A TEA PARTY !

In a vase full of roses, a garden ! On a plate full of dainty cakes, a tea party !

Cardamom sponge mini cakes

All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cups

Granulated sugar - ½ cup + ¼ cup

Baking powder - ½ tbsp

Salt - ½ tsp

Melted butter -¼ cup

Softened butter - ¼ cup to butter the pans

Egg yolks -4

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla extract - ½ tsp

Water - ⅓ cup

Egg whites - 4

Cream of tartar - ¼ tsp

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, butter 24 mini muffin or tartlette pans . Mix flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add,melted butter, egg yolks,cardamom powder, vanilla extract and water to the flour mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon till no lump remains. Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar in a bowl until it foams. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat till soft peaks form. Add the whipped whites into the flour mixture in 3 batches, gently folding in each time with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared molds up to 2/3rd full. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, Inser a tooth pick to the center of the cake to see if it is done. The toothpick should come out clean with a couple of crumbs attached. Unmold after 5 minutes.

These cardamom flavored, mildly sweet sponge cakes are best friends with cups of tea :)

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Light !

Just because I can never have enough Christmas bokeh , here is a plateful of cardamom doughnut holes placed right in front of our Christmas tree :) 

Cardamom doughnut holes

Recipe : Add 1/2 tsp. cardamom powder to this King Arthur Flour's Vermont Doughnut Holes recipe. Sprinkle with cardamom sugar after lightly brushing with melted butter

 

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Cherry almond cake

This cake is too good to be existing, really ! Whole wheat flour, cherries, whole almonds, and a no stress mixing method, but the result is a moist and tender cake which is served best with a cup of black tea.

 

 

 

Cherry almond whole wheat cake

 

Recipe

Whole wheat flour - ½ cup

Whole almonds - ½ cup

Softened butter - ½ cup

Sugar - ¼ cup

Baking powder- 1 tsp.

Eggs -2

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp.

Pitted cherries - 20-25 nos

Confectioners sugar ( Optional) - 1 tsp.


Mix baking powder and whole wheat flour gently with a wire whisk.. Pulse whole almonds with 1 tsp sugar till coarsely ground, add to the flour mix, mix again with a wire whisk. In a large bowl, using a wire whisk beat butter, remaining sugar and eggs together till it is combined ( 3-4 minutes), slowly add the flour mix and gently combine with a wooden spatula. Pour into a greased and floured 9 inch tart pan. Evenly arrange cherries on top, bake at 325 C for 20 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a skewer, it should come out with tender crumbs attached. Serve dusted with confectioners sugar.

 

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Simple strawberry verrine

Here is an easy dessert that you can serve to friends no matter how awesome they are !

Fruit Verrine

Cake

Recipe here. Cut the cake into rounds fitting the dessert cups you have. You need two cake rounds per /serving. I usually slice the 9X13 sheet cake into two layers before punching the circles out

Thin custard

1 ½ cups milk
1 cup water
1 egg yolk
½ tbsp. corn starch
 ¼ cup sugar
 ¼ tsp vanilla essence

Blend all ingradients together and cook at low heat with constant stirring till the mixture bubbles plus one minute. Cool down, do not refrigerate. Add 1 tbsp. rum if you will

Thin fruit syrup

1 cup strawberry jam
2 cup water
1/2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp rum ( optional)
Mix all ingredients together in a blender and warm in a sauce pan till the mixture looks clear. Cool down, do not refrigerate.

Fruits

Finely chopped banana and strawberry – 3 cups

Whipped cream

Whip 2 cups of cream with ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar till soft peaks form


Putting it all together:

Take two cake circles. Keep the first one in the dessert cup and add the thin fruit syrup till the cake is soaked. Arrange the fruit pieces on top and keep another cake circle on top, gently press down. Spoon some thin custard over to soak the cake. The custard will take some time to seep in , wait 10-20 minutes before proceeding to the next step. Top with whipped cream and level with a spatula. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hrs. Decorate with thin strawberry slices

I have made 12-36 individual servings out of the measurements given here, depending on the size of the serving glass used

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Hello spring !

When spring gently tiptoes in, there is no denying it. Almost every tree here is in bloom, air is brisk, and I sneeze twice for every word I speak. Hello spring, also hello Zyrtec !

 

 

Last weekend I was going through some of the food photographs I have taken in the past couple of years. Most of these pictures were hastily taken and therefore much begs to be focused in many. There were also a couple of photos of some of my favorite desserts, here is one. This is a version of the delicate “Pastel de Tres Leches”, the three milks cake. The milk mixture for this recipe has whole milk,coconut milk and condensed milk instead of the classic combination of condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream. I have made this cake many times over but managed to take pictures apparently only once, and that was two years ago in summer when Petunias were in bloom. 

 

Coconut Tres Leches cake
Recipe
2 1/2 cups - all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons - baking powder

1/4 teaspoons - salt
                                                
1 ½ cups - sugar

½ cup - butter

2 - eggs

1 teaspoon -vanilla essence

1 1/4 cups -water


Milk mixture
1 can -condensed milk

1 cup -milk

1 cup -coconut milk

½ tsp -rum flavoring

¼ tsp -cardamom powder



Topping

1 ½ cups-Whipping cream

¼ cup-Confectioners sugar

Assorted fruits chopped

Toasted coconut flakes ( dry roast the coconut flakes in a pan over low heat)


Mix all ingredients for the milk mixture, refrigerate till use.

Lightly butter and flour a 9x13 pan. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, keep aside. Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy ( 4-5 min). Add eggs one by one, and mix till the mixture is creamy. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in three batches alternating with water till everything is thoroughly combined. Add vanilla, mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, bake at 325C for 25-30 minutes. Check doneness using a wooden skewer, it should come out clean

Once the cake is done, quickly unmold to a serving plate ( keep the cake upside down, it will give you a flat surface to decorate), press lightly so that the cake sits even. Poke holes all over the cake with a skewer stick. While the cake is still hot, spoon the milk mixture over the cake and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. If you see any milk that seeped through, spoon it over the cake.

Whip cream with confectioners sugar till soft peaks form. Spread or pipe over the cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes and assorted fruits, serve chilled
 

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Off we go to coconut land !

This fall we will be walking around in flip flops, basking in the sun, strolling in verdant stretches of beaches,slurping on fresh coconut water every now and then to rev up our spirits. Not really but close ! We are off to Kerala for a month long vacation,although we surely will be walking around wearing flip flops ,this time it is all about spending most of our time driving back and forth on NH47, the main thoroughfare in my home state, shuttling between the preparations for two weddings in the family. My brother and T’s brother are both getting married.

We are looking forward to seeing most of our extended family this time and to facing all that comes with it :) We will be back in time for Christmas, until i see you all again, keep having fun. Here again is a cake, made for a friend’s baby shower.

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A deep sea party!

Our little girl who would like to be known hereafter as “BIG GIRL SARAH” celebrated her 4th birthday last week.

She wanted a mermaid cake; I made one, turns out now that she had the deep sea princess Ariel in her mind. She is very happy about the cake I am assured, but the mermaid’s hair should have been the color red!

That is the fun with a 4th Birthday, you realize that your itsy bitsy, once flannel bound bundle of joy has a very detail oriented plan about everything !

A quote from her favorite Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a who describes it best.

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

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Berry quick muffins!

Sarah’s school opens in sixteen days, that is about seven days to be precise, but sixteen because that is her favorite number for the past couple of days or so we are told. She is so looking forward to seeing her bosom pals again and to saying Hello to her teacher Ms. Charcie whom she plans to adopt someday.

Before we fall back into the school year routine (she is going to pre-school, I know we are not even half way there as far as routines go), we thought of catching up on necessary life sustaining skills and made some berry quick muffins together.

This is a recipe any three year old kid can make, with a little bit of help from adults. These muffins are only mildly sweet, superfast to put together, and splendid to eat warm out of the oven, with a dab of butter on top. We had so much fun making them, and my child says that she will be making it again.

Blueberry quick muffins

Recipe 

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Blueberries – 1 cup
Sugar – ½ cup
Salt – ½ tsp
Baking powder – 3 tbsp
Butter – ¼ cup- melted
Egg –slightly beaten – 1
Milk – 1 cup

Heat oven to 350C. Lightly butter a muffin pan (regular size/12 muffin cups per pan) Mix 1 ¾ cup of flour with baking powder, sugar and salt. Add milk, melted butter, and egg to the flour mixture. Combine everything together with a wooden spoon until just combined, do not over mix. Now sprinkle 1/4 cup flour over berries, gently toss to coat. Add the berries to the batter, gently fold in. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups till about 3/4th full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted at the center of the muffins comes out clean. Keep the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Unmold, serve warm with a dollop of butter or enjoy after the muffins cool down. 

Substitute blueberries with peaches, mangoes, other berries etc. 

This recipe is adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

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Cardamom cashew cookies

Snow in summer plants are not in bloom yet, these photos were taken on a day two years ago when I could go out and pluck a flower from our back yard, and then compose a shot around it. I love flowers as props, but only when I can get them from our garden. Our first snow storm which amassed a whopping one inch of snow came a week ago, and in just a couple of hours withered the first blooms on my lovely Euphorbia plant, which blossomed for the first time after taking its time to grow up . My gardening pals assure me that it will spring back in a week or two, I hope it does, or else I am going to be very annoyed at the snow, don’t you dare come back this year, or may be you can, on Christmas day, that is fine with me. Thanks.

Perched snugly below these flowers are some lovely cardamom cookies, slathered generously with some white chocolate. What make these cookies burst with flavor is the powdered toasted cashew nuts in them, so if you decide to skip the decorating part altogether it will be quite alright. Just like you would do with any other rolled cookie, chill the dough for a good one hour before you start working with it.

Cardamom cashew cookies
Recipe

Cashew nuts – 1 cup
All purpose flour – 2 cups
Salt – ½ tsp
Butter, unsalted – 1 cup (two sticks)
Sugar - 2/3 cup
Egg yolks – 2
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp ( or seeds from 10 pods powdered)
White chocolate chips (optional) - for decoration 3/4 cup

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread cashew nuts on it. Roast the nuts at 350oC till the nuts are slightly browned (takes about 10 minutes, but keep an eye on it from after 5 minutes)Turn the oven off; take the sheet out, cool on kitchen counter. When the nuts are cool, grind to a fine powder adding ¼ cup sugar, keep aside.

Cream butter and the remaining sugar together till fluffy (about 5 minutes), add eggs and beat again for 2 more minutes. Add the ground nut mixture, cardamom powder and mix well for a minute. Now add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly to combine (for 1 minute). Devide the dough into two, cover with kitchen wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Heat oven to 350 degree C. Roll the dough between parchment sheets to about 1/8th inch thickness and cut shapes out of it. If it gets difficult to lift the cut out shapes, return the dough to fridge, chill for 5 minutes and then take out the cutouts. Keep the cookies 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-15 minutes or till the edges begin to brown. Cool the cookies on a wire rack, store in an air tight container for up to a week. Makes about 40 cookies.

Decorating (optional)
Keep the white chocolate chips in a thick glass mixing bowl. Microwave till the chips look glossy but still hold the shape. Take the bowl out and with a fork, whisk thoroughly, till you a get a smooth mixture. Apply the molten chocolate on the cookie using a brush. Sprinkle with some crushed nuts or decorative sugar crystals if you like.

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The marble cake ! What are you making amma? Marble cake, YUM ! Oh.. no...no.. But why honey bee , why?

My child then launched herself into a frantic search under the couch, inside a box, and unearthed a couple of marbles she plays with, picked it up, puffed a weensy sigh of relief and left the place without looking at the cake again. Now may I ask, why do we loose our inherent ability to connect the dots as we grow up? Offer me many leads on anything and I am still clueless. When you are three you need only one to get going! Chocolate vanilla marble cake is one of the three desserts I fondly remember from when i was young. Back then it was always served plain with out any frosting which undoubtedly was the best way to enjoy a cake with such intense milky taste and a melt in the mouth texture.

Unlike I did while making this cake you see in the photo, mix coco with only 1/4th of the batter, which helps in getting a finer marbling. There are many ways to make this well working recipe taste even better. Add 1 tsp of instant coffee granules to the coco mixture and you could call it a mocha marble cake, or just add ¼ tsp instead and make people wonder about what kicks the chocolate flavor up a notch in the cake. Substitute milk with evaporated milk and the cake tastes out of this world, trust me.

I am sending this post to the Kerala kitchen event hosted by Ria this month celebrating recipes from or inspired by the cuisine of the state

Vanilla-Chocolate Marble Cake

Recipe All purpose flour – 1 ½ cup Corn flour/starch – ¼ cup Sugar – 1 cup Butter – ½ cup (1 stick) Eggs -3 Baking powder – 2 tsp Vanilla essence – 1 tsp Coco powder – ¼ cup Milk- ¾ cup Salt – ½ tsp

Make sure all ingredients for this cake are at room temperature. Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Mix all purpose flour, corn starch, salt and baking powder with a wire whisk for about 1 minute, keep aside.

Beat softened butter with sugar till it is light and fluffy. This step is very important to get the right texture for this cake. You will have to mix at medium speed if using a stand mixer for about 6 minutes. Now add eggs one at a time mixing in between. Add vanilla essense.Keep mixing for 2 more minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the flour mixture in four batches, alternating with milk. Mix till everything is well combined. Add 4 tbsp boiling water to coco powder, mix well with a spoon. Take out 1//4 th of the batter to a separate bowl and whisk in the coco mixture. Mix very well. Spoon the white and chocolate batter in an alternating fashion to resemble a checker board. (Use a big spoon for white and smaller one for chocolate to make it easy) Once you spoon in all the batter, tap the pan twice strongly on the work bench to remove the gaps between the two batters. Now run a knife deeply through the batter going from one side to another from one end to the other in a swirling fashion. Repeat the swirling process 2 more times.

Bake for 40 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean. Keep the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Unmold the cake and allow to cool down completely ( ~ 1 hr). Enjoy with a cup of tea.

* I used Hershey's Special dark coco to get the deep chcolate color you see in the cake

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Weekend cake peek

Here is a cake photo for you fine people, not a new one though.

I have no idea about what impelled me to start sorting out my food photos this morning; the year 2010 is still many many folders away. A rainy, relaxing long weekend chills your neurons well enough to make you believe that it is easy to do the impossible. Hope you all are having fun.

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Season’s sweet things – “You-know-what”

Gleeful happenings are taking place on the lower quarter of our Christmas tree, ornaments are constantly switching places and ribbons seem to be perennially on the move. A pink Dora whistle and a yogurt tub lid were found spending time on the tree for a while, before getting replaced with a scrubbing pad and a piece of chalk. Altogether it looks like so much Christmas fun for someone in the house!

I purposely decided not to start off this post mentioning fruitcake; you are still here, aren’t you? People from my home state are long known to pledge their allegiance to this cake perhaps from the time when British inspired bakeries began making the cake, substituting difficult ingredients like molasses with home made caramel syrup, adding on other spice favorites like shajeera, lavishing on cashew nuts, and skimping on candied fruits for good. Every Christmas we bake some, buy some, gift some, eat even more and then start off again in our relentless pursuit for making the best fruit cake ever. The journey is on and we all know that getting there is perhaps all the fun!

My favorite fruitcake recipe still is the most viewed post in this blog, so I think it is only fair to share one more. The Rum and raisin fruit cake gets its intense flavor and melt in the mouth texture from the boiled raisin puree used in the recipe. Always make sure that you bake the cake till the cake tester comes out clean with some crumbs attached to it. Also if you are using a dark surface cake pan, cover outside with Aluminum foil to prevent over browning of the cake during the prolonged baking time.

Rum and raisin fruitcake

Granulated sugar 1 ½ cups + ½ cup
Butter ¾ cup
Eggs 2
All purpose flour 2 ½ cups
Baking powder 2 tsp
Ground cloves ½ tsp
Ground nutmeg ¼ tsp
Ground Shajeera 1 tsp
Salt ¼ tsp
Orange extract ½ tsp
Rum ¼ cup +1/4 cup+ 2 tbsp
Raisins 2 cups + 2 cups
Chopped cashew nuts 1 cup

Raisin Puree
Cook 2 cups of raisins with 1 cup of water, and ¼ cup of Rum with occasional stirring till the raisins are very tender. Cool the mixture, blend to a fine puree adding just enough water to get the blender going if needed.

Caramel syrup
Mix ½ cup sugar with 2 tbsp water in a sauce pan, turn on the heat, and mix well till the sugar dissolves. Now stand back and wait for the sugar syrup to start caramelizing, mix with a wooden spatula till the syrup turns deep golden brown. Turn the heat to low, add ½ cup water ,increase the heat a bit with constant stirring till all sugar clumps dissolve. Cool and refrigerate up to 1 week.

Soaking fruits
Soak 2 cup raisins in ½ cup orange juice+ ½ cup water+ ¼ cup rum for 1-2 days in the refrigerator (Or microwave the mixture (without rum) for 4 minutes, add the rum and soak for 4-6 hours). Drain off the excess liquid before adding fruits to the batter.

Heat oven to 325 degree F, grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan

In a bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and spices with a wire whisk.

Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, add eggs, orange extract, spices, caramel syrup and continue creaming for 2 more minutes. Add the raisin puree and flour mixture alternating between the two, mixing very well after each addition. Add soaked raisins, chopped nuts and mix well with a wooden spoon. Spoon the batter (it will be very thick, you may add a couple of tablespoons of water to the batter if and only if it is needed, otherwise the fruits will sink to the bottom of the cake) into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hr and 30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake come out clean with a few crumbs on it. Start testing after 1 hr 15 minutes. Keep the cake on a wire rack to cool down for 20 minutes. Invert the cake, brush it with 2 tbsp of rum (optional) and let the cake rest for a day before serving. Store at room temperature for up to 7 days, refrigerate for up to a month

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Season’s sweet things – Indian spice cookies

It is the season again, my favorite of all times. As we begin December, I am not craving for sunshine or missing the crisp air of autumn, I have only Christmas in my head for now, and that is where I will stay for the rest of this year. I try to do everything early enough, so that I can kick the kitchen apron off, bunch up icing tips, tuck away rolling pins, brush all purpose flour off every surface in the house, and relax as we get close to Christmas day. That never seems to happen, I go like a spinning wheel come December, till about Christmas Eve when everything suddenly settles, and serenity comes back with such a force that I will not ever have it in any other way at any time in my life! There, I said it!

Now I dare you all to make a batch of these cookies I loved to hate growing up. My attitude has mellowed ever since, this year I am even making some to include in the goodie basket for friends, a few of them are probably in for a surprise. Hidden behind the deceptive appearance of a crumbly butter cookie lurks an inner self perked up with some good amount of chilly powder and garam masala. A couple of bakeries in my home town used to spice these cookies up so high that your lips will burn for some good number of minutes after you ate one. When you adjust the heat level to fit your tolerance, you will see that these cookies are delectable in a different way.

Masala/Spice Cookies

All purpose flour 3 ¾ cup
Butter 1 ¾ cup
Confectioners sugar 1 ½ cup
Cashew nuts, finely chopped 1 cup
Garam masala 1 ½ tsp
Chilly powder 2 tsp
Ginger paste 1 tsp
Salt 1/4 tsp

Heat oven to 350 degreeC. Soften butter with a wooden spoon, add the rest of the ingredients and make smooth dough with the help of a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. Do not over work the dough, if it gets sticky refrigerate for 20 minutes. Make 1 inch balls of the dough and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes or till the edges begin to brown. Immediately transfer cookies along with the parchment sheet to a wire rack. Cool, store in air tight container for up to a week.

Makes approximately 70 cookies

Optional : Decorate with edible gold dust to fit the season.

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Making a fondant ribbon rose

A fondant ribbon rose is an easy sugar flower to make, classy enough to adorn a wedding cake or sufficiently playful to sit atop a toddlers Birthday cake. Even without much practice you can make one flower per minute from pre-cut fondant ribbon. I made all the flowers for Sarah’s Birthday cake while watching a movie. You just can’t beat that convenience!

Two slightly different methods of making these flowers are here and here

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Our little girl turns three today...

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Thoughts on getting back to blogging, and a cake

It was not fun being away from blogging on and off for about 2 years. There were lingering thoughts in the back of my mind about recipes to share, stories to tell, and photos to capture. In the year before I went missing from the blogosphere, I made the most friends I ever did in a span of 365 days, and loved it. We exchanged emails, made phone calls, shared laughter, recipes, everyday ups and downs, all the while learning a thing or two from each other. Thank you folks, you have touched my life in more ways than you think.

When I look into my routine now, I realize that there is just enough time to accommodate blogging into it. After all, you are only as busy as you think you are. Life’s little rushes will keep on catching me at times, but I will try to post as often I can. Please stay tuned. Just for a start, here is a cake I made for our wedding anniversary this year. My mind was set on a coral color chiffon wedding sari from the Sixties that I saw a while ago, very similar to the ones those charming leading ladies draped around and danced on in the Hindi movies from that period.

Happy anniversary V&S !

To Pramila, Thank you.

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Cardamom - cashew cookies for CLICK May 2009

Good news alert !

I am thrilled to shreds. How could i not be, when all those fine judges at CLICK-May edition picked this photo as the second place winner in the best capture category? This might just give me the much needed inspiration to pick up the camera and shoot before i eat anything. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you judges

Cardamom cashew cookies for CLICK , a monthly food photography event at Bee and Jai's awe-inspiring blog Jugalbandi I WILL BE BACK SOON

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Melting moments

I wish for a white Christmas (especially so since we spend time at home on the day) every December even after knowing that the odds are against me. National weather service forecast office predicts a desperately low probability of 0.8 % for seeing snow in Portland on Christmas day. The last white Christmas here was in 1937, so we just do not have high hopes. Yet, I wish!

In our kitchen it was snowing though, I spend most of my time yesterday (which isn’t much these days), making melting moments. There is something ethereal to the look of these cookies sitting on a baking sheet, clad in a fine dust of confectionary sugar. There is no other cookie which lives up to its name as this one does, practically crumbling and melting away in your mouth. I flavored one giant batch with cardamom and another with coffee, two of my favorite flavors. My personal pick is cardamom, but coffee went neck and neck for the honor. We have packed cookie bags for our friends , fruitcake is ready, crib and tree are set. Come on Christmas !

Thank you all for a fantastic year of companionship, for your hearty comments, lovely mails and of course for visiting a blog that was silent for the most part of the year. We wish you all a jovial season filled with merriment, laughter, good food, and company. May the love and abundance of this season be with you through the coming New Year . Thank you.

Recipe I used is from Joy of Baking website. For a batch of cardamom flavored cookies, I added 12 tsp of freshly ground cardamom seeds to the basic recipe. For making coffee cookies, add 21/2 tsp of instant coffee granules instead.

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It is snowing, on a cookie !

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Cookies to keep- Cashew nut biscotti

Time flew exceptionally fast this year; Christmas is here before I knew it. Yet there is no going back in drinking to the gaiety of the season, this year’s Christmas is very special in our house. Our daughter Sarah is now 3 months old, happily spending her time to eat, coo, smile and you know what. We cling to her as much as we can, we are warned that they grow up so fast,holiday baking can wait.

But then, this is the year to start a holiday baking tradition, especially since we do not really have any. We make fruitcake year around, as it is the only cake MrT ever longs for. I do bake cookies during the holiday season, but it changes from year to year. So I have picked a couple of my favorite cookies to make it our own, to pass it along my family tree! Cookie no 1 is going to be that fried cookie, which is nothing but a traditional Indian goodie my mother used to make for many other celebrations except Christmas. As for picking number two, currently I have no conflict of choices; it is going to be a biscotto. " Biscotti " if you are planning to eat two or more. Dunking is one of my favorite pass times. I grew up with good old rusk, dunked in black tea, swallowed without a thought crossing the mind. Rusk will eventually be honored in this blog with due respect and affection. But for today I raise my cup of tea to the very dunkable , al Italiano, biscotti. Be merry, it is the season!

The recipe is adapted from an almond biscotti recipe from BHG website.

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup coarsely chopped cashew nuts
1/4tsp ground caraway seeds ( purely optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the center of this mixture, add eggs and egg yolks. Stir to combine with the dry ingredients. Add melted butter and ground caraway seeds ( if adding), mix with a wooden spatula or by hand. When the dough comes together, stir in the chopped nuts.

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; divide into three equal portions. Form each portion into a 14-inch-long log. Keep the logs approximately 3 inches apart on the baking sheet; flatten slightly until about 1-1/2 inches wide. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until firm and light brown. Remove from oven and cool for several minutes. Using a serrated knife cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake 10 to 15 minutes more or until golden brown. Store in an air tight container for a week or two.

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