Tres Leche Cake

Say what?! A Tres Leche cake  (Spanish for three milk cake) is a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk; namely evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream. What sets this cake apart (besides its awesomeness) is its unique texture that prevents it from being a soggy mush despite being soaked in so much milk. And its absolutely to die to for. What a cake this is!



I first tried this cake in a Mexican bakery in LA, and it blew my mind! And ever since then, its been on my cooklist. So when we decided to throw a birthday party for my mother-in-law, this was the only cake I could think of. This is my first attempt at making it, so I obviously needed the recipe from someone whose cooking sense I could trust i.e: Martha Stewart

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook



For the cake:

1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
5 eggs
1 cup sugar
1tsp vanilla essence

For the soaking liquid:

1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk*
1 cup whole milk



*Evaporated milk is milk that has been cooked down to allow more than 50% of its water content to evaporate. Since its not easily available in India you can make your own or use a substitute:

Make your own: Simmer 2 cups of regular milk down to 1 cup to give you one cup of evaporated milk
Substitute: Take some milk powder and reconstitute it using only 40% of the recommended water. You should get a thick cream-like milk consistency.



Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients i.e. flour and baking powder. In a larger bowl, beat eggs and sugar until well combined. The eggs would turn a pale yellow colour. Add vanilla and mix. Now gradually add the flour mix and fold to combine. Its always a good practise to add the flour in batches, wait for it to mix completely before proceeding to add another batch. Fold in the melted butter until incorporated. Butter a baking dish and transfer the batter to this dish. Bake for 30-40 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Whisk together the milks. With a fork or skewer, poke the warm cake all over. Make sure you make sufficient holes and the luscious milk mixture will seep into the cake through this. Now pour the milk mixture over the top of the cake. Don't panic if the cake is submerged in the milk. It will absorb all that liquid eventually. Set aside and let it cool.



You can serve as it or whip 250ml cream and 1/4cup sugar together. Spread it over the cooled cake. Sprinkle cinnamon or cocoa powder or top with fruits.

P.S: This cake was so good that I could barely save a slice for pictures. Apologies for the terrible pictures. It was a birthday party hence too much clutter in the background

Peach Cobbler

The weather is so beautiful today and it got my baking juices flowing. I really didn't want to eat the cliched chai and pakoda. I wanted something warm and luscious. I had an abundance of fruit at home and fresh peaches were part of it. I love peaches, it one of my favourite fruits. I just love the smell, its is just...mmmm. These peaches were just begging to be given the royal treatment. So I decided to make a cobbler.



A cobbler is pie like filling topped with crumbs of dough. Think of it as a deconstructed pie. This recipe is so easy, and takes just 10 minutes to whip together (minus baking time). I think the hardest part of this recipe is waiting for it to finish baking. And the results are so delicious, imagine hot juicy peaches in their own syrup, with soft, crisp scone-like toppings...mouth drooling yet?



Adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker

Serves 6:

For the peach filling:

6-8 peaches, sliced
1 cup of sugar, preferably brown sugar
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp cointreau (optional)

For the topping:

1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk



Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.

In your baking dish, combine the peach filling ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Toss in the butter, and with your fingers, massage the butter into the flour. Mix till the mixture is crumby, like coarse meal. Pour the milk, and mix till just combined. The dough will seem wet and sticky, which is perfectly fine.

Drop this dough mixture all over the peach filling by the spoonful. Bake for 50-60mins or until the fruit is bubbling and the top forms a golden brown crust.



Best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Asian Inspired Pork Chops

I just realised that I haven't put up a single pork recipe yet. While pork isn't my meat of choice, it does make some really grand dishes. In the catholic community, pork is a celebratory meat, one that is cooked for Christmas or Easter or during extended family Sunday get-togthers.

I'm not much into pork (except bacon), but I can wolf down pork chops any day. In my opinion, it is the perfect cut. You have the lean bone for flavour, a nice thick cushion of fat to keep the meat moist, and then you have succulent meat that is almost falling of the bone.Yum! Since I don't have much experience with pork, all credits for this recipe goes to Shrey Kamerkar. This is his dish through and through.



Before I detail out his recipe, here are my two cents on common mistakes people make while cooking pork chops.

Boneless is better: No its not! The bone gives the meat a richer flavour, plus its easier to handle.
From fridge to frying pan:  Let your chops sit for atleast 30mins once out of the fridge. If the meat is too cold, the outside will overcook while the inside wont cook at all.
Trim fat: Instead of cutting off the fat, stand the chop on its side with your tongs and get that fat rendered, brown and crispy.



Serves 5

10pc Pork chops (I counted two pieces per person)

For the marinade:

3 thai or bird eye chilies (use regular red chillies if you dont find it)
2 tbsp garlic paste
5-7 Kaffir lime leaves
2 Lemongrass stems
1 medium sized root of Galangal (you can use ginger if you don't find this)
Basil (preferably thai basil)
2 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Fish sauce
2 cups Pineapple juice
1 cup Soy sauce (preferably dark)
2 tbsp Sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

*The first five ingredients are easily available in supermarkets (and Nature's basket) and is part of the ready made thai mix in the veggie section

In a mortar and pestle, mash the dry ingredients (galangal, chilli, garlic paste, lemmon grass, kaffir lime and bail leaves) to a coarse paste. Place pork in a large dish and gently spread and massage the marinade on the meat. Now add the rest of the ingredients, and make sure that all pieces of pork are evenly coated.

Refrigerate overnight preferably, but even 4-5 hours will suffice.

Remove from refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 mins. Heat oil in a sauce pan to sear the meat. Mind you, pork is a fatty meat, so please use a thin coating of oil. For chops I like the pan screaming hot, and then take it down to medium. That first blast of heat helps get a good golden crust. Searing meat might seem time consuming, but its well worth the effort in flavour.



Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Once you've seared both sides of the meat i.e. both sides have changed to a brown colour, transfer the meat to your baking dish. Pour all the marinade over the meat and bake in the oven for the first 10mins at 180 and then turn down the heat to 120 degrees. Cook for approx 2hours or till meat is fully cooked.

After the meat is cooked, don't touch it for 10mins. If you cut into it right away. all its juices will run into the pan instead of getting redistributed into the meat. Trust me, you don't wanna lose all that delicious liquid.

Serve with toasted bread, steamed beans and carrots, mashed potatoes....



...and a leafy salad. Shrey recommends a salad of rocket leaves, pea shoots, basil, chilly, honey and lemon juice.



Look how pretty Shrey's plating is! It looked so good, I almost didn't wanna eat it.

Tiramisu

For those not in the know, Tiramisu is an Italian, coffee flavoured dessert. It is made from ladyfingers (not to be confused with okra or bhindi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, sugar & mascarpone (pronounced mah-scar-pone-nay) cheese.



It is one of my all time favourite desserts, I think slowly and steadily its over taking cheesecake to the number 1 slot. I judge restaurants and patisseries based on the tiramisu they make. When made right, there is nothing more orgasmic in your mouth than a tiramisu.



This dessert has been on my cooklist for months. Unfortunately, its ingredients were pretty expensive and not easy to come by. The main pillars of this dessert are macarpone cheese and ladyfingers. On my last trip to Goa, I stumbled upon ladyfingers at Newtons, and immediately snatched it up. Now all I needed was marscapone cheese and I was sorted with the basics.

Mascarpone cheese is an Italian cheese that is thick and soft and has a high fat content. This richness is essential to the tiramisu, and you can also use this cheese for cheesecakes or pasta sauce. Its easily available at Nature's Basket outlets, however, its so expensive (700 bucks for 250gms). That is, until I discovered a cheaper, Indian made brand. If you are trying out this dish, please buy La Cremella Mascarpone Cheese (also available at Nature's Basket). It cost 200 odd bucks for a quart. If it still seems expensive, you can try to make it at home.



P.S: This dessert couldn't have come to fruition without the help of my Sous Chef husband, so major credit goes to you Shrey Kamerkar.

500gms Mascarpone cheese
3 egg yolks
100gms Sugar
250ml Whipping cream
1 pack or approx 25-30 ladyfingers
1 cup brewed, lukewarm espresso (any black coffee with two teaspoon sugar)
1 cup Kahlua (optional)
Cocoa Powder to sprinkle on top

In a stand mixer, whip the whipping cream till double its volume. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use the hand mixer or even whisk with your hands, however please note that it will take more time and energy. Now add the cheese and whisk for just one minute. It is crucial that you don't over whisk at this time as the cream might start to curdle. Once combined, set aside.

In a bowl add the egg yolks and sugar and whisk. Once fairly combined, place the bowl in a double boiler. Keep whisking while alternating the bowl on the heat and away from the heat. It is important to do this step carefully as prolonged exposure to the heat will cause the egg to scramble. Use your judgement, but for those who can't take a call, rule of thumb is for every minute you whisk the egg on the double boiler, whisk it for 3 mins away from the gas. Use mitts as you will be touching a hot bowl and going in and out of gas range. I know it sounds complicated, but this process is important to eliminate the risk involved in using raw eggs. Whisking the eggs and sugar will need a lot of elbow grease. The sugar must completely dissolve in the egg. You are looking for a sabayon consistency i.e: the egg will turn pale yellow and when you lift the whisk into the air, the mixture will fall back into the bowl in ribbons.

Now gently fold the egg mixture into the cream & cheese mixture and set aside. In another bowl, mix together the espresso and Kahlua. To build the tiramisu, quickly dunk the ladyfinger into the coffee liquid. It needs to be a quick dunk so as to not get it too soggy. Lay them side by side on the bottom of the serving bowl. Spoon a layer of the mascarpone mixture to evenly over the bowl. Repeat with another layer of ladyfinger and finally with another layer of mascarpone. Use a spatula or a butter knife to smoothen out the top layer and make it even.

Refrigeratefor atleast an hour before serving. Just before serving, sift a light, even dusting or cocoa powder over the top.



Note: The traditional recipe calls for only mascarpone cheese, but I've used a half & half mix of the cheese & whipped cream, solely so that it doesn't pinch my wallet. Incase you don't find whipping cream either, you can use the remaining egg whites (just ensure to whip it till its more that 3 times its volume and add in a little extra sugar)
Ladyfingers are sweet, spongecake-like biscuits, that are long and said to be shaped like fingers. Incase you don't find it, you can use basic vanilla sponge cake.



Tip: Mixing the coffee with any kind of liqueur gives this dessert a little oopmh and enhances the flavour. I've used Kahlua keeping with the coffee flavour of the tiramisu, but you can use dark rum, port, irish cream or brandy as well.

For portion control, you can also layer up in individual serving glasses. I've made a two layered dessert. Most restaurants serve a one layered version, but be generous to your family, more the layers, better the flavour.

Beer & Cheddar Dip

The football World Cup finals are just around the corner and I know most of us will be holed up with a group of friends, eating greasy food and beer, and cheering one side or the other. So when I was thinking of a World Cup inspired recipe to dish out for the finals, I really wanted something that brings together all elements of a sports bar.



I love this show called Chuck's Day Off. Chuck Hughes is one of my favourite chefs and its not the first time that I've tried out his dish (my Summer Berry Pudding). I was viewing an episode where he makes these pretzels with a cheese dipping sauce. I contemplated making the pretzels, but then it struck me that the cheese sauce is the best thing to serve at the game.



The beer in the sauce is bang on, incase you don't find any during the game :P

Adapted from Chuck's Day Off

1 can of Beer (any brand, any variety)
2 cups of Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp flour
1 clove of garlic, minced
A pinch of pepper and/or chilli flakes

I liked my sauce to have a nice kick of heat so the ingredients below are optional
Optional:
1 tbsp minced Jalapeño
1 tsp paprika



In a saucepan, bring the beer to a simmer over medium heat. Grate the cheese in a bowl and dust it with flour. Add this to the beer with the garlic. Stir till the cheese has melted and the texture is smooth. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir till combined. Keep warm till you are ready to serve.



Note: Beer and cheese are inherently salty so DO NOT add salt additionally to the dip.

Tip: This sauce is a pot of gold. It can go with anything. You can cheat it into a fondue. Use it for nachos or tacos. Pour it over cooked macaroni to make some instant mac & cheese, or even use it as pasta sauce. But it goes best with a bag of chips or fries.