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Recipe: ‘Tis The Season – All-Spice Cake

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The celebrations of Diwali are soon followed by the celebrations of Christmas, and when I was growing up this meant that we enjoyed a couple of months of ongoing festivities. My most cherished childhood association of Christmas has to do with a large Anglo-Indian family we knew. They were wonderfully warm and welcoming, and Christmas day for us was all about visiting them and sharing in the cheery mood in their home. Until they came into our lives, the festival was something I had only encountered in books, so to actually experience it was thrilling. I will never forget the first time I saw a Christmas tree, all decked out in their home. Under it, there were always such lovely gifts for us friends of the family, and I looked forward to these each year. Of course, there was also the spread of delectable festive goodies. These special memories are on my mind this month, which is why they have inspired my sharing of this all-spice cake recipe.

Fast forward to today, and Christmas now for me is all about absolutely delicious plum cakes, received from many friends. As you may know, plum cakes last for between six months to a year depending on how they are made. This means that I am at liberty to enjoy them for a nice long stretch. Just a slice at tea now and then makes the perfect accompaniment. After re:store cakes, of course!

I’ve never attempted at baking a plum cake myself as I know it’s a laborious process, both in technicalities and in love. Besides which, there is such sweetness in receiving them from dear friends. Nowadays, there are vegan and vegetarian and alcohol-free options out there, but there’s nothing like a good old rum plum cake. So while I’ve never gotten down to experimenting with it as a baker, I have really enjoyed making the next best thing.

This all-spice cake, made with a readymade all-spice mix that is full of the goodness of cardamom, cloves and more, has come out so moist and delicious. Maybe it will be one of my own seasonal traditions in future – and perhaps even yours.

This time of year is full of activity for me – visiting friends, special occasions, events, art shows and so on that I am really enjoying every single day. I am also kept busy with fulfilling re:store orders that bring delight into many people’s homes. So much so that it’s almost a struggle to keep up with regular posts on this blog, but I made a promise to myself that I’ll continue sharing my love of cooking with everyone I can reach.

So here I am with a recipe that you can learn to bake ahead of your Christmas feasting, or at any time of year. This will be followed by a cookie post, so do keep an eye out for that as well.

All-Spice Cake

(Yield: One loaf)

200 grams maida

175 grams sugar

60 grams milk

60 grams boiling water

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon all-spice

75 grams oil

2 eggs room temperature

25 grams Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat the oven to 170° C. Prepare an 8” loaf tin by lining it with butter paper and coating the edges with butter and flour.

Sift the flour, salt, all-spice, baking powder and baking soda separately. Set aside.

Mix the milk and hot water together. Set aside.

Now, beat the oil and the sugar together. Add the eggs and beat again. Add the vanilla extract.

Then, add the liquid and dry ingredients alternatively, folding each into the mixture with a spatula. Make sure the sides are scraped down properly.

Pour the batter gently into the loaf tin and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set the tins aside. After 15 minutes, remove the loaf and cool it on a cooling rack.

Decorate as you wish, and serve. Season’s greetings!

When I say that wish you lots of peace, I mean it deeply. In today’s day and age, we could all do with it – not just for ourselves, but for the environment, in the world, and for every community. Wishing you a very merry, peaceful and delicious Christmas!

 

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Recipe: To Bright New Beginnings – Boozy, Orange-Kissed Hot Chocolate

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Christmas was always a very special occasion in our home when my children were growing up. They would be so excited about setting up the Christmas tree, going shopping to find beautiful decorative ornaments, and simply enjoying the festive atmosphere. While Diwali always held its own importance as as our main religious event, Christmas was something we enjoyed as pure celebration. We had our own little Christmas traditions, and as the kids started leaving home, these slowly disappeared. But this year, for the first time in a while and with nothing but this pandemic to credit for it, we are all at home together. And once again, Christmas feels just like it used to, full of camaraderie and deliciousness – except, now that my kids are adults, we’re all raising toasts together. The beverage we’re clinking glasses with? This orange-kissed, boozy hot chocolate!

There are scores of recipes for hot chocolate all over Instagram this time of year. But this is my version, and I can assure you that it’s absolutely delicious. I first tried hot chocolates like this one abroad, but these days you not only find excellent brands here in India but also have homegrown confectioners who work with small-scale farmers, are eco-conscious and create locally-made chocolates of a high quality. You can use the dark chocolate of your preference for this recipe.

The booze quotient here comes from Cointreau. A French liqueur containing bitter orange peels, it adds a wonderful citrusy kick to the beverage. While I’ve used whole milk, you can try this recipe with almond or coconut milk too – let me know what you think of the results, if you do? You can also play around with the liqueur, perhaps substituting a mint-based one or some other flavour. But for me, chocolate-orange is an unbeatable combination, and that’s why this is my favourite version of this festive drink.

Every day during this pandemic, we’ve been drinking tonics that boost our immunity: warm turmeric, herbal anti-sniffle concoctions and more. I’m sure you’ve been doing the same at home. Hot chocolate – hot, boozy chocolate, to be accurate – is a nice change! The weather in Chennai has also been changing for the better, and there’s a nice nip in the air and the season of heavy rains has passed. This is such a lovely and appropriate dessert for this time of year, especially as we reflect on all that has passed and all that is to come.

The theme of hope is on my mind constantly of late. I believe hope is what separates us from others in the animal kingdom, and is the only thing that has kept and still keeps us going through the pandemic. “Hope, gratitude and good health” is truly going to be our mantra for the coming year. I wish for you that all three are in abundance always.

The lockdowns in various parts of the world have taught us all so much. We have changed and we have learned. We’ve understood what bears meaning, and what doesn’t. For me, one of the most important learnings is that Nature rules us all. We have to be mindful and respectful of the health of the planet and the co-existence of all living things. Our interconnectivity has never been clearer than through the spread of the pandemic. I believe that now that we have seen this, we must change our individual habits. I also believe that it is never too late to start doing so. Even though the planet is on the brink of climate collapse, we can still do our part to contribute to its healing. I have hope. I have hope that hope itself, combined with a strong sense of responsibility, can save us.

Just look at how much we have overcome already. We are no longer scared and confused. We’ve figured out how to cope, and we’ve also been able to bring little rays of sunshine back into life.

The beginning of a new year usually inspires optimism, but this year I’m feeling it all the more. I truly feel like I’m seeing everything in a fresh light, and I am looking forward to good things to come

It so happens that even our home has also undergone a bit of a transformation, and has been repainted and rejuvenated. It’s also our wedding anniversary in late December, so there’s a double reason to celebrate. We have had decades together, with all the ups and downs, and thick phases and thin ones, that such a duration invariably brings. It has been a beautiful journey, and has contained so much. I hope that you too have something to toast as this year winds down.

 

Boozy, Orange-Kissed Hot Chocolate

(Yield: Serves 2)

 

1 ½ cups whole milk

¼ cup cream

75 grams dark chocolate

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon corn flour

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon sugar

1 star anise

1 tablespoon Cointreau

 

Garnish options (pick any, or all!)

Dried or candied orange slice

Cinnamon stick

Whipped cream

Caramel sauce

 

In a ¼ cup of milk, add the corn flour and whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Add the remaining milk and cream to this and stir. The cream is optional, depending on your tastes. Vegans – you may replace the milk with almond milk, and eliminate the cream. Next, add the cocoa powder and mix it all up.

In a heavy bottomed pot, place the concoction on a low flame and stir constantly.

You can now add the star anise. Do not allow the milk to boil, but once it is heated up, turn off the flame and then add the chocolate, sugar and cinnamon powder. We like our boozy hot chocolate only lightly sweetened so I use just a tablespoon of sugar, but you may double this quantity if you prefer. Stir constantly at this time, making sure the chocolate melts and the milk turns silky smooth.

Add the Cointreau. Use more liqueur if you want to make it boozier. Garnish as you wish to and serve immediately.

I believe that thoughtful portion sizes are very important, both aesthetically and as well as in terms of what is good for us. I always say that the eye feasts first, and I knew this from a culinary perspective even before I understood it as a photographer. Serve this beverage in small cups or glasses. It’s a heavy, filling drink that keeps you warm and cozy and you will not need a whole mug of it to enjoy it. What a perfect symbol for the year that has ended too, which has taught us all to be grateful for the little things. Look more closely at what you have, rather than take it for granted, and you will cherish it all the more.

I am cherishing having my family around, and having the joy of my work to keep me busy. The re:store kitchen is always especially busy and beautifully aromatic at this time of year as I bake an array of goodies for the year-end festivities. I would love to bring some deliciousness and warmth to your home as well. If you are in Chennai, please take a look at my product catalogue  and see if anything catches your fancy. May I draw your eye to the almond cakes, available in a range of flavours and with an eggless option, to complement this wonderful beverage? Or how about my latest addition to the menu: a caramel-pecan cake that simply uplifts everything through its sweetness? I can’t wait to hear from you, and to place something special into the oven for you and your loved ones…

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Recipe: Spice & All Things Nice – Ginger & Jaggery Christmas Cookies

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As a child, I was fascinated by the gingerbread man. Who was this entity that was half-story and half-food? Christmas in Chennai was not like Christmas in the West while I was growing up, and so there weren’t too many of these “traditional” motifs around me. Instead, the rituals of friends, neighbours and the convent school I attended are what are most memorable to me. Still, when I enjoyed a perfect Christmas visit with my friends Sujatha and Michael in Delhi two years ago, something tickled the memory of that fascination with the gingerbread man.  Sitting out on the lawns of their beautiful house, enjoying the crisp winter weather, we shared a plate of homemade ginger snaps. A festive classic, made to perfection. This year, thanks to a bounty of presents with just the right ingredients, I’m celebrating the season with these ginger and jaggery cookies.

This recipe contains gifts from many friends. The method of course, belongs to Sujatha and Michael. The cloves are from Asha, the Sri Lankan ginger and sugar syrup that also partly inspired this recipe is from Anna (this had been introduced to me by Ramani), and the cinnamon (also from the island) from Sharanya. So in many ways, this recipe fits the Christmas spirit of giving and camaraderie perfectly. And of course: the love, inspiration and encouragement from friends, family and fellow bloggers are what make me want to share it!

I love to make blends and powders at home, as you may have noticed from earlier posts. They give my baked goods a fresh, authentic flavour. So I ground the cloves and cinnamon especially for this batch of cookies, and used the ginger powder I had prepared in the summer, as I do every year. Ginger powder is used often, and in versatile ways, in my kitchen – you’ll find it in everything from a flu remedy to a sacred dessert.

I always like to bring familiar ingredients even into fusion or foreign dishes, which is why the jaggery and the ginger feature so prominently in this recipe. Both are intrinsic parts of local Tamil cuisine, and not only taste delicious but are quite good for you too. Aged jaggery, like wine, is said to be the best. It is rich in iron and other minerals, and is a healthy sweetener. Ginger is great for digestion (always a good thing during a holiday feast!), clears congestion and has such a divine aroma!

You’ll find these ginger-jaggery cookies have a chewy centre, and the jaggery gives them an unusual flavour, just like how the sweetness of honey differs from that of sugar. While the taste will certainly differ, if you’re unable to find good jaggery to make these cookies, you can substitute it with brown sugar.

 

Ginger & Jaggery Christmas Cookies

(Yield – 12-15 cookies)

Ingredients
325 grams maida
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
115 grams powdered jaggery
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon clove powder
200 grams butter
50 ml molasses
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Line an oven tray with foil and keep aside.

Mix all the dry ingredients, except the jaggery, in a bowl and set aside.

Now, beat the butter and the jaggery together until the mixture turns creamy, then add the egg. Beat some more. Add the molasses and vanilla essence and blend well.

Fold all the dry ingredients into the mixture and knead, using your hands. The dough will feel sticky at this point. Once all the ingredients have been incorporated and blended well, refrigerate the dough for an hour.

After it has chilled, remove the dough from the fridge and make balls, gently using your hands again. Place them on the lined tray, ensuring they’re arranged well apart so that they don’t overlap while baking. Sprinkle with some sugar crystals.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden on the sides and bottom.

When the cookies have baked, decorate as you desire. As you can see in the photos above and below, I decided to draw delicate designs using white icing – a homage to my culture. In many places in India, intricate rice diagrams are drawn by hand on the front porch in the mornings and before special occasions. They are known as ‘rangoli’ in North India and ‘kolam’ in Tamil Nadu.

Some say a kolam is a prayer in the form of a painting, inviting the goddess and her auspiciousness into the home. Others say it is a practical thing: keeping insects away by feeding them outside the door itself. Either way, without doubt, it is a beautiful thing. I hope you’ll enjoy these photos of chewy, spicy, sweet homemade Christmas cookies – with a quintessentially South Indian sentiment. And I hope the scent of ginger fills your own kitchen soon, and that your life remains as sweet as jaggery – through the festive season and well beyond.

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