Nimi's Culinary Ventures

Fruity choco muffins with a punch!

Baking, cakes, flour, veg | August 8, 2011 | By

13 comments

Hi foodies..I’m back after my holiday break.July has been a month with heavy rains in Munnar.The holidays fly by with ease and I’m all over again in my busy bee schedule. Today’s  post goes out to the Sweet punch team.The recipe for this month sought out for strawberries..but the sad prt was that I couldnt get hold of any to pop into my batter.So I thought of giving it a bit of twist.If you love a fruit blast for your kids heres one Banana Apple choco muffins..

Banana Apple Choco Muffins


1/2 cup unsaltedbutter, melted
2eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanillaextract

2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup of apple cut into bite sized pieces
2 1/4 cups all-purposeflour
3/4 cup light brownsugar
1 1/2 teaspoonsbaking powder

1/4 teaspoonbaking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup choco chips
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a muffin pan with paper liners .

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Let it  cool to room temperature.
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract,milk and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.  
In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the choco chips and apple pieces coated with flour. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter . 
Divide the batter into muffin cups and  bake them  until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 



Hopin u all will enjoy this Muffin break!:D

Khara Biscuits for ICC!

Baking, cookies, Indian recipes, Snacks, veg | June 15, 2011 | By

12 comments

I’m so happy that Srivalli chose Khara biscuits of Iyengar bakery(Karnataka special) as this months ICC.If you are looking for something to munch of  with a hot cup of tea when its raining..this biscuit is perfect with the spice of chillies and the aroma of cilantro.The best part is that these cookies can be stored in airtight containers for about 4 days.

My husband was quite addicted to these biscuits..guess its bcz he craves masala biscuits…:)

Here’s the recipe
Iyengar bakery Khara biscuit


2 cups of all purpose flour
1/3 cup softened butter
5-6 green chilies chopped
4 tsp sugar
1tsp salt
coriander leaves/cilantro a few twigs chopped
2-3 tbsp yogurt(i used 4 tbsp yogurt)

Preheat oven to 160 degree
Prepare the baking tray with an aluminium foil sheet smeared by a few drops of vegetable oil/cooking spray.
Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl.
In an other bowl beat the sugar and butter till creamy.Now add in the yogurt.
Mix in the flour(you will have to use your hands ) and incorporate well to make a dough.
Do not use too much of pressure.
Roll the dough into 1/4 inch thickness and cut out round shapes with a cookie cutter.
Line them in the prepared tray and bake for about 18-20 minutes.
If you want more crispier biscuits you can bake for a few for minutes.
Cool them on a wire rack and transfer into airtight containers.

Happy Munchhing..!

Wheat Almond Cookies for this months Sweet Punch!

Appetizers, Baking, cookies, flour, Snacks, veg | March 10, 2011 | By

13 comments

This months punch ..Wheat Almond Cookies.. was chosen by Ria  from Manjula’s Kitchen .If you are in a mood to bake out cookies super quick and simple this is the best recipe.My modifications to the recipe was that I added almond meal to the dough  in lieu to the sliced almonds and topped the cookies with almonds.I did lessen the sugar to about 3 tbsps.

Here’s the recipe for this crunchy delight..

EGGLESS WHEAT ALMOND COOKIES

1 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp elaichi coarsely powdered
1/2 cup Butter
2 tbsp milk

  • Preheat the oven to 360 degrees farenheit.
  • In a bowl mix flour,sugar,salt,sliced almonds and cardamom powder.
  • Add soft butter and milk to the mix and knead it into a soft dough.
  • Divide the dough into 24 equal parts and roll them into balls.
  • Press each ball between palms tp half inch thickness and place them on cookie sheets about an inch apart.
  • Bake for 18 mins till light brown.
  • Let cookies cool for about 2 to 3 mins before taking them off the cookie sheets

Store the cookies in an airtight container and ..MUNCH on 🙂

A creamy and crunchy treat for this months DB!

Baking, cookies, Snacks | February 27, 2011 | By

17 comments

This months DB was quite a yummy challenge ..thanks to Mallory of Sofa In the Kitchen.The month of Feb has been quite tiring after my sons birthday, they were both infected by chicken pox.So I was lagged up in my posts..
This months challenge was Panna cotta and Florentine cookies.For the Panna cotta my first choice of fruit was strawberries..but when I looked through my window and saw the ripe tree tomatoes in my garden I dropped the strawberry idea .

HONEY PANACOTTA

1 cup  milk
1 tablespoon  unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup  honey
1 tablespoon  granulated sugar
pinch of salt
  • Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk . Let it stand for 5 minutes .
  • Pour the milk into the saucepan and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes whisking a few times.
  • Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn’t boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.
  • Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. 





TREE TOMATO GELEE


 230 gm tree tomatoes
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup  granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons  unflavored powdered gelatin


  • Sprinkle gelatin over water.
  • Place fruit and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Now mix the gelatin into the tree tomato mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved.

  • Remove from heat and allow to cool 
  • Now layer it with the panacotta in the glass.After layering with the gelee refrigerate it for 45 minutes.


The Oatmeal Florentine cookies were a mere delight for my kiddos. :)It was super Crunchy!

OATMEAL FLORENTINE COOKIES

2/3 cup  unsalted butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup  granulated sugar
2/3 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1/4 cup  dark corn syrup
1/4 cup  whole milk
1 tsp  vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1½ cups  dark or milk chocolate

Preheat oven to moderately hot 190°C. Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.
To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.
While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave or by double boiling method. 
Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper 
Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.
Wishin u all a crunchy creamy baking :)!

A bite of the Marbled Loaf !

Baking, cakes, flour, Snacks | February 18, 2011 | By

9 comments

This year I have actually missed my blogging to a great extend.I’m trying to patch up… 🙂
Marble cakes and checkerboard cakes have always been my favs..Heres a recipe from Dorie Greenspan ‘s book..

2 cups and 2 tbsps of all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2  tsp salt
12 tbsps of butter at room temperature
4 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

  • Preheat oven to 325 degree F and butter and dust a loaf pan with flour.
  • Whisk flour,baking powder and salt.
  • Beat the butter until smooth.Add sugar and beat for about 2 minutes.
  • Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.Beat in the vanilla.Add in  the flour mix  in three seperate additions along with the milk.Donot overbeat.
  • Now divide the batter equally and  to one part add Cocoa mix(2tbsp of cocoa powder +1/4 cup of milk)
  • Scrape both the batters in a loaf pan.
  • I baked the cake for about an hour in my oven.Bake till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

A bite into an Apple Crostata for this months DB!

Baking, Breads, Snacks, veg | November 27, 2010 | By

12 comments

Its been quite sometime since I had joined the Daring Bakers..but somethin or the other would pop up when I get ready to post .Well this time at least I wanted to complete my challenge.This months challenge was chosen by  Simona of “Briocle”..a challenge with an Italian touch.Her idea was to introduce Pasta frolla to make wonderful Crostatas.My choice was Apple and Pastry cream Crostata.
To make Pasta Frolla

1/2 cup. minus 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

1 and 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 stick [8 tablespoons ] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
grated zest of half a lemon 
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl


  1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
  2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.
  3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
  4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
  5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
  6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
  7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

To make Pastry Creme

500ml Milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
a vanilla pod
3 tbsp regular flour

 Pour milk into a pan add vanilla seeds and pod and warm to well below boiling point.In a bowl,beat eggs with sugar till mix is bubbly.Sift flour over the eggs and mix well.Pour the mix into a pan and set it to very low heat stirring every couple of minutes.When the froth on top dissapears, the creme starts getting thicker.Cook briefly for 1-2 mins and then remove the panfrom heat,remove the vanilla pod and let it cool in a water bath.Stir the creme to bring down the temperature and to prevent the forming of film over it.

For the Apple Topping

3 tbsp of Unsalted Butter
4-5 tbsp of granulated sugar
Apples sliced

In a pan heat the butter and stir in the sugar till it dissolves.Add the sliced apples and saute till they become soft.

Assembling the Crostata

  1. Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].
  2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.
  3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.
  4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.
  5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin’s width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.
  6. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.
  7. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.
  8. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.
  9. Prick the bottom of the dough in several places with a fork.
  10. Blind bake the dough in the oven for about 20- 25 minutes.
  11. Let the pasta frolla to cool completely.
  12. Spread the pastry creme on top of the dough and the apple toppings on top of it.
  13. You can use the reserved pasta frolla to decorate with strips or to cut out shapes on it.
  14. Now place the crostata in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes .

Let it cool before slicing.Serve with whipped cream.Hope u all be looking forth to try this out…:)




THE GOOEY CHOCOLATE LAVA!

Appetizers, Baking, cakes | October 7, 2010 | By

15 comments

This months challenge from the sweet punch team is “Molten Lava Chocolate Cake”.When I got my monthly recipe I was very much looking forth to try it out at the earliest…and there bingo!… we had a family get together.My parents and brother where comin over to our place for lunch.I have earlier made this drooling cake as cupcakes…the secret is that I couldnt actually find a nice set of ramekins here.Its hard to get these in Munnar…so I had to limit myself to glass bowls!The smell when u bake these gooey beauties..ahh..i still cant resist them.I’m glad that I chose this as a dessert with vanilla scoops for the get together.. i could see chocolaty smiles..the best smile was my little one’s..he simply loved it 🙂

Here’s the recipe..I’m sure you will all enjoy…:)

113gms of Semi sweet baking chocolate
113gm of butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
Butter for greasing the ramekins

  • Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
  • In a bowl ,beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Once chocolate melts,remove pan from heat and add in the butter and mix well till the butter melts and mixes well.
  • Add the chocolate butter mix into the eggs and add all purpose flour and mix well till it is well incorporated.
  • Butter bottom and sides of the ramekins and pour in the mix to about 3/4 full.
  • Place the ramekins on a baking tray and bake them for 10 -15 minutes.
  • If you dont like the gooey texture you can increase the baking time.
  • Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

BLACK FOREST GATEAU WITH A TWIST

Baking, cakes, Desserts, flour, Snacks | June 19, 2010 | By

16 comments

These days its been raining cats and dogs !For the past two days I guess there’s been a twist in the weather.Its sunny(at least till afternoon)..so I thought I’ll go on for a Black forest gateau.Whenever I opt for an icing cake I usually have to be all eyes on my younger one coz he’s always there to tamper with the baked cake.Last day  after baking a chocolate cake I was busy whipping cream…when I checked out my cake for spreading the cream my cake was dug up  with a hole in the centre and he was laughing at me  with  the cake in his mouth..!!

For my black gateau I have used homemade strawberry wine instead of  Kirsch .I had to do my topping with canned cherries..sigh..didn’t get fresh ones!

Black Forest Cake
For the cake
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1cup of icing sugar
6 eggs
100g of butter
1tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp baking powder
For filling
Tinned cherries
Chocolate curls
2 cups of whipping cream
1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
For cake syrup
1/2 cup of water
7tbsp of sugar
2tbsp of strawberry wine or kirsch

  • Sieve cocoa powder and flour together.
  • In a bowl beat the eggs and sugar till it becomes creamy.Add vanilla essence to it and beat it again.
  • To this beat in the cocoa-flour mix slowly till all the flour is well incorporated.
  • Add the melted butter to it and mix well.
  • Grease and lightly flour the baking tin .Now pour in the cake mixture.
  • Preheat the oven at 180degree Celsius for 15 minutes.
  • Bake the cake for about 45 minutes and let it cool on a wire rack.
  • Cut the cake into three partitions carefully.
  • Prick all the three cake partitions with a fork.
  • In a saucepan on flame add in the ingredients for the cake syrup and bring it to boil stirring for about 10 minutes .
  • Let the syrup cool and slowly pour the syrup over the partitions.
  • Whip the whipping cream with sifted icing sugar to get soft peaks using a blender.
  • Deseed the canned cherries as per requirement .
  • Place the first part of the cake on a large plate and spread the whipping cream on to the cake.Now arrange the cherries on the cream .Now place the second partition on it and lightly press it.Repeat the filling process in the same manner and place the third partition on it.
  • You can use the leftover whipping cream to cream the cakes outer part.Decorate it with chocolate curls and cherries.After decoration cool the cake in a refrigerator so that the icing sets.  

CHIFFON CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE TOPPING

Baking, cakes, flour, Snacks | April 7, 2010 | By

3 comments


Hi Lidia..this is for you.Sorry for not posting the recipe with the photos.I found this recipe while blogging .Thnx shabs for the chiffon cake recipe.They had mentioned it with the black chocolate mould..as the day i tried the recipe I was short of  usual chocolates,I tried it up with milk chocolates.Here goes the recipe..

1 3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup chilled Butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cup milk
a pinch of salt

For the cake moistening syrup:
6 tbsp sugar
10 tbsp water

  • Heat oven to 180 degree celsius/Gas mark 4/350 degree Farenheit
  • Cut butter to small cubes.In a large bowl, put chilled butter,sugar with a blender.
  • Add vanilla essence and eggs(one by one) beating well
  • Sift the flour 2-3 times.Add cocoa powder,baking powder,salt and baking soda to flour and mix well.
  • Add dry mix to the egg mix ,mixing well.Add the milk and beat well.
  • Grease a baking pan of 9 inches and bake it for 40-45 minutes.Cool cake on wire rack
  • Heat sugar and water until sugar melts and syrup boils.Keep it aside.
  • On cooling place the cake on a large dish and cut it into two layers.
  • Sprinkle the sugar syrup on the cut cakes.Cover the cake in a plastic wrap and refrigerate  
  • To make whipped cream filling,add 1/4 tsp vanilla essence,2 tbsp sugar & 1/2 cup whipping cream and whip well.
  • Spread the filling paste on to the cut layers and join them together.
  • For the white chocolate topping:8 ounce of milk chocolate cut into small pieces,3/4 cup of whipping cream,2 tbsp butter
  • Boil the whipping cream and pour it on to the chocolate pieces whipping it along with the butter until it becomes smooth.
  • Spread the cream on to the cake evenly .For appearance you can decorate it with cherries..  

Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..

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