Basbousa – A Middle Eastern delicacy

For me a semolina cake is reminiscent of my childhood! Mom baked it often to celebrate our small  successes or on joyous occasions. What set this semolina cake apart from the flour cake was its distinctive texture as a semolina has a coarser texture than the all purpose flour. 

I wanted my daughters to have the semolina cake and decided to tweak the recipe a little bit to make it more exotic. Actually, this semolina cake is really a take on the Middle Eastern cake made with semolina called Basbousa. In fact it is found in Middle East, Balkans and North Africa under different names : in Arabic it is called as Basbousa or Basboosa or Nammoura or Hareesa, in Armenian it is Shamali, Greek and Turkish it is Revani.  Continue reading “Basbousa – A Middle Eastern delicacy”

Mango Lovers’ Delight

Some time back, I had shared an easy recipe on brownie ( Easy-Peasy Brownies) and the readers asked for more of these hassle free recipes. Hence, here I am back again with yet another cake recipe with the current seasonal fruit mango.  It is also a one bowl kind of recipe! Most ingredients used in this recipe are very easily available at home.

This mango cake is a take on the classic southern skillet cakes and is an eggless one. All you require is a lot of this fresh fruit and that is what makes this cake scrumptious. Here is how you go about making this cake : Continue reading “Mango Lovers’ Delight”

Shape of You – Cake tins and more…

In one of my earlier blogs, I had mentioned about all the tins and moulds used in bread baking. This write up will cover the rest of the moulds that could be possibly used for baking cakes, pies, tarts, cheesecakes, entremets and so many more. There are multitudes of moulds available to choose from and various factors affect the decision of choosing which one. Please refer to my earlier blog at Shape of You… -Bread moulds and tins for more on those factors.

This blog is about the variety of moulds available to bake the sweet and savoury bakery products like cakes, muffins, cookies, loaves, pies etc.  The list follows : Continue reading “Shape of You – Cake tins and more…”

Strawberry Shortcake – Berry Delicious !!!

I just came back from the the Strawberryland oops sorry Mahabaleshwar! I cannot help but think of Mahabaleshwar as Strawberryland of Maharashtra just like the fictitious place in “The world of Strawberry Shortcake”, a 1980 American animated television series. Well, the point is what lovely strawberries I got to pick and eat in Mahabaleshwar and carry back home! And naturally, my daughter insisted that one of the desserts I make be the Strawberry Shortcake.  Continue reading “Strawberry Shortcake – Berry Delicious !!!”

Easy-Peasy Brownies!!!

Eat them warm or cold, eat them iced or plain, eat them with chocolate chips or nuts, eat them with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, eat them when you are sad or happy, brownies make you happy every single time you eat them!  I am yet to meet someone who hates brownies! 

Every baker has his or her version of making these ambrosial chocolate treats!  I am sharing a very easy-peasy recipe of brownie using cocoa powder. Not only can this recipe be made quickly but it is also literally a single bowl kinda recipe. I often bake it to satiate my late night sweet cravings ! Here you go: Continue reading “Easy-Peasy Brownies!!!”