Skinny Red Velvet Cupcake

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Happy Chinese new year to all! We celebrated the long 4 day weekend with lots food and moviesJ

 With Valentine’s day around the corner let me share a skinny version of the all time favorite Red velvet cupcake with a hint of chocolate flavour  You can always cheat a bit and add the classic cream cheese frosting which is the classic combo. The recipe is adapted from the Cookbook Sweet and skinny by Marisa Churchill, so far I tried about 4 of her recipes and came out splendid! Most of the recipes are low fat and whole wheat and you can toss down it down with no guilt feelings.

So wait no more..lets whip up some red velvet cupcakes for the Valentine’s day!

Coconut Cake

It’s a pretty long weekend for us here as the Chinese new year is around the corner. As always I have a big to-do list..and the item on top was to update my discarded blog..!

So here is a Coconut cake from my all time favourite Chef Donna Hay. Now when I follow cook book recipes many a  times I end up with a totally different stuff from the lovely picture they put up to make u drool ! But never with Donna Hay, her recipes are just fool proof. I bet you just follow her recipes blind folded and you will be amazed with the results!

Ginger Glazed Walnuts

Let me warn you..you are going to see a lot more of Pecan and walnut recipes in coming days!

What can I say..I am surrounded by a bunch of generous people, I mean literally very generous ! My parents recently went to US to spend the holidays with my sis and I asked them to get me some Pecans and walnuts back as they r pretty expensive in Singapore.[Please note the word someJ]And a month later I go back home for Christmas holidays . My mom is happily flaunting all the stuff they shopped from US and there comes the gifts and things for me! Two big bags of stuff..I am like what ???you got me two bag full of pecans and walnuts!! Yeah just 2.5 KG each of Pecans and walnuts!!! Seeing  my expression my mom asks me..Ops so is this not enough for you? should I have brought more:-) So thatz the extend of my mom’s generosity!

Bottom line I am going nuts over the 5 KG nuts starring at me in my pantry!

Poppy seed Cake

No sneaking around for low fat .. no guilt this time around.. its poppy seed cake for the weekend! Was planning to treat myself with a rich cake with succulent cream cheese  icing before I get back to my routine. Unfortunately it raining cats and dogs here in Singapore for last two days . So the laziness got the best of me and I chose to keep it simple. Nevertheless it’s a fluffy soft cake with the wicked poppy seeds. I am loving it.

Nutella Cupcake with Caramel sauce topping

Its 12 days into 2013..Better later than never !!.Let me wish all my dear readers a very happy new year.

December of 2012 was mad..Sleepless nights , a trip to US followed by 5 days neck deep work and to close it all a 2 week vacation in my hometown!

I got back to Singapore few days back and still struggling hard to get back to routine.I missed hell lot of posts from you all and almost forgot about my blog. Mostly because I haven’t been doing much cooking in the last couple of months. Things are a bit settled now and I hope to get back to ride soonJ .

Homemade Nutella/ Hazelnut Spread

Phewwwwww..I am back, after a month loonng break.

I am soo sorry to have left this place without a wordL in fact I didn’t even intent to take a break from blogging you know…just that there were soo many things happening in life that I just had to put this off to later, later and ended up with this loonng break …

Now the last few months has been a roller coaster ride..Ups and downs and up again. Letz now go flash back into the last few months Arrghhhh.

Bottom line I am at a very happy space now..enjoying my long break..little over 2 long weeks. First few days I just slept it all off, just getting in time to eat.And now busy shopping Christmas gifts and packing my bags for my 10 day break in my Hometown, yippppieeee. 

Lamingtons

Lately blogging and even cooking have become an weekend affair for me.After my last post, I don’t think I have visited this space more than twiceL That too not more than few minutes..

I am caught up in the midst of a whirlpool at work and I can say that  I am virtually living in my office and coming home just for sleeping. Needless to say my kitchen and oven have been idle for weeks..The craziest part is I am even dreaming of work, slides, and even colleagues..to be specific bossesL. Every morning when I wake up, I feel like I just came out of  a long exhausting meeting.

To keep myself sane, I am making some time for some fun activities as well. DH and I have started going to mandarin classes..which turned out to be 2 hrs of sit-up comedy. 4 classes down and I can’t even remember 4 phrases. And even those 4 , when I tried on my colleagues, I got weird looks, stares and one even said never ever say that loud again. So I am absolutely sure I haven’t even nailed down a single phrase yet.The most difficult part for me is the tones..Oo man , no wonder why Chinese people are way smarter. If they can master such a difficult language they ought to be smart !

And yes, we started Salsa classes too, thatz was weird at start ..but turning out just like the mandarin classes...Two classes down and our dance doesn’t look even look a teeny tiny bit close to Real salsa dance.

Homemade Salted Caramels

Weekend is here..Oo lalalala.Let’s start it with something sweet. Homemade salted Caramels!

I have been wanting to make some homemade caramels recipe ever since I have the most yummiest cheesecake ever..Salted Caramel Cheesecake.Also I badly needed to use the candy thermometer which I have used only twice in last 3 years, if not I may not even remember that ever existed!

I blindly followed the recipe from Joy of Baking and worked like a charm. It makes a perfect gift item if you can manage to spare a few.

Happy Diwali..And a Ribbon Pakoda recipe

Happy Diwali /Deepavali to all my lovely readers!!Hope you are enjoying this festival of lights with your dear ones and with lots and lots of diwali sweets and snacksJ

For this Deepavali I made a simple savory snack which reminds me of a very very special person who is very close to my heart.

Back in my hometown in Kerala, it’s a very closely knit society and our neighbours are more like our family.So the Ammumma next door is more like my own grandmother.

I must admit that I spend a veee bit more time with her than my real grandparents. As both my parents were working I can say that I was practically living at their place.My clumsy description can't do justice to a person like our Ammumma…Infact all of us called her Ammumma including the kids gang ,my parents, other uncles and aunts in our colony.Such a pious, serene, loving person she was..The fondest memory I have of her is me lying down by her side in a  straw mat in afternoons and she reading out stories from “Urumbum Pravum”.

How I wish I got a chance to relive all those precious moments..I wish I could go back and hold her hands once more and tell her how much we all adored her…

Even though she is not with us anymore..her memories are soo vivid and I still can feel the her love and warmth..Love u always Ammuma..

Vegan Sticky Dates Cake

I am in a total hibernation mode…After a very long and nerve-racking week at work, I took a day off and am enjoying my 4 day weekendJ Now who can beat that!

Cant believed that two days of  my precious 4 day weekend end is already over and all I  did was go moo-moo and eat. Both of which I hardly did in last one week.

Sigh sigh..Diwali is round the corner and I haven’t made a single festive snack.Let alone snack, I haven’t made a meal in almost a week now. I rarely switched on my stove and when I did it , it was just to make some tea or coffee.

Anyways tomorrow I have a big todo list ,hopefully I can break out of my laziness shell and make some festive snacks. Meantime here is a veganised recipe of my favourite sticky dates cake.

Vegan Orange Drizzle cake

Oo my..I have been ignoring my bloggy for more than 10 days.Its almost dead..let me quickly give it some CPR!

DH was sick..This time it was big-time !May b the virus was visiting him after 3 long years, it stuck him ,world class this time.DH  as a rule is a hyperactive adult who absolutely hates sleeping and when he is down and asked by doctor to sleep until cows comes home..it’s like asking for the moon!Sigh sigh

I have been missing all those lip-smacking dishes from my dear blog buddies ,especially the early diwali sweets.. Soo much to catch upL

Coming to today’s recipe it’s an egg less orange cake with a simple chocolate icing. This cake has been in my drafts for over a month now.. I adapted the recipe from Vaishali’s awesome blog Holy cow. Just halved the recipe and made some changes in the flavourings.

Jalebi/Jangri/Jilebi

Jalebi..Jangri..Jilebi..Or even JilaybeeeJ I honestly don’t know the right name.In my place we call is Jilaybee .After all what’s in a name.

It’s basically a yummy Indian sweet. As like most Indian sweet its superb sweet and not for light hearted folks. Its deep fried , doesn’t stop there and then we go ahead and soak it in a sugar syrup.

Now don’t count calories during this festive season , just indulge in this yummy sweet and bounce to the seventh heaven due to the sugar rush.

Matcha White Chocolate Fudge with Red Bean filling

Match or Green tea is an acquired taste. At least that was the case for me! I absolutely hated it about 5 yrs back ,used to wonder how people can eat this weird green colour tea, that too flavor your cakes and bakes with that!! My liking started with Green tea ice creams and mochi, slowly moved on to cakes, cheese cakes, chocolates and now I am absolutely addicted!

I am soo glad I am born after Green tea was discovered..how would I have lived without it!!!

Healthy Rice Krispie Treats with Dates

Traditionally the yummy rice krispie treats are made from Rice cereal , Marshmallows and oodles of butter. But this one is not  your regular rice Krispy treats with Marshmallows. It’s a lighter and healthier version with Dates Puree and peanut butter. Isn’t it great to hear that your favorite snack can be made so healthy and wholesome.. now you can munch on this non-stop without worrying about growing horizontally!!

Banana Chocolate Breakfast Muffins

I guess my quest for the perfect breakfast bakes has come to an end with this perfect Dark chocolate Banana Muffins. There are awfully chocolatey ,fruity and nutty and not too sweet to drag you to a sugar comma in the morning! I made a batch of this on Sunday and am enjoying this Muffins for breakfast. You have to trust me blindly here when I say that you have a bite of this Dark and divine muffins for your breakfast and your day is suddenly all brighterJ

Eat Muffins and Live long..and here goes the recipe! 

Pumpkin Seed Candy

If you have been to Hong Kong Airport, I bet you never missed the famous Kee Wah bakery. If you haven’t visited the place yet, please please do go there. Their best seller Pineapple shortcake is fabulously awesome. I tasted some of the best candies I ever had from here as well..Dates Candy , Pumpkin candy. I bought back a big pack of Pumpkin seed candy and my friends loved it.

It has been in my to-do list for a long time and I finally managed to clear that off from my list this weekendJ.

Blueberry Lemonade

Honestly I have no clue what the hell is seasonal cooking. How will I get a chance when I am in Singapore where there is only one season..Summer.. we get most veggies and fruits round the year. We get mangoes, berries, apples, oranges, plums, melon round  the year. The only way I am in sync with the seasonal fruits is via the blogs and food porn sites J When I see a flood of blueberry recipes…probably it is blueberry season in rest of the world. Anyways I am seeing lot of blueberries in supermarket these days. Since I am giving some rest to my oven I chose to make a simple lemonade and add some blueberry syrup to that. I must say the sweet blueberries and tarty lemon is an awesome combination.

Home-made Ginger Candy

I am falling in love with ginger, especially after reading  Ayurveda Bible.Great book to know your body constitution or Prakruthi,how to balance your energy , the right  food for your body type , the best way of making it and more.Ginger is universal medicine used soo widely in Ayurveda and that is the magic wand to my body type .You can check your body type here . I have heard my father saying  that eating fresh ginger before lunch and dinner to enhance digestion and better absorption of nutrients by the body tissues. So say bye bye to bloating and try this soothing  sweet n hot ginger candy.

Barley and Vegetable Soup

It’s a rain soaked weekend for us here so no special plans for Sunday evening other than making this souperlicious soupJ.What better way to enjoy your cozy weekend than this..the sound of rain outside your window, cool breeze, your favourite book in hand, hot coffee by the table and the smell of this hearty soups simmering in the stove.

Matcha / Green tea Ice cream (No cream No eggs)

My notion about Ice creams was that its best to get from store. I have tried my luck at making homemade ice creams with the perfect creamy texture..didn’t have much luck there. Few years back I even  lugged an ice cream maker from US, to tell the truth that is happily  sitting in the top cupboards, hardly ever used it. Luckily I recently moved my Kitchen Aid up as well. Now ice cream maker have a companyJ. Both of them are blissfully hibernating. I see some eye rolling .. heard that right, I rarely use my kitchen aid. Mainly because I usually bake for just 2 of us and for that I always rely on my 10 dollar hand held mixer which come handy . I have been using it for 3+ years and still going strong. Love it!