Bake sale in San Francisco!

The bake sale in San Francisco was a huge success and we ended up raising over $3000! Thank you to everyone who showed up to support us and Share our Strength. It was also a great opportunity to meet a group of lovely women who organized and ran the event. I had a shift later in the day and got to interact with a couple lovely ladies. Always a pleasure.

While preparing for the bake sale, I wanted to make sure that whatever I made was aesthetically pleasing and appealing to the eye in addition to being tasty and adventurous. My gut feeling was to stay away from traditional baked goods like chocolate chip cookies and brownies, but turns out they are huge sellers at a bake sale! I did however make these delicious spicy chocolate chip cookies from a recipe my sister gave me, and those stood out to me, by far.

For the aesthetically pleasing, I was set on making assorted cupcakes. I had initially wanted to make them all vegan, but I didn't necessarily have the time to figure out the conversion of ingredients. I have an excellent book dedicated to cupcakes and I had tried some of the recipes before so I decided to go with what I knew. In retrospect though, I do think assorted vegan cucpakes may have been more of a crowd pleaser. O well, they did turn out really beautiful in those pretty pink boxes.

Speaking of the pretty pink boxes, a big thank you to Kara's cupcakes in Palo Alto for letting me purchase these boxes for a super low price. You see, I had been roaming all around town looking for the perfect box for my mini-cupcakes. I went to Michaels, William's Sonoma and Sur La Table and while they had some options for regular-sized cupcakes, none of them had mini-cupcake holders. I was ABOUT to leave dejectedly(I figured I'd have to make the boxes myself somehow) when I saw Kara's cupcakes and decided to ask them. They were so gracious and kind, and I ended up buying 10 boxes for 50c each. Not shabby at all, and I'm sure it would have been more expensive had I purchased them at one of the above mentioned stores. Needless to say, I was mighty pleased with the results of that excursion.

I'm not posting all my recipes, but here are my favorites:

Spicy chocolate chip cookies(sister's recipe)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Mexican cocoa powder (or substitute by adding 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon to unsweetened cocoa powder)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

6 tablespoons sweet butter, at room temperature

  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tbsp chocolate chips

  ground black pepper

cayenne/chili powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg white

Directions

1. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly and set aside. Combine the sugars in a small bowl and mix well. 

2. In a medium mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the butter  until creamy. Add the sugar mixture, cinnamon, peppers, and vanilla. Beat on high about 1 minute. Beat in the egg white. Add the flour mixture, beating on the lowest speed, and add in the chocolate chips at the very end. 

3. Form it into a neat log with your hands. Refrigerate for about an hour.

4. Cut the log into quarter-inch discs and place on cookie sheet. Bake for about 13 minutes at 350 F. 

Assorted cupcakes

Mocha Cupcakes (adapted from http://www.lovintheoven.com/2009/04/mocha-cupcakes-with-kahlua-cream-cheese.html)
Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup yogurt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
5 1/2 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
4 tablespoons espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Directions
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Insert liners into a cupcake pan.

2. Beat the sugar, butter, and eggs until fluffy and mix in the yogurt. 

3. Mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt in a separate bowl.

4. Combine the water, coffee and vanilla. Alternate adding the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/sour cream mixture with the coffee mixture and mix thoroughly.

5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes 

Kahlua Frosting
5 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2.5 tablespoons Kahlua
16 ounces powdered sugar

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in Kahlua, and powdered sugar. Apply to cupcakes.

Coconut cupcakes (adapted from http://asweetfantasy.blogspot.com/2008/06/coconut-cupcakes.html)
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cup shredded coconut


Cream Cheese Icing
8 ounces cream cheese, cold
4 ounces butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Beat together the oil, sugar and eggs until thick and smooth. Beat in vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to the liquid mixture and beat until smooth. Beat in yogurt and add the coconut. Bake for 22 minutes. 

3. For the icing, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla extract; then confectioners sugar. Beat in some milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if icing is too thick.

Packaging and pictures!

My favorite part was packaging the goods. I also loved how the assorted cupcakes looked in the pink boxes. I also made vegan banana bread, butterfly lemon cupcakes and mint-basil cupcakes. I'm so glad I was able to partake in the event! What a great baking treat!

Biryani rice and crunchy brussel sprouts

This post is long overdue, but I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures from my camera and wanted to start with this delicious recipe for Biryani. Biryani typically refers to a highly seasoned cooked rice that can be made with meat or vegetables. My favorite biryani thus far has been a small hole in the wall place in Delhi that a coworker had dragged us to during my summer interning at the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center. Our group was somewhat put off by the place(flies everywhere!) and made our sentiments known, but all that quickly disappeared as soon as our food arrived. The biryani was served in individual copper pots that were closed off with muslin cloth. As I untied the cloth, the fragrance emanating from the pot was nothing like I had ever experienced before. I don't remember much of what happened later, but I do know that the contents of the entire pot disappeared in about 4 minutes.

This recipe is one that I swear by. My mother has a few cookbooks by Tarla Dalal and her recipes are excellent for Indian food. This one is delicious but also quick and easy.

Ingredients:
Rice
2 cups basmati rice
1/4 tsp saffron

Other ingredients
1 cup yogurt
2 large onions, sliced
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 cups mixed boiled vegetables (carrots and peas)
a pinch sugar
5 tbsp butter or ghee
salt
mint leaves to garnish


To be ground into a Paste
4 red chillies
2 green chillies
4 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1 tbsp cashewnuts
s tsp coriander seeds
3 cardomoms

1. Cook the rice. Mix in the yogurt with half the rice. Mix in the saffron in about 2 tbsp of water and mix in the saffron with the rest of the rice.  Keep the two portions separate.

2. Heat the butter/ghee. For those who are unfamiliar with ghee, it is a staple in Indian cooking, often demonized for its high fat/cholesterol content, but is highly flavorful and brings out a unique taste. Fry the onions in the butter/ghee until they turn a golden brown. Keep the onions aside.

3. Sautee the ground paste in the remaining ghee/butter for about 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato puree, and vegetables  and cook for around 5 minutes. Then add the yogurt, the sugar and the salt.

4. Butter a baking dish and add some of the fried onions on the bottom. Alternate between the vegetable mixture, the saffron rice and the yogurt rice.

5. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 F.

6. Turn upside down and serve with the mint as a garnish.

I also made brussel sprouts with the biryani. This is also a quick and easy recipe. The brussel sprouts get slightly caramelized and work well with the roasted almonds.

Ingredients:

Brussel sprouts quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp roasted almonds
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

1. Marinate the brussel sprouts in the olive oil with the sugar.

2. Sautee the brussel sprouts in high heat until the sides of the sprouts are caramelized.

3. Add in the salt and the roasted almonds.

Bake Sale this Saturday in the city!

Exciting news! I will be partaking in San Francisco Food Blogger's bake sale on Saturday, May 14th.

All proceeds from the the sale go to Share our Strength, an organization whose goal it is to end childhood hunger in America.

Please come out an enjoy the beautiful weather and delicious treats made by our very talented food bloggers. You can stop by at one of these two locations(OR BOTH!)

18 reasons
593 Guerrero St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
10 AM to 6 PM

Kiehl's
2360 Fillmore St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
Noon- 4 PM

Now, the more difficult question is deciding what I should make! Cake? Cheesecake? Cookies? Something Indian? Keep guessing.

Molten chocolate cake

So my recent obsessions with Pinterest and Foodgawker have led me to while away hours at work and otherwise, but I also find myself constantly itching to making something new. And drooling at work, too, might I add. I'd been particularly entranced this particular recipe I saw at PinchmyYums excellent blog.

I've been fascinated by molten chocolate cake(also known as lava cake) for quite some time now. What's not to love about gooey chocolaty goodness? This recipe is slightly different and has a pudding like consistency, but also rather good.

The cakes came out rather well for the most part except that I added 1 cup boiling water instead of half of 1 1/4 cup as directed by the recipe. I will have to try it out again too see if it makes a real difference. Mine ended up being more gooey inside with all the cake on the outside, but I would have liked more cake.

Ok here's how you make it.

Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour - 3/4 cup
• Sugar - 2/3 cup
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup (divided)
• Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Low Fat 1% Milk - 1/2 cup
• Canola Oil - 3 tbsp
• Brown Sugar - 2/3 cup
• Semisweet Chocolate Chips - 1/4 cup
• Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
• Hot Water - 1 1/4 cups

1. I started with my beautiful ramekins and greased them with some Canola oil.

 

2. Boil 2 cups of water. This is where I messed up. I think the rule of thumb is that you  boil 2 cups of water but the water reduced down to 1 1/4 cup. I ended up putting in 1 cup(halved) into the ramekins, which I think was too much.
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, the sugar, half the cocoa powder, the baking powder and salt and stir until mixed. I did not sift the ingredients, but it might have been a good idea.

 

4.Then add the milk and oil.

 

5. Divide the mixture into the ramekins. I actually halved the recipe, and I divided the mixture into 3 ramekins.

6. Sprinkle the brown sugar and half the cocoa powder on top.

7. Top it all off with the chocolate chips.

8. Combine the vanilla with the water.

9. This is the tricky part. Divide the water into three parts and pour it on top.  Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 F.

10. The should come out looking like this!

I was pretty pleased, but I'm going to try again using the right amount of water. I ended up using 1 cup water instead of 5/8 as directed. O well, next time!

Spicy Mac and Cheese

I've never been much of a mac and cheese girl. Sure, I've had it occasionally, but something about store bought liquid cheese always seemed off-putting to me. Through my recent obsession with foodgawker.com, I was somewhat more tempted given that the pictures always looked so amazing. What's not to love about beautiful browning cheese?

In engaging in more food-porn, it struck to me that mac and cheese could indeed be made very creatively! You can play around with the kinds of cheeses you use, what base you use, what spices/seasoning to add, and it's nearly impossible to go wrong with such wonderful quantities of cheese.

I'm also proud to note that this will probably be my first ever recipe brought to fruition solely through my imagination, and while it may not be any great feat, it's rather exciting to know that you concocted something delicious, even while being inspired by many sources. Ok so here goes the recipe. It's rather straightforward:

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 cups low fat milk
1/4 cup flour
3/4 pack wheat macaroni shells
about 2 cups cheese. I used a combination of monterey pepper jack, cheddar and dill fontina.
1 onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 serrano pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 tbsp crushed peppers
salt and pepper
2 tbsp habanero pepper for heat


1. Melt the butter in a pan, and add the flour to it until the mixture turns a light brown. Meanwhile, heat up the milk in the microwave until it has reached a lukewarm temperature. Pour the milk into the flour and butter mixture and stir around the sauce for around 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

2. Meanwhile, chop up the onions, peppers and bell peppers finely and sautee them in a pan until the onion is golden brown in color. Allow to cool.

3. Also, in the meantime, cook the macaroni shells and allow them to cool once cooked.
4. Once the sauce has thickened add the cheese to the mixture and blend in the cheeses with the sauce to create a thick and rich cheese sauce. Add in the crushed peppers, salt and pepper at this point.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine the cheese sauce with the vegetable mixture and add in some habanero sauce for more heat if you like. Bake for around 25 minutes.

Baked spaghetti squash with tomato and basil

Spaghetti squash is not a vegetable I've worked often with. Turns out, it really is super cool, and what a delicious and healthy alternative to starchy pasta. I love my pasta, my spaghetti squash is pretty unique in its own right too.

I was inspired by some pictures I saw on foodgawker.com, but mostly I just wanted to take the spaghetti squash and jazz it up with some delicious cheese and bake the hell out it. The result is beautiful as you can see:

Here's how you make it:

Recipe and instructions- Baked spaghetti squash with tomato, basil and rosemary

Adapted from: http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/baked-spaghetti-squash/

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
rosemary
1/2 cup basil
1/2 cup yogurt
2tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper

1) Take the spaghetti squash and poke holes all around it with a knife or other sharp object. Heat it up in the microwave for about 12 minutes, stopping every 4 minutes to turn it over. In the end the skin should be wrinkly and easy to scrape off.

2) Scraping it out! Cut it into two and scrape off the seeds and store them for later. You can make some delicious chutney with the remaining squash seeds and center. After you're done taking off the center, use a fork to scrape off the spaghetti layers.

3) Making the sauce. Slice the onion and garlic and sautee them until they turn light brown. Add in chopped tomatoes and the chili powder.You can also add some vodka or wine at this point to enhance the flavor. I did not use vodka this particular time. After a paste has formed turn off the heat and add the yogurt to the mixture along with some salt and pepper.

4) After the tomato mixture has cooled, combine the tomato mixture with the ricotta cheese, the rosemary and basil. Finally add the spaghetti squash and mix it up. Bake them separately into individual ramekins. Bake for around 35 minutes at 350 F.