Raspberry Brownies (Birthday Post -2)

I am a bit embarrassed about posting stuff about my birthday when my birthday was more than 2 weeks ago. But I love the recipe and can’t help but share the wonderful time I had with my family and friends on my blog. So this is the second installment wherein I would talk about a lovely brownie recipe, nothing more. Promise.

It looks divine

What would one do, if one falls in love with one’s on creation? Is that terribly narcissistic? I hope not.

Ofcourse the recipe was adapted but the effort was all mine so it is okay to call it my creation, isn’t it? I love this brownie for its simplicity. The ruby pink-ness against the barren brown-ness and the burning candles against this gorgeous expanse looked like  the stars that are shining down. Maybe I imagine too much and try to draw parallels to where there are none.  But beautiful looking food almost always evokes strong images in my mind and this brownie did just that.

Just before I popped it into the oven

The brownie was asked for a generous amounts of  chocolate but that sweetness was offset by the tartness of the raspberries. The recipe was adapted from the latest issue of the BBC GoodFood magazine. It had made it to the cover of the magazine for all the right reasons. Looking at it, there was little reason not to bake this on my birthday.

Do try this brownie and I am sure you’d be as crazy about it as I am. Apart from the lovely brownie which was my birthday cake, I had another wonderfully scrummy cake to cut gifted by Anamika Arun of Taste Junction. It was a delicious, full of chocolate goodness, one my utter favourites – A mud cake. I was spoilt for choice. I also was gifted another eggless version of a gorgeous chocolate cake by Gayathri of Food & Fiction which was divine. I couldn’t help but finish most of it myself since they were so good and made for me with such thought and care. Now you know why this birthday was the best ever ( I can never tire of announcing this every now and then)

The mud cake- thanks Anamika

Gayathri’s Yummylicious chocolate cake with nutella buttercream frosting

Some more photos from the dinner party at my place.

The children had a lovely time blowing off candles on both the cakes. The food was an Italian spread with bruschetta, spaghetti and chicken balls, salad, vegetarian pizza and Salad. Fun, cheer, conversations and laughter filled my home that evening making it so memorable.

the party people

With this I end my birthday post saga with great memories and with a realization that birthdays can be fun. It is just not about getting older but also about trying to spend time with the people you love and cherish and making memories for times to come.

A Guest Post for Gayathri Ramdas – Taking Sides with a Couscous Side

Today I have been given this wonderful opportunity to write a Guest Post ( a rare honour as far as I am concerned) for my friend Gayathri. I have known Gayathri for some time now and we are constantly in touch over Facebook and bbm. During one such random conversations she asked me to do guest post for her blog.  I love visiting her blog because her posts not only talk about the wonderful food that she makes for her family,  but also about the latest trends in music, books and life as such. She always makes sure that there is a conversation going on rather than a monologue.

In this post I talk about how a brief meeting with Gayathri made such a huge impact on my confidence and how her sweet words will always resonate whenever I feel under valued in life.

Today’s guest post for Gayathri also features a very tempting, flavoursome Couscous side which is so easy to put together. I found this recipe from the BBC GoodFood Magazine that I am so hopelessly addicted to. To read the rest of the entry hop on to Gayathri’s blog .

 

Apple Cake for my Friend

This has been a long overdue post.  In between, I started writing fiction and I couldn’t stop. For the first time food took a backseat. Not for real, but only on the blog

This post is about a lovely friend. Her name is Gayathri.

I have written about her on my blog plenty times before. She is somebody whom I can talk to for hours, without bothering whether it is inconvenient for her or not. She is patient  and would offer her two cents after gauging whether it is required or not. I know she understands that sometimes people only want to be heard, to be able to speak their heart out.

Gayathri, she just lets me be.

When she visits me, I do not have to dress up or do not have to bother whether my home is in order. It is that comfort level that I share  with her.

So when she came by a few days ago, I was excited and thrilled to bits. It would mean catching up on everything once again. I say once again, because we are always in touch through chats and over the phone anyways. But we still have so much to talk about.

Gayathri loves her cakes- eating and baking them. She makes the egg-less sorts which are wonderful and so tasty.

I thought of baking one for my special friend. I browsed for something simple and sweet and found a rustic looking apple cake for the occasion.

This apple cake is from Joy of Baking; a blogsite that needs no introduction at all.

Gayathri, her son, my daughter and I had a nice time chatting up and digging into this gorgeous apple cake.

Recipe for Apple Cake

Makes about 9 servings

Ingredients

3/4 cup (75 gms) chopped hazelnuts ( you can use walnuts, pecans)

About 3 large apples

1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 1/2 cup (195 gms) All purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 gms) granulated white sugar

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

6 tablespoons (85 gms) unsalted butter, melted and cooled at room temp

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoon milk

1/3 cup (50 gms) Raisins

Preparation 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.

2. Butter a baking pan and then line with parchment paper or wax paper.

3. Place the nuts (hazelnuts) on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown and fragrant. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack and then coarsely chop.

4. Peel, core, and chop the apples into bite-sized pieces. Toss with 1 – 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

5. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt.

6. Add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and milk and beat until fully incorporated. Fold in the chopped nuts, raisins, and chopped apples.

7. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 – 45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

8. Serve warm and in my opinion, it tastes great without any of the edible accessories such as cream, glaze or ice cream.

This recipe is a keeper and I am definitely going to make it again and again.

Apple and cinnamon are meant to be together and that is why this cake is such a big winner.

The Fair-Weather Friend

———————————————————————-Part -1————————————————————————————–

I have a friend with whom I chat atleast few times a week.  She is a great gal whom I have known for long. She too is a new mom and I have plenty to discuss with her. She tells me everything about her life, her husband, her new baby, her in laws, her lows and her highs. I listen to her and sometimes only listen to her. But when the time comes for me to discuss about my problems or anything that I feel I need some advice or guidance from her, she quickly excuses herself and hangs up. I observed this quite a few times but did not think much it.  I simply shrugged and got on with my work. Afterall I know how taxing a life of a new mom can be. We could continue the conversation some other time. But the trend continued and it began to bother me. She was interested as long as I was talking about all the good stuff in my life and the moment I change the cassette to side B, she disappeared from the other end. This botheration turned to a grudge and one day when she rung up, I did not pick up. Somewhere in my heart she was on the “FWF” ( Fair Weather Friend) list. I have compartments in my heart/mind where I put people such as- (ML- catagory)- My Life Catagory which includes my hubby, my daughter , brother and parents. I exist for them, by them and of them. There are many such catagories and lists but discussing them here seems to be outside the purview of the topic decided.