Thumb Print Cookies- An Ultimate Indulgence!!!

Buttery short bread cookies filled with jam is a a perfect dessert for any occasion. It's a hit among friends and family. These are perfect holiday treats which can be gifted to friends.

I baked these cookies along with my kids and my 6 yr old was very excited to fill the cookies with jam. As most of my friends know that, we have moved to our own space, to meet and greet our neighbors,  I baked these cookies.

These cookies are so easy to make and just needs a handful of ingredients which is easily available in your pantry. These cookies can be baked within 30 minutes and because of jam, this becomes a super hit among kids. I filled these cookies with strawberry and blueberry jam, you can use any jam of your choice and it won't go wrong.

Make sure that while shaping the balls, it should be smooth and firm, or else the cookie dough can crack (like mine). Some recipes call for adding the jam after baking the cookies, but adding the jam pre baked will be nice and warm and bakes into the dough. Hope you all will try this recipe and if so, let me know. So, lets get started..

Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour- 2 Cups
2. Corn Flour- 1/r4 Cup
3. Salt- a Pinch
4. Butter- 1/2 Cup
5. Eggs- 2 
6. Vanilla Essence- 1tsp

Method:

1. Sieve the all purpose flour, corn flour and salt. Keep it aside.
2. Meanwhile beat the softened butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat till creamy.
3. Add the above mixed flour mixture into batches and mix till it forms a smooth dough.
4. If it feels sticky just keep this dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, mine was perfect so started to shape them into balls and place them on a tray lined with parchment paper.
5. Use your thumb to make an indentation into each ball of cookie dough. Spoon 1/2 tsp of jam on each of the indentation.
6. Bake for about 10- 12 minutes or when the bottom turns light brown. Remove and cool completely and enjoy the jam filled cookies.

Danish Aebleskivers- to celebrate 8 years as a food blogger.....

This month my blog turns 8, and I am so happy and glad that I started this blog through which I came to know many of you. I never thought that this space, which I started to share my own passions will go this long. This blog has become a key part of my life where I share all my joys, sorrows, nostalgic memories. Through this blog, I have met some incredible people, both online and offline, I have tasted the most amazing food from all over the world. Thanks to all of you for showing your love and support to my small space.

To celebrate this occasion, I thought of making the popular Danish snack called Aebleskivers, which I first ate when we visited Solvang, a beautiful Danish village near Los Angeles. While we were walking through the streets of Solvang, I read about these fluffy, donut hole type goodies, which are very popular Denmark snacks, that are made during the Christmas season. As I took a bite of these little cute delicacies, I decided that these should be posted in my blog. I thought, it is very difficult to make these aebleskivers, but when I googled upon some recipes, I came to know that these are like pancakes, but light and fluffy like a popover. As my blog is turning 8 this month, I prepared these aebleskivers which were an instant hit.

Aebleskivers are cooked on the stove top, in a special pan with several indentations. Traditional aebleskiver pans are made of cast iron. In Kerala, we have a snack called "unniappam", which is made in a special pan. I made these aebleskivers in that pan and they turned out round and perfect. They are cooked with bits of apple or applesauce inside, but now they are rarely included. As these are not so sweet, these aebleskivers are served dipped in strawberry/  blackberry/  grape or raspberry jams and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

These aebleskivers are very healthy as they don't require oil or butter. I added just a drop of butter in the pan and they came out without sticking. With the ingredients given below, we can make almost around 21 of them. To prepare the batter and making the aebleskivers will take around 30 minutes which will be liked by all if served with jam.

Solvang

This is how they serve the aebleskivers 

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour- 1 1/4 Cups
Baking Powder- 2 Tsp
Sugar- 3 tbsp
Milk- 1 Cup
Egg- 1 no
Cardamom Powder- 1 Tsp
Butter- 2 tbsp
Powdered Sugar- just to sprinkle on top
Method:
Beat the milk and egg to blend well along with butter.
Add the all-purpose flour, sugar, cardamom powder, and baking powder into the wet ingredients and beat well with a hand blender.
Heat an aebleskiver pan/ unniappam pan to a medium-low heat. Brush little butter and pour a spoon full of batter. Let this cook for about a minute and flip using a wooden skewer. Remove onto a kitchen towel when done and repeat with the remaining batter and serve hot along with jam and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Orange Marmalade- A post on Father’s Day….

                                                       

     

 Happy Father’s day

Today is father’s day and today’s post is one of my dad’s all-time favorite. Whenever my dad goes out for some grocery shopping, if he sees this marmalade, he will grab this one just like kids grab candies. He likes to spread this marmalade on toast and have it along with his morning tea. Whenever I call them, it will be morning tea time there and my mom and dad leisurely while drinking tea they will be talking to me. In between, he will be telling about this marmalade, which he loves a lot and insists me to buy and try one.

One day I thought of surprising him and this is the outcome, a golden yellow colored delicious marmalade is ready. When I showed him, he thought I bought it from the store. When I told him that it’s homemade, he was surprised and the next thing he told was “when you come here we will make a big batch and store it”. I was really happy that I made my dad’s favorite, but he cannot taste it as I am here.

This marmalade is easy to make, just that it’s a bit time-consuming. I started the process in the afternoon and by evening this got over. If kept in the refrigerator this stays fresh for long. Make sure that the glass jars used in the process are sterilized well. To sterilize the jars, dip the glass jars in hot boiling water for some time, take it out and can the marmalade in the jars.

Today for father’s day, I am dedicating this post to my dad. Try this out and let me know

Ingredients:

1. Oranges- 10 seedless Oranges
2. Sugar- 3 Cups
3. Water- 2 Cups
4. Lemon Juice- 1 no

Method:

1. Cut the oranges in half and squeeze out the juice completely. Using a sharp knife cut all the orange skin in juliennes.
2. Take this orange juice and julienned orange skin in a large non-stick pan. Squeeze out the lemon in the large pan along with orange juice and skin.
3. Add the required amount of sugar and water and cook on a medium flame.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil. Let it cook uncovered for about 30 minutes on a low flame. By now the orange skin will become soft and well cooked.
5. Skim off any foam that forms on top. To make sure that it is ready, place a drop of this orange mixture on a plate and keep this in the refrigerator until it’s cool. If it is firm, neither runny nor too hard, it’s done. Now this will be in golden orange color. ( If the marmalade is runny, then cook for some more time and if it is hard, add more water).
6. Pour the marmalade into clean mason jars, wipe the rims thoroughly using a clean damp towel and store it for up to a year.

Eggless Honey Cake

This eggless honey cake I have seen in many blogs and wanted to try the unique taste of honey which in cakes is new to me. I have never tasted a honey cake before, but this cake is most popular in almost all the bakeries across India.

Basically, it is a vanilla sponge cake, soaked in honey syrup which is spread with mixed jam with a sprinkle of desiccated coconut. This cake is so moist, juicy, soft and cool. The cake absorbs all the honey syrup and gets soaked well. Though this cake has condensed milk and honey, we won’t feel the cake to be sweeter. It is just perfect.

Today for my husband’s birthday I baked this honey cake and as he is not a big coconut lover, instead of desiccated coconut I sprinkled slivered almond, which also tasted yumm. This cake turned out perfectly delicious and so they got finished as soon as the cake is cut.

Usually, this cake gets the red color because of the mixed jam, but for my cake, as I didn’t have the jam at home, I prepared the strawberry jam instantly and when it is cooled, I spread it on top of the cake. So everything is freshly made and I am sure that this will be a show stopper in any parties or birthdays. Just serve them cut into squares and this cake will be enjoyed by all and kids will love this as the cake is soaked in honey and spread with jam which is sprinkled with almonds or coconut. Try this out and let me now.

Ingredients:

Eggless Vanilla Cake

For Syrup

1. Water- ½ Cup
2. Sugar- 2 tbsp
3. Honey- ¼ Cup

For topping:

1. Strawberry jam-4 tbsp
2. Slivered Almonds- As needed

Method:

1. Prepare the eggless vanilla cake. When the cake is cooled down, prick the whole cake using a toothpick.
2. Prepare the sugar syrup by boiling the water along with sugar. When the sugar dissolves, mix and switch off the flame.
3. When it is slightly warm add the honey and mix till it dissolves. Pour this all over the pricked cake.
4. Over this cake, spread the jam using a spoon and cover it fully. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top of the cake and cut into required pieces and enjoy.

Freshly made Strawberry Jam

On my son’s first birthday my friend brought a small jar of homemade strawberry jam. That was the first time I tasted homemade jam, which was so juicy, slight tangy and with luscious red colour. I thought of making this, so one day gave a try and this amazingly delicious soft, spreadable jam is made with very less ingredients, with not much hard work and within less time.

Bubbling on the stove

Thick Strawberry jam

I have added sliced strawberries, so my jam gives chunky pieces in between, if u want a smooth jam, just blend the strawberries well in a blender and make it. We won’t use jam very often, so I never tried making it at home. But after this I started to make different varieties of jams with different fruits. You can make it without any artificial colours or preservatives and a much healthier version at home rather than buying it from store.

It is so easy to make that just add all the ingredients together and stir once in awhile till you get thick jam like consistency and transfer into sterilized jars. Try this out and you will come to know how easy it is to make a delicious and healthy jam by simply sitting at home.

Ingredients:

1. Strawberries( chopped)- 2 cups
2. Sugar- ½ Cup
3. Lemon Juice- 1tbsp

Method:

1. Heat a nonstick pan and chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice, one after the other.
2. Keep this on medium flame and once the strawberries starts to leave the juice simmer the flame and mix in between.
3. Stir in between, otherwise it will get stuck to the bottom. The jam to get ready will take about 20- 25 minutes.
4. When the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan means it's ready, or else to check whether it is ready or not just put a small portion of jam on a plate and when it is cooled it will set without any water left. This means the jam is ready to take out.
5. When it is cooled, transfer the jam into a sterilized bottle and enjoy delicious and yummy jam within minutes.