THE BAKING SKILLET -

Brown Butter Persimmon Skillet Cake

November 10, 2017 23 Comments

This simple brown butter persimmon skillet cake served with lots of caramel sauce is cozy and warm and just right for the tough transition from fall to winter! Some cakes are show stoppers and some are quick and simple comfort! This one is the latter that you eat with coffee on a relaxed holiday afternoon while catching up with your family or friends or your sister. Although my sister would have berated me for not serving her a 4-layer chocolate cake with a side of chocolate chip cookies. But that’s her. This brown butter skillet cake topped with persimmons or any fruit really is just a simple, soft spongy cake that makes your home smell wonderful and provides an excuse to bring out that jar of caramel sauce from your fridge and some ice-cream too if you please! Since I started working two weeks back, I haven’t had much time to bake and off days are spent feeling a bit numb and catching up on chores and meal planning. You guys, all I really needed was to bake something that would not require me to start the stand mixer and dirty a 100 pans and yet make my house smell […]

Cakes, Desserts

Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

October 27, 2017 10 Comments

This mini pumpkin chocolate cake with brown butter frosting is a decadent little mouthful for fun and festive times. Two little layers of chocolate, two little layers of pumpkin, all covered in brown butter frosting! Why didn’t nursery rhymes go like that? I would have learnt them much more easily. I am so in love with this cake. It is decadent but the fact that it is so tiny, helps in alleviating some guilt – that is if you share. How are your Halloween preparations going?… this is only my second Halloween and I am as confused as ever. Last year we got around 200 kids and for 2 hours I was at the door with only a short a pee break. So I am like, will we have as many kids this year as well?? How much candy do I buy because, last year, our supplies started to dwindle pretty soon and then I had to be the ‘mean-boring lady who wore jeans and sweater and gave out one candy each’ Uggghhh! This year, we stocked up pretty good! What do I dress up as?? I have no ideas you guys.. is it time to hit Pinterest for Halloween […]

Breakfast Treats, Cakes, Leftovers

Pumpkin Maple Mini Cakes

October 9, 2017 20 Comments

Got some leftover pumpkin puree or filling after thanksgiving?? Make these light, airy, cute Pumpkin Maple Mini Cakes with Maple Cream Cheese glaze. They are perfect for tea time or breakfast! Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! And to all my American friends, aren’t you guys just loving the excited thanksgiving feels coming from your neighbours up here? What do you guys love to eat on thanksgiving? Is it the turkey or the trimmings? What is your least fav dish that you are glad you only have to put up with once a year? Do you love thanksgiving or is it just newbies to North America like me, getting all pumped up about it! We had our turkey feast on Saturday and I thought that was very wise because that gives us two days to digest and relax and get back to the work- week. But then we had more guests on Sunday night and we had a second completely fresh feast and then today I ate so many leftovers, it almost feels like another feast. Atleast I didn’t have to cook or clean up. But then I remembered ‘oh no it is Monday and I need to get […]

Cookies, Desserts, Indian Inspired

Maple Pecan & Pistachio Cardamom Cookies

October 3, 2017 14 Comments

Bringing classic combinations from North America and India for these delightfully addictive, maple pecan & pistachio cardamom cookies. Its officially thanksgiving season in Canada! And it is Diwali season in India. Yayyyyyy… I love festive months. What’s better than chilly days, accompanied by tons of cozy food and no taboo on sweets and desserts? Oh, I know! Leaves turning orange, red, yellow, Halloween and Stranger Things Season 2. Clearly, there is a lot to be excited about. And if you haven’t watched Stranger Things yet, you still have 22 days to catch up! I scrapped my initial blog calendar for this month and decided to do only desserts. Cookies and cakes – rich, indulgent, special, everything with cream and frosting! I remember, in India, if you visited someone during Diwali, you could without fail expect to be served a plate (or plates) of store-bought sweets and homemade deep-fried treats. I am not sure if it is still the same, if people still celebrate with the same fervor. If sweets are shared with neighbors and if the ladies (mostly) toil away in the kitchen to create a variety of homemade treats. I would like to think they do. […]

Cakes

Marzipan Blondies

September 27, 2017 23 Comments

Almond lovers will delight in these scrumptious marzipan blondies with a crunchy chocolate almond base and a sweet, buttery center. Steve claims that he is not a big dessert person. And yet come post-dinner time, I find myself frequently answering the question “where is my dessert?” He also claims he is not much of a chocolate lover and yet more often than I would like to, I end up having to grudgingly share the last piece of chocolate cake with him! And so, since he makes it point to say that he is not a dessert person I usually make dessert that I fancy without taking his preferences into consideration. However, a few weeks back when out of the blue he asked for a simple nutty baked good, I quickly embarked on a quest for a nutty cake, cookie, blondie, brownie whatever. Led by options available in my kitchen, I decided to go with almond something since I love using almond meal and a newly purchased bar of marzipan sitting in the fridge was saying “use me, use me.” I don’t make blondies often. I find them incredibly, tooth-aching sweet. Perhaps, I could use lesser sugar as I usually do.. […]

Cakes, Healthier Baking

Mini Spiced Zucchini Spelt Loaves

September 18, 2017 18 Comments

Simple, warm, spongy Mini Spiced Zucchini Loaves made with spelt flour, go perfectly with afternoon tea but are even better when slightly toasted with morning coffee! Why do we food bloggers work so hard and put in so much effort to develop recipes? Recipes that already exist in one form or another! I mean why are there so many chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookie recipes out there? And countless brownies and numerous pumpkin pies and myriad banana and zucchini breads? Is it because all those chocolate cakes disappointed you and so you decided you had to alter it to your palate? Or because you are a creator by nature and you simply had to contribute something that was yours to the internet universe? I asked myself these questions not while attempting my third mini spiced zucchini loaf but later while eating what seemed like my 50th piece (it really wasn’t). I couldn’t put my finger on it? Pinterest is full of zucchini bread, cake, muffin recipes and I can easily open any one of them and bake it. After all someone needs to do the testing as well, right? Ok granted that I wanted to use a slightly healthier […]

Indian Inspired, Savory, Uncategorized

Stir Fried Beetroot Coconut in Spiced Yogurt

September 13, 2017 12 Comments

This simple stir fried beetroot coconut in spiced yogurt is a slight twist on a traditional Kerala dish without compromising the authentic flavors. It is easy to make and a great accompaniment to rice, veggie bowls or grilled meats. I am so excited about today’s post because I really want you guys to try this little part of Kerala cuisine and love it! In my sneak preview on Instagram, I mentioned about enjoying an entire Onam spread after years and my resolve to recreate some of the traditional Kerala dishes in my Canadian kitchen so I don’t have to wait till I go back home to India or seek out a really good Kerala restaurant. Ok some dishes are worth seeing out – such as dosas and appams because they are rather time consuming and a bit labor intensive to make at home. However, there are so many simple vegetarian and non-vegetarian stir-fry and gravies that I don’t attempt. When it comes to my own cuisine I kind of stick within my comfort zone and make the handful of curries over and over again. Time to change all that! Starting with this stir fried beetroot coconut in spiced yogurt which […]

Pies & Tarts, Savory

Peach, Mozzarella, Basil Galette

September 5, 2017 26 Comments

Peaches, mozzarella and basil are all hanging out here in this delicious, flaky, galette made with spelt flour. Make this sweet, savory galette with the best peaches while they are still in season! I hate giving interviews! Anyone with me on this one? Interviews have me stressed out like nothing else. Not even the job itself, not annual review meetings, not presentations, not KPI meetings. Nothing freaks me out more than interviews do. The thought of not knowing what is going on in the interviewer’s mind, not being able to anticipate the questions on my life and my career, the fact that the subject in question here is not a brand or a marketing campaign or a promotion, but me – open to scrutiny and judgement is what terrifies me. I know it sounds crazy but what can I say. I can be a bit unreasonable sometimes. Last week, two interviews had me in a stomach churning, head spinning, sleep depriving bind – basically being a pain in poor Steve’s butt with my non-stop whining and preparation. But then the long weekend arrived and I forced my whirring brain to stop and enjoy the “last weekend of summer”. We had […]

Cakes, Desserts

Blackberry Mousse Chocolate Cake

August 29, 2017 19 Comments

An intense chocolate cake contrasted by a light, summery, luscious blackberry mousse that is easy to make, low on sugar and can be eaten straight out of the refrigerator! Remember how I went on an on about having a busy summer, like I am the only one busy on this planet! I ended up taking a break from the blog after all so I could give my complete attention to other things such as intensive fishing in the hope of catching a big one for once in my life, finishing the never-ending Grey’s Anatomy and then realizing that the latest episode is out but not on Netflix.ca (are you kidding me!!!), saying a teary goodbye to Game Of Thrones and all the related nerdy podcasts, sending out 50 job applications, and racing through two James Patterson adventures during cottage weekends when I should have been relaxing, soaking up the sun and day-dreaming or atleast reading something more mature. Clearly, I have trouble relaxing. Do you have similar issues? This is part of my research on baker’s personalities that I will write my PHD thesis on because I have had a life long ambition to be Dr. Jenny John one way […]

Desserts

Mango Mint Parfait

July 25, 2017 26 Comments

If you like mango, mint, whipped cream and easy desserts, you will love this Mango Mint Parfait. It is perfect for hot summer days that call for a chilled seasonal dessert. Oh, summers make me so lethargic. I can barely get my butt out of bed in the mornings to workout (I have been playing hooky more often than I would like to admit). It is a good thing that it has been so busy or I would just be warming my butt on the couch in frontof a fan all day watching Grey’s Anatomy and reading some adventure fiction. We have been hosting guests for the last two weeks and our house is booked for this week and the next week and the week after! I am loving this. I never knew I enjoyed being a host so much. I can cook more, bake more and experiment more in general. Surely, I will suffer from empty nest syndrome once the guest deluge is passed. Any tips Mommy?? Also, there are 120 summer festivals going on in Toronto that we need to keep track of along-with the weather. Our calendars are full of events and you would have seen many […]