Dump Cake Recipe

This dump cake is so perfect for fall dinners and get-togethers and super easy to make. Life is all about fancy short-cuts! ;-)

All you need is:

• One can of cherry pie filling
• A box of cake mix (I used french vanilla)
• One stick butter 

Now follow these 3 simple steps -

And just like that - dessert is ready!! Serve it slightly warm and top it off with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit for the extra oomph!

Enjoy.
P.S. This recipe is egg less so is perfect for anyone with dietary restrictions too.

Carrot side-dish

Sometimes, we get so busy in our lives and everyday tensions from work that we forget the basics of a good dinner. It was much easy growing up when parents used to worry about making sure that dinner consists of the right amount of fresh veggies, proteins, healthy carbs and calcium from yogurt. And don't forget the fruits!

For me, it takes a lot of conscious effort to include a balanced diet and to make sure that I am not repeating the same recipes with staple vegetables in my kitchen (potato, onion, tomato, cauliflower) every week. 

I would like to include more colorful veggies in my diet and recipes that are easy and tasty and healthy - Like this colorful carrot salad that Aai makes. I can eat this everyday!

All you need is:

• Four carrots (grated)
• Two green chillies (split length-wise)
• Juice from one lime
• Some finely chopped coriander
• Half teaspoon sugar
• Salt to taste
• Mustard seeds
• Hing/ asafoetida powder
• One teaspoon of oil

Heat the oil and add hing powder and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, take it off the stove and mix with rest of the ingredients.

It goes very well as a side-dish with Indian daal and roti. Enjoy!

Chocolate Fudge

A month of sweet treats continues in the office -- and everyday there is a new tray of cookies/ cake/ fudge to try out! So hard to resist! :-)

Here is another recipe from Pam - Chocolate fudge - and this one is really easy to make...

All you need is:
- 3 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup melted butter
- 1 small can (5 oz.) of evaporated milk (not the sweetened milk)
- 12 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 jar (7 oz.) of Kraft's jet-puffed marshmallow creme
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecan pieces
- 1 teaspoon of  vanilla extract

Add the sugar, butter and evaporated milk in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. After it starts boiling, continue to keep the mix on medium heat for 5 min.

Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, vanilla extract and the walnuts/pecans. Stir and mix well.

Pour the mix into a 9x13 baking pan and let it cool. I refrigerated it overnight and cut the fudge into thick pieces the next day.

You can also pack this in a mason jar and wrap it with tissue for a home-made Christmas gift!

Apple Sauce Cake

Last week my co-worker got this most amazing apple sauce cake to work for the whole team to share with the afternoon cup of coffee. It is so awesome to be surrounded with co-workers like her! :-)

Pam also shared her recipe (passed on by her mom), and I tried it out on this lazy, cold and rainy weekend afternoon.

Ingredients
For the cake:
21/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter
11/2 cups apple sauce
11/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup crushed pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups powdered sugar

For the cake: Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix well. Sift flour and spices together. Alternate the flour mixture and applesauce into the butter mixture until all is added and mixed well.  Add the pecan/walnut pieces to the batter.

Pour the mix into a well-greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the icing:
Melt butter and brown sugar together. Heat to a boil for 2 minutes. While stirring constantly, add milk and return to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn-off heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.

Once cooled, add the powdered sugar. If the icing is too running, add more sugar (little at a time). When the icing is a little thickened pour onto the cake and let it cool. Sprinkle a little bit of powdered sugar on the top.

The icing was the best part of the recipe. I couldn't stop tasting it every few minutes. 

So yummmm! 

Mocktails

A few weeks back, T's friends visited us and I made these mocktails for them.

The red one is just rooh afza syrup in water and the other one is Orange juice with some peach flavored soda with a red cherry dropped to the bottom of the glass. Adding some color to the weekend!

Ginger Chutney

My eldest aunt gave me the recipe for ginger pickle last time I spoke to her and I tried it out this week. It came out okay but I think I had an overdose of 'methi' seeds in the recipe. I will have to try it again, specially since its so easy to make!

Recipe -
Make a tadka of red chillies, methi seeds (use 1/4th of a spoon or even less), chana daal (1/2 spoon), mustard seeds and a few curry leaves.
Grind the tadka in magic bullet.  Add 1 cup of diced ginger pieces, 2 spoons of tamarind paste, salt to taste and 1/4th a spoon of jaggery and grind it all till it becomes a fine paste.

And voila - it's done!
I love simple recipes! :D