Sweet move with Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark

You have to pardon me for my inconsistency in blogging these days. Please.

Being without my laptop since a couple of days makes me totally incompetent to maintain my blog at the desired pace I intend to and I feel totally at lag. I generally prefer posting at least one recipe each week, but haven’t been able to linger on to that. My camera flash card is flooded with pictures of food, food and more food, but seriously, haven’t got enough time to download them and edit. Couple of drafts have been sitting incomplete, soon to be posted. Worse, I received several wishes on my birthday last month from my friends and blogger pals, but I haven’t been able to respond to mails or thank any. My sincere apologies guys… !!!

I hate this procrastination. Ever since I have been without my system, I’ve been nudging my husband to lend his lappy on weekends, only to keep this space burning and alive, with a positive hope that I shall soon be united with my beloved lappy. To say that I am technologically dependent is an understatement, now that living without a system hasn’t given me any peace of mind, but driving me nuts. On the contrary I have some positive news for you all. :)

Coming to the point, after a lot of thought and wait, I finally decided to purchase my own domain. Yes, after 3 years of blogging I still feel passionate about it. I love doing this every bit, so I took a plunge to move from http://www.vegbowl.blogspot.com/ to http://www.vegbowl.in/. Now doesn't that call for some celebration??? Now here's some Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark to raise the toast!

Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark

INGREDIENTS

2 cups chopped Dark Chocolate
2/3 cup mixed roasted nuts (such as roasted walnuts, pistachios, almonds and melon seeds)
2/3 cup mixed dried fruit (such as raisins, quartered figs and apricots)

DIRECTIONS

Line a tray with foil or parchment paper. Microwave the chocolate in medium bowl for 2 minutes on high power. Give a stir, the chocolate should be melted and smooth. If not microwave for another minute. Alternatively melt the chocolate in a double boiler over saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted and smooth.

Scatter nuts and dried fruit evenly over the paper/foil. Pour melted chocolate onto the fruit nut mix, spreading gently using a spatula. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Peel off the paper. Cut chocolate into irregular pieces. Serve the bark.

This chocolate bark is packed with goodness from fruits and nuts. I am a huge fan of dark chocolates, I always have them to munch on. My love for dry fruits and nuts is profound, I can add them to anything sweet and savory too. And am a bigger fan of roasted nuts, given the immense flavor and crunch they give to anything added. The bittersweet incense from the chocolate stark out beautifully when paired with the roasted earthiness from nuts and mellowed sweetness from dry fruits.

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Orange Buttercream Cake for my Valentine

I am totally pepped up with this thought of celebrating a day symbolizing love with your Valentine. Isn’t that so cute? Unfortunately, it falls on a Tuesday this year, that means we’ll be both at work and will be spent like any other week day. Shades of red have always been my favorite color, so there is no reason why I shouldn’t be soaked in colors of Valentine. And be it a festival or an occasion, you know I just need an excuse to make a dessert!

Initial thoughts of making chocolate cake for my Valentine took a backseat when I saw the bright oranges brought in from the Sunday shopping peeping out from shopping bag. They screamed to be used, probably not for the cake, but to be eaten fresh. As I packed a few off to be refrigerated for later use, the whipped cream on the refrigerator counter sat gleaming at me. Fresh cream cake wasn’t on my mind honestly. Experiments with fresh cream haven't had many success with me, so I didn't dare to this time. Buttercream was a safer route. After a real long time (I can say almost close to a year and half), I got eggs for the fat-less sponge base. Can’t get a better cake than a cake with Orange buttercream icing, yeah? Absolutely!

Oranges are in season. Seeing them flood the market in shades of bright yellow orange hues makes me go crazy for them. I cannot simply resist oranges, so reminiscent of a fruit which we often depend on to quench our thirst, especially during train and bus journeys. I completely adore fresh fruits, but wonder why I’ve rarely played around with them in my dessert. We relish fruits on a daily basis with stocks of banana, watermelon and muskmelon being quite a regular at home. Guess while I’m chopping fruits for a dessert a lot of it goes directly to my mouth rather than the dessert itself!

I have been toying around this idea of using oranges again to make a Gateaux since my previous bake with Baked Orange Cheesecake. Oh yeah, people loved it! It was hit at home. I’ve discovered a new found love in the zesty refreshing flavors of orange, prior to which the peels were meant to be discarded. I love that citrus zester and have been using more often since. I went on a serious hunting spree for that one tool! Totally worth the effort!

Keeping in mind the Valentine day, I baked this Orange Fresh Cream Gateaux over the weekend. This did not come as a surprise my hubby as he very well knew that a cake was on the way for him J. The eggs fluffed well to make the fatless sponge base devoid of any fat using the recipe inspired by Tarla Dalal. Drizzled juice directly from fresh oranges on to the cake. Now how good is that for you? A quick round of whip given to the cream and a good amount of orange rind and juice went into it, speckled bright and yellow. Spread the stuff and assembled it in less than an hour. It was a breeze.

Orange Buttercream Cake

INGREDIENTS

Fatless Sponge:

2 large sized eggs
50 gms (2 oz.) plain flour (maida)
50 to 80 gms fine tea sugar or powdered sugar

Buttercream Icing:

200 gm. softened butter
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. orange rind
A few slices of orange segments
2-3 tbsp. orange juice (for moistening the cake and icing)

DIRECTIONS

Sieve the flour. Grease and dust a baking tin. Beat the eggs and sugar very well until thick and double in quantity. Fold in the sieved flour carefully and mix gently with a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin. Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 15 minutes. The cake is ready when it leaves the sides of the tin and is springy to touch. Take out from the oven and leave to cool for a minute. Loosen the sides with a knife, invert the tin over a rack and tap sharply to remove. Cool the cake.

Slice the cake to two. Moist them well with fresh/canned orange juice. I used fresh juice here. Whip the butter and sugar to soft peaks. Add in fresh/canned orange juice along with fresh orange zest and whip further till stiff peaks form. Slather a dollop of cream and spread well on the center. Scatter a few orange segments and top it with the second slice. Slather and coat the cake with the remaining cream and top with candied zest and orange segments and chill for at least 3-4 hours. Serve.

I am not a huge fan of buttercream cakes, simply because they leave that buttery creaminess on the roof of mouth. Saying that this cake was not only loved by my Valentine, but also my mom and sis with whom it was shared. The cake got over even before I could carry it over for the 14th Feb! The orange rind is refreshing and makes the cake totally sinful. I was not totally satisfied the way I frosted this cake. I should have chopped off the cake hood flat before frosting. I could definitely have done a much better job. Frosting a cake is a real test of patience. You need to treat that cake like your baby, gentle and with care.

Are you geared up to celebrate this Valentine day with your special one? Do you plan to create a special dessert for your Valentine this year? What's your flavor? Would you go for Vanilla or Chocolate or is that a fruity one like mine? Share your thoughts with me.

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Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies

It’s been long since I baked some cookies and this seemed the perfect occasion when I should be baking more of them. My little tot is in her teething phase and loves putting almost everything into her mouth. Door-mats seem to entice her more than anything else and we have a tough time hiding them from her. We’ve been playing a lot of peek-a-boo games with her and my little brat is full of untiring energy, life and zest. She’s been gaining strength and weight to crawl and pull herself well now, but should have some more time to go before she can be independent on her feet. While she loves pulling objects and putting them to her teeth, we have a terrible time objecting her from doing so! This seemed the perfect reason for me to bake some cookies so that she can hold them and bite into her itching teeth.

With 2 bunny teeth on lower and 1 on upper gums and the fourth breaking its way out, she hasn’t yet got over her itch to bite into almost anything close to solid. While she’s pretty fussy with her choices when it comes to food, digestive biscuits seem to be her favorites. And no, not the milk dipped softened ones done specifically for her, but a solid bite into the biscuit is what she demands. I played around with these Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies, adapted from the cookbook, Chocolate: The Food and the Music to make cookies which were healthy so she can bite into. I’ve made 2-3 batches of varying ingredients, all on similar lines of the base recipe. For my little one, I skipped chocolate and coffee. I omitted egg completely, instead used thin flax-meal paste. For the adults, I like to use same amount of coffee liquor as much the volume of an egg. They turn out good each time promising to be good companions for your cup of tea. And my little toddler surely seems to be enjoying them.

Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies

Adapted from Chocolate: The Food and the Music

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg (replace with 1 tbsp. gooey flax-meal paste or 1 tbsp. of coffee liquor if making for adults)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. bran (I used whole wheat bran)
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp. strong coffee (Add more for stronger flavor)
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 large cookies sheets. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Add the egg (replace with 1 tbsp. gooey flax-meal paste or 1 tbsp. of coffee liquor, if making for adults) and beat well, using an electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt, then add in the whole wheat flour and bran. Mix in the egg / flax mixture, then stir in the chocolate chips, oats, coffee and nuts. If it's for the baby, skip the chocolates and coffee. Mix well.

Drop tablespoonful of the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheets, dabbing each lightly using the back of a spoon (if you prefer thin, crisp cookies), leaving room for the cookies to spread during cooking. Transfer the cookie sheets to preheated oven and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

Remove from the oven, the transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before serving.

I like thin, crisp cookies which have a crunch with every bite. That my prefect bake. On the other hand, my husband prefers more chewy cookies over the crunch. If you want your cookies crisp, you bake 2 minutes longer. For chewy ones, remove the cookies as they begin to brown on edges.

We use flax quite a lot in Indian cooking, specially South. While my mom’s roasted flaxseed chutney powder is my favorite, I personally dislike the flavor of flax in my baked goods. So I was cautious with my use of flax-meal powder this time and made a pretty thin paste instead of a thick gooey one. I like to think these are good for you. They have bran, rolled oats, whole wheat flour, flax-meal, walnuts and chocolate chips in them. Now, isn’t that goodness of everything in one?

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