Cake for a Novel Enthusiast

I made my first fondant covered cake!

I had a customer who wanted a cake for her friend who's reads a lot of novels and she's a Big fan of Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

It was my brother's idea to make a book shaped cake!

The cake is Devil's Food cake with Chocolate ganache filling and frosting. The whole cake is covered my marshmallow fondant.

I worked really hard on this one. 

I hope the Birthday girl likes it !

In process

Book worm !!

Fatima's Bride To-Be Cake

This weekend i have some really heavy duty baking to do !

I made a cake today. And i have to make one again tomorrow and than its Eid on Monday. I hope of survive the hectic routine of next week.

One of my oldest and my best-est friend is getting married in 2 weeks.

So Me, Hira and 2 of my friends (Mehreen and Romesha) planed a surprise party for her today.

The idea was purely mehreen's and we decided for the theme to be pink and red.

We placed all her gifts in a basket and covered it up with red net fabric !

Made a memory collage !

Bought fizzy pomegranate juice.

Toasted to an amazing wedding and an awesome future for Fatima.

Okay now lets get down to the cake i made.

Somehow i made this flower and it looked amazing, so i came up with everything around this flower.

So i made 2 layers of Devil's Food cake. Filled it with chocolate ganache. Frosted with swiss meringue buttercream. Check out the recipe of the devil's food cake Here

and the buttercream recipe Here

Ruffled Sides. I lovedddd making these !!

Sent this to Decorating Challenge Event Announcement 

Chicken Karahi

I love Chicken karahi!

This recipe is really easy and super delicious. This can easily be done in about 25-30 minutes, so its super fast as well !

Do try it and tell me how it turns out, i would love to hear your feedback !

Ingredients:
Chicken : 1/2 kg
Ginger garlic paste : 1 1/2 tsp
Tomatoes : 3 (roughly chopped)
Salt : to taste
Red chili powder : 1/2 tsp
Red chili flakes : 1 tbsp (adjust according to taste)
Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder : 1/4 tsp
Cumin (zeera) : 1/2 tsp
Dried Fenugreek leaves (methi) : 1/2 tsp
Yogurt : 250 grams
Green chilies : 3-4
Coriander : 1/2 bunch.

Method :

Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a wok. Add  ginger garlic paste, fry till fragrant.

Add dried fenugreek leaves and cumin. Cook for about 30 seconds.

Add chicken.

When the chicken changed color add tomatoes...

..and spices.

Mix. Cover and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes or till the tomatoes are tender. And the oil separate.

Add yogurt...

..and green chilies.

Cook on high heat till water evaporates.

When gravy is thick add coriander and 2-3 whole chilies.

Serve!

Enjoy!

Submitting this recipe to Food Corner: Midweek Fiesta

[guest post] lemon flavored cupcakes :D

Hi, my name is Mehreen Khan and i am a little too inspired by my dear dear friend the owner of this blog Ms Sidra Amjed and her baking/cooking both. i recently got married and so, i felt i need to a learn how to cook a little ;), typical i know, but Sidra here can make the most typical thing look like the most fun thing to do. so here i am writing a blog post on her blog and sharing a wonderful experience i had while baking these delicious  Lemon cupcakes. Why lemon? well, i have recently developed an addiction towards fresh juices, to be more precise i am addicted to juices from fresh fruits and that particular tangy flavor possessed by this cute little yellow fruit "Lemon" its just to hard to resist. enough with the introduction, lets start with the recipe and i bet from the ingredients to the final touches to the first bite you will enjoy yourself so do try this !

This Lemon Cupcake recipe begins with a delicious cupcake that gets its' lemon flavor from adding lemon zest to the batter and some lemon juice, then comes the  lemon curd (a thick soft and velvety cream) that has a wonderful sweet citrus flavor and in the end a cupcake always needs frosting, so this cupcake is topped off with a a beautiful looking yellow cream frosting. :)
before you start with the recipe make sure you prepare the curd and the frosting first as it needs some cooling down. *

INGREDIENTS :

CUPCAKES :

1/2   cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature.

2/3   cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar.( if u cant find granulated sugar, just process the amount of sugar in a food processor
                                                                                                                  grind it till it becomes like powder.) *

3       large eggs.

1       teaspoon vanilla extract.

Zest of 3 medium lemon zest (outer yellow skin) (i didn't have anything to extract the zest from the lemon so i just chopped the
                                                                                                                 skin of the lemon into very very tiny little pieces that looked almost like zest.)..*                   

1 1/2  cups (195 grams) all purpose flour.

1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder.

1/4      teaspoon salt.

1/4      cup (60 ml) milk.

3         teaspoons of lemon juice.



LEMON CURD :

3     eggs.

 lemon juice (2-3 lemons).

1      tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest.

3/4   cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

4      tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter  at room temperature and cut into small pieces.



LEMON CREAM FROSTING :

1      pack nestle creations dessert cream (or any thick frosting cream can be used)*

1/2   teaspoon vanilla extract

1      tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar.

1      teaspoon of lemon juice.

 few drops of lemon yellow food coloring.


METHOD :

CUPCAKES :

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. ( u can also grease the molds and dust a little flour in side the mold so that i won't be sticky).
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest and juice. 
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Fill the muffin cups with batter. Bake for about 18 -20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, cut a deep hole in the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a heaping teaspoon of lemon curd.

LEMON CURD :

1. In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. 
2. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick like cream . This will take approximately 10 minutes.
3.  Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. 
4. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. 
5. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. 
6. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate until cold. The lemon curd can be made several days (up to a week) in advance. 

LEMON CREAM FROSTING :

1. In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, yellow food coloring, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir/whisk to combine. 
2. Cover and chill the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 
3. When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Spread frosting on each cupcake with a knife or spatula, or if you want to pipe the frosting.
   
   
   
   
   (it may look hard but trust me its not, so do try and have fun :D *)

Potato Cutlets

Anything to do with potatoes, and i'm game !

So lets not waste any time getting down to the recipe.

Ingredients :

Potatoes : 4 boiled and peeled.

Onion : 1 

Green chilies : 4-5

Coriander : 1/2 bunch

Mint : a few leaves

Salt : to taste

Red chili flakes : to taste

Chinese salt : 1/2 tsp

Cumin : 1 tsp

Chaat Masala : 1 tsp

Oregano : 1/2 tsp

Egg : 2

Bread crumbs : to coat

Method :

Dice onion. Keep aside.

Chop chilies. Keep aside.

Roughly chop coriander and mint. Keep aside.

Mash potatoes.

Add the spices, onion, chilies, coriander and mint.

Mix.

Shape.

Dip in egg mixed with salt and paprika/red chili powder.

Coat in bread crumbs.

Shallow fry till golden brown.

Serve with mint and coriander raita.

Enjoy!