Custard Malai Cookies

Source:

Asma Haidery, HBG


Ingredients:

Maida - 2 cups

Custard Powder - 1/2 cup

Malai/Milk Topping - 3/4 cup

Oil - 1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp or a big pinch

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Milk - At room temperature, just enough to add if you feel your dough is dry

Method:

1.  Preheat oven for 10 minutes at 160 degrees.

2.  Sieve maida, custard powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Keep aside.

3.  In a bowl, whisk together icing sugar, powdered sugar, malai, and vanilla essence to form a smooth paste.

4.  Then, add oil and mix well until combined together.

5.  Add the sieved dry ingredients slowly to the whisked wet ingredients and mix well.  Do not knead the dough too hard.  Just bind all the ingredients together softly.  The consistency of the final dough will be soft, shiny, and yellow in color.  Because of the oil in it, it will not stick to your hands.  You can apply ghee to your hands while rolling the dough balls if you desire.

6.  Make smooth, round balls and place it in a greased or lined baking tray.  Make in batches of the quantity that your baking tray would hold.  Place the dough balls at a distance between them as they would need space to expand while baking.

7.  Now, with a fork, press each of these cookie dough balls to make it a bit flat.

8.  Bake these cookies in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes at 160 degrees.  The time may vary according to the size of your cookies. So, just keep a watch on them and switch off the oven when the edges start to change color.

9.  Once done, cool them down to room temperature.  They will be soft at the beginning but will become crispier and crunchier after sometime.

Store in airtight containers.

Chocolate Cake (for Fresh Cream Pastry)

Source:

Mrs. Rahana Manaf


Ingredients:

Flour - 3/4 cup

Cocoa Powder - 1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1 pinch

Eggs - 3

Sugar - 1 cup

Sunflower Oil - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp


Method:


1.  Sieve together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.

2.  Preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

3.  Grease baking tin and line with butter paper and apply oil all over.

4.  Beat sugar and eggs until fluffy at high speed.

5.  Add oil and beat well for a minute.

6.  Slowly, add the sieved ingredients and milk alternatively and mix together with a spatula or at low speed with the hand mixer.  Do not over beat.

7.  Pour the batter in the greased tray at bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Notes:

Cool the cake completely and double cling wrap and store in freezer until use.  This cake suits best for the fresh cream pastry cakes viz., black forest, chocolate truffle, chocolate cream cake etc.  Decorate the cake with whipped cream and chocolate curls or garnishes or as desired.

Variation:  Increase maida to 1 cup and also add 1/2 cup of hot coffee at the end to the cake batter.  This enhances the taste of the cake.  Add 1 tsp of instant coffee powder to 1/2 cup of hot water.  Coffee dicoction can also be added.