The beauty of Spring Flowers



When I was in fourth grade, I think we had a poem reciting competition and I had memorised a poem from a 20 year old Wren and Martin that my mum and my aunt had used in school before that. The poem was about some flowers, and it was a very famous poem, but I was nine, and to me all that mattered was memorising it. I had never even seen the flowers, so I didn't really get it. So I memorised the poem. But it was so beautiful, that even to my 9 year old mind, it sounded so lyrical, so melodious, that I remembered the poem for years. Not the exact words naturally, but the beauty the words created, the image they brought to my mind. It doesn't talk about a place, but it takes you there anyway, to a large undulating field, with yellow flowers growing wild, dancing in the wind, inviting you to join them. So when I saw the flowers for real, I was nine again, reciting the poem in front of the entire school (and no, I don't remember if I won anything for it)

 

Daffodils

 

"I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

 

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."

- William Wordsworth









Strawberry Jam

Strawberry season is almost over here in India. In other parts of the world, Strawberries are just about popping up.  If you have any strawberries (preferably those grown locally or indigenously) in the market, get them. Make some jam at home.

 

 

When I was in fourth grade, my parents had taken me to a farm that grew strawberries and sold house made preserves. I don't remember much of the farm visit or how the farm looked but it couldn't have been anything less than stunning. Any farm that plays music for its plants is obviously no ordinary farm.  It had to be something to make an impression on my 9 year old mind. Just read what The Hindu has to say about it.  However, I do remember their strawberry conserve. And I remember it so vividly, that I could have eaten it yesterday and not a decade back.

 

It came in large clear glass jars that used to be filled to the top. I saw it as a coveted addition to my lunch, and rationed as if I could make it last forever. The barely set red syrup used to be full of whole strawberries - making it fun to scoop out the biggest, juiciest strawberry from the jar into the plate. The strawberries themselves  - they were soft, but didn't turn straight to mush when you ate, they were sweet but pleasantly acidic at the same time. They were strawberries, but they were something more. They probably only lacked gold dust.

 

 

 

A pie for all seasons: Banoffee Pie

Choosing cakes for someones birthday is not easy. Even if you know what that person likes, there are too many choices, too many ingredients, too little time and a pantry that will have the key ingredient missing (and sometimes that's butter). And of course, me being me, I had to pick something of importance, with history, with a story to tell...

 

 

Which brought me to this, the Banoffee Pie. It's not something I had not heard enough about, let alone eat it. It's hard to come by this pie in my city, but as I found out it's seen in some small tourist towns in Northern India. But the wonders of the internet mean that you find a lot of desserts you never you knew about and eat with your eyes much before you can even taste. It had a flavour combination I had never tried - bananas with caramel and cream.

 

The pie is claimed to be England's best, tastiest, (insert-every-synonym of delicious), dessert ever.

The original recipe calls for shortcrust pastry, as the base, and uses coffee for garnish instead of chocolate. The caramel layer is made by boiling the can of condensed milk in a water bath for hours until the milk inside turns to toffee a la Dulce-de-leche. No matter which recipe you pick, the core flavours of banana combined with caramel are the same.

Chocolate Roll

When I make a birthday cake for a friend, I have two things in mind. One, I don't like buttercream laden, syrup soaked cakes. They are everywhere. And two, I want to make a cake that the birthday girl or boy will like and the cake has some sort of a legacy.  I am not sure what the recipients of the cakes think of that. Oh well.

With another birthday coming up, I kept switching from one cake to the next. My baker friend and I had endless chats on what we could and could not make. We wanted something new, something different, and we settled on a Yule log at the last minute. It was long past Christmas, but ever since I saw the recipe for the perfect Yule Log, I needed an excuse to make it.

Traditionally, Yule Log or bûche de Noël - is a cake that's made at Christmas.  Bûche de Noël comes from France/Europe from the Iron Age (medieval era), when it was traditional to burn a log of wood at Christmas which came after the winter solstice, to celebrate the end of the winter season and when the days start getting longer. In the early 17th century the first cakes appeared, to continue the tradition, albeit with cake. And the cakes were popularized in Paris during the 1800s. It is still made in bakeries and patisseries everywhere (even here, in India) for Christmas. The cake is very similar to the swiss roll - a flat sponge cake is filled and rolled. And in this case, iced, with a  chocolate frosting. This combined with the design of the frosting which imitates the bark of tree. 

Simple Baked Cheesecake

I realised today that the last few recipes on this blog have been all chocolate. Completely unintentional I tell you. But winter's the time to be really exploring chocolate in all it's forms, even ice-cream, isn't it? But even today's recipe can be made chocolaty - from crust to glaze and everything in between. But I have gone that way before and this is how it went: A chocolate cheesecake is not something that you expect - taste wise. It looks perfect, moist and creamy, but it's taste? The cheesecake is tangy/sour (like it's supposed to be) but the chocolate inside doesn't match the flavour. You think you are eating cake, a good cake, but there's something different about it. It grows on you.

But today, I am digging into a simple baked cheesecake.

A 'New York Cheesecake' or a 'Philadelphia Cheesecake' is how most people cross path with this dessert. Today, most cheesecakes are made with commercially bought cream cheese (and that too mostly Philadelphia). Commercial cream cheese was first made in 1872 which is similar to the French Cheese Neufchâtel. So the original cheesecakes were made with other ingredients.

Not a winter dessert

Someone once told me that the best time to eat ice-cream was not summer - but winter. When the lovely, creamy scoop stays the way it is. When the heat doesn't melt the confection rendering the waffle cone soggy. When you can actually savour each bite and are in no rush to finish the cone in your hand lest it melts into a puddle and onto your hands and eventually clothes. Is the sticky mess you might end up with really worth the ice cream? On the other hand - Who eats ice cream in the winter? Ice cream in winter is especially good at midnight snuggled in a blanket - when you have a radiator on one side and an ice cream on the other. 

A Wacky Chocolate Cake

Ever made eggless cakes that did not rise? Eggless cakes that were dense and heavy? Eggless cakes that didn't taste of the chocolate they were supposed to taste of. And that corner bakery somehow always made their eggless cakes oh-so-light-and-airy! Sometimes, just sometimes, eggless cakes do turn out right - even delicious, but sometimes they are too dry and there's so much of the rising agent in them, that carry that acidic taste. So with this, would you have ever thought that a vegan (no eggs, no butter, no milk) cake can be everything a purchased cake may be soft, airy, light and rich? Cake that you can make at home in one bowl (or less!).

I am talking about a cake that has many names, and nothing tells me what it's real name might be, but it doesn't make a difference. Wacky Cake, Depression era Chocolate cake Cake, Cake-Pan Cake, Crazy Cake and Dump Cake - take your pick. There may be slight differences in recipes here and there - but essentially these cakes have no butter and no eggs.

Coorg

Coorg is still something of a mystery to so many people. People know that coffee comes from the 'south' (in India) but very few people know exactly where it comes from (Chikmanglur and Coorg). Did you know that India has a Coffee Board? Did you know they have some cool facts about Indian Coffee on their website? I'd suggest if you are looking for something different, and a really relaxed, refreshing holiday, consider Coorg.

What to do

Honestly? Everything and nothing. Don't go there with a fixed itinerary. Decide once you reach. Take a look around. Monsoon is said to be a beautiful time to be there - but there's not much you can do if it rains.

Top 10 things to do when in Coorg (or a a list of stuff that you can do) -

Of Coffee, Peppercorns and Spice

As I rolled down my window for the first time heading towards Coorg, the smell of wet earth assailed my senses. The cicadas were chirping away merrily creating a beautiful and intimidating cacophony. And you know you are in a forest when all you see for miles are towering trees, electric fencing and freshly pulled out trees leading into the  woods, telling you that yes, you are in elephant country.  There were coffee plantations on one side of the road and a distinct chill in the air. The air was not only cool, but wet, rainy, sunny and green. So much green.  Fresh green peppercorns were hanging off every vine on every tree lined on the narrow one lane road tempting me to take my hand out of the window and taste them (and I am not even some big fan of pepper. Or wasn’t – I’ll get to that). I am talking about what's called the 'Scotland' of India, our coffee growing land – Kodagu district in the state of Karnataka.

Reaching the resort was a mystery in itself. The roads are only wide enough to accommodate one tiny car – let alone 2 huge SUV’s. The roads seem to go deeper into coffee heartland, with only a few signs of human habitation. Most resorts are nestled within coffee plantations, so unless you are a local, or have an amazing GPS, you need someone to guide you to your resort. It’s easy to get lost within (which is not so bad as long as you don’t stray into the forest and meet any wild elephants).

There's coffee!



We all have to thank Baba Budan for bringing coffee to India, because really, how else would Filter Kapi have happened? Those seven smuggled beans probably changed the way people live and the way people socialize (because imagine your social life today without the big cuppa on the big sofa in coffee shop).

Chocolate Brownies

Is there really a perfect Brownie? I mean is there really a perfect version of anything? Sure there is- but I think this comes with a condition. What I like, you may not and vice versa. So I am not keen calling anything perfect. I do however think that if any recipe is called perfect, it  should work just the way it says it should every single time (but this should probably be true for most recipes no?)

Perfectionism aside, have you eaten a brownie that's not perfect? In any form?

 

 

Brownies fall into three distinct camps. Cakey, Chewy, Fudgy. I don't know what a chewy brownie would be. You decide which one you like more. I am not sure how a brownie is made chewy. I prefer fudgy brownies to the others only because I don't really know what a 'cakey' brownie really is. Wouldn't it just be 'cake'?  I didn't know for a long time that the crust on top - that's actually a part of the brownie - and for me now an essential distinguishing character. Shirley O. Corriher in her book Bakewise goes into great detail about why the crust is formed. The crust is a layer of meringue and occurs as a result of beating the eggs in the chocolate butter sugar mixture. The more you beat the eggs, the better crust you'll get.