Practical magic

A couple of years ago, my husband gifted me a kitchen blowtorch on my birthday. The year before that, it was a refrigerator. I know what you're thinking. That these are hardly romantic, unique birthday gift ideas for your spouse. But really, I think sometimes he actually picks something only he knows I'll love.  The blowtorch was one of them. The refrigerator, not so much. But, let's face it - candles melt away and you can always pick the wrong shoe size. So, I guess he takes the worry out of selecting the best gift for me by picking something he knows I'll always love - a practical kitchen equipment to weave some magic.

Although I was very excited about the torch, I never really used it much. Just limited to the occasional de-moulding of fridge set cakes and desserts. I am not sure why. And then one day, as I was getting all set to create a sugar crust on homemade creme brulee, I discovered that the gas had run out completely. So, I abandoned the fancy dessert idea and just made creme caramel instead. Don't get me wrong, I like creme caramel a lot but who is not in love with the very sophisticated and very classic creme brulee? I also felt very disappointed in myself for letting the torch just lie there in a dark drawer, alone and forgotten . 

Recently, we refilled the gas in the torch and I finally used it to make that crisp top of just burnt sugar on a ramekin filled with baked custard. It looked like a dream and tasted as good. While creme brulee is a straightforward recipe, its seductive secret lies in creating the burnt sugar top that contrasts with the soft and creamy pudding. Torching it is what makes it memorable and restaurant quality. Now, the torch is my inseparable companion. I am using it to caramelize meringue peaks, make fruit garnishes and melt cheese.

For next year's gift, I think I would really love a pasta maker!

Orange Creme Brulee -

Ingredients:

1. Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
2. Egg Yolks - 4 nos
3. Cream - 1/2 cup
4. Milk - 8 teaspoons
5. Orange Zest - 1 tablespoon
6. Castor Sugar - 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. On a heavy bottom pan, heat on gentle flame the following ingredients - granulated sugar, cream, milk, egg yolks and orange zest. Make sure you don't boil but just heat through until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Strain this mixture into two ramekins.

3. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Place the ramekins on a baking tray. Pour some hot water on the baking tray such that the bottom of the ramekins are sitting submerged in the hot water, thus creating a water bath. The steam from the water will fill the oven and keep the custard moist, so that it doesn't crack while it bakes.

4. Place the tray with the ramekins in the oven and bake for approximately 20 mins, or until the custard is just a little jiggly in the centre.

5. Take the ramekins out, cool them and place them in the fridge. 

6. When cooled, sprinkle castor sugar evenly on the baked custards, use the kitchen blowtorch to caramelize the sugar and create that hard crust on top. If you want a harder crust, you can wait for this first layer to harden and then repeat the caramelizing with another tablespoon of castor sugar on top.

Happy Aubergine to you!

The Bengali word for Aubergine or Eggplant or Brinjal is 'Begun' (pronounced as Bay-Goon). When literally translated, it means 'without quality'. That's what I always thought of that vegetable. It had nothing going for it. As a child, I thought its appearance was hideous. The more varieties my mother introduced to me - long and pale ones, fat and glossy ones, stubby striped ones - the more I recoiled. It was slithery, caused my throat to itch and was just plain odd. It is a known fact that all children and even a lot of adults around the world dislike aubergines, so I had no problem citing examples of other agonized souls like myself and trying to make a convincing argument at home for not consuming the darned vegetable. I was always unsuccessful and frequently found myself trapped at the dinner table with a brinjal dish staring at me.

When I started to live and cook by myself at 17, a lot of things changed. I craved variety and soon understood that cooking with just the five kinds of vegetables I bought every week - beans, peas, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower - was rather limiting. Also, two of these are seasonal! So gradually, in came pumpkin, turnip, gourds and drumsticks. I think aubergine was really the last entrant. I tried to understand what the love sonnets my mother sang about brinjals were really about. Slowly, I discovered its versatility - you can fry them, bake them, broil them, even stuff them! And although I happily eat brinjals in any form today, I know that it is one of those foods whose taste and consistency varies dramatically depending on how it is cooked and prepared.

Last weekend, I came across a recipe for stuffed aubergines with ground meat. Although I haven't tried making that one yet, I know its an ingenious idea. But I did try a vegetarian version that the husband and I absolutely loved. It was creative, easy and not time consuming at all. I think you can make any stuffing you wish and serve it with chapatis, rice, bread, mashed potatoes or just a fresh salad on the side. I served mine with some burnt garlic rice and broccoli salad. Below is the recipe I used. Go on, make yourself a happy aubergine dinner tonight.

Ingredients:

1. 1 big aubergine, washed and cut lengthwise into half
2. 2 medium potatoes, boiled and diced
3. 1 cup corn kernels, boiled
4. 1 medium onion, sliced
5. Cumin and coriander powder, a teaspoon each
6. 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
7. 2 tablespoons oil
8. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Scoop out the flesh from the aubergines, leaving just a thin layer (say 1/4th inch) of the flesh behind. Coat the skin and the hollow inside with 1/2 teaspoon oil and a pinch of salt. Leave aside

2. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions until translucent. Add the potatoes and corn along with the diced aubergine flesh and cook until the aubergine flesh is soft. Add salt, spices and chilli flakes. Sprinkle a little water to avoid any burning

3. Take off heat and fill the aubergines with this stuffing. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon oil on the tops

4. Place the stuffed aubergines onto a baking tray and into a 200 degrees C oven. Bake for 30-40 mins taking care to reduce the temperature if the aubergines or the stuffing start to char.

Love of the handmade

I don't have a pasta sheeter. Yet. So last week when I was desperate to make Ravioli from scratch, I just decided to do everything by hand. It seemed like a massive undertaking. It hadn't seemed so overwhelming in the beginning but as I started to look for videos and blogs about making Ravioli at home, I realised that every single one of them used the sheeter. That's when it started to seem very difficult. So, as with every hard journey I prepare for, I decided to spend a lot of time and do everything very slowly, without any hurry. 

I kneaded just half a kilo flour with eggs, rested it and then started to roll out little, even and very thin circles. While the dough was resting, I made some pumpkin filling by roasting pumpkin cubes, onions and garlic, and then mashing everything into a smooth paste. After almost an hour of rolling and cutting perfect circles from the dough, I had 30 pasta sheets ready to be raviolied! I mean, now I could place tiny portions of the thick pumpkin paste on each sheet and cover it with another sheet, sealing the edges with some eggwash. Next, I dunked them in threes into lightly boiling water for 3-4 mins and served them with some sage and lemon butter. They were beautiful. 

That gave me the impetus to make some Tagliatelle the next day. It was time consuming but all the rolling and cutting and drying flowed like wine. I made some pumpkin and chickpeas sauce and very proudly presented it to my friend for dinner. 

So this post is about making by hand. From scratch. And watching every step unfold quietly. Honestly, it wasn't at all so hard. Just a great lesson in patience. You will smile as you see those perfect Ravioli circles or those long strands of Tagliatelle. I don't know what it is about the slightly asymmetrical homespun stuff but it fills you with something and you swell out like a sail.

Sweet Paul has a great recipe for fresh pasta dough (if you want to try) and some beautiful pictures.

Unobviously Lemon-Basil-Olive Oil cake

Every once in a while, there comes a combination. Like olive green walls with soft pink trims. Like Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. Like a lemon, basil and olive oil cake. Pairing them may seem chancy. But unusual combinations lead to breakthrough ideas. By marrying traditional Asian flavours like lemon-basil, some healthy olive oil and cake, this recipe has created a radical innovation that is proving very popular in my kitchen.

This isn't my original idea. I am just benefiting from someone’s ingenuity in putting together this combination. But let me tell you, it is an exciting combination. Olive oil lends the cake a bold aroma. It makes it moist, not greasy. And you will be surprised how pleasantly it matches the hints of lemon and basil in the cake. Basil is the dominant flavour, so don't miss serving it with the lemon glaze for that perfect balance. This really is a gourmet summer dessert, what with lemon zest and fresh basil. 

I followed the recipe from The Woks Of Life . You can find it at the bottom of this page too. In my version, I eliminated the vanilla essence only because I didn't want a sidekick interfering with my already strong cast. The batter was more runny than the usual cake batter but don't worry, it works (very well). Now you try it!

Apparently, a popular new variety of sandwich is rocket salad and curry. Purists may be horrified but I must try that one next.

Ingredients:

For the cake -

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• 3/4 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup finely chopped basil

For the glaze-

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour a round pan or standard loaf pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt

2. Using your fingers, mix the sugar with the lemon zest in a large bowl until the sugar has the texture of damp sand

3. Add the yogurt and lemon juice, and mix well. Then add the olive oil, eggs and basil. Whisk until well-blended

4. Fold in the dry mixture until just combined

5. Pour into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean

6. Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk. Stir. When the cake is cool, drizzle the glaze over the top.

Café Cariappa inspired Tosca cake

Hidden within the heart of the charming burg of Kodaikanal (Kodi) is a chic coffee house called Café Cariappa. And what a pleasant little spot it is. It is, quite literally, a spot. All of a hundred and fifty square feet in size and situated on the first floor of a rather inconspicuous building, this gourmet café is easy to miss. Owner and great conversationalist, Kishore brews his own coffee that he grows in his coffee plantation nestled in the hills of Kodi.

Antiques and collectibles are scattered on the wooden walls and eaves. In a nook under the front counter, there are shelves with delicate tea cups, saucers and Café Cariappa coffee packed in brown paper bags. And sitting shyly in simple display cases on the front counter are beautiful, rustic looking baked goods, all made in-house.

When we arrived there around 4 pm, we found ourselves cosily tucked into a corner on four small chairs and a tiny table. The next thing we knew we were diving into large sized portions of carrot cake and a Swedish Tosca cake. That was quickly followed by a serving of crepes with home grown honey. As Kishore explained, the carrot cake, a hand-me-down hit recipe, had the tiniest bit of carrot and a whole lot of everything else. But it was the delectable Swedish Tosca cake that I couldn’t stop eating (and later, thinking about). Kishore had got the recipe from his Swedish friend and substituted almond flakes that are traditionally used for the top crispy layer, with cashews. It is a wonderful, nutty classic cake that paired perfectly with my cup of Americano.

If you are in Kodi, you couldn’t ask for a more intimate place to spend an afternoon, surrounded by wooden floors and counters and touches of retro, reading or lounging peacefully in this home away from home.

I returned home with a plan to find out more about the Tosca cake and try a recipe. This quintessential Scandinavian cake is basically a simple sponge topped with a mushy caramel almond topping that seeps into the cake and hardens on top to a crunchy candy. Below is the recipe I tried. Thank you Café Cariappa for introducing me to this cake, it may be the best cake I’ve ever eaten.

Ingredients:

For the Sponge:

1. 150g unsalted butter, melted
2. 225g caster sugar
3. 3 large eggs
4. 2 tsp vanilla extract
5. 225g plain flour
6. 1.5tsp baking powder
7. 60ml milk

 For the Topping:

1. 100g unsalted butter
2. 100g caster sugar
3. 60ml cream
4. 2tbs flour
5. 120g flaked almonds

 Method:

1. Cream the sugar, vanilla and eggs until pale and frothy
2. Gradually, sift in the flour and baking powder together and mix
3. Mix in the milk and butter
4. Bake this batter in a well greased tin (I recommend a 9 inch tin) at 180 degrees C
5. While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. Put all the ingredients except the almonds into a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the butter and sugar have melted and the mixture has thickened.
6. After 30 minutes of baking, remove the cake from the oven, stir the almonds through the caramel and pour over the top of the cake.
7. Return the cake to the oven at a higher temperature of 200 degrees C for 10 mins or until the topping becomes golden brown.
8. Remove the cake from the oven. The topping will be golden and bubbling. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

Nine Things To Do In The First Week Of A Patisserie Course - Part Two

Everyday feels different at baking school. Nice different. It’s almost been a month but it is as if I am still attending an extended interview, showing up every day thinking I somehow need to prove I deserve to be there. Maybe that's good in order to work harder. And make all those days I spent at my totally non-baking-related job thinking about what I was going to bake that weekend worthwhile. On that note, back to my list of things to do to reach for the stars but also get the lay of the land.

5. Take copious notes: Our curriculum spans a lot, from all kinds of pastries to breads to custards to tarts to cakes. At an average, we execute 5 recipes in every class. There are just 5 months to cover everything and the classes are quite intensive. I realised on that very first day that the only way to get my head around everything is to take copious notes of the recipes, tips and techniques. I have a feeling that these notes will be the biggest cookbook I will own!

6. Learn how to give yourself a foot massage: The first thing I did everyday at my corporate job for nine years was to sit. Being stuck standing for hours on end on a hard surface is new to me. At baking class, you simply cannot get off your feet for five (sometimes more) continuous hours! The most you can do is wiggle your toes, shift back and forth from one foot to another, stand on one foot while lifting the other slightly off the ground and rotate the ankle. For some soothing relief to aching heels at the end of the day, learn how to do foot massage on your own feet.

Croissants check.

7. Carry the biggest boxes to take food home: At the end of each class, you will end up making more breads and desserts than you will know what to do with. So, pick and carry large, roomy boxes to class so you can fill them with freshly baked oven goodness. But unless you want to fight the battle of the bulge, as a general rule, give them away to your nieces, nephews, roommates and friends. I recommend not keeping any in the house at all. Why torture yourself?

Jim jam cookies, check.
Scones, check.
Muffins, check.
Brioche, check.

8. Roll up your sleeves: Part of working in a pastry kitchen is sharing in the cleaning duties. At the beginning of the course, we had a weekly cleaning schedule drawn out. The tasks include: cleaning the work benches, tidying up, and scrubbing and mopping the floors after class is over. But don't associate cleaning with drudgery. It can be a great stress reliever. However, if you’re not one to get into a zen state as you clean, plug your ears, play your favourite dance music as you clean, and you may actually work faster and be done sooner.

Taruni with her croissant tray

9. Brace yourself for uniform regs and inspections: Every day before you get to do anything in the kitchen, you will get inspected.  If it helps, build an acronym to remember everything. You have to put on your black socks, black shoes, chef pants and white shirt underneath your chef jacket. Tie your hair, use a hair net to ensure no hair escapes and wear your cap. Carry your apron and a side towel. If you don’t have all your uniform items, you may not be allowed in that day. It’s also in your best interest to iron your jacket and apron, though I don’t think you will get kicked out for looking wrinkly.  It might not be a terrible idea for you to shine your shoes (if they will take a shine), especially if you have Chef Avin as your instructor.

Although I make it sound almost like military, attending pastry school is probably one of the best things I will ever do. Every day is getting more and more demanding but it makes me happy to be doing something I love, getting better at it and being surrounded by like-minded people. Whether or not you enrol in a patisserie course to enter the pastry profession or become a better baker, I can bet that you will simply love the experience of putting some pedal to the metal and doing some dream chasing.

Nine Things To Do In The First Week Of A Patisserie Course

It is tremendously exciting when you decide to leave familiar ground, take a chance to learn something new or start something personally significant. The excitement is also accompanied by extreme self-doubt, strangeness and performance anxieties. If you are like me, there are moments when you lose your normal swagger and feel clumsy, like a shaky youngling trying to stand up right after birth. I've been on this roller-coaster before and experienced it anew three weeks ago when I started as the student of a 5-month Baking Science and Patisserie Diploma at a baking academy. The journey so far has been absolutely thrilling, to say the least. But, it has also been nerve-racking to interpret a somewhat alien language.

In order to not lose my nerve in the early stages of an intensive course such as this and be on my game, I started to list a few to-dos and not-to-dos. I am hoping they will prevent me from curling up in the fetal position on the floor at the end of my first month.

1. Figure out the 'tea' situation: Learning where the tea is, is a good strategy. It's also important to figure out the unwritten rules of the school that, if violated, may make people go ballistic. When is that 15 minute break? Which shelves are communal? Who washes the cup? At the baking academy I attend, there is a full-fledged cafe on the ground floor and our classes are conducted on the first floor. Is it ok to buy a cup of tea from the cafe like a guest? Be a sponge, and watch how people are doing things. And lastly, there's nothing wrong with taking your own tea bag and then asking for a cup of hot water from the cafe.

2. Get your act together: This academy is extremely organised. Apart from being a baking school, it is also a great place to improve your bad habits. If you have struggled with time management, quickly get to mapping out how you'll spend each day and begin putting it into practice. Getting organized from the start will make your life easier down the line. It will help you get to class right when it starts at 8 AM, finish pages and pages of hand-written assignments, not miss packing a single thing you will need in class (apron, jacket, cap, notebook, dusters etc.) and swim like a duck.

3. Form your ‘Oh Shit’ Team: Since feelings of anxiety are amplified in this stage of development, you may forget to carry a dusting cloth along or worse, miss something critical related to grooming (after essential rules of personal presentation have been made clear on Day One). You may also place a full tray of beautifully kneaded dough in the proofer instead of the freezer. Finding true OST members who are ready to rescue you during such moments will give you a safe place to stand for a while.

4. Test that first dish at home: Generally, when you are doing something new, it will not work perfectly the first time. But in that very first class, when you make perfect doughnuts such as you can see in the pictures here, you have got to be skeptical and execute it at home all by yourself to know for sure if you can reproduce the recipes without an instructor giving turn-by-turn directions. 

I’m pleased to report that, with no one reminding me that tablespoons are bigger than teaspoons or to not over prove the dough, I successfully baked half a dozen doughnuts a couple of days later.

This list is to be continued in the next post. I know that my ‘don’t go into the woods’ dreams will continue for a little while longer but ah, learning is growth is joy!