Strawberry Mousse Cake

        

   
     I was tempted to make this cake after I saw it in one of my buddy blogger's blog, Full Scoops. The procedures proved to be easy and the cake looked too beautiful. It was loaded with strawberry flavour and my kids quite loved it. I used a vanilla sponge cake as base instead of chocolate cake, but made the strawberry mousse from fresh ripe strawberries and the cake became history in no time :)

Strawberry Mousse Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• Cake - one 9" vanilla cake
• Heavy Whipping Cream - 1.5 cups
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Strawberry puree - 1.5 cups
• Granulated sugar - 2 tbsp (or to taste)
• Icing Sugar - 1 tbsp (for the whipped cream)
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Gelatin - 3 tsp
• Cold Water - 3 tbsp
• Strawberries - to decorate (optional)

Method:

Prepare the vanilla cake in a 9" spring form pan. I made it using the same recipe of vanilla cup cake. but halved the ingredients and poured the batter in a 9" pan and baked for 1/2 an hour. When the cake was done, let it cool in the pan itself.

For the mousse

1. Place  1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream in a large bowl. Leave the bowl (with the cream) and beaters in the fridge and freezer respectively.

2. Add 3 tsp gelatin to 3 tbsp water and let it bloom for 5 minutes. Then heat the gelatin in a microwave or saucepan for 30 seconds. Set this aside to cool completely.

3. You will need about 30-35 strawberries. Roughly chop the berries add the strawberries to the blender or food processor and puree without adding water.

4. Transfer the puree to a saucepan and add 2 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cooled jelatin to it and stir the puree for 3-5 minutes until it's slightly thickened.

5. While the puree cools prepare the cream. Make sure the bowl, beaters and the cream is chilled.

5. Add the vanilla extract and 1 tbsp sugar to the cream and whip for about 7-8 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Do not overbeat.

6. As you beat the cream, about 5 minutes into beating, you will start seeing beater marks .At this stage add the cooled strawberry puree with gelatin and fold gently. Set this aside

7. Place parchment paper around the spring form pan over the sponge cake to line the sides of the pan. Pour the cooled strawberry cream into the pan over the cake.

8. Cover the cake pan and let it set in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours.

9. Once the mousse sets, remove the ring of the spring form pan gently and top with some strawberries.
10. Cut and serve the cake in individual serving plates. Enjoy!!

Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze

   
              Kids can be really fussy when they are hungry. And they decline to eat whatever we offer during such tantrums. They prefer something sweet and junk. Most of the time we cannot give in to their persistence and the situation need to be tackled with diplomacy. But there are times when you have to do some misgivings, if you really like to have a calm atmosphere in the home.

             Nowadays whenever my elder one gets such hunger pangs in the evenings, all he prefer is cakes,cup cakes and nothing else. He is so much fond of cakes; big or small, iced or not, that I find myself baking cakes every now n then. As it is much easier to bake and serve cup cakes that most of the time cup cakes is that which blooms in my oven. But they get finished off too quickly that you hardly get anything left to store for future use.

            In fact, the Zucchini cup cakes I baked last week got polished off pretty fast that I thought it would be wise to bake a large cake so that  the boys would have enough for three to four days. This time I tried a cake of very different flavour.. Lemon Cake! Tangy, sweet and impressive.. it was devoured by the whole family. I iced it with lemon glaze, which complimented well with the cakes flavour; though the son didn't much like it due to its tanginess. But he loved the cake nevertheless and ate it scraping off the glaze. The cake was a little tart on the first day, but the next day it tasted  perfect. The tanginess had thankfully subsided and the cake was soft and flavourful.

You would like to see the Recipe? Go ahead.

Mint Lemonade

“Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!”

― Catherine Hapka

 

         I doubt if there would be anyone in the world who haven't had a lemonade in his or her life. In fact it is one of the universal drinks which you could find anywhere on earth. And yes! There is nothing more refreshing than a fresh lemonade..

         While in college, we used to have compulsory social service camps under National Service Scheme(NSS). We used to make roads, clean the water resources and do everything we could to help people in remote villages, as part of these NSS camps. And the one thing which hangs in my memory about these camps were the refreshing lemonades which were served in between the works, apart from the joy of working together, enjoying everyday of hard work and at last seeing the fruits of our labour and the smiles on the villagers' faces. It was overwhelming and fulfilling to know that you had actually did something for the unprivileged which is going to be useful for them for a long time.

              You never know how much we had counted on those lemonades to refresh us and how much it did. When you are literally tired, exhausted and thirsty, there is nothing more refreshing than a fresh lemonade. So whenever I feel tired nowadays, after the house chores, I always find time to make a fresh lemonade and the kids too love it. I usually add mint leaves in it. The flavour of mint blends well and compliments it that you hardly know if it's the mint flavour or lemon flavour you are enjoying in the drink.

    Here is my simple recipe for Mint Lemonade..

Fruit tarts with custard filling

                

                     Vibrant colours in food always make me craving for them. If they are natural, even better. When you eat something you seldom notice your eyes and nose are equally involved along with your tongue. So the look as well as smell of a food, together with its taste decides if it is a winner or fag. So I love to decorate, even play a bit with foods, to make them more attractive. I believe the more stunning they are, the more delicious they will be declared.

                             Being an English dessert, Tarts had been new to me. I would never have tried making them if they were not appealing to my eyes. Once I saw a fruit tart in one of those confectionery commercials and went totally gaga over it. It was a beautiful fruit tart with loads of fruits on top of it. Needless to say, I began to have a secret craving for fruit tarts. I could just tell they would be delicious. Many recipes I saw had cream cheese filling. As I am not a great fan of cream cheese, thought of filling it with home made custard. How shall I describe this combination very simply? 'A scoop of fruit salad in a shell of butter biscuits'! Now, does that sound yummy?

                              Strawberries have hit the market in bunches and boxes. Kiwis have always been my (and my son's) favourite fruit. I had a few mandarins too. So the tart was made chicky with dashes of red, green and orange. It looked too beautiful to eat.. Glazed it with apricot jam (again my son's favourite) and instantly it became his awaited dessert. The shells crunched, the strawberries nibbled, the custard dribbled all along the face. It was a tarty, fruity treat with a lot of cleaning up to do in the end...

Fruit tart recipe:
Things you need:
(makes about 12 tart lets)

To make the shell:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tbsp cold shortening ( i used Crisco)
1/4 cup ice water

For the custard filling:

2 cups full fat milk
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
Sugar to taste

For topping and glazing:

Strawberries, cut lengthwise
Kiwis, skinned and sliced
Mandarins, skinned and separated
2 tbsp Apricot jam
3 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar

Method:

    Make the shell :
      Combine the flour sugar and salt in a bowl and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Put it in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and shortening. Pulse it in the food processor until the butter is in the size of peas. Add ice water and process until the dough comes together. Dump on a well floured board and form into a disk. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
      Preheat the oven to 375 degree F . Roll out the dough and fit into small tart pans, leaving half an inch over hanging from the brim. Line them with aluminium foil, fill with dried chick peas and bake for 1o minutes. This is to retain the shape of the tart shells. Remove the peas and foil, prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned.Set aside to cool

Make the custard:
        Whisk together the egg yolks, corn flour and half cup of milk and set aside. Boil the rest of the milk and dissolve the sugar in it. Simmer the heat and slowly add the egg  milk mixture to it, stirring continuously. When the mixture starts to thicken, remove from heat and add vanilla essence.

Make the glaze:
        Heat the apricot jam with water and sugar until it forms a semi thick smooth syrup.Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Assembling:
     Fill the cooled tart shells with the custard while it is still hot. Allow it to cool slightly. Top it with fruits as you wish. Brush the fruits with the glaze using a pastry brush.
           Serve immediately or chilled.