Cheezy Corn and Macaroni Casserole

Hi!.....The kids wanted to have some pasta.....  Checked my refrigerator....Oh..Oh...not much in there...Just some sweet corn...some Cheese ... So decided to make some cheesy macroni with tomatoes to give them some colour. Its a very simple dish with old age white sauce but its so filling and yummy to taste and everybody loves it.....

Cheezy Corn and Macaroni Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup Sweet Corn

1 cup boiled macaroni

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk

salt

pepper

1 tomato

3 cubes pasteurized cheese ( amul or britania will do)

Method

1. Blanch sweet corn in hot water for 2-3 mins till tender. Keep aside.

2. In a non stick pan take 2 tbsp butter and melt it an slow heat.

3. Add flour and saute a little till the bland smell of flour goes.

4. Put the flame to minimum and start adding milk .Keep on stirring till the sauce is smooth and thickens.

5. Make sure there are no lumps ( u can pass the sauce through a sieve if any lumps are formed).

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Add two cubes of cheese and then add macaroni and corn.

8. Put the macaroni mixture in a oven proof dish.

9. In a seperate bowl mix the bread crumbs and one cube of cheese.

10. Spread this on top of the macaroni.

11. Cut a tomato in rings and arrange on top.

12. Bake it at 180 o c for about 20 mins or till the top is brown .

 U can have with any bread or just like that...

Marble Bundt Cake

Today..... I decided to bake another Bundt. This time I went through more topics on Bundt Cakes . I did not wanted to repeat my mistakes of yesterday. So, i chose a very simple Vanilla Bundt Cake recipe from http://www.dianasdesserts.com/ .....and made it into a Marble Bundt Cake .......Also added a few choco-chips and baked it for a longer period. The cake was really looking good. Inverting and taking it out of the pan was a bit problem...but finally i succeeded.....The result was much much better.....I could see the grooves ....and it was looking beautiful.........Then i poured some home- made truffle sauce over it.........and it became heavenly.......!!!

Marble Bundt Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake 1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup  butter, softened
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup  milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder

25 gms choco- chips

For the Truffle Sauce

100 gms dark chocolate

100 gms fresh cream

Method

1. Sieve Flour and baking powder and salt.

2. Beat eggs and sugar till fully dissolved and foamy.

3. Add butter and vanilla extract.

4. Add flour and milk alternately and then mix in choco chips.

5. Pour half the batter into the gresed and dusted pan.

5. Mix cocoa powder and chpco-chips in the batter and a few drpos of milk if the batter become thick.

5. Pour the cocoa batter on top.

6. Bake at 200 o C for about 40 - 45 mins or till toothpick inserted come out clean.

 7. Melt cream in a heavy bottom pan and add chopped dark chocolate. Keep on stirring until it becomes a thick glossy sauce.

 ( U can keep it refrigerated for about a week).

8. Warm some truffle sauce and pour over the cake.

This was a very light cake with less butter and great taste. Everybody loved it......!!

My personal experience says -

• Bundt cake recipies should be denser, have less of air bubbles.
• They should be baked for a longer period in comparison with normal cake tins to give a bright color.

My Bundt Pans

Bundt Cakes


Wow.....Wow........wow......were the only words that came out of my mouth when i saw my Bundt Pans from Nordic Ware. I had ordered them from Amazon and got them delivered to my cousin, Shikha's place, brought to India by my Uncle (who left his own things back to bring my stuff)..How nice of him...!! I thank them whole heartedly......Thank U Shikha......Thank u Uncle.........These gadgets have become more precious (more than the shining golden metal) as they bring smiles and we , bloggers feel proud to own them. I was waiting anxiously for them as we don't get such things in India. Procurring baking tools and ingredients is still very difficult  even in cities like Delhi. Bakers who reside in North will understand me perfectly. These kinds may be available in Mumbai or Banglore or if at all in Delhi , its very expensive. I also got a whole set of silicon pans which are still waiting for their turn to be cherished. 


It was a happy, joyful, red week for me....Got the lovely things........And imagine next day me dear friend, Smita brought another red baking set of stone ware for me. Thanks Smita... I just loved it.....!!


Bundt Pans have to be treated differently from the normal baking pans. Greasing them and taking out the full cake is not so easy. The tips about using Bundt Pans http://housewares.about.com/od/bakewareservingware/a/bundtbasics.htm      helped me a lot to understand.


I choose an Orange Marmalade Cake recipe for my first Bundt. Made the batter hurriedly. I was waiting anxiously for the results. All the time thinking about whether the cake will come out properly or not . Thanks to  God, the cake came out full. I could see the strands of ornage marmalade. It was a very nice smelling , less sweet,  tea cake to be enjoyed with evening coffee.....but....but i could not make out the grooves easily. It was looking more an inverted funnel pan cakes. I was disappointed with the result.......I wanted a more denser, more prominent kind. 

Orange Marmalade Cake

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup / 175 gms flour 

3/4 cup / 100 gms pwd sugar

3 tbsp orange marmalade

1 1/2 tsp baking pwd 

2 eggs 

50 gms butter

1 tsp orange essence/ zest of on orange

Method  

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together and keep them in a bowl separately.  

2. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add one by one egg.
4. Mix in orane marmalde and essesnce/zest.
5. Fold in flour with a wooden spoon.
6. Lightly grease the bundt pan with some butter and dust it.
7. Pour the batter into the pan.

8. Bake at 180 0 C for about 45 mins.

9. Make some icing sugar glaze and pour over the cake.

I took out a slice to check.......Wow....it was nice.......tasted it.......Mmmmm .....it was delicious but will have to try again for getting a proper shape........Tomorrow..........will bake another one........

Yellow Butter Cupcakes with Quick Jam Frosting

Muffins ......or.....Cupcakes ......?? I was wondering what exactly is the difference between the two. If i am baking a small cake in a cup whether its a cupcake or should i call it a muffin? According to our dictionary, a cupcake is defined as "a small cake, the size of an individual portion, baked in a cup-shaped mold," whereas the muffin is defined as "a small, cup-shaped quick bread, often sweetened." And then ...there was this one more thing which drew my attention that.... "If you threw a cupcake against the wall, you would hear something of a 'poof!' If you threw a muffin, you would hear a 'thud!'". I think basically a cupcake is softer kind eaten and decorated with some kind of frosting.....and a muffin is on the denser side enjoyed with a cup of coffee or juice....
Uh!.....I think we should leave the difference at the moment and do some baking and then enjoy our cupcakes with any jam frosting.........hmmmm cupcakes sound better......and inviting....Hoping u all also like them........


Yellow Butter Cupckes


Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow butter ( I have used Amul)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups sifted  flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• cupcake paper liners
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Method
• 1. Cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. The yellow butter will turn almost whitish in colour.
• 2. Put the eggs one by one and mix it properly.
• 3. Add the vanilla extract.
• 4. Add the flour mixed with baking powder.
• 5. In the end add the milk gradually and keep on mixing. There should not be any lumps.
• 6. Place the cup liners in the muffin cups and put the batter in them.
• 7. Bake at about 180 - 200 o C for 25 mins or till light golden colour.
• 8. When they are cool put any jam topping of ur choice and enjoy.......
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
•