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.

Very Berry Smoothie

Smoothies are a great choice for breakfast, midday snack or after a workout. This very berry smoothie is delicious, healthy, and nutritious smoothie which is filled with all your favorite berries. It takes hardly about 5 min to prepare this smoothie.

I make different varieties of smoothies and I like to have it after a nice workout. Sometimes if I am lazy to make breakfast, this will be my savior. My 4 yr old is crazy about the smoothie. Any smoothie you give him,  he will drink it without any fuss.
A  refreshing, delicious smoothie is a tasty way to drink your fruits. This is a basic smoothie recipe and a very healthy and nutritious one. You can add spinach, Greek yogurt, bananas or anything of your choice. Whatever you add, this smoothie will turn out amazingly delicious and healthy. I would always experiment with the ingredients. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, whatever it is, the outcome would be a healthy smoothie.

Ingredients:

1. Strawberries, Blueberries, raspberries- 1 Cup
2. Red Currants- a handful
3. Almond / Soy Milk- 1 Cup
4. Flax Seeds- 1 tbsp
5. Chia Seeds- 1/2 tbsp
6. Dates- 4-5 nos
7. Hemp seeds- 1 tsp

Method:

• Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth desired consistency. Enjoy.

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Tres Leches Layered Cake- An easy cake for any occasion

Tres Leches cake is a Mexican cake which is super moist, delicious and melts in mouth kind. I have seen in almost all the blogs, that this tres leches is a single sheet cake which is soaked in 3 types of milk and topped with whipped cream. I had my doubts regarding making this into a birthday cake as by soaking the cake in the milk mixture will make it pretty heavy and dense. All my doubts got cleared by the outcome of the cake.

I made the sponge cake, layered, soaked with tres leches, filled with frosting over which the sliced strawberries were spread, topped with another half of the soaked cake and covered with whipped cream frosting. At last, I decorated the cake with chocolate covered strawberries. Everything was done within no time. This cake seemed very easy and will take very less time to prepare. It worked out beautifully and would make an excellent cake for any occasion. Kids will enjoy this a lot.

I baked this cake for the first time. Many of my friends have described me about the richness and deliciousness of the scrumptious cake but I never got a chance to taste this before. This time for my husband's birthday I planned to bake this and it came out perfectly.

While whipping the cream, freeze the mixing bowl and the whisk attachments. Instead of whipped cream frosting, you can also use cool whip which is used in no-bake desserts. Try this cake and let me know.
Ingredients:
For the Cake Batter:

1. All-Purpose Cake- 1 1/2 Cups
2. Baking Powder- 1 tbsp
3. Eggs- 4 nos
4. Milk- 1/2 Cup
5. Sugar- 1 cup
6. Vanilla Essence- 2 tsp

Method:

1. Separate the egg whites and yolks in a dry glass bowl.
2. Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form and keep this aside.
3. In a glass bowl add sugar along with the yolks and beat till well blended. Add the vanilla essence.
4. Drop the milk little by little alternating with the flour and baking powder till it gets finished.
5. In the above batter, gently fold the egg whites until just combined and pour this into the greased baking pan, bake for about 20 minutes. Let it completely cool.

For the milk syrup:

1. Condensed Milk- 1/2 Cup
2. Evaporated Milk- 1/2 Cup
3. Whole Milk- 1/4 Cup

Method:

• Mix together all the ingredients and keep this aside.

For the Whipped Cream Frosting:

1. Whipping Cream- 2 Cups
2. Sugar- 3/4 cup

Method:

• Beat the cold whipping cream along with sugar on high speed until thick. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembling the cake:

• Sliced Strawberries

Method

1. Cut the cooled cake in half. Place one half on a cake platter, poke the whole cake with a fork, going all the way to the edges and poke through the depth of the cake. Pour half of the milk mixture on the cake till it absorbs completely.
2. Spread 2- 4 tbsp of whipped frosting on the cake, arrange the sliced strawberries over the top of the frosting.
3. Before placing the other cake half, poke the whole cake with the fork and place the poked cake on top of the sliced strawberries.
4. our the remaining milk mixture on top of the cake and let the cake sit for some time, till it absorbs all the liquid.
5. Frost the top and sides of the cake using a spatula and smooth out. Decorate with sliced strawberries as desired, enjoy.

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.

Healthy Banana and Mixed Berries smoothie

My dear friend introduced me to this smoothie, who herself is a big smoothie lover. She would always tell about different varieties of smoothies which she makes at home for her family. One day when I was in her house, I asked for the recipe and generously she made a big batch of this smoothie and whatever she told about the smoothie is completely true. It is a very filling, healthy, appetizing, flavorful and simply mind blowing. While adding the frozen berries, banana and spinach the smoothie will be thick, just add enough amount of water or milk.

There are lots of variations in making smoothies, like for kids we can add milk, for adults, who are health conscious can make this smoothie by adding water. Instead of regular milk, you can also add almond milk, by making the almond milk at home. I will share the recipe some other time.

This makes more healthy by adding dates instead of sugar. If you want your smoothie sweeter, you can increase the number of dates. This is so filling that you can have this instead of breakfast or lunch. I made this for lunch after my workout and it is very filling and healthy. There are much more different smoothie recipes which she gave and you can see all the recipes in my future posts. For now, enjoy an amazingly delicious healthy smoothie and stay fit...

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 1 no
2. Apple- ½ no
3. Frozen Mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries)- ½ Cup
4. Dates- 5 nos
5. Chia Seeds- 1 tbsp
6. Flax Seeds- 1 tbsp
7. Spinach- ½ Cup
8. Water- ¼ Cup

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients except chia seeds in a blender until smooth with the required amount of water.
2. Soak the chia seeds in little water for about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the smoothie into a serving glass and garnish with the soaked chia seeds and enjoy a healthy smoothie. (You can add the chia seeds in the smoothie and blend everything together).

Baked Apple Roses

Baked apple roses are just like apple pies but which looks like beautiful red roses. These apple roses are surprisingly easy to make , gorgeous  presentation, best in taste.These make beautiful desserts for parties and kids will love them.

I have seen these apple roses many times , but never tried it. My SIL who is an incredible cook and who likes to try out a new variety of dishes sent me the pics of these baked roses which she made. You can see her work in one of my previous posts, which is chocolate roll cake. I was so excited to see the pics as I would never try these because my daughter is not a big lover of apples and moreover if we buy apples, it would either end up in  a cake or we like to eat just like that.

This is a very easy dessert, in which the sliced apples, sprinkled with cinnamon powder are rolled in puff pastry sheets and baked. If you feel while baking the apples are getting browned, keep them on the lower rack. This will help the puff pastry sheets to cook well and the apple slices will be soft. Make sure that the apples are sliced using a sharp knife and very thin. For the preserve, you can also use apricot/ raspberry preserves of your choice. Hope you all like this.

Ingredients:

1. Apple- 1 big
2. Lemon Juice- 2 tbsp
3. Puff Pastry Sheet- 1 Sheet
4. Cinnamon Powder- 2 tsp
5. Strawberry Jam/ Preserve- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Cut the apple in half and remove the core. Cut the apples into paper thin slices and place this in a bowl filled with water. Add lemon juice and stir.
2. Microwave this for about 3- 4 minutes. Remove the apple slices on a kitchen towel.
3. Unroll the thawed puff pastry sheet. Using a rolling pin stretch the sheet into a rectangular sheet and using a sharp knife cut the sheet into 4-5 strips.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees C. Spread a thin layer of the strawberry jam / preserve on the sheets. Arrange the apple slices on the dough, overlapping one another, make sure the top of the apple is outside.
5. Sprinkle some cinnamon powder on top and fold the bottom part of the dough, now starting from one end carefully roll from one end to the other and pressing with your fingers, keeping the apple slices as it is.
6. Place this in a muffin pan. Repeat with the remaining apple slices and the dough and bake for about 35- 40 min. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar on top and enjoy.

Chocolate Strawberry Ice cream Cake- Celebrating 6 years of tasteful journey…….

Hey Friends, I am too excited today as my little blog turns 6. It has been an awesome journey along with all my friends and well-wishers. I got to meet a lot of talented culinary experts from all over the country, many of them through facebook and a few in person as well.

This blog has been an inspiration for me to try out many innovative and incredible recipes, which otherwise I would not have even thought of. It gives me immense pleasure to share my recipes with all of you and a big thank you to all of you who like and comment on my FB page and the blog. That is what keeps me motivated to come back to this space more often and share more and more recipes with you folks. Once again, a BiiiiiiiGGGGG thank you all of you !!!!!

To celebrate this special day, I made an ice cream cake with the combination of chocolate and strawberries. I had some strawberries in my refrigerator and so I made a strawberry ice cream. Meanwhile, I made a chocolate cake which is my daughter’s favorite cake. In my previous posts, I have posted the recipes for strawberry ice cream and eggless chocolate cake. Just click on the ingredients below and you will get the recipes. I sandwiched them both and garnished with white chocolate.

I presented it in a beautiful glass cake stand (which you can see in my pics), which was gifted by my dear friend Arathi.

Ingredients:

1. Eggless Chocolate Loaf Cake- 1
2. Strawberry ice cream- 2 Cups
3. White Chocolate (melted)- ¼ Cup

Method:

1. Cut the chocolate cake into half, Place a parchment paper inside the loaf cake pan and place a top half of the cake in the loaf pan.
2. Scoop out the strawberry ice cream and smooth it on the cake . Place the second layer of the cake on top and cover with the parchment paper. Keep this in the freezer till set.
3. Remove the cake from freezer, keep this out for 10 minutes.Turn it on a plate and drizzle some melted chocolate on the cake and serve.

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.