Banana Almond Muffins

Morning blues are the worst! I don't know about you guys, but for me trying to get myself out of my bed every morning seems like the most toughest job of the day. The action of physically lifting my lazy bum of my super comfy and warm bed requires a lot of energy! And I know most of you guys will agree with me on this. So to replenish the lost energy, I present to you a super nutritious, energy packed breakfast option- Banana Almond Muffins!

These muffins are packed with all the goodness of bananas and the 'super nut' almond. Almonds are high in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals along with being the complete source of energy.
They say that one should have at least a handful almonds a day. So why not include it in your diet  in the form of a delicious muffin.

If you are like me who needs something sweet in the morning than these are perfect for you!. These muffins have the right amount of sweetness from the bananas and a little bit of added sugar. They are an excellent pair with coffee or tea and even just plain cold milk for the kids.

So while I go and snack on these, I encourage you all to step out of your routine breakfast and try these muffins.

Banana Almonds Muffins
Makes 24 small muffins or 12 big muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 Ripe Bananas (Mashed)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 flaxmeal egg (1 Tbsp of Ground flax seeds mixed with 3 Tbsp of water)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp strong coffee
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup All purpose flour/ Maida
• 1 cup chopped almonds ( or any of your favorite nuts)

Directions:

• Preheat oven at 180C
• Mix the melted butter into mashed bananas.
• MIx in sugar, flaxmeal egg, coffee and vanilla.
• Sprinkle the baking soda along with flour and almonds
• Gently fold with a spoon or a spatula until all the flour has been incorporated. Do not overmix.
• Spoon the mixture into cupcake molds lined with wrapper and bake for 20-22 mins.

These muffins store well at room temperature for about 3 days or in the fridge for about a week. 

Eggless Nutella Dark Chocolate Cake

This past week has been a birthday week in my house. The week beginning with my mom's birthday, followed by two of the most dearest friends on Tuesday, one of cousin's b-day on wednesday and finally ending the week with a pre-bday dinner party for my sis-in-law. So a cake was definitely in order! And not just any cake. A too die for, super chocolatey, super moist, ooey gooey cake which sends you in chocolate heaven as soon as you take one bite of it.

This Nutella Dark Chocolate Cake defines that! A moist and soft cake iced with Dark chocolate truffle icing and topped with Nutella Ganache and rocher ferrero. Yummmm!

In my family, we like are cakes to be thin and light on icing. Hence, this cake was no different. But don't let that fool you! This cake was just as decadent as any piece of chocolate cake you would eat at a restaurant or from a bakery.

I served this cake at the pre-birthday dinner party and all her friends loved it! And the happiness I derived from seeing everybody devouring into it was as big as eating a big slice of cake.

So for your next celebration serve this gorgeous cake to your guests as its a guaranteed hit!


Eggless Nutella Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 

Chocolate Sponge

• 200gm or 1/2 can of Condensed Milk
• 50gms of Butter
• 1 cups All purpose Flour/ Maida
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 can (same as the condensed milk can) of water or milk

Dark Chocolate Truffle Icing

• 250gms of dark chocolate chopped
• 1/4 cup Amul Cream/ Heavy whipping cream

Nutella Ganache

• 2 tbsp of Nutella
• 2 tbsp of cream
• 2 tbsp dark chocolate

Directions:

Chocolate Sponge

Pre-heat the oven at 180C

• Empty the condensed milk and butter in a bowl and beat well till light and creamy
• Sieve the flour, baking powder and soda
• Add the vanilla essence to the water
• Now alternately sprinkle the flour and water folding gently with a wooden spoon. Note: Do not beat it with the beater, as this will result in a tough cake.
• Pour the batter into a greased 6" cake tin
• Bake for 20- 30 mins

Dark Chocolate Truffle icing

• Heat the cream in a pan until it almost bubbles.
• Pour the hot cream on top of the chopped dark chocolate pieces and set aside for 10 mins until all the chocolate has melted.
• Leave at room temperature

Nutella Ganache

• Heat the cream and Nutella until nutella has been incorporated.
• Remove from the heat and add the chocolate pieces.

Assembly of the cake:

• Once the cake has completely cooled, frost the cake with the Dark chocolate icing.
• Put in the fridge for a while to let the icing set. Meanwhile make the Nutella Ganache. 
• Remove after 10 mins, and pour the Nutella ganache on top of the cake and let it drip from the sides of the cake.
• Top it with few Rocher Ferrero.
• 
  

Roasted Vegetables with Basil Hummus Tart

Today's post features something light and refreshing. Filled with lots of summer vegetables and freshness of spring. Something which not only tastes good but is also good for you. Its a vegetable tart- an all out Mediterranean Tart- Super light and flaky olive oil crust paired with fresh basil hummus and tons of grilled veggies. Its like spring in your mouth!

The basil hummus lends a perfect touch of spring. The creaminess from the chickpeas pairs excellently with the freshness and the lightness of the basil. But any combination of flavor can be used.

I prefer a lighter crust compared to the heavy flavor of butter when it comes to a recipe like this. So I found this perfect recipe for an olive oil based crust which not only gives you that flavor and flakiness but is also guilt free! And who wouldn't mind using less butter when possible.

With a tart like this, the combination of veggies to be used is endless. Any and every vegetable would taste great.  And every time you use different vegetables, you create a tart with new flavors and taste. 

As summer heat increases with passing days, the craving of eating something light and refreshing increases also. And this holds true especially for lunch!. In a typical Indian household, the menu for lunch generally consists of an elaborate meal consisting of a vegetable, lentil, rice, roti/chappati and salad. Ours is no different.  Everyday eating in this same pattern gets really boring. So I encourage you all to step out of the routine and try this light, colorful and super flavorful vegetable tart.

Grilled Vegetable Tart

Recipe adapted from ecurry.com

Ingredients:

For the Olive oil Crust

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 40ml of olive oil
• 30ml of very cold club soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• Herbs (optional)

For the Basil Hummus

• 3/4 cup of cooked chickpeas/ garbanzo beans (kabuli channa)
• Handful of Basil leaves (according to the taste)
• 1 big clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp tahini
• Extra virgin olive oil (according to the taste and consistency)
• Salt

For Roasted Vegetables

• 1/2 eggplant
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 medium zucchini
• Olive oil
• 1 crushed garlic
• Salt
• Crushed Red peppers

Method:

For the Crust:

• In a bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and herbs. 
• Whisk together club soda and oil until creamy for 2 mins
• Pour the oil and soda mixture into the flour and mix together with a fork until everything has been incorporated.
• Knead the dough gently on a floured surface until soft (Add more soda if needed to make the dough soft but not sticky)
• Avoid working with the dough too much.
• Roll in a single direction and shape the dough according to the preferred shape and size.
• Prick the rolled dough with a fork 
• Bake it at 200C for 8-10 mins or until the crust is golden brown.

For the Hummus:

• Soak the chickpeas overnight and cook it the next morning in water. If you have a pressure cooker than cook the beans until 2-3 whistle. You can also use ready canned beans if available.
• Add the cooked beans along with the rest of the ingredients and mix it in food processor or mixer until it gets thick and creamy. 
• You can adjust the consistency of the hummus by adding more or less olive oil.

For the Roasted veggies:

• Cut the veggies into a 1/4 inch pieces.
• Coat it with salt, crushed red pepper, olive oil and crushed garlic.
• Roast it in the oven at 200C until the veggies are tender.

Assembly of the tart:

Cool the crust. Spread the desired amount of hummus on the crust. Arrange the vegetables and sprinkle with some salt, crushed red pepper and olive oil. Bake it in the oven till warm.