Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet cupcakes are delicious dessert topped with the popular cream cheese frosting or any frosting of your choice. 

Buttermilk is essential in baking red velvet cupcakes as it adds the tangy flavor to the cupcakes and also makes them moist. The additional vinegar makes the batter color brighter and when reacted with baking soda makes the cupcakes super light and fluffy.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups
• Sugar - 1 1/3 cups
• Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
• Baking soda - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Oil - 1 cup
• Egg whites - 2
• Red food coloring - 1 tbsp
• White vinegar - 1 tsp
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Red colored sugar for decorating (optional)

    To make buttermilk

• Milk - 1 1/2 cups
• Lemon juice/White vinegar - 1 1/2 tbsp

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 12 cup standard muffin tin with cupcake liners and keep aside.
3. To make buttermilk, in a small bowl stir lemon juice into milk. Allow it to stand for 5 mins or until thickened and slightly curdled.
4. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and keep aside.
5. In another bowl, mix buttermilk, oil, egg whites, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla extract together until combined.
6. Make a hole in the middle of dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture. Mix until combined.
7. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter.
8. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean or with few crumbs, not wet batter.
9. Cool in the muffin tins for 5 mins and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting or buttercream frosting and sprinkle with red colored sugar, if using. Enjoy!

Continue Reading >>

Ashoka Halwa|Pasiparuppu Halwa|Split Moong Dal Halwa

Ashoka Halwa is a delicious South Indian dessert made with moong dal and wheat flour. It is a popular sweet originated from Thiruvayaiyaru(Thanjavur district, Tamilnadu).

Ingredients

• Split moong dal - 1/2 cup
• Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Ghee - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
• All purpose flour(Maida) - 1tbsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Food color - 1 pinch
• Cashew nuts - 8-10

Method

1. In a pressure cooker dry roast moong dal for 1 minute in high flame or until it leaves nice aroma. Do not brown the dal.
2. Add 3 cups of water and cook till mushy and soft. Grind into smooth paste.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry cashew nuts until golden. Remove from pan and keep aside.
4. In the same pan add the wheat flour and all purpose flour and roast it in small flame until it emits roasted aroma.
5. Add moong dal paste and sugar to the roasted flour and mix well in medium flame. The mixture becomes watery when the sugar melts.
6. Add food color, cardamom powder, roasted cashew nuts and a tbsp of ghee and stir continuously.
7. When the mixtures becomes slightly thick add another tbsp of ghee and keep stirring continuously in medium flame. Keep adding the ghee at regular intervals.
8. Cook until the halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan and the ghee oozes out of the mixture. If the halwa doesn't stick to your hands it means it is cooked to the right consistency.
9. Ready to serve and enjoy the treat!

Continue Reading >>

Sweet Kozhukattai|Vella Kozhukattai|Mothagam

Vella Kozhukattai is a delicious sweet recipe prepared during Vinayagar Chathurthi festival. The stuffing is made out of coconut and jaggery (thengai pooranam).

Ingredients

• Rice flour - 1 cup (Idiyappam flour preferable)
• Oil - 1 tsp (sesame oil preferable)
• Salt - to taste

    For pooranam

• Jaggery - 1 cup
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Boil 1.5 cups of water with oil and salt for a minute and turn off the flame.
2. Add rice flour gradually while stirring continuously with a spatula. Cover it and let it cool.
3. Knead the dough while it's warm and keep aside. Keep it covered with a damp cloth and close it with a lid.
4. For pooranam, heat a pan and add jaggery and 1/4 cup of water. Mix till the jaggery melts and filter to remove impurities. Return the jaggery water to the pan and add grated coconut, ghee and cardamom powder. Mix well for 5 minutes in low-medium flame until it thickens and become dry. Turn off the stove. Don't overcook the mixture.
5. Make even sized balls from the dough. Keep it covered with the damp cloth to prevent drying.
6. Grease the mould with oil, close it and put 3/4th of the ball in the mould. Press the dough on the walls of the mould using your fingers. 
7. Add a portion of pooranam and seal it evenly with the remaining 1/4th of the ball on top.
8. Open the mould and gently remove the kozhukattai/modakam from the mould.
9. Repeat this and keep covered until steaming.
10. Arrange all the kozhukattais on a idli plate and steam cook for 10 minutes. Ready to serve.

Continue Reading >>

Vermicelli Kheer|Semiya Payasam|சேமியா பாயசம்

Semiya payasam is one of the easiest sweets and a very common dish that can be made for any occasion. This delicious dish is made with roasted vermicelli, sugar and milk. It can be served hot or cold.

Vermicelli Kheer

Ingredients

• Vermicelli/Semiya - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Water - 2 cups
• Cashews - 5-6
• Raisins - 10
• Cardamom powder - a pinch
• Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method

1. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashews and raisins until light golden brown. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
2. In the same pan roast vermicelli in low-medium heat until golden. Keep aside.
3. Boil water in a sauce pan and add the roasted vermicelli. Cook until soft.
4. Add the milk and bring it to boil.
5. Add sugar and cardamom powder. Stir well. Cook until the sugar dissolves and switch off the stove.
6. Garnish with roasted cashews and raisins. Ready to serve.

Continue Reading >>

Rava Ladoo|Semolina Ladoo

Rava laddu/Semolina ladoo is a delicious sweet recipe which is very popular and suitable for all occasions. It can also be used as a dessert for a party. It is made using rava/semolina/suji, cashewnuts and ghee.

Ingredients

• Rava/Semolina/Suji - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Ghee - 1/3 cup
• Cardamom - 2
• Cashewnuts - 1/4 cup

Method

1. Roast the rava in a pan in low flame for a while and grind into a powder using a blender.
2. Grind the sugar with the cardamom into a very fine powder.
3. Mix the powdered rava and sugar in a large bowl.
4. To this mixture, add roasted cashewnuts and mix well.
5. Heat the ghee and add to this mixture.
6. Stir well using a ladle.
7. When the mixture turns warm enough to handle, make small balls out of it.

Tips

- If the mixture is dry and couldn't able to make the balls, add some warm milk or ghee.

Continue Reading >>