Chocolate and Malai Peda for Holi/Five Minute Chocolate and Milk Fudge

Here's wishing all my readers a Very Happy Holi. Have fun, stay safe and healthy. This past weekend we were out on a road trip on a little vacation driving around the state to the usual vacation spots. Took some time off of the early part of spring break as well. By the time we got back yesterday, just in time for Holi, I already had several ideas crawling in my head for what to make for the festival of which - like most festivals - food is an essential element. Holi is all about having fun, painting each others with colors, spending an hour in the shower to get all the paint off you and then having some wonderful food from the kitchen. Coming back from our trip yesterday you would think I would take some time and relax but instead I went right to the kitchen (yes I did stop at the grocery store on the way). Since it was late at night, did some basic prep work and starting this morning  over a few hours put together five dishes. This sweet dish is one of them which in fact was easier of the five. You may find several versions of these Pedas out on the web that use almost similar ingredients. They are all done pretty much the same way with minor differences based on personal preference. I tried to put together the general concept of the dish together with my love for chocolate. A fine dessert to serve with an exquisite meal or a casual candy to have around and to pop in when you please.

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Valentine Treats!

A lot is said about Valentine's day. It means different things to different people, all related in some shape or form to love and caring. Yes, you do not need a day set out to celebrate love but it couldn't hurt to take one day of your lives in a year to make an extra effort to express how you feel, go out of your way to show how much you care. When it comes to love and caring, it is always about the two most favorite people in my life, my little princess and hubs. One of the little ways in which I express myself is cooking something for them, and that 'something' almost always involves chocolate. Here I have put together a list of few of my favorites from some of my recent work - and you will notice most of them involve chocolate! Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
Click on the links below to go to the recipe.

Molten Dark chocolate cake
Nutella filled baked donuts
Best chocolate cake ever
Pink lemonade bars
Rose srikhand
Homemade Ferroro Rocher
Cherry peach cobbler
Choco hotpots


For more treats look here.

Nutella Latte

Featured on : The Kitchn

This is so completely absolutely delicious. Nutella just makes anything and everything taste better. Go make up a cup and see for yourselves. Make a cup either to wake you right up in the morning and get you ready for the day or a quick hot cup in the evening to take the weariness of the day away. Mocha and hazelnut - a match made in culinary heaven. This version uses instant coffee but if you wouldn't have it without fresh brewed espresso, feel free.The smell of hot coffee seems perfect in this season but if you are the type that always prefers the frappe kind, I do have a similar cold coffee recipe here.
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One Bowl Everyday Chocolate Cake

Yesterday afternoon as I sat on the couch watching TV and waiting for dear hubs to wake up from his catnap so we go shopping, I suddenly started craving for chocolate cake. Nothing too fancy, just something that felt like cake to eat and was not-so-calorie-laden. A simple no-icing chocolaty cake that I can whip up in a jiffy. That is when this was made - a one bowl wonder, fuss free cake with my everyday pantry ingredients. A very basic beginner recipe that you can try your hand at even if you do not consider yourself much of a baker. It is moist, chocolaty with a very nice coffee flavor to it, has less calories when compared to most other chocolate cakes and so it can be your everyday cake.I made this in my new cute mini loaf pans but you can make it in a regular 5 x 9 loaf pan too, just double the recipe. I like it just this way - plain and simple - but you can most certainly dress it up with some whipped cream and berries if you so please. This is a chocolate cake you throw together real quick. It goes with tea and friends coming over on semi-short notice. It also makes for a great breakfast on the go.

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Nutella Brownie Cheesecake Bites!

Now this recipe earned me some serious bragging rights. The best comment I got was from hubs when he tried it and after pillaging through five or six of them said "they are so good they ought to have a name by themselves" and "a perfect fusion of the Indian mithai and the brownie". I didn't care much for the names he went on to suggest (shhh..) but I was definitely flattered.
I tried them after and these little bites definitely have something to be said about them. While the first bite starts to tell your taste buds that you just bit into a moist and chocolaty brownie, the smooth texture of the cream cheese swirls quickly convinces them into believing it is indeed no ordinary brownie but a whole other dish unto itself.
If all the above makes you think this will be one tricky recipe, you are in for a surprise. This recipe is really easy to put together and a very forgiving one at that. And yes any baking with chocolate does deserve a dash of Nutella, goes without saying.

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No Bake Nutella Cheesecake!

  Yup! back with yet another Nutella recipe. US Masala and Nutella have gone to such lengths that even Google recognizes my love for the decacent chocolate spread by giving me my own type-ahead - you see Nutella as an option as you start typing "US Masala" in the search box. If you are looking for a dessert that is decadent, looks like a million bucks and is rather quick to put together, this one is surely for you. It will get you rave reviews from anyone you serve it to and impressive as if you spend all day in the kitchen making it.
I have made a few fundamental changes to the recipe this is inspired from. Things like using regular soft fudge cookies instead of the recommended Oreo cookies (believe it or not, no one in my household cares much for Oreo, not even the kid), bumped up the Nutella (*smirk*) than was suggested and cut down on the whipped topping quite a bit and oh yes before I forget, completely skipped the butter. 
As you push your spoon through the garnish and then the top layer, you feel the thick lusciousness of the creamy layer underneath which all the more urges you to pick up the spoon and satisfy your senses. Make sure you find a lone corner so you don't have to share. lol.

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Dark Chocolate Caramel Nutella Twix Bar

realize the nutella freak in me has been going crazy with these nutella based desserts/recipes lately and believe me I was totally and deliberately trying not to post anything remotely related to the yummy goodness. Then I saw this saw this recipe and I knew I had to give in. For the longest time I thought those chocolate bars were only possible by specialized machines in the factories and needed time and work to make but was pleasantly surprised with this recipe. It is so easy and equally delectable. The same great chocolate bar taste with the added touch of nutella and sea salt to give it a gourmet feel is now all homemade. This one's a winner!

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Fruit and Nut Dark Chocolate Bark

alentine's day is still a few days but I couldn't help it when I saw this simply fabulous chocolate recipe. I kid you not, this was the EASIEST and most AMAZING chocolaty sweet treat I made ever! Decadent dark chocolate topped with crunchy roasted nuts, bits of crystallized ginger, along with sweet tart dried cranberries, cherries and finished with a sprinkle of sea salt. The salty, sweet chocolaty combination is totally addictive and exotic and it looks oh sooo pretty!  Oh and did I mention it’s also kinda healthy full of antioxidants and there’s no baking required. Now I am a chocolate nut (no pun intended) so you can take what I say with a grain of salt (no pun again... lol) but when hubs, who - to remind you - is not the biggest chocolate lover, goes "hmm... this stuff is really good" and asks for seconds, that you gotta believe.

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Spiced-up Nutella Hot Chocolate

inter is around the corner. Yay! It is getting cooler by the day. Well its sixty degrees so some of you might not think it to be much of 'winter' but that is how us south Floridians see onset of winter. lol and I totally love it. Talking about what else I love - Fridays - the best day of the week, well who doesn't huh. Waiting for five long days and nights for Friday evening is not easy. I get to go out and have lots of fun. Be it movies, catching up with friends, eating out, shopping etc. Can watch TV late into the night no school, no office, can sleep in till late the following morning and have two full more days to relax. lol.

The only other thing that can top a cool cozy winter friday evening is curling up on the couch with my two sweethearts (daughter and  hubs) with a hot cups of cocoa (you knew chocolate was coming, didn't you)... aaah... Sipping this blissful heavenly hot cocoa and watching an old Hindi movie with cheesy dialogues but soulful songs.
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Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies!

ere's my dilemma. I am not a big cookie fan. But absolutely love chocolate. Don't even care much for chocolate cookies. There is about only one baked sweet goodie that I like and that is a good loaded rich and moist brownie. If you get my drift, you probably realize where the thought of these cookies originated. There is one other angle to it. My little princess. She likes cookies especially chocolate ones, but she gives me a hard time when I try to get her to eat brownies. She takes it as I am trying to get 'food' into her and immediately revolts. But she likes the taste of brownies... don't ask.

So long-story-short as you can see these cookies are a winner.... er... well yes before I forget, hubs liked them too :)

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Orange Dark Chocolate Chip Muffin ~ Eggless

K, so I have no idea what to write. I am sitting here staring at my laptop for the last fifteen minutes and I literally can think of nothing! Lots of vague thoughts ~ but I am trying hard to put the words into a decent meaningful sentence - "writer's block" anyone! 
So lets cut to the chase..for today I have a orange dark chocolate chip muffin for you guys, the combo which I absolutely adore. These are light, fluffy, citrusy, chocolaty and summery. Also, here's some excerpts collected from the glorious world-wide-web for your reading pleasure :)
Did you know the word Muffin either comes from the French word moufflet, meaning a soft bread, or from the German word muffe which is the name for a type of cake. As we all know there are two types of muffins which are famous, English and American. American-style muffins  are like little cakes, consisting essentially of butter, sugar and usually made with baking powder and soda. English muffins, on the other hand, are a cross between a bread and a cake and are are made from a yeast based dough.
So here goes the recipe that has the ability to make you sunny and chirpy..make sure you stock up on these for those times when you want to have cake but would rather eat something light.

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Chocolate cupcakes with nutella frosting ( wholewheat and eggless)

omorrow, February the 5th is named as the 'World Nutella Day'. Needless to say I felt the urge to make something to pay my tribute to this fabulous on-of-a-kind spread. Since I discovered Nutella some time back, I have been totally hooked. For a while I thought I was one of very few who was totally crazy about it. Little did I know that practically anyone that likes chocolate and has had a taste of Nutella is a fan. This became more obvious from all the feedback I got from my Nutella based recipes. Here's another one in the line. Also, as a tribute here's links to some of my other Nutella based recipes.
Nutella brownies, Nutella cold coffee, Mini chocolate bundt cake with nutella ganache, Dark chocolate nutella Truffles, Molten Chocolate Nutella Cake :)

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Instant and Eggless Dark Chocolate Mousse

 read somewhere "A man cannot live on chocolate alone but a woman sure can!"
 How long did you think it would be? I mean, how long did you really think it would before I came back with another chocolate recipe? So here I am unable to control my urge for that rich, creamy, chocolaty, irresistible goodness! This  is an incredibly decadent, luxurious chocolate mousse recipe. Silky smooth luscious wonderful heavenly decadent perfectly textured (enough with the adjectives already) dessert by the one and only Nigella!

There is something romantic about mousse. Perhaps it’s the chocolate or the combination of light airiness and rich flavor, but whatever it is I think chocolate mousse makes a perfect treat for Valentines or any other romantic occasion. One thing that kept me a little away from this delicacy was the raw eggs, but only until I found this winner recipe. This Chocolate Mousse recipe is one of those easy simple recipes where Chocolate is the star and it looks like you've spent all day making it. Nigella rocks!!

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Cinnamon Spice Mocha Frappe

 don't consider myself the over-the-top crazy types but I do sometimes do some real crazy stuff. A good example would be to get hubby to drive to the nearest 24 hour Walgreen at half after midnight to get sour cream so I can bake the egg less cake that I just thought about. But the one that tops my charts is driving to an ice-cream store in the middle of winter and having ice-cream to my heart's content. In the first couple of years of our marriage, hubby used to look at my funny but poor guy still obliged. Now I think he's gotten used to my ways and willingly agrees. Well look at the bright side, he gets to eat cake and ice-cream ;) And then again to defend myself, I have to believe there are a few of you out there that identify with me... come on...

Anyway, on similar lines, the other day when it was freezing over here and I was craving cold coffee. I've had the Mocha Frappuchino a few times at the local Starbucks. Did not want to take the drive so figured I'd make for myself on similar lines with whatever I had at the time in the pantry.

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Mini Chocolate Mocha Bundt Cake wiith Nutella Ganache

I love mini version of things and find them utterly cute. When I saw these little bundt cake pans the other day in the store I knew I will love baking cute little bundts in these. Cakes in miniature form can make a person feel special. It's like you're getting a whole cake to yourself :) These chocolate filled beauties are a simple but indulgent treat. The combination of the moist decadent chocolate coffee cake with a to-die-for dark nutella chocolate ganache topping is a delight. By the way did I mention they are ridiculously easy to make.

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Hazelnut-Mocha Macarons

I have been an ardent admirer of this fabulous French dessert. I have been drooling for so long at all those pretty macarons on web, each time wondering if I ought to give it a shot. I usually take up a challenge, but the  horror stories of disasters with this beautiful but so temperamental dessert always made me take a step back. Well long-story-short, I did finally manage the courage to try it and as you can see from the results I think I earned myself some serious bragging rights... lol.

Here's a little excerpt with a little background -
(Dating back to the 18th century, the macaron is a traditional French pastry, made of  egg-whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. This sweet pastry came out of the French courts’ baker’s oven as round meringue-like domes with a flat base.
Macarons, also anglicized “macaroons”, are not to be confused with a similar pastry also called ‘macaroons’. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. Macaroons are dense cookies made either with coconut or with a coarse almond paste.) 

Read on if you'd like to hear some bragging :)
I must admit, I was very much intimidated by these and had basically convinced myself that these were way out of my league and I should never think of making them. Watching the 'Master Chef India' episode on StarPlus and all the contestants making disastrous macrons, I just had to try it even if I failed. I started with google and zeroed in on this recipe on food network . I read it at least 100 times over, saw a few videos on you tube and with butterflies in my stomach reminding me of my math's tests in school, set upon making these beauties this past weekend with my hubby (who btw is the most amazing and talented sous chef in the world and my constant motivator). Each and every step was followed closely and when I finally put them in the oven... will they crack or melt or will they hold... no one gets macrons right the first time... the apprehension heightened by the fact hat you can not even take a peek... you have to wait patiently for the timer to run out... and then... moment of truth... 

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Brownie Tart

This Brownie Tart/Pie has a deep intense and rich chocolate flavor with a nice fudgy texture. One afternoon, after running errands I was sitting with my kiddo on the couch and turned on the TV and Ina Garten was pulling a scrumptious brownie tart out of the oven and it really made my sweet tooth ache. I can’t resist a fudgy gooey brownie and believe me I have enough will power to overlook the dessert section otherwise! But a Brownie in its fancy yet rustic tart avatar as gooey, fudgy and chocolatey and as this one is not to be ignored... I could taste and smell the intense choco flavor even through my TV screen... lol :). Immediately got up from the couch and made it within the hour. I totally love her Barefoot Contessa, everything she makes always looks divine and awesome and she makes it all seem so effortless. It turned out so good as Ina would say, what could be bad about brownies?! 

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Marbled Banana Bundt cake (Eggless)

To be honest banana - as a fruit - is not something I am completely in love with ;) I still buy them for my daughter and hubby. It so happened once, that I had bought some and both of them were going through a 'no bananas' phase... so it was sitting on my kitchen counter getting ready to be trashed. I hate to waste food, so I went online for some ideas and I read about banana bread. I tweaked and tried some recipes, made the bread... got brave... and tasted it and couldn't believe I liked the banana flavor in the bread :) Next time I added some chocolate in it and it got even more awesome (chocolate just makes everything better). After having made banana breads a few times I tried making banana cakes and it was  a super hit... simple yet impressive, plain yet elegant because of the shape of the bundt cake pan (my new proud possession) it was baked in. The cake has a wonderful texture,  is very moist because of the sour cream which I am currently obsessed with and put in almost everything I bake, particularly when doing egg less. I also marbled it to give it a nice appearance.  It can be served  as dessert and it also  goes wonderfully with a cuppa coffee or hot chocolate in the morning for breakfast or after dinner. Also I don't use eggs so can be enjoyed by pure vegetarians too. It is also a hit with kids and is terribly easy to make .

Here goes the recipe-

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No bake tiramisu cheese cake (gelatin 'n egg less)

My first encounter with Tiramisu was at our local Olive Garden. Hubby completely loves it so he ordered it promising it would be absolutely wonderful. To be honest I liked the idea of the dessert but kinda did not like the strong raw egg taste and the rum soaked ladyfingers (but I still pretended to like it :) So I decided to make it at home without the components I do not like. I did try it some days back. It turned out great. I will post it soon. The other thing among popular desserts that I don't like is cheesecake (not much of a dessert person now am I!). So you might think it is funny for me to make this cake which combines Tiramisu and cheesecake. The other drive for me was to make a cake that does not involve baking (go figure). Believe me, it really tastes as great as it looks. It is a very light but decadent dessert that combines the taste of Tiramisu and cheesecake without the gelatin or eggs. If it is any indication, we finished half the cake within fifteen minutes of having made it.

Here's how I made it-

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Eggless Double Chocolate Mocha Muffin

 better half.. he does not detest chocolates, he will eat it.. but combine it with a little coffee and he absolutely loves it! I on the other hand will eat chocolate of any kind, anytime, dark chocolate being my favorite. I don't mind a little coffee either. So whenever I make anything chocolaty at home there has to be a little coffee in it. I personally think as well that coffee when combined with chocolate takes it to a whole new level.
So I just mixed a little coffee in chocolate muffin batter and this recipe was born. I also don't always like the eggy taste in my bakes so I skip the egg altogether and it comes out great :) It is always a hit with kids too atleast I know my little one loves it.

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