Avocado-Berry Smoothie

Till date, I have made so many dishes for lunch & dinner and baked a lot. But never have I experimented or tried varieties in drinks, juices or smoothies. Even when I got my hands on some avocado, my intention was to use it in some kind of salad. When I sat with Mr.Google to find the right salad recipe to suit our taste buds, I came across some recipes that used avocado in smoothies. I was intrigued and decided to experiment and make a smoothie.

I felt that Avocado as such doesn't have much taste but it helps in making your smoothie really creamy and oh so luscious! I added each a handful of Raspberries & Blackberries and a couple of pitted dates for sweetness (going the natural way!) along with the flesh of an avocado and gave it a whiz in the blender. The result was a fruit mush, not smoothie :P

At this point it is up to you to decide if you want to add water or milk to your smoothie. For a more creamy texture (albeit a heavier option), add milk else add water. The quantity also is up to you. I added 1 and a half cup water and still winded up with a creamy smoothie :) So just wing it. I absolutely loved the combination of berries with the avocado. And just look at the color. Love!

This creamy and yummy avocado smoothie is very easy to make and its very versatile, in the sense, you can add any fruit you like to the mix. You can use some mango, which seems to be a popular combo with avocado. Or you can add bananas. Its totally your call. And just in case you dont find this sweet enough with the dates, add some honey. It's so not worth it to add sugar at this point.

So that is my first attempt at making a smoothie. And it was a huge success. Will be trying more combinations in the future. Hope you give it a try. You can play around with all kinds of fruits.
Keep smiling :) You just ate healthy ;)

Mixed Nuts Streusel Cake

Hi, I'm back with another fabulous recipe from our Bake Along group. For last week, Subhashini chose an Almond Streusel Cake adapted from one of Martha Stewart's recipes. Wikipedia describes Streusel as "a crumbly topping of flour, butter, and sugar that is baked on top of muffins, breads, pies and cakes". It is a wonderful addition to cakes and takes the taste and texture to a whole new level. 

Although Subhashini has made the streusel with just almonds, I used a mix of Walnuts, Almonds and Pistachios. Walnuts are my most favourite ever, I can eat them all day  So i had to include them.. 

The cake is baked in a Bundt pan and layered with the Streusel in between and at the top (which will be the finished cake's bottom). If you are confused with this description please head on over to Fondbites website for the step by step recipe with pics 

The crunch of the Streusel pairs so well with the soft and moist cake. Its indescribable. You have to try it to experience it. Yumm yumm yumm..

You can use the glaze for added flavor. I decided to skip it, because i really loved the taste of the streusel and wanted to have the cake as is. By the looks of it, I think I may end up using a lot of this Streusel in the future!! It's so crunchy and perfect!

My bundt pan was not enought for the amount of batter that came out of this recipe, so i made a mini 5-inch cake with the rest of the batter. But i had enough Streusel only for the middle layer and none for the topping. So i just stuck a few choco chips on the top and baked it. Looked so pretty!

Head on over to the recipe and give it a try. You will not be disappointed
Get the recipe here--> Almond Streusel Cake
Happy Baking  

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers who bake one recipe every week.

Schiacciata

Everyone is afraid of working with Yeast and I am no exception. But lately, I have embraced the fact that yeast is something I will have to get used to working with. As you get good dishes out of it, it will become easier because we are gaining confidence slowly but steadily and once we conquer the so called "Beast" there is no turning back, because bread baking is one of the most satisfying baking there is. All the hard-work we put into kneading, waiting and waiting for it to rise and when it does rise, oh what joy! I still have not conquered the art of working with Yeast but slowly learning and processing.

This week for Fondbites Bake Along, we are doing an Italian bread known as Schiacciata. Fancy word right? But the bread itself is quite simple to make unlike its name ;) Its a flat bread which can be made plain or filled with anything of your liking. I made two versions, one with a simple yet tasty Broccoli Stir Fry and another sweet one with fresh Blackberries and Raspberries..

The prepared Schiacciatas you see in the pic above is before it was baked. I used 50% All purpose flour and 50% Whole wheat flour for the dough. Also, my dough didnt rise as much as I would have liked it to, but it was delicious all the same. For the savory version, I sprinkled some Oregano spice mix on top, after basting it with Olive Oil. 

We had these yummy broccoli slices with homemade Coleslaw- I Grated some beautiful red cabbage, carrots and Onions and mixed them with a Mayonnaise based bread-spread along with some mustard, vinegar, pepper and palm sugar to balance the sourness of all the above. Delicious combo!!

Moving on to the the dessert :D My Hubby got these beautiful fresh Blackberries and Raspberries from a trip to Dubai and I just couldnt resist using it. I just had to see those beauties in something. Although maybe it was not such a great idea because the berries kind of soaked the bread with their juices but it was delicious nonetheless, so no regrets! I mixed the berries with 3 tablespoons of sugar and let them sit for sometime and then filled the prepared Schiacciata with it. Look at all the juice that has oozed out. Oh.. Luscious!! 

 

We just had the slices as is, but it could have used more sweetness since the berries were quite tart. In case you choose to opt for this filling, do add more sugar to the berry mix or you can have these delicious slices with vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream. That's the way to go- Whipped cream. I can just imagine eating these with that..Sigh!

Hope I have helped you atleast a little to nudge you along the Yeast Street. Do try the recipe out. And play with the fillings. These versions I made are just 2 drops in the big ocean of fillings you can work with.

Get the recipe here -> Onion Tomato Schiacciata

Until next time, Keep Smiling and Happy Baking :)

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers who bake one recipe every week.

Homemade Cheese Crackers

Hi, so here I am again. Nothing much happening on this side of the earth. Baking now and then, cooking everyday (almost) and yet nothing to blog? hmm.. I do have things to blog, will get to it.
This week the Bake Along group is at its 29th week, and for this week we made Cheese Crackers. Yeah.. remember those tiny little puffy, crunchy snack? I know its still available in the markets but i have had these only as a child and after a long long long time having it now, and what do u know? made it myself too :D

The dough is pretty simple to make with very little ingredients. If you are a fast worker, unlike me, the whole process will not take more than an hour. I used these tiny little fondant cutters that i have, to cut out the crackers and shifting them one by one from the counter to the baking tray was a bit time consuming, but if you cut it with a pizza cutter like mentioned in the recipe, it will be easier.

You can add flavors of your choice, check the recipe for some suggestions. I added around 6 packs of the Oregano seasoning that you get with Dominos pizza to the dough and it was yumm! Once its cut and ready to bake, put it in the oven and clean up the mess on the counter slowly for 12 mins and your crackers will be ready just when you are done cleaning :P 

Subhashini has some rules in the Bake along group and one of them is, and I Quote "those who have completed 4 consecutive weeks are considered 'Consistent Bakers' and a token of appreciation will be sent to those bakers for showing interest in baking along with the group". So, finally I became one and was sent a beautiful coaster. I have featured it in these pics :)

Back to the recipe, the cheese crackers are quite soft when hot/ warm but as it cools it will become crispy. Also the smaller their size, the crispier they are. So try going small. I went tiny :P as you can see..

So all in all, its a cheesy and crispy snack that you can't stop munching. Try having it with Tea or Coffee, somehow it tastes better. I have no idea why, it just does :D :)

Hope you guys liked this post and try the recipe, here you go- Homemade Cheese Crackers

Until next time.. Keep smiling :)

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers who bake one recipe every week.

Caramel Cake

Hi all. Today I am gonna show you guys a cake that was a Huge hit in my house. Every one from the kids to adults, ALL loved it. The cake has a wonderful taste and it is made from Homemade Caramel Syrup. This is the first time I made anything like this.

I had bought a mini 6-loaf pan from Singapore a long time ago and had never used it. So when this recipe was put up for the Fondbites Bake Along, I dived in and made it in that pan.

The loaves turned out sooo yumm and they were just so cute! I couldn't stop giggling to myself when they turned out so tiny and perfect :D Just check out the size of the loaf in this following pic. Isnt it just cute? I officially love this loaf pan!

The recipe yielded 6 mini loaves and 2 muffin size cakes for me. It has a deep caramel taste that lingers long after you have eaten it. It has a lovely crumb and you just cant stop with one bite or "just to taste" ;)

The cake is absolutely wonderful on its own but just to enhance the taste of the caramel, we tried it with Butterscotch ice cream, and believe me it was one of the best decisions ever! It takes the taste up by several notches. It was truly divine!

I hope you guys get inspired to make this cake. It is not to be missed! 

You can find the link here- Caramel Cake

Until next time.. Keep smiling :) and one last pic to keep u drooling..

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers who bake one recipe every week.

Doughnuts

Its been long since I blogged. Its not that I didn't want to, and certainly not cuz i didnt make anything, but I just cant tell why I just cant get myself to blog! Argh! Anyways, I have been somewhat active on Fondbites Bake Along group run by Subhashini on Facebook. I will try and update the bakes I have made till date in the days to come.

These doughnuts were made for the bake along's 22nd week. Though the original recipe contains Vanilla Cream and Vanilla Glaze, I decided to go with Chocolate glaze and Nutella filling because almost everyone in our family loves chocolate.
Doughnut Recipe: Bakealong #22

I dont have much experience working with yeast and I did have some trouble activating the yeast this time but after a few attempts and some help from Subhashini and the Baker's yeast box(!), I succeeded. The joy that rises within us along with the dough is indescribable. I was so happy, just wanted to share this pic :D

Onto the doughnuts, For the chocolate glaze, I used half of this Recipe from thekitchn.com.

For the filling I whipped about half a bottle of Nutella for 3-4 mins, added 3 Tablespoons of heavy cream and just for the heck of it, a teaspoon of butter, and beat for another 3 mins, voila, yummy filling was ready. Fill up a piping bag with the good stuff and fill those tiny goodies waiting to be filled.

I know the shapes are all off, but who cares? They were totally Yumm. The doughnuts were sooo soft! Look at the texture here. Mmmm..

One last pic (and my fav) for indulgence..

I hope you guys try this recipe, its so Divine! Oh and speaking of divine, I have changed my blog's name to Dee's Divine Delights (previously The Fiery Baker) because, well its more appropriate.

Until next time.. Keep smiling :)

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers who bake one recipe every week.

Tres Leches Cake

I cant believe its been so many months and i still haven't written another post! Actually I'm not surprised. I am lazy like that. I have been cooking and occasionally baking too for all these months, but like i said, I'm lazy. Moving on..

I attended a Buttercream Decorating classes because I felt the need to decorate my cakes more professionally (ahem!), I scoured Facebook and zeroed in on Subhashini who bakes and teaches under the name of Fondbites and she blogs too. You can check out her wonderful blog here or check her Facebook page here. I also found out that she has a bake-along group in Facebook where she posts a recipe every week and challenges the members to bake that recipe within the week and post pics. If at all u read my other 2 posts you would know that i started a blog inspired by Daring Bakers but i am yet to bake even one challenge (yes, please refer to para 1). Maybe I'm intimidated, i don't know. Anyway, bottom line of this rant is that i was graciously accepted by Subhashini into Fondbites Bake Along group and i have successfully completed 2 challenges.

The Tres Leches Cake was the first challenge i did. I had bought a can of Evaporated Milk on a trip abroad for the sole purpose of making Tres Leches Cake. Evaporated milk is not easily available here in Chennai. But I never got around to making the cake. So when this was posted as the challenge, I was extremely excited.

Tres Leches which means Three Milks is basically a Sponge Cake soaked in three kinds of milks. Traditionally the 3 "milks" in the recipe are: Condensed Milk, Evaporated Milk and Cream. But Subhashini encouraged us to use anything our hearts desired, even juice! So i used Vanilla Milkshake, Litchi Juice and the Evaporated Milk. Just imagine the combination! Mmmm.. I would like to make it the traditional way once just to know how that would taste. The recipe also calls for a whipped cream topping but i decided to skip it and enjoy the cake as it is.

The End Result: The cake was Oh My God! delicious. Everybody at home were stunned. They were like- what is this?? Is it a cake? Is it a pudding? And by the time i went in for a second helping it was gone!! Yes- it is THAT delicious. Try it for yourself if u don't believe me. I dare you to not like it! It literally melts in your mouth- no need to chew! Another win for a lazy person like me!

This is the link to Subhashini's recipe: Tres Leches Cake
I hope you give it a try and get to eat a piece of heaven :)

This has been baked for Fondbites, Bake Along, a group of enthusiastic bakers who bake one recipe every week.