Panna cotta is one of the easiest yet elegant desserts from Italy and it consist of very less ingredients as well. I have used agar agar to set these and cant wait to try out different flovours with strawberry and coffee being top on my list.

Mango Pannacotta

Recipe Sourve : Collaborative Curry

Ingredients

Mangoes  - 2

Amul Cream  1 cup

Sugar- 1/2 cup

Milk- 1 cup

Agar Agar – 2 tbsp or 5 gms

Water- 1/4 cup

vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Method :

Peel cube and puree 2 mangoes. Alphonso works best.

Divide the puree in 5 shot glasses and chill in the freezer for 2 hours.

Mix cream , milk and sugar in a pan and heat.

Mix agar agar in 1/4 cup water and cook on a slow flame till smooth and the threads dissolve completely.

When the milk and cream mixture comes to a boil add the agar agar mixture and cook further for 2-3 mins.

Cool the mixture and add vanilla essence and mix.

Pour it over the mango puree and chill in the fridge for some hours.

Serve chilled.

Garnish with Mango cubes or some chopped Almonds for crunch.

To check on what other gourmets have been cooking check here.

Pinks Notes:

This is a great make ahead dessert.

Many variations can be done to the basic recipe.

]]> http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/mango-pannacotta/feed/ 0 pinksrecipediary987 20130420_184025 http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/torcettini-di-saint-vincent-yeasted-cookie-we-knead-to-bake-4/ http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/torcettini-di-saint-vincent-yeasted-cookie-we-knead-to-bake-4/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 16:59:35 +0000 Pinks Recipe Diary http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/?p=902 Continue reading →]]> “Torcettini di Saint Vincent” – heard this name for the first time one when Aparna gave us the baking challenge for this month. These four months have been fun and have cooked different things till now and i am sure that the coming months will be full of baking surprises.

Same as i have done earlier i have followed Aparna’s recipe to the tee and so will be sharing her recipe here. Torcettini di Saint Vincent – these are cookies which have a crispy crust due to the caramelised sugar and has a chewy texture inside. It was a good experience baking these, not a favorite of mine but good for a try. So here goes a bit on the name of the cookie and the recipe as well.

Torcettini are smaller versions ofTorcetti (meaning small twists), and these pear/ teardrop shaped twists are made of a dough of flour, yeast and butterwhich are shaped and then rolled in sugar before being baked. These biscuits are synonymous with the town of Saint Vincent in Valle d’Aosta, a small mountainous region in North-Western Italy, even though they’re well known throughout the Piedmont region as well.

The origin of these biscuits is believed to be from Grissini (breadsticks) which were made from the leftover scraps of bread dough. According to one story, a Grissini baker had some leftover butter which he needed to use up. Inspiration struck and he decided to add the butter to the last batch of his Grissini dough for the day. To be able to differentiate this lot of “breadsticks”, he rolled them in sugar and shaped them into loops, and the Torcetti was born. Torcetti/ Torchettinitaste even better when they’re flavoured with lime/ lemon zest or anise.

Torcettini di Saint Vincent

Recipe Source : My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water

 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp  lemon zest

40gm unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1/3 cup sugar for rolling the cookies

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, in a small bowl and keep aside.

Put the flour and the salt in  large bowl  and mix. Add the butter pieces and  mix till the flour-butter mixture looks powdery.

Add the yeast-water mixture and mix till it all comes together as a ball. Do not over  knead. Place the ball of dough in a oiled bowl, turning it so it is well coated with the oil. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise quite a bit.

This dough does not really double in volume, but it should look “puffy” after about an hour or so. When you pinch off a bit from the top you can see the interior looking a bit like honeycomb. Press down the dough and deflate it, wrap it in cling warp and refrigerate it for 2 hours.

Hokkaido Milk Bread

Baking bread can be addictive and i am loving learning new breads. As you all know We Knead to Bake is a group In Facebook, where in we all bake a new bread each month. This Months bread was Hokkaido Milk bread and i have heard it for the first time. It is known for its soft cottony/ pillowy texture. Apparently it’s very popular bread in South Asian bakeries across the world.

This is how Aparna describes this bread in her blog….i have not made any changes to the recipe and have followed it completely. So the recipe and description that follows  is completely her writing i am just writing it her for my reference.

The Hokkaido Mild Bread owes its texture and height to the use of an interesting ingredient called Tangzhong. Basically, the Tangzhong method involves cooking 1 part of bread flour with 5 parts of water (by weight) at 65°C (149 °F) to form a roux.

At 65°C, the gluten in the bread flour and water mixture would absorb the moisture and create a “leavening” action.  When the Tangzhong is added into other ingredients of a bread dough, it produces light, tender and fluffier bread.

So lets jump to the recipe now…Do try this bread as i am sure you will love it. The texture of the bread is very nice and we have them as soon as it out of the oven with some butter and cheese. I shaped them into a loaf and some more into pav rolls. The texture was very soft crumb in the bread and i am sure this will be a regular at my place.

Hokkaido Milk Bread 

Recipe from: My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients

For The Tangzhong (Flour-Water Roux)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

For The Dough:

 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

 3 tbsp sugar

 1tsp salt

2tbsp powdered milk

2 tsp instant dried yeast

1/2 cup milk (and a little more if needed)

1/8 cup cream (25% fat)

1/3 cup tangzhong (use HALF of the tangzhong from above)

1/4 tsp salt

25gm unsalted butter

Method :

The Tangzhong  (Flour-Water Roux):

1. Whisk together lightly the flour, water and milk in a saucepan until smooth and there are no lumps. Place the saucepan on the stove, and over medium heat, let the roux cook till it starts thickening. Keep stirring/ whisking constantly so no lumps form and the roux is smooth.
2. If you have a thermometer, cook the roux/ tangzhong till it reaches 65C (150F) and take it off the heat. If like me, you don’t have a thermometer, then watch the roux/ tangzhong until you start seeing “lines” forming in the roux/ tangzhong as you whisk/ stir s point.
3. Let the roux/ tangzhong cool completely and rest for about 2 to 3 hours at least. It will have the consistency of a soft and creamy crème patisserie. If not using immediately, transfer the roux to a bowl and cover using plastic wrap. It can be stored in the fridge for about a day.

The Bread Dough:

I made this dough by hand, you can use a food processor which will make things easier for you.

In a bowl mix flour, salt, sugar, powdered milk and instant yeast.

In another bowl mix milk, cream and Tangzhong till smooth.

Add this to the flour mixture and mix nicely and knead it into a dough.

The dough is quiet sticky and transfer this onto a smooth surface and knead the dough nicely for 10-15 mins. (I usually love this part and find it quiet relaxing as well)

When the dough is done, you should be able to stretch the dough without it breaking right away.When it does break, the break should be form a circle.

Form the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl turning it so it is well coated. Cover with a towel, and let the dough rise for about 45 minutes or till almost double in volume.

Place the dough on your working surface. You don’t need flour to work or shape this dough.

I made this into  1 small loaf  and 6 small rolls.

I made one small loaf and 6 small rolls. So I first divided my dough into two equal pieces first. Then I divided the first half into three equal pieces to make the loaf. The other half was divided into six equal pieces for six rolls.

The shaping of the portions, whether for the loaf or the rolls, is the same.

Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling-pin into an oval shape, about 1/8” thick. Take one end of the dough from the shorter side of the ova land fold it to the middle of the oval. Take the other end and fold so it slightly overlaps the other fold. (See the collage)

Roll this folded dough with the rolling-pin so the unfolded edges are stretched out to form a rectangle. Roll the rectangle from one short edge to the other, pinching the edges to seal well. Do this with each of the three larger pieces and place them, sealed edges down, in a well-oiled loaf tin. Cover with a towel and leave the dough to rise for about 45 minutes.

For rolls i just rolled them into a ball and shaped them into small rounds.

Brush the tops of the rolls and the loaf with cream and bake them at 180C (325F) for about 20 to 30 minutes till they are done (if you tap them they’ll sound hollow) and beautifully browned on top.

Let them cool in the tins for about 5 minutes and then unmould and transfer to a rack till slightly warm or cool.

Enjoy this Bread as it is or you can also prepare mini cheese sandwiches as i did with the leftovers.

Pinks Notes.

If you want a savory version you can cut the amount of sugar to 1 tbsp and add more salt.

I did a second batch of this bread and made them into garlic rolls and they turned out great.

This Bread is going to Roxannes Bake your Own Bread and also on Yeast spotting (My 1st time on both)

This months bread is a Pull Apart bread, which is an easy bread for beginner baker like me and the end result is wow, i bet you wont be able to stop yourself from baking more and more of the same. I baked this bread twice already and Sakshi loved the bread and she wants me to bake it again . Now let’s get to the recipe, I have followed the recipe to The T, which Aparna had shared and have made some changes in the filling only.

Pull Apart Bread With A Garlicky Butter Filling

Ingredients

For the Dough:

11/4 cup warm milk

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp chilli flakes

For the Filling:

tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp garlic powder

red chilli flakes to taste

1 tbsp italian herbs

1/2 cup grated  cheese

Method.

Method:

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar and the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm milk. Keep aside for about 5 minutes till the yeast mixture bubbles up.

Put 2 3/4 cup of flour, salt, softened butter, garlic powder and chilli flakes.

Add the Yeast Mixture and the remaining milk and form a dough and knead it nicely.

Transfer the dough to a work platform and knead the dough nicely, if sticky add little more dough and knead for at least 8-10 mins.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it completely with oil.

Cover and let it rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in volume.

Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Deflate the dough.

Roll the dough out into a large square.

In a bowl Mix all the ingredients for the filling apart from cheese and mix nicely.

Spread the filling all over the dough nicely and then sprinkle the cheese all over.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough from top to bottom into 6 long and even strips  Lay each strip on top of the next, with the topping facing upwards, until you have a stack of the strips.

You can put the 2 strips cut from the sides in the middle of the stack so it looks neater.

Cut straight down through the stack dividing it into 6 equal pieces.

Grease and lightly flour a loaf tin.

Layer the square slices, cut sides down into the loaf tin

Cover the loaf tin dough with a towel and allow the dough to rise for an hour.

Lightly brush some milk over the top of the loaf .

Bake the dough at 180C  for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is done and the top is golden brown.

Serve warm with a soup for a complete Dinner.

Pinks Notes : 

I would love to try new fillings and diff. herbs.

You can also shape them into rolls as well or prepare them as a monkey.

If you love baking do not forget to check out what other bakers have baked.

I am back on this  after a break of more than a year, and i am looking forward to blogging in the coming time. Thanx to FB, I was constantly getting a glimpse of the blogging world and in a way i started missing it. What gave me a Push was this group which just started this year and i was excited to be a part of it. Thanx Aparna for letting Me know about this.

Pic Courtesy New Year

The Task for 1st week was New Year Resolutions, Now that kept me thinking , we all  make a resolution on the 1st day of the year and plan to stick through it the whole year but with me it rarely happens . The resolution which i keep every year is mostly Exercise N  Eat healthy but it flies out of the window in the 1st week only. So this year i have not kept any resolutions but the only one i want to stick doing is complete the 52 Week of 2013  i.e post per week. I really hope i do this.

So all  you people  around who keep resolutions and keep doing it the whole year a big hats off to you and for others like me who cant stick to it for a week as well come join the lazy club.

Finally linking this to 52 Week of 2013 and wishing you all a Wonderful and joyful year ahead.

Chocolate Hearts

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate 200gms

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/8 tsp Salt

Method

Melt Chocolate in a double boiler and add Chilli Powder and salt and stir gently.

Pour them into heart shaped moulds and tap the moulds nicely so that there are no air bubbles.

Set in the fridge for half hour.

Tap them lightly and remove the hearts.

A heart for a person you love.

Chocolate Loaf Cake

Recipe Source : Collaborative Curry

Ingredients

Butter 1/2 cup

Sugar 1 1/2 cup

Flax Meal 1 Tbsp mixed in 1 tbsp water

 Buttermilk 1 cup

 Vanilla Extract 1 tsp

All purpose Flour- 1 1/2 cup

cocoa powder- 3/4 cup

Baking soda- 1/4 tsp

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven at 180 c

Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a large  bowl, cream the butter and sugar until creamy, Add Flax meal and beat well.

Mix vanilla and buttermilk. Beat well to mix 

Sift the flour,cocoa,soda,baking powder and salt directly into this wet mixture.

Stir everything together nicely.

Pour this batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes at 180c or insert a tooth pick and check whether done.

Rest for some time and remove from the tin.

Serve warm .

Pinks Notes:

The loaf cake was a bit too sweet for my taste so next time , i will reduce it to 1 1/4 cup or less.

A drizzle of Chocolate sauce or Nutella will be a great accompaniment to this.

Have Fun Eating!

Sometimes even if you have time on hand, you dont utilize it and as i tell always i am a real lazy bum and sometimes hates myself for it. I had preared these dosas a week back and planned to post it before 24th as that was the date for the Taste and Create. This time i was back with them after a break of some months and so wanted to be prompt in posting, but my moods had other plans and hence the delay, sorry min and will surely make it before the deadline from next time. This month i am paired with Veena of Veg Juction and have prepared these beauties.

Dosa’s are a regular fare in my home and have followed her recipe completely.

Kal Dosai/Set Dosa

Ingredients

Raw rice 1 cup

Par boiled Rice  1 cup

Udad Dal 1/2 cup

Fenugreek seeds 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Ghee to cook

Method.

Soak both the rice together in water for 3 hours

Soak the dal  for 3 hours

Soak the Fenugreek seeds in little water for the same time

Wash the soaked dal well, drain the water and grind it into a very smooth fluffy batter with minimum water.

Wash the rice and drain out the water. Grind it with the fenugreek seeds with the water that is soaked in. It givs a tremendous amount of flavour to the Dosai. Grind it to a very smooth batter

Mix both the batters nicely by adding salt.

Cover the batter and leave it to ferment overnight.

Next day, Heat a Tawa,Pour a ladle full of batter into it,do not spread the batter as it will spread by itself.

Spread ghee all around the dosa and cook for a minute.

Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

I sprinkled some dry chutney powder on the dosa while it was cooking, this is the way sakshi likes it.

This is off to Taste And Create February Edition.

]]> http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/kal-dosai-set-dosa/feed/ 4 pinksrecipediary987 240220121826 tc http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/bagels-my-1st-attempt/ http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/bagels-my-1st-attempt/#comments Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:43:38 +0000 Pinks Recipe Diary http://pinksrecipediary.wordpress.com/?p=813 Continue reading →]]> What is your experience in baking,  do you enjoy it, do you look forward to bread baking and the whole measuring, kneading and waiting process. I am like that, i love doing breads at home and enjoy the whole part. It is a pleasure to see dough rise and aha the final product fresh out of the oven is a real treat. Here i declare I am in love with baking breads.

Some days back through some random blog, i came across this site Fresh From the Oven, It is a monthly event where in a particular bread has to be baked by all the members, they had started this way back in 2009 and till now the members have baked a plethora of breads. So i jumped in to this and was so happy to be a part of this. This months challenge is bagels and till now i have never seen them here in Mysore or have never tasted them, but took this as a challenge and went ahead with the recipe. 

Here i have to tell that this was my least liked bread  coz according to be it is a very hard and dense bread with a very chewy texture,and it has a completely different method of baking as well, the dough balls are dunked in boiling water and then baked which results in a very dense and chewy bread. But I am happy that i tried some new bread this time and if you have eaten bagels earlier and love the dense and chewy breads do give it a try.

Bagels

Recipe Source King Arthur Flour

Makes 8 small Bagels

Ingredients

For Dough

All Purpose Flour  2 cups

Eagle Active Instant Yeast 1/2 tbsp

1tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup water + more if only reqd.

For Water Bath

3 cups water

2 tbsp Sugar

Toppings

Poppy Seeds

Sesame Seeds

Method.

Add yeast and sugar in 3/4 cup warm water and let proof for 10 mins.

In a bowl mix salt and flour nicely.

Add the yeast mixture and mix nicely to form a dough.

The dough will be a bit stiff when compared to most your regular breads,  it wont be a sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead the dough nicely for 5-6 mins.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and let rest till it doubles. It took 45 mins.

Divide the dough into 8 balls and place them on a baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 mins.

Heat the water in a wide pan by adding sugar.

Preheat oven to 200c

Keep a baking tray ready and sprinkle cornmeal or semolina all over the tray.

The main part is to shape the bagels, here is how the site mentions “Use your index finger to poke a hole through the center of each ball, then twirl the dough on your finger to stretch the hole till it’s about 2 inches in diameter (the entire bagel will be about 4 inches across). Place each bagel on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.”

If you find this method a bit difficult,  what you can also do is take the dough ball and roll it into a rope and then tuck the edges,  i did try this but was not very happy with the shape so went ahead with the method mentioned above.

Very gently put the bagels to the simmering water and cook them for 90 secs.

Remove them one by one with a slotted spoon and place them on a baking tray.

Sprinkle the poppy seeds and the sesame seeds on the top and then bake them for 20 mins at 200c

The bagels were seemed to be ready at this time but were not browned on the top very nicely so I usually use the grill mode for 2-3 mins for the top to get a light brown color.

Serve them warm with butter, cream cheese ar any condiment of your choice.

Pinks Notes

This is the basic recipe and you can make it into a sweeter version as well by adding some cinnamon , raisin and extra sugar in the basic dough.

Toppings can also be changed according to your taste.

You can sandwich the bagels and fill them with cream cheese and cucumber with salt and pepper for a savory version.

Whipped cream can also be sandwiched between the bagels.

So have fun eating and trying these.

These are off to  Fresh From The Oven Challenge which is been hosted by Purely Food.

For me breakfast is a very important meal of the day and i hate to have the same breakfast every day n week so i always try to prepare something different which is good in taste and which is liked by the 3 of us at home. This is a very easy sandwich toast recipe and a very fulfilling breakfast or snack as well. Do try this easy peasy wholesome breakfast.

Paneer Capsicum N Cheese Toast

Makes 4 toast

Ingredients

Bread Slices 8

Paneer Crumbled 1/2 cup

Onion 1 small thinly sliced

Capsicum 1 Finely Chopped

Amul Cheese Slice 2 cut into squares

Salt

pepper 1 tsp

Butter as reqd.

Method

In a bowl mix paneer , Onion,capsicum , cheese,  salt n pepper and mix.

Take a bread slice, spread the mixture evenly in generous quantity and cover it another bread slice.

Spread butter on both the sides and toast in a toaster till nicely crisped and brown.

You can do the same method on a tava as well, after applying the butter, place the bread on a hot tava and press nicely with a spatula and cook on both sides.

Have these hot with Tomato Ketchup!

Pinks Notes

Many add ons can be done to the basic toast, I sometimes spread some mint chutney on the base then then placed the filling.

Adding some finely chopped g.chillies will also give a nice spicy kick to these toast.

Remember the Creamy Curd Dip, i spread that on the base of the sandwich before the filling and then toasted it.

Cooking is all all about you, so cook according to your taste.

Happy Toasting:)