Pfirsich,Äpfel & Quark Kuchen - Peach,Apple & Quark Cake - 100th post :)

         I really can't believe that this is my 100th post.Thanks to my laziness,I never thought I'll get here :) Blogging has been a wonderful experience.I still remember the first week of blogging ,my blog had just 15 visits and I was really thinking if it was a good idea to carry on when there were so many beautiful blogs out there.It was my hubby & sister who knew how passionate I was about cooking and eating :P, who told me 'Do it just because it makes you happy'.I initially thought that blogging was all about just posting good recipes,but only later did I realize that it was being a part of a community of passionate people. In this short span I've got to know so many beautiful people,learnt so many new dishes and developed a keen interest in photography.Well before blogging the moment I see the 'SALE' sign on any cloth shop I would be inside the shop no time, but now I am always on the hunt for props :) Thanks all of you for all the encouraging comments and stopping at my page ,it keeps me going. Doesn't this sound like some speech in a film award ceremony, I feel like Shah Rukh Khan in 'Om Shanti Om' with a whiskey bottle in his hand ,well not exactly a whisky bottle,might be a rolling pin or a ladle :P
         Coming to today's dish,It's a wonderful German cake.When I first tasted this cake before 5 years I really didn't appreciate it's flavour. Well my Indian taste bud was more adapted to hot and spicy stuff.But then slowly over the years I've started loving cheese and it's subtle taste.This cake is made of quark which is very nutritious and widely used in most European cuisines. Quark is a kind of hung curd,similar to what we use for preparing Shrikhand. You could also replace it with Greek Yogurt. So off to the cake....

You'll Need :
For the base:
All Purpose Flour - 175 g
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Sugar - 100 g
Vanilla essence -a few drops
Salt - a pinch
Egg - 1 big
Butter - 100 g
For the Filling
Apple- 3 - 4 big ones
Sugar - 100 g
Quark /Curd Cheese - 500 g
Vanilla essence -a few drops
Eggs - 3 medium
Weizengrieß - Semolina - 25 g
Whipping Cream - 2 tbsp
For the Topping :
Peaches - 3 tins or 500g or 6 - 7 peaches.
Sugar - 20 g
Fruit juice - 250 ml ( i used orange juice ) if using any berries use apple juice
Tortenguss rot/Fruit tort Jelly  - 1 pack or Check here

Method:
For the Base:
-Melt the butter first and then let it cool to room temperature.
-Sieve the flour and the baking powder well in a big mixing bowl.
-Add all the other ingredients to the flour.With a beater fitted with a dough hook beat the mixture on medium speed until all the ingredients are mixed well.
-Then increase the speed and beat until the dough starts sticking together.Remove it from the bowl and knead it until for 3 - 4 minutes.
-Cover it with a plastic wrap or place it an airtight container and keep it in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes.
-In a 26 cm springform pan,butter the springform and dust it with flour.Line the bottom with baking paper and remove it from the sides.
-After 15 minutes,Remove it from the freezer.Take 2/3 rd of the batter and roll it into a thin disc of 26 cm diameter.Place the remaining 1/3 rd portion in the refrigerator.For better results.place the dough on the middle of the bottom of the springform(removed from the sides) and slowly roll the dough until it covers the base.You can also use your fingers to flatten it so that it covers the base.
-Now with a fork pierce small holes on the rolled out dough.Attach the sides to the pan and bake in a pre heated oven for 15 minutes at 200 ° C.
-After 15 minutes remove from the oven and let it cool.
-Roll the remaining 1/ 3 portion into thin strips of 3 cms height and place them around the sides of the baked base.So that you get a nice shell with no gaps.

For the filling:
-Clean the apples,remove the core and the skin.Chop them into big pieces.Spread these pieces on the prepared base (shell) in the springform.
-Beat all the other filling ingredients with the beater fitted with a whipping hook for 2 - 3 minutes ,until everything is well mixed.
-Spread it on the apples and spread it uniformly.
-Bake in the oven(not preheated) at 175 ° C for 45 minutes.
-Let the cake cool completely then remove it from the pan.
For the Topping:
-Cut the peaches into thin strips and place them on the baked cake,so that they cover the whole surface.
-Mix the tortenguss with sugar and the juice .Heat the mixture and keep stirring continuously until it starts slightly thickening.Then pour it uniformly over the topping(the peaches).It hardens after cooling. Done !
-If using gelatin please follow this method .

Note:
You can replace the Peaches with any berry of your choice :)

Orange cake

I was going through my posts the other day and realized that I didn't have a single cake post.I bake pretty often,but both hubby and I have a sweet tooth and we mostly finish the cakes when they are hot out of the oven.I do realize that cakes taste better the next day when all the flavours set in,but we have only a very little left the next day:)This is one of the most softest and moistest cake that I have had, it has a lovely orange flavour and no butter.I found this recipe in a cook book(Heavenly Cakes) that I borrowed some time back,luckily I had jotted it down :) I've slightly tweaked the recipe for the orange flavour. I love baking with orange as it fills the whole house with a beautiful aroma. This one's also a favorite of my dad and our little cat 'Chelsee'.Now don't take that lightly,Chelsee's the most choosiest cat that I've ever come across.Right from the fish she eats to the milk she drinks ,she's very particular.She loves sweets, especially cakes .She loves the cakes from Mcrennet in Chennai and whenever we buy a box,one piece of her favorite flavour would always be there.When I first baked this cake at home,my dad told me that he's gonna have a quality test done and offered Chelsee some.I was so happy when she finished it off and asked for more.I guess most of you would be laughing by now :) but pet lovers like me would realize how important a part of life they become.I miss her a lot and I thought I should mention about her in this post :) And this is chelsee :)



So off to the cake....

You'll Need:

All purpose flour/ Maida - 225 g -  2 1/4 cups

Eggs - 3 large (at room temperature)

Fine Sugar - 225 g - 1 1/4 cup

Baking powder - 3 tsp

Salt - 3/4 tsp

Whipped Cream (cold) - 350 g

Orange zest - 1.5 tbsp (from one big orange)

orange essence - 1/2 tsp

Method :

-Pre-heat the oven to 350° F / 175 ° C

-Sift the Flour,baking powder and salt together.

-For the orange zest: Clean and scrape the skin of the orange with a grater,to get the orange zest.

The poor orange after it's zest was removed

-In a small bowl slightly beat the eggs,orange essence and the orange zest.

-In a big bowl,add the whipped cream and beat until it thickens and it form sharp tips when the beater is lifted.

-Add the egg mixture and beat just until it is incorporated.About 2 minutes.

-Then gradually add the sugar while beating the batter and beat for another 2 minutes until all the sugar is incorporated.

-Now add the flour mixture in three batches , mixing well with a big slotted ladle after each addition. Just mix until there are no traces of flour.Please don't over mix.

-Butter the sides of a pan and dust it with flour.Fill it with the batter until it fills almost 3/4 th of the pan .Bake for 25 - 35 minutes,until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.The batter fills a 9 " pan,if you have any leftover batter you can bake them into small cupcakes :)

-Remove from the oven and let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes ,then remove from the pan and let it cool.

-Enjoy !

Thanks for stopping by ! Happy Baking !

Zucchini grilled in oven with herbs - Quickie

Serves 3

Zucchini also called as 'seemai surakai' in Tamil,translated as 'Western Bottle gourd' is a wonderful vegetable.I use it in the place of bottle gourd in many recipes and its extremely healthy.It's one vegetable that tastes awesome when grilled,all soft and moist due to its high water content.I usually grill vegetables when I need a quick and hassle free side dish and this one tastes the best when grilled.If you're barbecuing you could grill this on the coal after you're done grilling the meat. I've used oregano here,you could replace it with Kasoori Methi or any other herb of your choice.

                        

Ingredients:

Zucchini - 1 big fresh one

Garlic - one big clove or 2-3 small ones

Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp

Dried Mint - 1/2 tsp or Mint leaves - leaves from 3 sprigs

Pepper Powder  - 1/2 tsp

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

salt as needed

Method:

-For Dried Mint powder - Clean the mint leaves,pat them dry.Dry roast on low heat,in  a pan until they are crisp.Powder by crushing in between your palms when cool.

-Mince the garlic finely.Chop the Zucchini lengthwise.

-Mix the salt,olive oil,oregano,mint,pepper powder and garlic.Spread it on both the sides of the zucchini slices.

-Pre heat the oven to 175° C.Arrange the slices of zucchini on a non stick tray or a baking tray lined with a baking paper and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until they are cooked .Done !

 Thanks for Stopping by ! Happy Cooking !
 Dish name starts with Z happening at Akila's space

Chocolate cupcake

Makes 10
This cupcake would be the chocolate lover`s favorite.I simply love chocolates in every form ,be it cakes or ice creams .I'm the  kind of person who can spoon up half a bottle of nutella in no time:)I love baking ,both the process and the output. But the amount of sugar and butter and the calories involved keeps me from baking more often.How I wish this thing called calories just din't exist :-)  This cupcake recipe calls for little sugar and no butter.It's still very soft and moist and extremely chocolaty!

Ingredients:

Baking Chocolate - 170 g
Double Cream - 120 ml
Fine Sugar - 50 g - 1/4 cup
All purpose Flour - 50 g -1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Eggs - 3 medium
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Chocolate Chips - 225 g

Method:
-For melting the cream and chocolate in a double-boiler: Fill  quarter of a vessel with water.Place another smaller vessel in it such that it`s bottom doesn't touch the water.Place the broken pieces of chocolate and the cream in the smaller vessel.Let the water heat up on medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chocolate is fully melted.Remove from the stove and stir well until the chocolate and cream are well combined.
-Sift together the baking powder and the flour.
-Beat the sugar,eggs and vanilla essence for 5 minutes on medium until it turns a little thick and lemon yellow in color.
-Add the melted chocolate cream mixture and beat for 20 seconds on medium.
-Add the flour,baking soda and chocolate chips beat on low for 10 seconds then on medium for another 10 seconds.
-Preheat the oven to 175°C.
-Fill 10 muffin cups with the batter until they are a little more than 3/4th full and bake at 175°C for 30 minutes.

Note:
-The chocolate chips can be replaced with grated chocolate.
-These cupcakes taste even greater the next day  and hold good for more than 3 days.









Sending this to MJDelights