscotch Chocolates

Makes : 15 

Ingredients 

-100gms dark chocolate (chopped)

-40 gms butterscotch (ground)

-chocolate mould 

Method 

-Using a double boiler (use a pot , fill it with water- half the pot, put it to boil, take a larger bowl over it),add the chocolate ,melt it slowly and use a spatula to mix it gently 

-Let the chocolate melt a little, add ground butterscotch and mix vigorously and remove all the lumps

-Once mixed well, transfer it to the mould and refrigerate it for 15 minutes and chocolates are ready to serve!!

-Happy baking !