Amna J's Microwave Brownies

I was a tad skeptical about these, primarily because the recipe calls for a whole cup of oil. That's more oil than I've ever used in a single cake! But these are very dense, fudgy brownies, and done in five minutes! For variations, you can add m'N'ms, assorted nuts, etc. You can also reduce the sugar a bit: more than 3/4 and less than a whole cup. Experiment! Happy Baking! =D

[Photographs coming soon]

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup coco powder
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar

1. Beat eggs until fluffy.


2. Add sugar and oil, beating until the sugar is dissolved [you may grind the sugar just a little bit, to make this step easier]


3. Sieve together the flour and coco powder, twice


4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, beating well.


5. Pour into greased microwave safe dish, and microwave for 3-5 minutes on a medium-high setting according to your machine [check after thrid minute]

Does not require topping, though a little extra chocolate never hurt anyone. Nutella? *hinthint* ;) You may sprinkle it with dessicated coconut, if you like the flavor!

Sweet Rolls

I increase the amount of sugar to atleast half cup, to make them sweeter. Come out beautifully =D


5 tsp. active dry yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)
4 large eggs
2 tsp. salt
4 cups bread flour
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp. milk



Instructions:
In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and milk. Let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.

Beat together the eggs until fluffy and pale lemon yellow, about 5 minutes. Add the yeast mixture and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the flour to the egg mixture in three additions, alternating with the melted butter and beginning and ending with the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 18 standard muffin cups.

Punch down the dough with a wooden spoon. Scoop out and divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Lightly butter a sheet of plastic wrap and place, buttered side down, over the rolls. Let rise again until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

Uncover the rolls and lightly brush the tops with the egg-milk mixture. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a roll comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn the rolls out of the pan onto the rack and let cool completely before serving.

White Bread

If you like to read fiction, there's a good chance you would have come across people baking bread at home. And you'd have read about "the smell of fresh bread baking" and the "aroma of yeast permeating the kitchen" =p It always sounded delightful to me, and I've forever been wanting to try my hand at different breads.

This is a very basic recipe, and I halve it to make one loaf at a time. The crust come out very crunchy sometimes, and I'm still experimenting as to how to make it softer. I also increase the amount of sugar considerably. half cup water may be replaced by half cup milk.



4 1/2 tsp./1/2 oz./14g active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6-7 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast and 1/2 cup warm water. Stir until dissolved. Add remaining warm water, butter, sugar and salt. Stir until mixed.

2. Add 6-7 cups of flour and mix until blended. Add enough of the remaining flour until dough forms a smooth ball that is slightly sticky to the touch.

3. Place dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

4. Punch dough down, divide in half, and shape into loaves. Place loaves into two 9 x 5-inch greased loaf pans and let rise until double in size, about an hour.

5. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes.

Chocolate LoveStories!

Also Called a "Dirt Dessert" =D

Pineaaple No-bake Souffle

2 Tbsp plain flour
2 Cups milk
1 Cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 packet [250 ml] cream
2-3 Tbsp gelatin
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tin pineapple bits

Blend together the milk, flour, sugar and egg yolks.
Pour into a sauce pan and cook, stirring, until thickened.
Let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, dissolve the gelatin in 2-3 tbsp boiling water.
Pour gelatin paste into the custard, stirring constantly.
Whip the cream with the vanilla essence, until thickened, and mix into the custard.
Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, and fold into the mousse mixture until just incorporated.

Sprinkle pineapple bits on the base of serving dish. Pour the mousse into the dish, and top with more pineapple bits, letting them sink into the dessert. Cool and let set.

This dessert will be served out of the dish.

If you want a denser mousse which may be turned out of a mold, increase flour to three tbsp, and gelatin to three and a half tbsp. oil the mold slightly before pouring the mousse in, and let sit over night in the refrigerator.

How food connects!

I came in contact with an old acquaintance after ages. And what did we talk about? Food!!! Here is one of the recipes he shared:

pinapple sauce kai liayai you'll need a can of pineapple chunks...you know.."malee" waghaira..a chunk of ginger 4 cloves of garlic a lil starch and mollasses and soy sauce

you can use honey instead of the mollasses

red pepper flakes is an optional

blend all the ingredients WITH the juice from the can

and then simmer it until it gets a lil thick over medium heat

I can't wait to try it out!! =D

Sponge Cake

4 Eggs
1/2 cup sifted, grounded white sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

Separate the Eggs, beating the egg whites in a small bowl until absolutely stiff.

Add the yolks and beat to incorporate.

In a separate bowl, sift together the rest of the ingredients atleast five times to aerate and mix well.

Fold the dry ingredients into the eggs, until a thick batter is formed.

Pour into a greased tin that has been lined with paper (the cake is very soft). Bake at 180 for about 20 minutes or until done (skewer inserted in the center comes out dry).

To Assemble:

Split from the middle.

Drizzle juice from a fruit tin (pineapple or mixed fruit, or even peaches) over the bottom half. Spread whipped cream in a thin layer, and then sprinkle with fruit bits.

Put the top layer on, and drizzle juice on that as well. Then cover the complete cake with whipped cream, and decorate with fruit!