Cheesy mushroom puffs – story of an invention!

Have you ever panicked receiving unexpected guests? Unsure of your appearance, those scattered toys in the living room, the unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink, the unfolded cloths in the laundry basket and oh yeah… above all the big question, what to give them!!!

On such an easygoing dull evening I got information that some visitors are coming. I rushed to check in the freezer for some precooked snacks. Alas!!! …Nothing was there! :( I called hubby and asked to buy some snacks and get home early. But the answer was disappointing…he was in a conference and couldn’t come soon and asked me to manage.

Oh dear, what am I to make :( !!!. I checked my fridge once more for luck. I found some deep frozen chicken and beef inside the freezer and also a packet of puff pastry sheets. I pulled the pastry sheet out and doubted about the filling. Chicken won’t thaw in the immediate future. What about some egg puffs? Ummm…my baby wasn’t in a mood to cooperate.

Uhhhh…what else for filling! I looked the lower racks for some inspiration and found a packet of mushrooms. I pulled that out along with a packet of grated cheese still unconvinced of what to do.

I was still pondering over the filling when the doorbell rang and the guests and my hubby arrived simultaneously. I was literally crying in my inside but wore a clownish smile.

I took the pastry sheets spread some tomato sauce and placed some thinly sliced mushroom, onion and some grated cheese and rolled up and baked.
‘Umm…this is really good, one more piece :) …’one of them said. ‘Really!! Are they good!!!…Let me try!’ I exclaimed. Oh dear, surely they were…not kidding!

Hihihi… I invented this recipe (‘necessity is the mother of invention’, right?) but I know I do not own its recipe because somebody else had already invented and made it before me (I googled :)). But in this case I just could manage, and it didn’t cheat me; hence I will keep it.

Ingredients

1. Puff pastry sheets (thawed) – 3 nos
2. Button mushrooms (thinly sliced) – 15 nos
3. Onion (thinly sliced) – 1 big
4. Grated cheddar cheese – ¾ cup
5. Tomato sauce – a few
6. Egg (whisked) – 1 no

Method

1. Mix mushroom, onion and cheese together.
2. Place puff pastry sheets on a flat work surface.
3. Spread 2tsp of tomato sauce over the pastry sheet.
4. Place one third of the filling mixture on one edge.
5. Roll up tightly to enclose the filling and brush the pastry with egg.
6. Cut each roll evenly into 5 pieces.
7. Line an oven rack with greased aluminium foil.
8. Place rolls, seam-side down on the foil.
9. Bake at 250ºc for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Sponge roll / Jam roll

“Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun …”

My little blossom and a bunch of other little blossoms were practicing to tap their feet to the rhythm of this music for our Christmas gathering. And I was planning to make some refreshments for them. Something fancy that should make glitter in their eyes and smile on their face!

Jam roll came to my mind spontaneously. May be it is because it was one of the things that excited me when I was a kid. One of my dream foods!If mom went for shopping in Ernakulam without us (my sister and me), it was our right that she should bring us some puffs or jam roll when she came back!

A piece of jam roll and a cup of mango juice … okay kids let’s back to dance again!

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour – 1 cup
2. Powdered sugar – 1 cup
3. Eggs – 4 nos
4. Baking powder – 1 tsp
5. Vanilla essence – 2 tsp
6. Melted butter – 10 gm
7. Jam/ nutella – 5 tbsp

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180ºc.
2. Sift flour and baking powder and keep aside.
3. Beat egg and sugar till very light and fluffy.
4. Add flour, melted butter and essence and combine well with out lumps.
5. Line a large rectangle-baking tray with greased baking paper. (I used a 37 x 26.5 x 5 cm tray)
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 160ºc.

Rolling a sponge roll

1. Dust a tea towel with sugar and turn the cake into the towel immediately after baking.
2. Remove the top sheet of baking paper from the cake.
3. Starting with the long side closet to you and using the towel as a guide roll up the cake tightly.
4. Place, seam side down to cool.
5. Carefully unfold and spread with the filling.
6. Roll again tightly and slice into pieces.

Christmas fruit cake/ plum cake (Kerala speciality)

Christmas is around the corner and my first Christmas cake is ready to be shared with friends!

Making Christmas cakes is a ritual to me. A custom I inherited from my grandmother, which I wish to cherish. She was an excellent cake maker. Her art of baking cakes was admirable. Without modern equipment she managed to bake the best Christmas cakes I ever tasted!

I remember my childhood, watching her baking Christmas cakes! Her preparation used to start weeks before actual baking. To start with, first she sun dried orange peels for flavouring the cake! She mixes the ingredients with her hand so rapidly in a small uruli to get the desired lightness!!

During the evening family prayer time, the atmosphere was filled up with the aroma of baked cakes and those she already stacked in her kitchen shelf to be shared with friends and family. All that takes me to sweet bygone days and my best of Christmas memories!

I’m making Christmas cakes ever since I’ve become a homemaker. But still I couldn’t master it! May be when years pass I would find techniques to improve my cake making skills up to my grandmother!


Ingredients

1. All purpose flour/ maida – 2 cups
2. Unsalted butter (softened) – 250 gm
3. Powdered Sugar– 2 cup
4. Sugar (to caramelize)– 1 cup
5. Egg (at room temperature) – 5 nos
6. Dried nuts and fruits (cashews, walnut, currants, sultanas, orange peel, glazed cherries) – 3 cups
7. Baking powder – 1 tsp
8. Orange – 1 no
9. Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
10. Spices mix – 2 tsp

Method

To make caramel syrup

1. Heat one cup of sugar in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat.
2. Stir continuously, until the sugar dissolves and comes to a boil.
3. Lower heat and cook till mixture become golden brown in colour.
4. Remove from heat and allow cooling for a minute or two.
5. Add ½ cup of water and return to heat.
6. Continue stirring until mixture becomes liquid.

To prepare dry fruits

1. Wash fruits in cold water to remove sugary syrup on the outside.
2. Warm them a bit in the oven and grease with one tsp of butter.
3. Toss them with 2 tbsp flour and shake off excess flour.
4. This prevents nuts and fruits from sinking to the bottom of a cake during baking.

To make spice mix

1. Nutmeg – ¼ no
2. Cloves – 5 nos
3. Cardamom – 3 nos
4. Cinnamon – 2” long piece

Heat them slightly and powder well.

1. Preheat oven at 180ºc.
2. Take the zest of the orange and extract its juice and keep aside.
3. Mix flour and baking powder and swift them through a sieve three times.
4. In large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar till soft and fluffy with an electric mixer.
5. Add eggs one by one to the mixture and beat till fluffy.
6. Add caramel syrup, spice mix, essence, orange juice and zest and mix.
7. Add the flour and whisk gently with out any lumps.
8. Finally add the dried nuts and fruits and fold them gently.
9. Line two 8inch round cake tin with butter paper.
10. Pour the mixture into baking trays.
11. Bake at 180ºc for 20 minutes.
12. Reduce heat to 160ºc and bake for another 50 minutes.
13. Insert a skewer at the middle and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
14. Replace the cakes to a wire rack and allow cooling.
15. Store in an airtight container.
16. It tastes better after sitting for a week.

Orange vanilla sponge cake

‘Equal quantities of flour, butter and egg will make a good cake.’ That’s my grandma’s dictum on making it. She won’t make any fancy looking cake or decorate them or even try new flavors! The only two verities she makes is vanilla sponge cake and Christmas fruitcake. For me no other cake tastes better than hers!

Even though her hands are so tired to bake any now, her energy and passion urges me! Thanks to grandma for inspiring me! Emulating her, now I feel it thrilling to cook and share with others!

This recipe is my first choice when I’m in a mood to bake a cake. The flavours of vanilla and orange will go hand-in-hand. It is an excellent snack for any time!

Presently I am suppressing my strong urge to bake one, lest I finish it munching to the last bit!

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour/ maida – 2 cups
2. Unsalted butter (softened at room temperature) – 250 gm
3. Sugar (powdered) – 2 cup
4. Egg (at room temperature) – 5 nos
5. Baking powder – 1 tsp
6. Orange – 1 no
7. Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Method

1. Preheat oven at 200ºc.
2. Take the zest of the orange and extract its juice and keep aside.
3. Mix flour and baking powder and swift them through a sieve three times.
4. In large mixing bowl with a mixer combine butter and sugar till soft and fluffy.
5. Add eggs one by one to the mixture and beat till fluffy.
6. Add flour, essence, orange juice and zest and combine well with out lumps.
7. Pour the mixture into a baking tray of desired shape.
8. Bake at 180ºc for 20 minutes.
9. Reduce heat to 150ºc and bake for another 50 minutes.
10. Insert a skewer at the middle and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
11. Replace the to a wire rack and allow to cool.It tastes better the next day