Sticky Toffee Pudding

Whenever we go to P.F.Chang's we always get their Sticky Toffee Pudding. My elder son absolutely loves this and what better way to surprise him than have a home-made version for his birthday. I decided to give it a shot for the first time ever also because I can sneak in some dates into them ( my kids just call dates "gross"...for their gooey texture)...shh...just don't tell them..

The recipe from Martha Stewart makes divinely rich and melt-in-the-mouth Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Difficulty level: Medium

Preparation time: 20 min

Baking time: about 30 min

Pudding
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for dish
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dish
8 ounces Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup scalding-hot strong brewed coffee( I just used 1 cup boiled water as I was not sure whether my kids would taste the coffee flavour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup lightly packed dark-brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature

Sauce

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup lightly packed dark-brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Place dates in a bowl, pour coffee over dates, and let soak 15 minutes. Stir in baking soda.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and beat in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated.

Reduce speed to low, and add half the flour mixture, beating until combined. Add date mixture and remaining flour mixture, and beat until just combined. (Do not overmix.) Transfer batter to dish, and bake until cake is puffed and springs back in center when gently pressed with a finger, about 25 minutes.

Sauce: Meanwhile, combine butter, sugar, and cream in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium (so sauce does not boil over) and boil, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and darkens slightly, about 4 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and pierce holes at 1-inch intervals to bottom of cake with a wooden skewer. Pour half of hot sauce over cake and let soak 20 minutes. Serve warm with remaining sauce. Cake soaked in sauce and remaining toffee sauce can be stored at room temperature up to 1 day. Before serving, warm cake in a 300 degrees oven 10 minutes, and sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Carrot date Cake

My mom was visiting, and I decided to make something that she would absolutely love. She loves both Carrots and Dates. I decided to do some research on how much varieties of Carrot Date cake I could find. I found it very interesting when I noticed that most people add caramel to enhance the flavor. I kept on searching as I wanted something with the least amount of sugar added, as the cake would rely on the natural sweetness of the dates ( some dried ones are extremely sweet, and it would depend on the variety of dates you pick) and of course the carrots. 

I finally saw a recipe from taste.com.au. The frosting is completely optional. I decided to keep it naked, as I wanted to enjoy the maximum flavor & taste of the dates and carrots, and nothing else. After all, they are the real stars here, and just let them shine through.

  

Difficulty level: Medium

Preparation time: 40 min

Baking time: 50-55 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (140g) dried dates, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup (125ml) boiling water
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large Eggs
• 1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil
• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour( note on making self-raising flour at bottom, if you don't have it handy)
• 1 cup (220g) brown sugar packed
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrot (about 3 large carrots)
• 1/2 cup (50g) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 
  
• Frosting( optional)
• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 50g butter
• 1/2 cup (80g) icing sugar mixture
• Red, yellow & green liquid food colourinng

Directions

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease the base and sides of a 10x10 square baking pan.  You may also line it with baking /parchment paper, allowing the 2 long sides to overhang.

Combine the date, water and baking soda in a medium heatproof bowl. Set aside for 10 mins to soak. Use a stand up mixer, add the eggs and oil and whisk to combine. You could also use the hand-held mixer as there is not a long of mixing involved. 

In the meantime, for the dry ingredients, combine the flour, sugar, carrot, walnut, cinnamon and nutmeg well in a bowl and keep aside. Mix in the dry ingredients in batches and stir in the date mixture at the very last. They should just be uniformly distributed in the batter. Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 mins to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting- Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add icing sugar. Beat until well combined. Reserve 1/4 cup of the icing. Spread remaining icing over top of cake. 

Divide reserved icing between 2 bowls. Add red and yellow colouring to 1 portion to make orange icing. Tint remaining icing portion with green colouring. Place the orange icing in a piping bag fitted with a 2mm nozzle. Pipe 1cm-long carrot shapes on top of cake. Place the green icing in a clean piping bag fitted with a 2mm nozzle. Pipe onto cake to make the carrot tops.

Note:

Self-raising flour is really easy to whip up if you have corn starch in your pantry. Measure out  1 cup of all-purpose flour . Take out 2 tbsp and replace it with the same quantity of corn flour/corn starch.Mix well until everything is uniformly combined. There you have it..Self-raising flour..

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Homemade Dulce de Leche sauce

 I love the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. C'mon, who doesn't  love their Cheesecakes? The richness of the Cheesecake with the swirls of Dulce de Leche will be a big hit the next time you have company over.  The recipe from Tasteandtellblog.com is a nice place to start, though I made my own alterations. Please read till the end before you start making this beauty. 

Difficulty level: Medium

Preparation time: 30 min, if you have the Dulce de Leche sauce( which takes atleast 1 hr)

Baking time: 50-55 min

Ingredients

• 3 cups Graham crackers (original recipe used Vanilla wafers)
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 24 oz ( 680 gms) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup milk (I used low-fat)
• 1/2 cup Dulce de Leche, plus more for serving

For the Dulce de Leche

I can (400 gms) of sweetened condensed milk

First, prepare the Dulce de Leche sauce. Preheat the oven to 350F. Por the condensed milk into an oven-proof dish. Cover with aluminuim foil. Transfer the covered dish into a water bath ( for those of you who are not sure what a water bath is- it is a deep , say 2-3 inches , baking dish in which you pour boiling water all around the dish to be baked. This allows the item to bake more uniformly.) . Let it stay on the bottom rack of the oven for atleast 1 hour. The longer it takes in the oven, the darker it gets. Viola....the Dulce de Leche sauce is ready...

Once you have the sauce ready, let it cool to room temperature before you start with the Cheesecake. 

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. If using a water bath( I would strongly suggest you do) , wrap a 9-inch springform pan tightly with foil. ( Tips on properly securely the bottom, after the recipe)

Place the graham crackers in a food processor and process until completely crushed. Add the melted butter and pulse a few times until the crumbs are all moistened with the butter.

Press the crumbs into the prepared springform pan. Using a flat bottomed glass or measuring cup, press the crumbs firmly, but gently, to make sure they are packed and even. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Reset the oven temperature to 325ºF.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the stand mixer or an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. Add the sugar, flour and vanilla and beat until combined and smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating only until combined. Be careful to not overmix. Add the milk and mix just until blended.

Measure 3/4 cup of the cheesecake batter and add it to a small bowl.  Add the 1/2 cup dulce de leche and mix to combine.

Place the springform pan with the cooled crust into a larger dish with sides that go up at least 1 inch.  Pour the plain cheesecake mixture into the springform pan. Top with the dulce de leche batter by placing rounded spoonfuls over the cheesecake batter and gently swirl it into the plain batter with the tip of a knife or a skewer.

Heat about 2 cups until very hot or boiling.

Place the cheesecake in the oven, then add the water carefully into the dish surrounding the cheesecake. Close the oven door and bake until the edges of the cheesecake are puffed and set, but the center should still be a bit jiggly, 45-55 minutes.  Turn off the oven and prop the door open. Leave the cheesecake in the oven to gradually cool for about an hour. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the oven, adding extra caution with the surrounding water. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cheesecake, then cover the cheesecake and refrigerate until completely cold, at least 4 to 6 hours, but preferably overnight.

If desired, serve the cheesecake slices with additional dulce de leche over the top.

                                

Tips on wrapping the Springform pan

- A 9 inch round springform pan is the perfect size for cheesecakes, I think.

- Remove the bottom of the pan, and place a sheet of parchment paper over the round. Place the top of the springform pan over the round, and push it down where the edges line up and close the lever. This gives you the closed springform pan with parchment paper in the bottom, and the edges of the sheet of parchment paper sticking out.

- Put 2 pieces of foil on a counter, crossing each other. Place the springform pan in the center, and wrap the pan in the foil, making sure to not only bring the sides of the foil up, but the sides of the overhanging parchment paper as well. Make sure the foil is on very tight.  Place this in a pan that is just bigger – I use a 2-inch deep think baking sheet.

- once you have poured your batter into the pan, place it on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Fill the outside pan with very hot water, making sure you don’t splash the cheesecake.

Orange Cake

Summer is the time for oranges. I had been wanting to make an Orange cake forever, I would say. I finally decided that it is high time I dived right in, as I realized I will never have time for myself if I keep waiting.

The original recipe is from Prettysimplesweet.com. It yields 2 loaves or 1 bundt, as in the original version. 

If you have the patience to control yourself when the fragrance of the freshly baked cake tickles your nose, you may wait for 24 hours before you devour the cake. The orange flavour gets much more stronger if you let it rest for that long and your patience will be totally rewarded. I was so glad I made it, as I love the flavour of the fresh Orange Juice which combined with the fresh Orange zest make a world of difference. If you love oranges or anything with a pop of freshness, this is the cake for you. 

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation Time: 15 min

Baking time: 40-50 min

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (350g) all-purpose flour, sifted
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•  4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
•  1 cup (240 ml) canola or vegetable oil
•  1 1/4 cups (300 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
• Orange zest from 3-4 oranges (use all the oranges used for the juice)
•  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease a 12-cup (10-inch) Bundt pan or two standard loaf pans (either 9 x 13 inch pans or 8½ x 4½ inch pans for taller cakes) and set aside. I had used 2 mini loaf pans and a square 10x10 baking pan. 
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a mixer bowl fitted with whisk attachment, whisk together eggs and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On low speed and with the mixer running, add oil slowly until combined. Add orange juice, zest, and vanilla extract and keep whisking slowly until combined. Add flour mixture and whisk just until combined. Take extra care not to overmix.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan/pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes for the bundt pan or 40-50 minutes for the loaves or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top is browning quickly while baking, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow cake/cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
5.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For the best moist texture , serve at room temperature. This cake freezes well, so if you make 2 loaves and would like to save some for future, cover well and freeze up to 2 months and then thaw overnight in the refrigerator before use.