Upside-down cherry almond rose cake

I love upside-down cakes. This one was made for one of my closest friends on her 30th birthday. She is not very fond of chocolate cakes or cakes with frosting. So I came up with something that I thought she would like and she certainly did!

Ingredients for a half kg cake batter:
75 grms butter/margarine
115 grams sugar
Few drops of Rose essence
2 eggs
115 grams all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the base of the cake tray which becomes the topside after baking:
A cupful of deseeded cherries
Handful of sliced almonds
A tablespoon of butter
A tablespoon of brown sugar

Cream the butter with sugar. Add the essence and eggs and whisk till light and fluffy. Fold in the flour and baking powder gently till it's well incorporated.
The cake batter is ready. Keep it aside.

Now take a cake tray. Spread the butter at the base. Sprinkle the brown sugar. Randomly place the cherries and almonds. Pour the cake batter over the nuts and fruit.

Put the tray in a preheated oven and let it bake for 45 minutes at 180°C.

Once done keep aside for 10 mins on a cooling rack and invert on a serving tray. Let it completely cool for a couple of hours before it completely dissappears in minutes! 

Pastry sheet pizza with goat cheese

This is a really quick and yummy starter recipe. The idea for this recipe came from a friend who in turn got the idea from her colleague and I assume he must have got the idea from someone else. So I wish to share with you this recipe so you can in turn share it with others! ;)

To be convinced how simple and tasty this starter is try it out yourself.
Get;
-A ready pastry sheet (from the refrigerated section in the supermarket)
-some black olives (sliced)
-goat cheese
-sliced sausages  (I tried this when making a nveg version)
-pepper powder
-any dried or fresh herbs like parsley, basil or rosemary
-cherry tomatoes cut into half
*You could add any other vegetables like corn, spring onions, etc.
***A layer of pesto also adds more flavour.
***Do not add any salt as the goat cheese is quite salty already.

Place the pastry sheet on a baking paper and then on a baking tray. Cut the sheet into small squares. Add olives, tomatoes, corn and sprinkle herbs and spices. Finish with pieces of goat cheese. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins at 200°C.
The crispy, cheesy snack is ready!

Turkey mince kababs

I bought some extra minced meat to attempt kabab on skewers for the very first time. You could use the recipe to make kababs as in the picture or use only the recipe 'for paste' and two mashed potatoes and make flat cutlets, coat with bread crumbs and shallow fry them. Both turned out super delicious. Actually emabarassingly delicious! My husband entered the kitchen, went down on his knees kissed my hands and said 'You are amazing!'

This recipe makes approximately 20 pieces.

500 grams - turkey mince

1 egg

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

White pepper powder - 1 teaspoon

Garam masala powder - 1 heaped teaspoon

salt to taste 

1 medim onion - very finely chopped

For paste: Add a little water to make a paste in a chutney jar. Don't make it too smooth.

Ginger - 2 inch piece

3 garlic pods

3-4 green chillies

1 teaspoon - anardana/dried pomegranate seeds

1/2 teaspoon - Kalonji/onion seeds

Dried Fenugreek leaves roasted and powdered - 1 teaspoon

2 teaspoons oil

dry roast coriander seeds -1tablespoon

dry roast anis seeds-1/2 tsp

1 teaspoon dried mint leaves or 5 fresh mint leaves

Before serving:

1 lime

chaat masala

Marinate the meat with all the above ingredients (except lime and chaat masala) for at least 2-3 hours.

Place the skewers on a baking tray lined with foil. The two ends of the skewers must rest on the sides of the tray so the main body doesn't have any contact with the tray. You can also improvise using cucumber.

Now take some meat and press it around the skewer. The meat may appear to slip off. Don't panic. Simply rest the skewer on the tray with the ends resting on the sides and use both your hands to spread the meat evenly across the length of the skewer. Line all the skewers. Brush the meat with oil.

(I did not preheat the oven.) Set your oven to the maximum temperature possible. Place the tray on the topmost level closest to the upper coil. Set the timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes turn the meat so the side touching the tray faces upwards. Put it back into the oven for another 7 minutes. 

Remove the tray. Cut the lime in half and rub it on the meat. Remove from skewers cut into pieces and toss the meat in the juices in the tray. Sprinkle chaat masala and the serve. 

Serve them as starters or use as filling for a kathi roll.

PUMPKIN AND COCONUT SOUP

Here's a healthy, tasty and quicky soup especially to accompany a cold autumn evening.



1/2 kg red kuri squash
150 ml coconut milk
Anis seeds
Dried parsley
Chilli powder
Pepper powder

Boil and mash the pumpkin.
Add coconut milk to it. Add other spices, a cup of water and bring to a good boil.
Serve hot with bread/ bread sticks.

Microwave Idiyappam

The schools are closed here for the summer holidays and so I have a 2 weeks long break from work. Holidays give me another reason to celebrate, experiment and relax in my own way. I think this break is going to turn out to be a South India cuisine week, apart from the other non-food things planned. Yesterday I made neer dosas. There is idli batter fermenting in the kitchen right now. Today I made amazing idiyappams/string hoppers/shewey/semiya for lunch.Here's the recipe.

You will need: Serves 2-3
A non-stick pot
3.5 cups water
1 tablespoon of oil
salt
3 cups rice flour
idli steamer
oil for greasing the idli stands
Sev maker

Boil 3.5 cups water with salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Add 3 cups rice flour to the boiling water. Turn off the stove immediately and mix the ingredients thoroughly. It'll form into a dough. Divide it into 6 portions.

Push the dough into the sev maker. (Remember to choose the correct sev attachment, not too thin, nor too thick.) Close it tight and press the noodles onto greased idli plates.

***Please note that the process of pressing the idiyappams can be tiring, so relax your
hand muscles when a batch is steaming.

I used a microwable idli maker. If you don't have one you could use a regular steamer. Microwave for 5 minutes. 

That's all! The Idiyappams are ready. Turn them over into a keep warm casserole and serve hot with stew or yummy egg curry like we did. :)

(Repeat the process of pressing the noddles and steaming till all the dough is over.)

Coffee time special: A date, walnut, apricot and cranberry cake

My parents are here this summer and that is enough reason to celebrate. Here is one of the many treats I prepared for them. 

This recipe is a variation of a date and walnut cake recipe I found online. The original recipe had too many fruits in comparison to the cake, and raisins instead of apricot and cranberries. I also recommend roughly pureeing the dates in a blender.

Here is our last Sunday’s Coffee time special:

150 grams brown sugar

100 grams butter

3 eggs

150 grams all-purpose flour

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

100 grams seedless dates

100 grams walnuts

60 grams dried cranberries

40 grams dried apricots

1 cup water

In a cooking pot boil a cup of water. Add the dates. Turn off the heat and keep covered.

Cream the sugar and butter.

Whisk in the eggs and scrape the sides of the vessel at regular intervals.

Fold in the flour and mix well.

Now puree the dates in a blender and add to the cake mix.

Add the other fruits and mix well.

Pour the batter into a greased cake form and bake at 180 degrees C for 45-50 minutes or till a toothpick comes out of the cake clean.

Relishing the last piece of this cake as I write this post! Yummm!

DIY: Plant holder for a vertical garden

As a teenager it always fascinated me to watch carpenters at work turn planks of wood into beautiful pieces of furniture. The strength and the skill appeared magical. When I first came to Germany on holiday at the age of ten, I noticed that our German host had his own carpentry workshop in the house. He would spend few hours a day working on his masterpieces. Then I learned that it is very German to have at least some part of one’s home built by oneself. I was impressed then and continue to be impressed with the German attitude of self-reliance.

At the same time it's not that difficult for anyone to try their hand at carpentry or any other activities since the tools are easily available in specialised 'Baumarkt's (hardware stores) and often also in regular supermarkets at offer prices. Moreover, the staff at the stores give you all the guidance you need about the tool, its use and maintenance. If you are someone who prefers to watch and learn, then there are plenty videos to watch on the store’s website itself. Besides, Youtube is always there to help!

Over the last couple of years my husband and I have been collecting different tools to build and repair things at home. I had been thinking over a year to add to that collection and finally bought myself an electric saw earlier this year.

My first attempt at carpentry is this simple holder for hanging plants on the wall. Here is the intended framework.

I combined a wooden square frame that came with some electronic device we had ordered and added two scrap wooden pieces to form a cross in the centre of the frame.

I trimmed the sides with an electric saw and reinforced the joints with nails and carpenters glue.

Finally I sprayed the entire piece with white varnish and randomly sprayed red varnish to decorate.