THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

Courtesy: Marias Menu Maria made  9 inch loaf & 10 standard size cupcakes with the below specified qty Ingredients Milk – 1½ cups Butter – 100 gms (1/3 cup + 2 tbsp approx) Oil – ¼ cup (I used sunflower oil) Coco Powder – ½ cup ( I used Hershey’s) Self Raising Flour – 1 cup (Refer notes for substitute) Egg – 1 beaten, room temp Baking Soda – ½ tsp (refer notes) Sugar – 1 cup + 2 tbsp (250 gms) Method Preheat the oven at 180 C/350-375 F, a few mins before baking.  Heat together milk, butter, oil & coco powder till the butter melts. Let it cool to room temperature. Add flour, baking soda, sugar & beaten egg to the cooled wet ingredients. Beat it well using an electric beater or hand whisk till it is mixed well. You can either use it to make cupcakes or cake.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15- 20 mins for the cupcake & 25- 30 mins for the loaf cake. For cupcakes: Line your cupcake tin with paper liners (I use 2 liners pe...

Ingredients Pizza Dough : Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F) 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package) 3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust) 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon sugar Pizza  Olive oil Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)  Pizza Sauce    Garlic - 2 cloves, minced Onion - 1/4 chopped Green bell pepper - 2 T, chopped Tomatoes, crushed - 10/14 Oz can Italian seasoning (dried Basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano) -1 t Tandoori Masala - 1 t Red chilli flakes - to taste Pepper - 1 t Sugar - 1/4 t Salt - to taste Basil Leaves - Fresh Topping Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced Onions, thinly sliced Cherry tomatoes, chopped Paneer  Corn Italian seasoning Jalapeno peppers   Me...

Some days the mood to bake comes at odd times. Yesterday was one such day. I was done with cooking and cleaning up. It was almost 11 PM when I felt like baking something quick. That was when I thought of these yummy coconut macaroons.  They came out so yummy too :D We loved em.. Source - Taste of Home Ingredients 1-1/3 cups  flaked coconut 1/3 cup  sugar 2 tablespoons  all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon  salt 2 egg whites 1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract Method In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt.  Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.  I used the heart- shaped cookie cutter ;) Bake at 325° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.   Yield:  about 1-1/2 dozen.

This is one yummy and perfect Lemon Cake recipe I found in the Food Network website. The recipe comes from none other than Food Network's famous program, Barefoot Contessa, hosted by  Ina Garten . One bite into this cake and you will forget all about your diet ;) And I thought why not bake such a yummy cake for our friends 25th wedding anniversary. And thats what I did.. :) What do you think? :) Courtesy :  Food Network For the cake 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 1/2 cupsgranulated sugar 4 extra-largeeggs, at room temperature 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoonbaking powder 1/2 teaspoonbaking soda 1 teaspoonkosher salt 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature 1 teaspoonpure vanilla extract Method  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also ...

I found my passion for cooking after I got married.. :)  And it was only then that I came to know how much I loved baking too ... So much that I was always yearning to go for baking lessons.  It was early feb when this idea got to me. I was thinking what to do for hubby's bday. I wanted to bake him a beautiful cake for sure. Thats when I thought why not join for cake decoration lessons and bake a  nice lil' cake for him. And tada. Thats what I did. I enrolled for the Wilton Cake Decorating basic course and baked this lil' cake for him.. I baked a chocolate cake first and covered it with buttercream icing. Mixed colors and used piping to decorate :)  He totally loved it :) So did I.. 

This was the first cake I decorated during the Wilton cake decoration course. A simple pound cake. Used piping to decorate it. I was a lil' short of the buttercream icing, hence the cake is peeping out at the corners. :D Still, not pretty bad for a first timer. Right? ;) I loved the color combo. I was just trying to make it look as cute as possible. ;)

The spirit of Christmas is everywhere. The twinkling lights on the Christmas trees, decorations on the mantles, angels and reindeer dancing in the front yard. Aww.. I love this season. Hubby and I enjoy driving by the beautifully decorated residential localities. Even the malls and streets have the holiday mood. And a lot of parties too ;) Its so much fun to meet all your friends and have a great time together. With so much holiday spirit around us how could I not bake anything!! And here I am baking or making the perfect Christmas treat "The Gingerbread Man". :) Aren't they cute? So here is a fresh batch of gingerbread cookies for all you folks out there. Lets welcome the holiday season :) Recipe : Simply Recipes Ingredients Unsalted butter, room temperature - 1 stick or 8 T Brown sugar/ Jaggery - 1/2 C Honey - 1/2 C All purpose flour/ Maida - 2 1/2 C Ginger powder - 1 T Cinnamon - 1/2 T Nutmeg powder - 1/2 t Black pepper powder - 1/4 t Baking po...

I know.. I know.. You guys must be wondering, has Gopika turned into an occasional blogger from the regular blogger she used to be. Well, I have not friends. I am still the blogger who loves to blog regularly.. Yeah. And my love to cooking or blogging has not gone down a tiny weeny bit. In fact, I have been cooking a lot but did not take any pics. And this has kept me from posting the recipes.. :( Sometimes its so tough to manage everything. But see, I am back with a bang.. :)  Ingredients All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 1 C Butter, unsalted @ room temp – 1/2 C Sugar, powdered – 1/2 C Cardamom, powdered – 1/4 t Baking Powder – 1/4 t Salt – 1/8 t Method Preheat oven to 300 degrees F or 150 degress C. In a bowl, mix sugar and butter until they turn creamy. Add cardamom powder and stir well. In another bowl, mix the flour with baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture slowly to the butter mixture and mix with your hands. You will get a soft dough. ...

As I write this post I am reminded of my dear friend  Gaya3 's ( My Pressure Cooker ) comment about going "Baking-crazy". Looks like I am going "Bread making-crazy". :D Both me and hubby love Croissants. Croissants and scrambled eggs are one of our favorite breakfast items. I have wanted to make croissants from the time I saw this movie of Meryl Streep - "Its Complicated". I love her acting and poise. I think she looks classy. :) Especially in "Devil Wears Prada". :) The croissants that I have made are not the authentic soft ones. These are a bit more crunch-ier, but they taste as awesome as the regular croissants and can be made quickly too :) I was concerned about the amount of butter used in making the regular croissants. But this recipe is perfect as it uses just minimal butter and still gives us the yummy croissants we like. Ingredients Water - 1/2 C Evaporated milk - 1/3 C Butter, room temperature - 3 T Egg - 2 Salt - 1 1...

Looks like I am making lot of bread these days! :) This time I tried the wheat bread (no all-purpose flour). This was in my "to do" list since long. Finally, I did it! :D What composes the whole wheat bread varies from person to person. I wanted to make one without all-purpose flour. It came out to be a little moist, but the taste was just awesome.. :) Am I boasting or what? ;) You have to try it out folks. Its healthy and the measurements can be adjusted as you like. I reduced the quantity of sugar to 1/2 t. Honey does the work of sweetening the bread. And then you have chocolate too :D Ingredients Whole wheat flour - 2 C Bananas, mashed - 1 1/2C Unsalted Butter - 1/2 C Honey - 1/4 C Cinnamon, ground - 1/2 t Chocolate powder - 1/2 t Vanilla extract - 1 t Brown sugar - 2 T Egg - 2 Baking soda - 3/4 t Hot water - 1/4 C Walnuts, chopped - 1/2 C Salt - 1/2 t Method In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and...

Bread has always been a favorite to my dad. :)  Mom sometimes goes mad when she sees daddy eating bread, while she has prepared a 3 course meal. he he :D I have seen a couple of different kindsa breads back home (India). But not as many as I see here. Well, I guess the main reason behind this is that bread is an integral part of the everyday meal here (U.S.A). Just recently as I blog hopped, I noticed a lot of information and recipes on braided breads. I also noticed that a lot of the braided breads had a non-veg filling. :( So I thought that Ill try my hands on creating a vegetarian - filling braided bread. :D And here is what I got! Ingredients For the filling Cumin seeds - 1 t Green Chilly - 2 Ginger, chopped - 1' pc Garlic pods, chopped - 3 Onion, chopped - 2 Egg - 4 Turmeric Powder - 1/2 t Chilly Powder - 1/2 t Coriander Powder - 1 t Garam Masala Powder - 1.5 T Cilantro, chopped - 5 T Oil - ...

Sweets are my weakness or should I say strength ;) I adore them. And that is how I put on weight!! :(  Still, I don't want to call them my weakness. :) I love all kinds of sweets ranging from cakes to chocolates to Indian mithai to Turkish Baklava and the list never ends.. :D phew! Guess I got if from mum. She loves sweets. hi hi And enjoys making all kinds of sweet dishes. She is the one who taught me the secret of making the perfect Caramel Pudding, pink colored Pal Payasam (Indian-Kerala cuisine) and lot more. We used to bake cakes too. Mmm.. I am dropping into a deja vù. Right!!! I am back!! :) I was in the mood of baking a cake and that too something different, something that I have not tried before. As always, I started blog hopping and landed on Farida's ( AZ Cookbook ) blog. She is an awesome foodie blogger, hailing from Azerbaijan's Baku, currently residing in the U.S. And I have to tell that you folks out there will love her both Azerbaijani and Non-Azerba...

It was my sis n law's surprise baby shower over the memorial weekend. Guess who arranged for it? Me me me - my hubby darling :D and of course her dear hubby :) I made her this Castle Cake. Though it did not turn out as I hoped, it was not entirely a no no. :) Check this out :D I wish I could make it look better. Well, its my first such cake. Its completely home made. Two tiers of chocolate cake, middle layer made of Pound cake. Home made snow white buttercream and designed using pastry bags and piping :) And a cone on top to give it the tower like feel :D

Writing this post from Ammu's (sis n law) place @ San Antonio. I made these brownies for her. :) Ammu is an awesome cook and has a lot of specialty dishes on her plate. My personal favorite is "Mambazha Kootan" or "Ripe Mango Curry". Every time she prepares "Mambazha Kootan", I make sure that nothing is left out! :D This time I wanted to make a sweet dish. And decided on brownies. As I was hopping from one blog to another, I came across Deb's Smitten Kitchen. Deb has an awesome collection of brownies, cakes and lot more. I wanted a simple brownie and  hence made a few changes to the ingredient list. Moreover, I had to make this quick. That means less time to play around with new techniques! :(  Next time. :) Thank you, Deb. Ingredients All purpose flour - 1 1/4 C Baking Powder - 3/4 t Cocoa Powder - 1 C Vanilla Extract - 1 T Butter, room temp - 1.5 sticks Sugar - 2 1/4 C Eggs - 4 Method Start off by heating the ov...