EGGLESS BLUEBERRY CUP CAKES

I love the flavour of blueberries but blueberries are not easily available here, even if I find, they are the frozen ones. So this is a cheat recipe to fulfill the urge of having blueberries.
For these cup cakes I have not used blue berries but black raisins which are easily available in the market. I've made a blueberry topping using black raisins and grape juice which comes pretty close to the taste of blueberry topping and kind of satisfies the urge of having a blueberry flavoured dessert.

INGREDIENTS

All purpose flour/Maida  2 cups or 200 gms
Butter 1/2 cup or 70 gms
Powdered sugar 3/4 cup or 100 gms
Baking powder 1 1/2 tea spoon
Baking Soda 3/4 tea spoon
Milk 1/2 cup
Grape juice 1/2 cup
Black raisins 1/2 cup

METHOD

1. Sieve the all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda 2-3 times. Keep aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Add half of the sieved flour mix and half of the milk and beat well.
4. Add the remaining flour and the milk and beat well once again.
5. Add the grape juice and mix it, do not beat much.
6. If the mixture seems a bit thick add 1-2 table spoons of grape juice or milk to it.
7. Dust the black raisins with flour and add them to the prepared batter. Mix lightly.
8. Line the muffin cups with paper liners.
9. Fill the muffin cups till about 3/4.
10. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or till the skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

HOME MADE BLUE BERRY TOPPING

INGREDIENTS

Black raisins 1/2 cup
Grape juice 1 cup
Corn flour 2 tea spoons
Blueberry/Strawberry/Mixed fruit jam 4 table spoons
Water 1/4 cup

METHOD

1. Take a heavy bottomed pan, add the black raisins and the grape juice to it.
2. Boil and simmer on low heat till it reduces to 3/4 cup.
3. Add the jam, you can use any of the mentioned above, I used mixed fruit jam as I had it at home. Cook till it dissolves.
4. Dissolve the corn flour to 1/4 cup water and add it to the boiling raisin mix. Stir on low heat till it thickens. Let it cool and then use as topping.  

PICTORIAL GUIDE

1. Sieve the all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda 2-3 times. Keep aside.

 2. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3. Add half of the sieved flour mix and half of the milk and beat well.

4. Add the remaining flour and the milk and beat well once again.
5. Add the grape juice and mix it, do not beat much.

6. If the mixture seems a bit thick add 1-2 table spoons of grape juice or milk to it.

7. Dust the black raisins with flour and add them to the prepared batter. Mix lightly.

8. Line the muffin cups with paper liners.
9. Fill the muffin cups till about 3/4.

10. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or till the skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

HOME MADE BLUE BERRY TOPPING

1. Take a heavy bottomed pan, add the black raisins and the grape juice to it.

2. Boil and simmer on low heat till it reduces to 3/4 cup.

3. Add the jam, you can use any of the mentioned above, I used mixed fruit jam as I had it at home. Cook till it dissolves.

4. Dissolve the corn flour to 1/4 cup water and add it to the boiling raisin mix. Stir on low heat till it thickens. Let it cool and then use as topping.  

HAPPY BAKING!! 😊

FRESH TOMATO SOUP

Fresh tomato soup is the most common soup that we get all around the world in almost every restaurant's menu, even in parties and marriages if there is soup served, tomato soup is the most favoured one.
Both me and my husband love soups and when I got married and was not much into cooking, I used to get lots of ready to cook packets of soup and we used to have one everyday during the winter months, but now that my daughters also enjoy soups I don't prefer the packet ones and make fresh soups at home.
This tomato soup recipe is again a simple and quick recipe using basic ingredients available at home. I have used fresh home grown tomatoes to make this lovely fresh tomato soup. I haven't used beetroot here as I didn't have it at home but adding beetroot gives a nice bright red colour to the tomato soup.

INGREDIENTS

6-7 fresh ripe tomatoes

2   carrots

3-4  garlic cloves

1/2 inch piece of beetroot (optional)

1 tea spoon butter

salt to taste

1/2 tea spoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup water

METHOD

1. Wash the tomatoes well and chop them roughly. Peel the carrots, wash and chop the carrots too. Peel the garlic cloves. If using beetroot wash, peel and chop the beetroot too roughly. As we will be boiling all these, it is not required to chop them finely.
2. Put all these in a pressure cooker along with half a cup of water and cook for 2-3 whistles. Let it cool down.
3. Once cooled, add it to a blender jar and blend everything to a smooth puree.
4. Put the blended puree in a strainer and strain it.
5. Take a pan add a spoon of butter to it, then add the strained puree. Add half a cup of water. Bring it to a boil.
6. Add salt and pepper and simmer on low heat till you get the desired consistency.
7. Switch off the gas, garnish it with fresh coriander and a blob of fresh cream. Serve hot with bread croutons. I didn't want to deep fry the bread so just toasted in a pop up toaster.

PICTORIAL GUIDE

1. Wash the tomatoes well and chop them roughly. Peel the carrots, wash and chop the carrots too. Peel the garlic cloves. If using beetroot wash, peel and chop the beetroot too roughly. As we will be boiling all these, it is not required to chop them finely.
2. Put all these in a pressure cooker along with half a cup of water and cook for 2-3 whistles. Let it cool down.

3. Once cooled, add it to a blender jar and blend everything to a smooth puree.
4. Put the blended puree in a strainer and strain it.

6. Add salt and pepper and simmer on low heat till you get the desired consistency. Switch off the gas, garnish it with fresh coriander and a blob of fresh cream. Serve hot with bread croutons.

 7. Switch off the gas, garnish it with fresh coriander and a blob of fresh cream. Serve hot with bread croutons.  I didn't want to deep fry the bread so just toasted in a pop up toaster.

HAPPY COOKING!! :))

SPINACH AND CORN SANDWICH

I first had Spinach and Corn sandwich during college, Café coffee day or CCD as they were popularly known those days, was a popular place amongst college goers to hang out. This Spinach andCorn sandwich was a regular for me whenever I used to visit CCD.
So when I started cooking I always wanted to try my favourite spinach and corn sandwich and once I tried it, I found out that this is one of the easiest sandwich to be made with not much of preparation required.
Thankfully everyone in my family loves this sandwich including my daughters and I'm so glad that I've found another way to feed them spinach apart from palak paneer (from which they carefully try to pick out only the paneer pieces). Thankfully they can't do the same with this spinach and corn sandwich and I do the happy dance :-)
I use aata (whole wheat flour) instead of maida (all purpose flour) as I'm trying to reduce intake of maida at my place but you can also use maida as it uses only 2 table spoons of maida.

INGREDIENTS

For the filling

1 cup  Spinach/palak rinsed and chopped

1/2 cup Sweet Corn kernels

2 table spoons whole wheat flour(aata)/all purpose flour(maida)

2 table spoons butter

1/2 cup milk

salt to taste

1/2 tea spoon each of black pepper, red chilli flakes and oregano

2-3 table spoons processed cheese grated (optional)

For the spinach and corn sandwich

6 Bread slices

butter as needed

METHOD

for the filling

1. Boil the corn and keep aside.

2. Take a pan add butter to it, once it starts melting add aata or maida to it and saute till it's lightly cooked and the raw aroma goes. Do not let it brown too much.

3. Add the chopped spinach and saute for a minute. Let the water from spinach dry a little.

4. Add milk to the pan and cook for  a few minutes.

5. Add the boiled corn to the spinach sauce and lastly add the seasonings.

6. Cook the mixture for a few more minutes till you get the desired consistency. If using cheese add it just before switching off the gas and then let the spinach and corn mixture cool.

Assembling the sandwich

1. Take a bread slice, apply the mixture on it. Place another slice of bread on it. 

2. Heat an iron griddle or tawa, apply some butter on one side and place the side with butter on the tawa and let it cook till it browns a little.

3. Apply butter on the side which is on top and flip it to cook from the other side too. You can also use a sandwich maker to make this sandwich.

PICTORIAL GUIDE

1. Boil the corn and keep aside.

2. Take a pan add butter to it, once it starts melting add aata or maida to it and saute till it's lightly cooked and the raw aroma goes. Do not let it brown too much.

3. Add the chopped spinach and saute for a minute. Let the water from spinach dry a little.

4. Add milk to the pan and cook for  a few minutes.

5. Add the boiled corn to the spinach sauce and lastly add the seasonings.

   

 

6. Cook the mixture for a few more minutes till you get the desired consistency. If using cheese add it just before switching off the gas and then let the spinach and corn mixture cool. 

Assembling the sandwich

1. Take a bread slice, apply the mixture on it. Place another slice of bread on it. 

2.Heat an iron griddle or tawa, apply some butter on one side and place the side with butter on the tawa and let it cook till it browns a little.

3.Apply butter on the side which is on top and flip it to cook from the other side too. You can also use a sandwich maker to make this sandwich.

Your Spinach and Corn sandwich is ready, enjoy it with a cup of hot coffee.

HAPPY COOKING!! :))