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Recipe: The Benchmark – My Best Chocolate Cake

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My children are all grown up and all of them live away from me, so every time they come to visit, I always try to think of what they will enjoy eating during their stay. One of my sons loves chocolate cake, so this particular treat is the welcome home dish that I currently have in the oven, ahead of his next arrival. It looks so beautiful that I couldn’t resist picking up the camera – and subsequently came the idea of sharing the recipe with you too.

Before I began to bake, many years ago now, we would often order from a friend of ours who used to bake from her home in Chennai too. Hers was one of the most fantastic chocolate cakes we had ever tasted, and it remains the benchmark for us all. It served as my inspiration too, when I became a baker myself.

Creating this recipe of my own was the result of many trials, exploring recipes from across cookbooks and the Internet, tweaking them based on my taste and my experience. Eventually, I formed a chocolate cake recipe that hit the spot, and became a personal benchmark. While my almond cakes are the most popular among customers (hyperlink), it’s this chocolate cake that is my own family’s favourite.

When I think about the experiments that lead toward this recipe, and indeed many others, I feel grateful for my blogger and Instagram friends and the accounts I have followed over the years who inspired me – both in terms of food and in terms of photography.

But there are many things that I have been contemplating lately about the world of food blogging and how it is changing. Now that re:store’s own online presence is over seven years old, I am able to observe and comment on the vast shifts that have taken place in this time and I wonder about what is still to come. For instance – many of the people whose work I used to look forward to no longer post, or sometimes have even disappeared altogether. Even though new bloggers have come up, some equally fantastic, there was a sense of community in the past that is less experienced today. It all feels different now, both as a creator and as someone who enjoys the content. I wonder if you feel similarly, or if you have other thoughts?

Then, there is the dominance of reels. Food photography as a genre is dwindling, and to be honest I don’t see the kind of aesthetic that I used to love exploring online and which challenged me to keep growing as a photographer too. While I respect reels as their own format, they are not for me. Even as photography loses popularity, I pick up my camera time and again because it is an artform that I am passionate about, and because in certain ways I would define myself as being old school – especially in the sense that I believe that if the going is good, keep going.

The going is good, so to speak, when it comes to photography. I am just as enthused and as inspired as ever as a photographer, and some of you may know that my explorations in this medium go beyond shooting for this blog. I also work with still life and nature themes, and I’ve been fortunate to have received gallery support for the same, and I sometimes accept commercial commissions too.

I still approach every kind of shoot with my old and faithful Nikon and the lenses I’ve used all these years, and remain perfectly happy with the outcomes. I don’t intend to go in for an upgrade because I know I don’t need to. Although I love finding new appliances for the kitchen, somehow with photography the tried and tested just works for me. I like to think that my not constantly seeking out new technology helps reduce my personal impact on landfills. None of us is perfect and none of us is going to avoid creating waste, but being mindful about our consumer choices is something that is in our hands.

And when it comes to something that is literally in my hands – my camera – I really don’t want to let go of the instrument that has brought me so much creativity and joy. I will also say that I sometimes feel disturbed when people say, “Oh your photographs are so nice – you must have a good camera”. I do, but there is so much more to this artform than just the device. Even as trends move away from it, I continue to learn and to grow within it.

So yes: the world, and not just the world of food blogging, is always changing – but we can have some constants, too. A decadent chocolate cake will almost without fail please anyone, for instance. In that sense, this is a timeless dish, and I hope you’ll enjoy my version of it.

Chocolate Cake

(Serves 5-6)

2 cups sugar
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon instant coffee
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170°. Prepare two 8’ cake tins by greasing, lining and dusting the pans.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt – thus combining the dry ingredients. Add sugar.

Separately, add hot water to the coffee powder. Keep aside.

Using a hand blender, mix the eggs, vanilla extract, oil and buttermilk. You can make buttermilk at home by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of room temperature milk, and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes before usage.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix well.

Add the hot coffee to this mixture now. The batter will be a little runny. Avoid over beating.

Pour this batter into the two tins equally and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. After the cakes sit for 15 minutes, turn them onto a tray and allow to cool completely. Decorate with chocolate icing.

If you’re new to all this and would like a little primer or refresher to the basics of baking, check out this citrus bundt recipe with lots of tips.

As I said earlier, this recipe is really the best one I know for the classic chocolate cake. I wonder how it will compare with ones you have made or tasted. I do hope you’ll enjoy it just as much as we do!

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Recipe: Strawberries, Cream & Cake – Simple Victoria Sponge Cake

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There are elaborate ways of making a Victoria sponge cake, but after various experiments, I came to realise that an easier method makes for a very satisfying dessert indeed. While it has a fancy name (it is called this because it was the favourite dessert of the British Queen Victoria), in truth the Victoria sponge cake is itself actually one of the simpler variations of the sponge cake. It consists of two layers, between which cream and berries are sandwiched. It’s a lighter cake, ideal for the summer, and I’m delighted to share the recipe with you.

It certainly wasn’t only Queen Victoria’s favourite. I think my mother enjoyed baking it too, as much as I enjoyed eating it, and it was often the special treat when we came home on some days, like birthdays. I can’t help but repeat myself, as I have so many times over the years, but my mom was my first teacher in the realm of the kitchen and my inspiration in all my culinary adventures – whether that’s cooking, exploring cuisines, food studies, eating mindfully or crafting this blog. She has been gone for a few years now, and nowadays I think often about how we as children both little and grown-up take our moms for granted. All those times when they call and we say, “Sorry, I don’t have time” – and all the regrets, later on… If your mother is still in your life, do try and spend more time with her. Take it from me, as someone who misses hers a lot.

Missing my mom also means reminiscing about all the food she made for us over the years, and returning to those experiences in my own kitchen. This Victoria sponge cake is obviously one such experience for me, for the scent in particular brings her to mind vividly. My mother’s handwritten cookbook contained a recipe for Victoria sponge cake. To me, the cookbook even smelled of this cake, so I have a strong association between it and my memories both of my childhood and of my mother herself.

Perhaps my kids will also associate certain dishes and their aromas with me. On Sundays, when they’re visiting, they invariably ask me what I plan to bake for them that day. During the week, they will claim to be on diets and refuse the many goodies that pop into my oven on a daily basis, especially as I’m always baking for customers. But come Sunday, come the demands for baked deliciousness. This Sunday, I’ve already anticipated this request. Guess what I’ll be preparing for them?

I said earlier that one of the key components of a Victoria sponge cake is the use of berries. Seasonal ones are ideal. For mine, I have used a strawberry jam that a dear friend makes at home every year from fruit grown in her backyard. It’s the only strawberry jam we consume. It really is the best there is, and we are lucky to have it.

Simple Victoria Sponge Cake

(Serves: 6-8)

150 grams self-raising flour

150 grams unsalted butter

150 grams powdered sugar

3 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons strawberry jam

½ cup butter cream

 

Preheat the oven to 170°. Prepare two 8-inch tins by greasing the edges and dusting with flour. Set aside.

In a bowl, add the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Next, add the eggs one at a time, making sure to beat well each time. Add the vanilla extract and beat again.

Sieve the flour and add it to the mixture. Fold the mixture and divide the batter into the two tins equally. Each of these will be one layer of the Victoria sponge cake.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the cake layers turns golden. Then, remove them from the oven and allow to cool.

To assemble the Victoria sponge cake, apply strawberry jam generously on top of one layer. Over this, apply butter cream generously as well. Now, gently place the other layer on top of the first. Sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top.

Your Victoria sponge cake is now ready to be eaten. Slice and enjoy the delicious flavours of berries, cream and cake coming together. The cake can be stored in the fridge and enjoyed over a few days – or shared immediately with the whole family, the way I love to do.

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Recipe: A Lovely Loaf – Basic Bread

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If you’ve been following my work for a while now, you may know all about my love of sourdough, and perhaps even came along for the journey on my Instagram Stories as I practiced and practiced making that wonderful bread. By now, I’ve been baking sourdough for years, and it was especially a fixture in my home during the COVID-19 lockdowns when I wanted to ensure my family was eating extra clean and healthy food. Still, that doesn’t mean that it is the only type of bread that I bake regularly. In fact, when my kids come home to visit, they tend to be a bit fussy about wanting regular, plain white bread for their breakfasts. Being me, rather than just pick some up at a store, I decided to start baking good old basic bread at home too, using refined white flour. The last time I put a loaf in the oven, I thought – why shouldn’t you too?

Believe me when I say that baking your own basic bread is easy. I know there are plenty of bread-making devices out there, and I do have one too. My brother had gifted me one when the gadget was still very new on the Indian market. I recall that the instructions were pretty easy: throw all the ingredients in at night, set the timer, and come down in the morning to fresh bread, ready to eat. I used to do that, until I learned how to bake a loaf without the device. I still keep it for its nostalgic value, as it was a gift from my beloved brother.

That said, the device I still love to use, and which adds more fun to my bread-making, is a small bread slicer. I do enjoy culinary gadgets of all kinds and this one ensures that the loaf is evenly cut. One of the great things about making your own bread is that you get to decide the thickness of each slice. A regular slice is great for sandwiches and toasties, and a thick one is ideal for French toast. I’ll share the recipe for the latter in the future (please remind me, if you’d like it!), and as for the former category, there is a whole variety of recipes to explore on this blog through the links above.

However you slice it, I can say this for sure: it will fly off the table. Made from scratch, the loaf will be warm, moist, soft and fresh. As with all totally homemade food, you will know exactly what went into it and be assured that it is healthy and free of preservatives and so on. This is also an eggless recipe.

While I was baking this loaf for my kids recently, another memory popped up – from back when they really were kids. Each year during their summer holidays, we would go up to the hills, where there was a bakery just down the road from our home there. When I say it was “just down the road”, I mean on hill terms – which is to say that it was quite a bit of a walk, that too a sloping one. So every morning, to get our exercise, we would go for that long walk, and it would always culminate at the bakery.

I knew the exact time when hot buns and bread would be fresh out of the oven there, so I always made sure that we embarked on our walk at a precise time, on an empty stomach, so that we would reach at the perfect moment – and pretty hungrily, too! The bread would be so hot that it couldn’t even be sliced, and we would greedily pluck at it with our fingers, enjoying our delicious breakfast. I still smile to myself remembering those mornings.

That bakery continues to exist, and when we travel to the hills we still go there for old times’ sake. My grown children, now discerning eaters, claim that my homemade bread is tastier than what we buy there. I don’t know if they just say that to make me happy, but one thing’s for sure: baking for my loved ones warms my heart. I am sure you will feel the same way too, when you give this basic bread a shot.

Basic Bread

(Yield: 1 loaf)

3 cups flour

1½ tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup milk

1 cup water

1 tablespoon butter/oil

2 teaspoons dry yeast

In a bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, yeast and mix thoroughly. Make sure the yeast is not expired – this is an easy mistake to make.

In another bowl, mix the water, butter and milk. Warm gently, to a little over room temperature. Do not let it get hot. Add this to the flour mixture.

Blend for a minute and then add the remaining flour. Continue blending for approximately 2 minutes or until the mixture all comes together, scraping down the edges until it forms a ball.

Remove from the mixer stand onto a clean and lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes at least. Kneading is key. Make sure you knead as much as possible until the dough looks smooth.

Now, cover with a cloth and allow the dough to rest.

Roll the dough into a rectangle using a rolling pin, very gently.

Start by folding from the short end of the rectangle and pinch the edges.

Oil a 12×8 inch bread tin and gently place the dough in the centre.

Cover with a cloth and allow to rise for about 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180-200°C or until golden brown.

After you remove the loaf from the oven, use a knife to edge out the loaf. Cool before slicing.

There is just something about fresh, hot bread coming out of the oven. The entire home takes on that fragrance. It’s irresistible!

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Recipe: Spiced For The Season – Indian Spice Biscuits

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I suppose that biscuits were originally an English concept, known as cookies in the USA and popular across the world. Here in India, we do have our own versions and adaptations. Take for instance the nan kattai, which I shared my own pistachio-rose rendition of a few festive seasons ago. It is believed to have been created by Dutch bakers in 16th century Gujarat. Similarly, all over India today, little bakeries utilize millets and Indian flavours to make their own biscuits, giving us treats like ragi cookies. All these inspirations put together made me decide to bake Indian spice biscuits, and to share the recipe with you too.

I feel that Indians give a lot of importance to spices in general, and this is in part because many of them grow in India and are either native or at least traditional in this part of the world. They hold a very special place in our cooking, which is why they appear in everything from meats to sweets. Nutmeg, mace, saffron, cardamom and cinnamon come to mind as common elements. I’ve chosen to use a few of these to flavour these biscuits.

It is the beginning of the festive season this year, and of culinary indulgences, so I thought this would be the perfect time to share this recipe. These biscuits go well with the mood and the weather, and are ideal to have at tea time. If you are seeking more recipes in this vein to serve at your special occasions, the archive has lots to offer.

Another reason why I chose to try out a new biscuit is because I realised that I love hoarding props. I have quite a large collection in my kitchen, and I wanted to use some of my cookie cutters out of that array.

Strictly speaking, it’s not really a new biscuit for me, just one I haven’t made in some time. When my daughter was living here, we often baked together, and this recipe was one of our usual choices. It was so lovely having her company, with her young mind and her penchant for ideas and innovations. Baking these made me miss her, and I think I will send her a care package with these home-baked Indian spice biscuits.

Baking also makes me miss my mother. As I have mentioned in numerous posts over the years, she attended a baking class when we were growing up, and this meant that we had all kinds of interesting treats at home. For instance, she made cornflake cookies, dipping the dough in cornflakes before baking. At a time when cornflakes themselves were an unusual concept for us, we were fascinated by these. I remember plucking the cornflakes and eating them separately. I remain deeply inspired by my childhood memories of my mother in the kitchen.

I hope these Indian spice biscuits become a part of many more happy memories – for my loved ones and I, and for you and yours.

Indian Spice Biscuits

(Yield: Approximately 20 pieces)

175 grams unsalted butter

75 grams powdered sugar (sifted)

55 grams custard powder

175 grams flour

¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

8-10 strands of saffron

1 teaspoon milk

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

 

Preheat the oven to 170°.

Meanwhile, in a small cup, add the saffron and the milk and allow to steep.

Line a baking tray with a silicone mat. Set aside.

With an electric beater, beat the butter until light and fluffy. To this, add the sugar and then the custard powder.

Beat gently, and now add all the spices. Sift the flour and baking powder and add it to the mixture.

Mix gently using your hands. Cling wrap the dough and refrigerate for 5-10 minutes.

With the help of a spoon, or using your hands, make small discs of the dough. Place them apart on the prepared tray.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are golden.

Remove and cool on a wire rack before consuming.

These delicious biscuits have a beautiful flavour to them, one that I am sure will pep up your mood in the late afternoon. You may notice that they are also eggless, which makes them ideal for serving vegetarians. Here’s wishing you a wonderful festive season ahead!

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Recipe: A Kid-Friendly Continental Dish – Spinach & Corn Bake

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We talk about memories all the time on this blog, and the deep link between food and nostalgic experiences. The recipe that I am sharing today is more about my kids’ memories than my own. When they were little, this spinach and corn bake was the only kind of Continental or baked food that they truly enjoyed at dinner. Their choosiness worked just fine for me, because I was very happy about the fact that they loved a spinach-laden meal that also contained a good protein quotient, thanks to the paneer. It’s a nutritious, filling and delicious dish – and as I’ve indicated, child-friendly, too.

Looking back, I can see a reason, taste aside, as to why they found it so appealing. It was that I usually used individually baked bowls, which made the dish seem quite fancy. They always got a thrill out of having it be served in this style. My kids would often request this spinach and corn bake when they had their friends visit, and I could see how it was the presentation that really enhanced the experience for all of them. This is a good point to keep in mind when preparing it for entertaining, for all ages.

Now – about the vegetables used, which are the secret to our satisfaction as parents! I tried to replace corn with broccoli many times, but my kids simply refused to accept this back then. With my experience in mind, I would say: if you are preparing this recipe for children, consider introducing the extra healthy vegetables, or even the ones they aren’t fond of, early on (rather than as a substitute later, which they will recognize as being just that). I now bake more variations, but still like to retain the spinach as a base. You can also replace the paneer with tofu, chicken or bacon.

You may wish to make a lighter version of this by using wheat flour rather than maida in the white sauce. While I’ve grated some cheese on top, you can avoid this to further lighten the dish. If you’re using it, another method is to add some to the white sauce when it’s ready, rather than to grate on top.

Spinach & Corn Bake

(Serves: 2-4)

50 grams butter

50 grams flour

3 cups milk

Salt to taste

A pinch of pepper

125 grams paneer

1 cup spinach

1 stalk rosemary

½ cup whole corn

Cheese (optional)

Make a roux of the butter and flour. You will get about 2.5 cups. A roux typically uses equal parts of fat and flour, and then a liquid is added (in this case, the milk). To do this, melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Keep stirring so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom. Stir until golden. It will be a thick emulsion at this stage.

Now, add the milk and the rosemary and continue stirring, making sure it’s a smooth and thick sauce.

Blanch the spinach and squeeze it well. A quick tip: when you squeeze the water out of the spinach, while making this or any other dish, add that used water to a dough or a dhal. It doesn’t need to be wasted.

In a baking dish, add the paneer, spinach and corn. Pour 1.5 cups of the roux over this and mix gently so that all the vegetables are coated well. You can store the remaining roux in the fridge for later, to be used as a sauce.

Either add the cheese to the sauce before you set it aside, or else grate some on top of the dish now. Bake for 20 minutes or until it’s golden.

I like pairing this with a toastie, but a simple toast also works well.

My adult kids still enjoy this dish, and I recently met one of my son’s childhood friends who was reminiscing about it too. I share this recipe here for them and their partners, and I hope they’ll have fun baking and eating it together, perhaps with their young families. I think you will too!

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Recipe: Nostalgic Celebrations – Coffee Cupcakes

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When I was growing up – and perhaps when you were too – cupcakes were a treasured treat. We all looked forward to birthdays because that was when we could visit each other’s’ homes and enjoy them. More often than not, our mothers were the bakers. Today, cupcakes convey memories of a special, and simpler, time. Despite the assortment of goodies that are now easily available, I still feel that homemade cupcakes are a very sweet but almost forgotten gift, especially during festive occasions. To me, they taste of nostalgia and celebration.

Even though I regularly bake cupcakes alongside various other delights for my customers at re:store, as we have now reached the 7th anniversary of this blog, I wanted to do a little more. So, I thought that I would give away a cherished recipe of mine, as a gesture of gratitude for your warmth and support. Here is the recipe for coffee cupcakes, the very same recipe that I use in my work.

My coffee cupcake recipe emerged as a response to a craving I had for something with a tiramisu flavour. While I have opted to use a simple buttercream frosting, you can try this out with mascarpone in order to elevate that tiramisu influence. You can also replace coffee with a different flavour altogether. Here’s another suggestion: include some maple syrup and adjust the sugar quantity accordingly, and the taste will change too. Have fun with how you use this recipe as a base!

I love making my cupcakes bite-sized, and just right. They are not too sweet, yet they conjure up such sweet memories. Here’s hoping to make many more: more gorgeous cupcakes and more great memories too!

Below are a few images of some of the cupcakes that are available at re:store. I hope that they give you some inspiration – either to prepare your own, or to drop me a line. If you are in Chennai and you’d like me to bake something for you, you know how to reach me.

Coffee Cupcakes

(Yield: 12 pieces)

185 grams all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 pinch salt

110 grams room temperature butter

200 grams granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup whole milk

 

Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter

Fresh cream as required

4-5 cups sifted icing sugar

1 teaspoon coffee powder

 

Preheat the oven to 170° C.

Line the cupcake tray with liners. Set aside.

In a bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together.

In a mixer bowl, add the butter and the sugar and beat for a couple of minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Alternating them, add the milk and flour in two batches and mix gently. Do not over mix once the flour is added.

Now, divide the batter into the liners, filling them up to a 2⁄3 level.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.

Remove and cool on a wire rack.

 

To make the frosting: mix the butter, cream and coffee powder. Add the icing sugar in batches and mix gently, making sure the icing sugar does not fly around. Add enough to make the frosting such that it holds up. Beat well into a smooth consistency.

Using a piping nozzle, ice the cupcakes and keep cool until serving. Refrigerate to preserve longer.

My older son loves my coffee cupcakes and asks me for some whenever he visits. He recently came home after a few months, which is a long time for us, and I baked some for him. From being a childhood favourite to becoming a treat that connects me to my own children, cupcakes and I have had a long journey. Those of you who have been with me since the start at re:store have had a long journey with me too, and I hope it’s been a delicious one. Thank you for being here.

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Recipe: The Marvel Of The Season – Mango Tart

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Since we are still bang in the middle of summer, when mangoes are abundant, I simply must share yet another mango recipe. I had been longing to make a tart for ages, but was held back by the worry that I would not be very good at it. However, I reminded myself that when you come down to it, baking is very simple. There are different methods, but it’s about following one method to a tee (for my beginner’s intro to baking, do check out this post). So you could say I went back to my own basics, and made myself this very marvellous mango tart.

When I say that mangoes are abundant, I mean both in the market as well as in my back garden. It’s funny how I actually take them for granted. There are just so many hanging on my three different varieties of mango trees – each of which yield very sweet fruit. I know that one is the killimooku, and one is the sindoora. As for the last one, I’m uncertain of the species but it tastes great just the same. I give away lots of the harvest, but the fruits are so flourishing at this time of year that I sometimes just have to leave them on the trees. There are monkeys, squirrels and parrots in the neighbourhood that enjoy them too, and more often that not, I let Nature do its thing. The birds and animals eat the fruit, drop the seeds somewhere in the yard, and now and then I find a young mango shoot emerging from the soil. These little discoveries remind me of how amazing life itself is.

Besides which, look at the beautiful colours of this sindoora. I enjoy even just admiring the fruit on the tree (though of course, I probably enjoy eating it all the more).

Not needing to buy mangoes has many perks, including that I know that the ones at home are naturally ripened and grown. I’m aware that many store-bought mangoes are either sweetened or advanced through chemical processes, and am grateful that I can avoid these.

When I do eat mangoes from beyond my own backyard, they are usually the ones in friends’ backyards. There is a lot of exchange that happens this season. That’s how I got my hands on some luscious Alphonso mangoes. They are delicious and the flesh is a lovely orange colour that makes the tart altogether very pretty. Any sweet mango variety, available all over the subcontinent now, will work perfectly for this dish.

Mango Tart

(Yield: 9’ tart)

1¾ cups flour
¼ cup almond flour
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup cold butter
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg

Filling:
½ cup mango pulp
1 cup milk
¼ cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon agar agar

Preheat the oven at 160°C for 20 minutes.

Add all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Set aside.Crumble the butter with your fingers along with the flour and the egg. Gently bring it all together until you get a smooth dough. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge. Using parchment papers, roll the dough gently into a 12’ roll and place carefully over the tart pan. Using your hands, press the sides down. With the help of a fork, pierce the tart base so that it does not fluff, and cover with foil (you can use lentils to weigh down the foil). Bake until golden, which will take about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little.

Meanwhile, add the milk, mango pulp, sugar, cornflour and agar agar in a pan. Stir well. Now place on a medium flame and stir constantly until it thickens. Set aside.

Once the filling cools down a little, and the tart base is at room temperature, pour the custard over the tart. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Decorate the top of the tart with sliced mangoes and any other garnishing of your choice. Refrigerate for at least thirty minutes before serving.

I know many people use biscuit crumbs as a tart base, but I like making it from scratch this way. Now that I’ve done so and gained confidence in my tart-making skills, I’ll certainly try making it with other kinds of fruit too. For now, here is a lovely mango tart. I hope you’ll be inspired to try it out too!

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Recipe: All Things Tropical: A Cake To Come Home To – Vanilla Coconut Bundt

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After many travels, I have finally been back home and quite gladly too. It has been lovely to just relax, and be right where I want to be. I was recently struck by something that Michelle Obama said in The Light We Carry, her interview with Oprah Winfrey: “Home is where Barack is”. These words were so sweet, and in some ways resonated for me too. I realised when I heard this line that I had been missing my husband while I was away. He may not be the president of a country, but he is certainly the president of this house. We were watching the interview together on a Sunday evening, and with those loving thoughts in my mind I set about baking for us as I often do on weekends – and the result that day was this vanilla coconut bundt.

A cake like this goes so well with this hot summer weather. It is extremely flavourful, and all the ingredients are easily available. The coconut grows in my own backyard, as I’ve said umpteen times before, and I thought it would be great not just seasonally but also as a fitting finish to this All Things Tropical recipe series I’ve recently shared.

A bundt is a kind of sponge cake or tea cake, and keeps for a bit longer. That’s one of the good things about it. We try to control ourselves by not eating half the cake in one go, and these days it’s keeping us happy over a few days for sure. I must admit that this may be because the kids are away, which is a bit of a sore topic for me. I never actually felt that empty nest problem when they went off to study. But I feel it now, now that they are in their late 20s and have their own lives as adults, their own worlds of friends and family. It is similar for my husband too. So small things like this vanilla coconut bundt cake cheer us up.

Speaking of our children’s generation and ours, and to return to Michelle Obama’s very impressive accomplishments and sentiments – I suppose it also has to do with age. When you are younger, you want to do everything – you want to achieve so much, you want to build empires, you want to make a name for yourself. But there comes a time in your life when all you really want, once you have met all your ambitions, is to spend time with your loved ones. Your partner first and foremost, and then the rest of your family. My husband and I now feel able to make time for each other despite our busy schedules. We come home to each other, and to treats like this recipe. This vanilla coconut bundt can pep up any evening and in my opinion can impress the president too – of a country, or at any rate of a home!

Vanilla Coconut Bundt

(Yield: Serves 6-8)

 

250 grams soft unsalted butter

225 grams granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 whole eggs

250 grams all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup desiccated coconut

1 cup coconut cream

½ cup fresh cream

 

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Grease and dust the bundt pan well. Set aside.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and sieve. Set aside.

In a bowl, add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Blend well until fluffy.

Now, add the eggs and beat well until incorporated. Next, add the flour mixture and fold gently. Then, add the coconut cream and desiccated coconut. Fold until it all comes together.

Spoon the mixture into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Upturn the bundt pan and tap gently. Remove the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before you drizzle the fresh cream on top. Your beautiful vanilla coconut bundt is now ready to serve.

The bundt has made a couple of appearances on this blog before, such as this citrus bundt cake and this lemon poppy bundt cake. If you enjoy this style of cake, you may want to explore those recipes too.

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Wishing You Good Health And Joy This New Year

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(above: re:store’s almond brittle)

(above: re:store’s date squares)

(above: re:store’s fig rolls)

(above: re:store’s chocolate cupcake)

Maintaining a standard of quality that is always up to the mark is very important to us at re:store.

Everything that is prepared in the re:store kitchen is exactly what my own family eats, and I put the same amount of care and effort into preparing it. In fact, when one of my kids comes home to visit, I always pack them a parcel of re:store goodies (sugar-free, as well as some with sugar) when they go back. The date squares, almond brittle and fig rolls are perfect for this, as they are travel-friendly and keep for a while. And when my kids are here at home, they regularly enjoy many of the re:store cake varieties too.

Before I introduce any new product, I put in a lot of research, conduct several trials, and get as much feedback as I can from friends and family. Only after that will I offer it to my clients. You can see the current product list here. I really look forward to your orders in the coming year and beyond.

As I said, quality is everything at re:store, as it is with everything else in life too. That’s the thought I am going into 2023 with.

My wish for us all is for good health. I can see that ever since the pandemic began, food has become a major focus for many. People have come to accept that what we consume can be the cause or the prevention of many illnesses. That said, let us not body-shame or take medications to change our bodies. Let us instead reflect on how food can be the source of our overall well-being. Let us also consider traditional and seasonal ways of eating, as passed down in one’s community or location. Let food be what helps us resolve issues.

I’m not denying that we need our indulgences, yet I believe – especially through the creation of my baked goods and confectionery at re:store – that even these can be nourishing and clean.

Wishing us all a healthy and delicious year ahead!

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Recipes

Recipe: Easy Yet Exciting – Eggless Cinnamon Cookies

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Over the last several years, I have really felt like I am expressing my artistic side and my creativity through re:store. I pour everything into cooking and photography. So much so that I sometimes believe that I can make anything in the kitchen: cakes, fig rolls, the works. Now and then, however, I come up against my limitations and learn a bit more about myself and about cooking too. For instance, I found that cookies are not my forte, and that cakes are where I tend to shine. That said, I still love baking both, and sharing them with you too. So just in time for Christmas, here is my recipe for eggless cinnamon cookies.

I’m not one to go down the street and find a store in order to satisfy a craving. I would much rather eat home-made fare as much as possible, even when it comes to snacks. I enjoy having a cookie or a biscuit along with my late afternoon tea, so I quite often put something in the oven just for that.

What I am sharing with you here is a very basic cookie which is eggless, easy to make and easy to decorate. I’ve used some fancy cookie cutters just for the fun of it, and in the festive spirit. After all, how long can you go on denying yourself the things you love and enjoy?

On that note, you may have noticed that I’ve shared quite a few sugary desserts of late, and that is because of all the special occasions and entertaining that you (and I) may be doing at this time of year. I assure you that I have lots of lovely recipes lined up for January that are all about healthy and clean eating though!

In the meanwhile, let’s indulge: eggless cinnamon cookies, dipped with chocolate, love and good tidings!

Eggless Cinnamon Cookies

(Yield: 12-15 cookies)

 

150 grams all purpose flour

75 grams powdered sugar

50 grams cornflour

½ teaspoon salt

85 grams butter

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 cup chocolate chips

 

Mix all the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) together well with your palm. Form a dough and wrap it in cling film. Refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160° C. Divide the dough into two discs, and with the help of parchment paper, roll them out. Use a cookie cutter of any desired shape.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or until they turn slightly golden at the edges.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips on a double boiler or in a microwave. Stir constantly.

Remove from the heat. Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate. Then place them on a tray and cool in the refrigerator, or at room temperature in a cool room, until the chocolate sets.

Store the cookies in an airtight tin and enjoy them with your favourite beverage. Whether you have a little treat daily or only now and then, these simple yet satisfying eggless cinnamon cookies are sure to delight you! If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also want to explore these sugar-free almond cookies and these ginger-jaggery Christmas cookies too!

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