Happy Fathers Day!!!

Chocolate Cake

I just couldn't think of doing anything else other than a cake for the Fathers Day...This is for all the great and adorable Fathers who never said they are tired even at the end of a very busy day...and his kid comes to him and wants nothing else except to play ball...Aren't they great??

This is my version of a soft chocolate cake which i made for the Fathers Day. I love chocolate...but my husband is not too much interested in it... so i made an orange and chocolate filling inside the two layer cake....

Ingredients (all at room temperature)

3 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 stick butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1 and 1/2 large eggs
1/4 Cup buttermilk
3/4 Cup boiling water
1 cup or all-purpose flour
3 tblsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Method

First mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and then sift them all together. Keep this aside.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter two round 8-inch cake pans, and coat the pans lightly with flour. Melt the chocolate chip in microwave for 30 second , stir and repeat till everything is melted. In a large bowl, beat the butter till it gets creamy. Add sugar and beat very well for 5-10 minutes until very light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one and mix well. Stir in the melted chocolate. Now start mixing the dry mixture little then the buttermilk then again the dry mixture. Beat the mixer well. After finishing all the dry ingredients and the buttermilk the batter will be very thick. Now slowly, stir in the boiling water until it is just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting....i went for a shortcut and did the chocolate frosting a store bought one...but i made the orange frosting at home.

Orange frosting:
Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 and 1/2 cup confectionery sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 and 1/2 tsp orange juice

Method
Bring the butter to room temperature and beat it well till it becomes creamy. Sift and put the confectionery sugar into the butter and beat it well till fluffy. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. This can be used as a filling or just on the top.



Cake assemble.

The assembling of the cake can be done by putting 1 layer of cake on the plate then spread the top of the cake with the chocolate frosting and then another layer of orange butter cream frosting. Then take the other layer and put it upside down on top of the first layer so that we have a smooth layer on top. Cover the cake completely with the chocolate frosting and serve.
I did some decoration with the remaining orange frosting. Enjoy!

Cold Coffee

I have always relished Cold coffee in the evening during summer...it is one of my favorite's. But it was always more better when it was made by mom...today i thought of giving it a try..and it turned out good...


Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup 2% milk
4 tblsp half and half
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1and 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp sugar powder( sweeten it to your taste)
some chocolate shavings

Method

In a blender put all the ingredients above except the chocolate shavings and blend it for 50 sec. Coffee powder can be added according to your taste and even the sugar powder according to the sweetness required. Pour the mix into a Glass and top it with chocolate shavings and serve immediately... Enjoy!!!

Rasmalai

I had invited my friend Smita and her family home for dinner and i wanted to make Rasmalai...but one thing about it, was that...i have never tasted or made Rasmalai in my life...but still i wanted to give it a shot...and it turned out really good...You can even get the Rasagulla from the shop and just make the rabdi at home..or else you can make everything from scratch..as i did...

Ingredients:

For Rasagulla

1/2 gallon milk
3-4 tsp lime juice
water and sugar as required

For the rabdi
1 tin Evaporated milk.
1/2 tsp saffron.
1/2 cup sugar(or according to your taste)
5 tblsp chopped pista and almonds

Method:

Bring the milk to a boil and when it starts boiling pour the lime juice into it and let the milk
curdle..and as soon as u see them get curdle put some ice on them...this will make nice and soft rasagullas. Then strain the paneer(the mix got from straining) in a muslin cloth and squeeze out excess amount of water from it. You can also hang the muslin cloth with the paneer for 1 hour so that all water is dripped out of the paneer...then slowly run water through the paneer to get rid of the lime flavor...again squeeze out all the water from it. Put the paneer in a food processor and blend it for 50 sec, first it will form like a crumble later on it will turn in a fine paste.
Heat some water and sugar in the cooker, the water should not be too sweet...just the right amount...like for 1 cup water i used 1/4 cup sugar....bring it to a boil and make small round balls out of the paneer and flatten it in your palms and slowly dip it into the water in the cooker...make enough paneer balls and make sure they have enough space between them in the cooker. Close the cooker and leave for 2 whistle. Finish off all the paneer by making in batches also add water and sugar as needed in the cooker...transfer the rasagullas from the cooker to a bowl with some sweet water from the cooker...cool and chill the rasagullas in the refrigerator.

Now for the Rabdi...

Heat the evaporated milk with the saffron and sugar in a pan... bring it to a boil...then check for sweet. Cool the rabdi completely then slowly transfer the rasagullas by pressing the excess water from the rasagullas and dip it into the rabdi. Top it with chopped pista and almonds. Chill it for 3 hours and serve cold.