Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Cut round thin slices of ripe pineapple/ or use tinned ones. Heat 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tbsp butter, 1/4 cup pinapple juice, 1 tsp of cinnamon powder and a drop of vanilla essence. Replace pineapple juice with orange juice or use same amount of plain water for different flavours.
Heat this mixture till sugar dissolves and mixture becomes slightly thick. When I am using fresh pineapple I simmer the slices in this mixture for 5 minutes before using.

Pour out on a greased dusted pan. Arrange pineapple slices on top. Leave aside while you prepare the cake batter.

To prepare batter beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup castor sugar till sugar kind of dissolves and mixture looks light and fluffy. Beat 2 eggs till light. Fold into the butter-sugar mixture. Add a drop of vanilla essence.

Sieve 1 cup of flour with 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Gently fold into the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Do not over mix.

Pour into the prepared cake tin and place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Check if done. If not then bake for another 10 minutes or till done. Keep checking every 5 minutes after that though.

Decorate with cherries and serve with vanilla icecream.

Spiced Strawberry- Banana Jam

I am not a jam person. But I just had to try and make this once. I tried adding spices like cinnamon and dried red chilly flakes to cut the sugariness of the jam. Worked well. I didn't even bother spreading it on a toast. Simply took a spoonful (or two... or three...) and licked it off watching tv. I shouldn't have added the banana at all though. It has a really strong flavour and even a little goes a long way. Banana lovers may make this jam using just banana.

400 grams of small strawberries, washed, patted dry, chopped

100 grams of banana chopped
350 grams of castor sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Cinnamon 2 tsp, 3 Cloves, Red chilly flakes 3 tsp

Place the strawberries, lemon juice, zest and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat over low heat and simmer gently until the sugar dissolves.
Boil the jam jar for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and boil the mixture rapidly for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices (powder the cloves)
Place a tsp of jam in the fridge and after 20 minutes wrinkle the surface using your fingers .If the jam doesn't wrinkle the first time but sticks to your finger like a thick liquid rather than jam, keep boiling it for another 5 to 10 minutes and then test again. If jam is ready then remove the saucepan from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the edges of the jam sets slightly. Pour jam into a warm jam jar till the brim (warming will ensure moisture is not present) and then let it cool completely before sealing.

Keep refrigerated.

I do not know how long this will keep. A month maybe. We'll find out. It's been about 20 days and the jam is stil fine. Maybe it'll last longer.

Experiment with spices you like. Add dry ginger powder if you like.

Strawberry Shortcakes

In a sudden flash of inspiration brought two packets of fresh strawberries. Baked a chocolate strawberry cake (threw strawberries in the chocolate cake batter, was quite good actually), made some strawberry jam (recipe shall follow shortly) and was still left with some. So I tried a hand at making shotcakes.

Mix

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter, chilled
2/3 to 3/4 cup half and half, milk, or cream

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and cubes pof chilled butter. Mix using your fingertips. Mix on until the mixture resembles coarse meal, but with few pea-size chunks of butter left in the mixture. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the center. With a fork stir in the cream or milk, just until dough is moist. Be very careful not to overwork. The dough doesn't have to hold together well at this point. Let the dough stand for a minute. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough 2 or 3 times, until it is holding together and is less sticky.
Gently pat the dough into a rectangle about 3/4-inch thick and cut into biscuits with a floured round cutter. Transfer to a greased baking sheet. Brush on a little milk or cream and arrange some strawberries in the center. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees, until risen and golden brown.

Let cool before sprinkling some icing sugar on top. Serve with whipped cream.

The texture of a shortcake was a cross between a cake and cookie. I felt , as I do with puff pastries as well, that too much effort goes into making them compared to the speed with which they vanish from the plate and you are left wondering whether toiling for an hour was worth it!

Rich but Subtly flavoured Grilled Prawns- marinated in white wine, cashew and cream

Prawn marinade:
For 16 prawns
a pinch of ajwain+ 1 tbsp hung yogurt+ 1 tsp green chilly paste + 1 tbsp cashew powder+ salt+ 1 tbsp white wine + 1 tsp oil+ grated cheese + 1 tbsp cream. Mix the Marinade and rub all over prwans. Leave for 15 minutes. If you wish you add some chopped coriander leaves. But thats optional.

Heat a non-stick pan and grill the prawns till done. Or you can barbeque the prawns.

Serve and enjoy the delicate flavours. This is a favourite with me. More than a starter I like to have it as a main course along with some good breads and soup/salad maybe.

Pista Kulfi

Its crazy hot in Bangalore. Eating this calorie rich kulfi isnt goin to reduce the fat layer on me (that makes me sweat more) but atleast it'll make one feel better about it being summer season!

So for 6 people boil 1/2 litre of milk
Add 200 grams of crumbled Khoya to this and continue cooking till Khoya dissolves in the milk.
Add 3 tb sp of Bandam- Pista powder (Thandai mix works great or use the flavoured Milk shake mix powder)
Chop Pistachio finely and add to mixture
Add a pich of Cardamom powder
Taste once (the readymade podwer has sugar in it) and add sugar as per taste.

Take it off heat and beat the mixture with a ladle like mad. Or you could run in a food processor (in which case add the chopped pista after done beating). Well beaten Kulfis are lighter. Let cool completely.

Pour into air tight moulds. Freeze for 6-8 hours. Serve