Coffee Tres Leeches: my all time crowd favorite!

Ingredients 

For the cake: 

5 large eggs (room temperature)

1 cup flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar 

1/4 cup milk 

a pinch of salt

For the soaking:

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

Topping:

Whipped cream

2 tsp instant coffee 

Coffee beans (optional)

Chocolate shavings (optional)

Process: 

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar until it looks pale/ cream color. Start with low speed for two minutes and then on high speed for 6-7 minutes.
3. Add the milk and beat well for 1 minute.
4. Shift all the dry ingredients together.
5. Gently add 1/3 of the dry mixture into the egg mixture, repeat 2 more times until fully added.
6. The key is to gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture- overdoing it may result in a flat cake.

7. Pour the batter into the greased cake pan (I prefer to use a 13 by 9 inch casserole) because it holds the soaking mixture well.
8. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
9. After baking, let the cake cool in the baking pan about 15-20 minutes.

10. For the soaking, mix the condensed milk, evaporated milk and brewed coffee together.
11. Poke the cake with a fork, gently pour the soaking liquid all over the cake.

12. Next, gently cover the cake and refrigerate for 2 - 24 hours.

13. To top the cake, mix the instant coffee (I love Nescafe!!) into the whipped cream. Spread it over the cake using a spatula. Sprinkle chocolate shavings and coffee beans over the whipped topping. Keep it cool at least for 3-4 hours before serving.

What next? slice, serve, enjoy!!

Tips:
For best results, always soak the tres leeches cake a day before serving.

Mocha Chocolate Cake w. Salted Caramel~

Ingredients 

For cake 

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour 

1 cup cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 cup milk 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup sugar (optional- I usually don't put sugar as the icing/ topping adds sweetness)

1 cup brewed coffee (hot) 

For topping 

1. Whipped cream topping (store bought option/frozen section)-1

Otherwise, beat 2 cup whipping cream with 2 tbsp of confectioner's sugar. 

2. Caramel (I used Coronado goat milk caramel spread)/ home made caramel can be a good substitute.

3. Coffee beans- handful (optional) 

Process: 

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F. 

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients listed for the cake and keep that aside. 

3. In a separate bowl, add eggs, milk, oil, sugar (if used) and combine well. Then add the dry ingredients (step 2) slowly. Add the coffee. Don't worry if the batter is thin at this point. 

4. In a greased pan (preferably, 9 inch) pour the batter and bake for 30-35 minutes. Baking time varies for different pan sizes so you might want to check after 25 minutes. If inserted toothpick come out clean, the cake is baked. Otherwise, put it back in the oven for next 5-10 minutes. 

5. Always, keep the cake aside to come down to room temperature. *I usually bake the cake a day before, resting the cake overnight in refrigerator. Next day, using a knife, I turn the cake on the serving platter and frost the cake. Baking a day ahead helps to keep the cake moist inside and firm outside while you are ready to slice. 

6. For topping, spread the whipped cream with a spatula or back of a spoon. Drizzle caramel on top (as much as you like!!) and sprinkle some coffee beans. Voila, you are done! :)

** this recipe can be used to bake two layer chocolate cake as well. In that case, divide the prepared batter into two 9 inch pans. 

Baking my Birthday treat: Nutella 4 layer drip cake!!!

So my husband dearest wanted to get me a cake for my birthday but instead I insisted please let me bake my birthday cake this time, haha~

Ingredients 

Process

1. Bake two 9 inch chocolate cakes (link: http://trials-with-sweet-tooth.blogspot.com/2014/09/black-forest-torte.html )

2. After the cakes are cool in room temperature, cut each one into half (horizontally).

3. Spread whipped cream (I used store bought) and sprinkle nuts. 

4. Close the lid of the cake and repeat the process for the second cake. 

5. You may also drip some chocolate syrup (I used Hersey's) in between the cake layers. It will keep the cakes moist.  

6.Close the top lid and keep the cake in fridge for good one hour. 

7. Next we need to make the icing. Link for the buttercream icing recipe: 

8. Gently spread the icing all over the cake using a spatula. After you are done with frosting, again keep the cake in fridge for 2-3 hours. The more time you will keep the cake in the fridge at this point, the well it will set before the final stage! 

9. Let's make our chocolate ganache now. This is basically melting the chocolate with whipping cream over a double boiler on stove top. You may also microwave to do the same.Make sure it does not get too thick. 

10. Use a similar type of bottle (orange in the picture) to work as your dropper. 

11. Starting with the sides, gently pour the ganache. Use a spatula to spread out if you want. Let it drip as naturally as possible. 

12. Now comes the fun part, I just used an empty hazelnut spread jar 9like Nutella) and place it on top. Also I had some snickers, caramel popcorn to go with it. At the very last moment, used some biscuits as well. So you get to be creative as much as possible.

13. Voila, it's done. I could not take a perfect picture of a perfect slice as my friends loved it and we were going insane cutting out the pieces and distribute it. But here is an insider look:

Dark Chocolate Almond Puff Pastry: Absolute Chocolate-y!

Baking on weekends are bliss.. no rush.. so I love to experiment during this time. Always have a special thing for dark chocolate so anything with that is heaven alike to me! I tried the good old recipe of puff pastry having a gooey chocholate-y center inside. Its super easy and kids/not-so-kids everyone love it! You can have it with your morning or afternoon tea/coffee on a lazy day. Also, we can not really go wrong with chocolate, right? Let me know if you try this! Go baking!

Ingredients 

Puff pastry- 1 sheet 

Dark chocolate (I used 48%)- 1 bar 

Almond/Nuts- optional 

Egg- 1 (for wash)

Process:

1. Preheat the oven at 425 degrees. 

2. Thaw the puff pastry (usually I just keep it on the kitchen bench for 15 minutes or so). 

3. Open the pastry and place the chocolate bar in the middle.

4. Now as of the picture, cut the pastry diagonally. 

5. Now trim the edges and fold the upper and lower portion. For sides, make it as a braid (picture) by folding the pastry diagonally, one side after the other.

6. Make sure its tight otherwise you will see burst of chocolate during the baking.

7. Now gently give egg wash and sprinkle nuts. 

8. Bake for 25 minutes or until crisp-brown. 

9. Serve immediately, it will not taste as good if it gets cold! The texture is crispy with a gooey chocolate-y center inside! Yum!

Enjoy! 

Peach Mousse Cheesecake (NO-BAKE)

I had my closest neighbor (more like my elder sister's) Birthday coming up in past week. I wanted to try this fresh peaches and cheesecake mousse for so long and thought it will be a great occasion. I'll say its a very handy recipe if you want to try no-bake recipes for your family, friends or colleagues at office. You can make it up to 2 nights before, and as they say, the longer a cheesecake waits, the tastier it gets! Enough of my blabbering, now let's get to the ingredients and how to make this simplest yet yummilicious dessert!

Ingredients 

For the Crust: 
Oreo/Graham (chocolate preferably) cookies- 20-24 pieces
Butter- 1/4 cup (melted)

Cheesecake filling:
Cream cheese - 16 ounces (softened)
Plain Yogurt- 1/2 cup
Warm milk- 1/3 cup
Unflavored gelatin- 3 ounces

Jello topping: 
Peach jello- 3 ounces
Fresh peaches- 2 (varies)

Baking needs:
A spring form pan (9 inch)

Method:

1. Crush the biscuits (I usually take a zip lock bag and boom, keep hammering until they are fully crushed).

2. Mix the melted butter with the crushed oreos. Now gently press it on the spring foam pan.  You may grease the pan with little butter before putting the crust, it helps while you cut the cheesecake later.

3. In a bowl, take cream cheese and yogurt, mix it together. Now in the warm milk, pour the unflavored gelatin. Give it a stir and add this to your cream cheese mixture. Make sure there are no lumps.

4. Pour the cream cheese filling over the oreo crust. Now keep it in the fridge for good 15-20 minutes.

5. In the meantime, slice fresh peaches (you may use any other fruit or jello flavors, I like peaches for its subtle flavor). For the next part, we need to prepare the peach jello. For peach jello using in this kind of recipes we need to use 1/2 the amount of water than what's needed in a regular time jello prep. So take 1/2 cup of boiled hot water and pour the jello mix. Stir is well until the jello gets dissolved. Now add 1/2 cup of ice cold water. Keep the jello mixture in room temperature.

6. Let's bring out our chilled cheesecake for the final layer. Place the peaches as you like and as much as you like! Lastly, pour the jello gently over the peaches. I use back of a spoon while pouring the jello as it helps to pour it evenly.

         

7. It is the most difficult time as you can not dig it in right NOW. Please keep it in the fridge for 4 hours to overnight for best results.

When you are ready to serve, simply open the spring form pan and place the cheesecake on the serving plate. Don't worry, it should be well set to transfer by now.

Make sure you have a warm knife to cut through the glistening slices of the cheesecake! Hope you'll enjoy making it as much as I did! My friends said, the mousse tasted very refreshing after a gorgeous Birthday Party Dinner!

Saved a slice from the party, haha! 

What are you waiting for? Try it out soon and let me know how it went! 

Happy Cheeeeeeesecake Making! :) 

Raspberry Jello Mousse Cake!

I figured it's been a year since I had my last blog up! Been busy with Masters and the routined life made me a bit lazy lately but it's time to catch up now with some recent trails. Today, I am going to tell about a three layer dessert- having a sponge cake base, with a velvet alike raspberry mousse and fresh raspberries with jello on top! It was a crowd pleaser at my past week's dinner party. I learnt it from one of my favorite dessert makers, Natasha (link below) and I am so glad that I decided to try this on for my friends. You can always replace the fruit and jello flavors to your liking so that's the best part! Let's see the ingredients and dig in the process now:

  

Ingredients:

For sponge cake (bottom layer)

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (optional)

Cake syrup

2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp lime juice

For Raspberry Mousse (middle layer)

Raspberry jello (6 ounce packet)-1
Whipped cream- 1 (8 oz)

For Raspberry Jello (upper layer)

Fresh raspberries- 1 package (contains 35-40)
Raspberry jello (3 ounce packet)- 1

Process:

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Mix the eggs and sugar. Now beat by adding oil, milk and flour. Grease the 13 by 9 inch pan and gently pour the cake batter. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

2. For the mousse, mix the jello (6 ounces) with 2 cups boiling water until it gets dissolved. Add 1 cup ice cold water and keep the mixture in room temperature. Beat it with the whipped cream for a smooth consistency. Don't worry, it will not get entirely set at the room temperature.

3. Now, take the cake out of the pan now and cut the corners. Place it back on the clean 13 by 9 inch pan. It is optional but preferred to brush the syrup for a moist sponge base.

4. Now pour the mousse mixture over the cake. Put fresh raspberries as indicated in the picture and let it set for 1 hour in refrigerator.

5. After 45 minutes of the mousse being set, make jello (3 ounce packet) with 1 cup boiling water and after it gets dissolved, add 1/2 cup ice cold water. Let it set in room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Put the jello mixture over the mousse and fresh raspberries. DO NOT put warm jello as it will split. Let the dessert set overnight for best results.

Natasha's Tutorial: http://natashaskitchen.com/2014/11/25/raspberry-jello-cake-recipe-video-tutorial/

Mothers' Day Special: Do I hear Crêpe?

French Crêpes

Although my mother was not with me on this year's Mothers' day, I wanted to make something new for her and to show her on Skype! She was very happy, definitely going to make her these deliciousness  the next time I visit her in New York.  

Ingredients: 

1. All purpose flour- 1 cup

2. Eggs-3

3. Milk-1 cup

4. Butter- 2 tbsp (melted)

5. A pinch of salt

6. Sugar- 1 teaspoon (avoid if you want to serve with maple syrup or honey)

Process: 

1. Mix together flour, salt and sugar. Keep it aside. 

2. Beat eggs and milk with a whisker. Beat with flour until its a smooth mixture. Add in butter and mix it. 

3. Make sure your pan is hot. Brush with a little bit of butter or oil (I prefer oil). Pour 1 ladle of mix in the pan and move it around (like a roti). Make sure to spread it thin. Please refer to my previous post, Patisapta to see how the mixture and roti look like!

4. When it's brown flip on the other side, serve hot. I prefer it with maple syrup and fresh berries. 

What I like about this recipe is, it's super easy to make and have all the necessary breakfast ingredients. Not only that, it's a gorgeous looking dessert kind of breakfast which can lift the mood of your loved ones! 

Enjoy! :)