Snowball Cookies

Source:

Let's Bake by Mrs. Roshini Mathan


Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 cup

Flour - 1-1/4 cup

Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp

Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup (plus 1/4 cup for rolling)

Chopped Nuts - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1 pinch (if using unsalted butter)


Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2.  Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3.  Add salt and gradually add flour and mix well.

4.  Add finely chopped nuts and vanilla essence and firm into small round and place on a greased pan.

5.  Bake at 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes till the edges are light brown.

6.  Remove when baked and roll the cookies in powdered sugar when they are still hot and allow it to cool.

Double Chocolate Cake

Source:

Let's Bake by Mrs. Roshini Mathan


Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate - 125 gm

Milk - 3 tbsp

Butter - 150 gm

Powdered Sugar - 150 gm

Eggs - 3

Flour - 200 gm

Cocoa Powder - 1 tbsp

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Salt - 1 pinch (if using unsalted butter)


Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

2.  Grease a baking tin and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

3.  Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Keep aside.

4.  Place the chocolate and the milk in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of gently simmering water (double boiling) and heat until the chocolate has melted.

5.  Beat the butter until very soft.

6.  Then, add the sugar little by little and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

7.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

8.  Then, fold in the melted and cooled chocolate.

9.  Lastly, add the sifted flour and fold in gently to mix.

10.  Bake at 180 degrees in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.


Notes:

1.  Hershey's or Baker's unsweetened cocoa powder can be used.

2.  Cover the cake tin with a black chart (cut to size just bigger than the tin) for uniform baking.

3.  For good and moist baking, line the springform cake tin with aluminium foil and apply butter on it on all sides.  For regular molds, line with butter paper and apply butter on both the mold and on the butter paper.

4.  Salted butter can be used to bake cakes and cookies.  Avoid salt if mentioned in the recipe if salted butter is used.

Lemon Cake

Source:

Let's Bake by Mrs. Roshini Mathan

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil - 180 ml

Eggs - 2

Lemon rind - 1 tbsp (finely grated)

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Thick Yogurt - 280 gm

Powdered Sugar - 385 gm

Flour - 300 gm

Baking Powder - 1-1/2 tsp (heaped)

Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2.  Grease a tin and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

3.  Sift the baking powder and baking soda with flour and keep aside.

4.  Place the oil, eggs, lemon rind, lemon juice, yogurt, and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine.

5.  Add the flour and fold until well combined.

6.  Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake at 180 degrees for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Date and Nut Coffee Cake

Source: 

Let's Bake by Roshini Mathan

Ingredients:

Minced dates - 1/2 cup

Flour - 250 gm

Powdered sugar - 250 gm

Milk - 1/4 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Chopped nuts - 1/2 cup

Eggs - 5

Butter - 250 gm

Instant coffee - 5 tsp

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

2.  Grease a tin and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

3.  Dilute the coffee in hot milk.  Set aside.

4.  Sift the baking powder and baking soda with flour and mix dates and nuts in it.  Keep aside.

5.  Beat the butter and sugar well until light and fluffy.

6.  Add eggs one by one and beat until incorporated.

7.  Finally, fold the flour adding the coffee mixture alternatively starting with flour and ending with flour.

8.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and bake at 180 degrees for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.


Notes:

If making cupcakes, place liners in the cupcake molds and pour batter to two-thirds level of the mold.  Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Bread Dosa/Oothappam (Instant Dosa Recipe)

Source:

Adapted from Cook with Smile 

Ingredients:

Bread - 4 to 6 slices

Rava - 1/2 cup

Rice Flour - 3/4 cup

Thick sour curd - 3/4 cup

Green Chilli - 1

Rock Salt - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp (tempered in oil)

Onions - 2, chopped

Carrot - 1, grated (optional)

Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Table (Powdered) Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1.  Soak the bread slices in just enough water for 2 to 3 minutes.  I did this process directly in the big jar of my mixie.

2.  When the water is absorbed, add rava, rice flour, chilli, curd, rock salt, cumin seeds to the soaked bread in the mixie and grind to a smooth batter adding enough water to grind.  Do not add too much water.  It should be of an oothappam batter consistency.

3.  Transfer it to a large bowl and check for consistency.  Add water if necessary to get pouring consistency.

4.  Add the chopped coriander leaves and tempered mustard seeds to the dosa/oothappam batter and mix.

5.  In a plate, mix the finely chopped onions and grated carrots and keep aside.

6.  In a bowl, mix pepper powder and table salt to make a seasoning powder and keep aside. 

7.  Heat a tawa.  Pour a ladle of batter in the center and spread it in circular motion with the ladle to make it an oothappam.  Immediately, sprinkle about half a handful of chopped onions and grated carrot mix all over the spread batter and top it with the seasoning powder (pepper and salt mix).  Press lightly the topping so that it sticks to the dosa/oothappam.  Drizzle a few drops of oil around the dosa/oothappam.  Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes.  Flip over and allow to cook for a minute.

Serve hot with a chutney of your choice, sambhar, chutney powder (idli podi), or a pickle.

My Notes:

The quantities mentioned in this recipe make 8 to 10 dosas.

To make thin plain dosas, add more water to the batter to make it of a pouring consistency and make thin and crispy dosas by spreading enough on the tava.

A variation to the thin plain bread dosa is to add sauted onions and curry leaves and mixing it with the batter to make it onion bread dosa.

Toppings can be any of your choice, viz., corn, tomatoes, mixed veggies, capsicum, etc. etc.  but make sure the toppings are added before the oothappam gets cooked.

Any bread - white, brown, multigrain, buns, etc. fresh or old can be used.

Generally, I do not remove the brown edges of the bread slices to make these dosas.  It is optional for you to remove them.

Any seasonings or flavorings (eg. pepper powder) can be used of your choice.  Even idli powder can be sprinkled on top of the dosa batter.  If using that, omit additional salt.