Butter and more butter!:))

Thought of trying out a new recipe for a really, really rich chocolate cake yesterday...just for fun!  The recipe I've been using for so many years now works just great...lovely and light and fluffy...but I wanted to check out one of those "sinfully rich and decadent" chocolate cakes which everyone seems to drool over!  Okay, so I found myself a recipe and got to work setting out the ingredients.  Fifty gm of flour...a little on the minimal side I thought, but maybe that's what would make the cake all yummy and gooey, so in went fifty gms of flour!  Then came the butter...oops! One hundred and fifty gms!  A wee bit...wait a minute...wayyyyyyy too much I felt, so the miser that I am, I cut it down to half and in went seventy five gms!:)) The rest of the ingredients seemed normal so I proceeded to bake the cake.  Here are the results!  Gooey and fudgy, but way too rich for my taste!  That being said, I do believe that a thin, thin slice of it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream would make a great dessert...but just a VERY thin slice!  I think I'm going to stick to my old, tried and tested chocolate cake recipe....gooey is fine, but it's also nice when you have a happy tummy after eating it!  Truly "Death by Chocolate"!:))

One Rainy Afternoon!:))

The last time it rained really heavily...little hailstones and all...I was in my kitchen on the terrace, baking.  My kitchen has metal roofing and the din of the rain hammering down on the roof was quite deafening...absolutely LOVELY...just puts me in such a happy, happy, happy frame of mind!:))  Anyway, in walked S, my daughter..."Can you think of anything better than the smell of warm cinnamon rolls baking in the oven on a rainy, wet afternoon?" she said.  Need I say more?:))  Out came the flour, cinnamon, raisins and everything else and here are the cinnamon buns....hot and yummy...with a crunchy caramelised topping!:))

Healthy Tea Cakes!

Okay:)) since I have finally taken the plunge and begun to update my rather empty blog, I may as well post pics of the class I had a few days ago on "Healthy, Low Calorie Cakes"!:))

                                  Carrot Cake



The class was great fun, wonderful people again...made lots of easy, healthy, yummy goodies....to be tucked into, totally guilt free! Yay!:))                                                                        



Fruit and Nut Bars

                                         Banana and Walnut Cake

Whole wheat dark chocolate cake

Pics of my first class!

Hi everyone! I'm back again with a new post....dedicated to my friend C who was horrified to find that there had been no new posts in the last six months since my blog was created...and also to my daughter who keeps reprimanding me to update, update and update some more!:))) These are pictures taken at the first class of "Fresh Cream Cakes" that I took, again, the credit of which goes to one of my students V, who took them so systematically and very kindly mailed them to me! (Thinking of making her my "official photographer"...maybe give her a discount or something to entice her into coming, what say V? If ever you read this :)))

Anyway, jokes aside, the class was great, lovely people and wonderfully encouraging...what a fantastic way to make more and more friends every day!

Finally posting a picture of my little kitchen on the terrace :)...my creative (and untidy) getaway!  I've heard that good chefs always clean up as they go along, but the best ones are those who put in all the effort on what they are making (or so I like to believe:))
Baked a whole wheat, low cal pizza a few days ago for friends who were over at my place for dinner.  It also doubled up as a trial for my classes (smart, don't you think? Using my poor pals as guinea pigs?:))  Apparently they all liked it, since what I planned as an appetiser, turned out to constitute almost all of dinner!:))
Caramelised onion tartlets...yes, you guessed right :)) also tried out on the guinea pigs....verdict...successful!