Cream Cake Fascination

I've always been a huge fan of cream cakes. Every birthday when my dad ordered a special cake for me, I wondered how they make it. So it was impossible for me to hide my liking for cream cakes when I became a baking enthusiast.

I went ahead to learn the basics of making a beautiful cake and found that it surely is not a piece of cake to make a perfect one. Right from making the basic sponge to covering the layers with the cream takes a good amount of patience and effort. There is no end to the creative ways in making a cake. Cakes definitely are the star attraction for several occasions, be it a birthday, an anniversary or a random get together. It really is a great satisfaction to make the show stopper from scratch and see the people go ‘Oooh’ and ‘Aaahhh’ over the beauty and taste. I really feel like a ‘Celebrity Designer’ ;).

I made several cakes for my colleagues’ kids’ birthday parties. And when I asked the Moms for feedback I got a common statement from all of them - ‘I should have ordered a bigger one’ :P..

I am still experimenting and trying to gain expertise on all the varieties of cakes I can make. Right now I am planning a very special one for my own birthday :) he hi.. I believe ‘Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake’.

The Little Drunkards - Rum Balls

You are a good chef if you can turn your disasters into a beautiful dish and say that this is indeed what it was meant to be. :) He hi hi… This is the tale of the 'Serendipitous Rum Balls’. To tell the truth, I was actually trying to make Red Velvet Cupcakes, but the batter spilled out of the cups and I ended up with some pretty 'Frankenstein'-y cupcakes. These ghoulish disasters would've been great for Halloween. The cake itself tasted heavenly, but I was devastated for some time, thinking that I'd have to let such an amazing cake go to waste… and that's when it hit me. I mashed the so called ‘cup cakes’ and added some raisins soaked in rum, a generous spoon of rum and little honey and made balls out of these, dipped them in dark chocolate and VOILÀ…. The Rum Balls were ready. These small, easy to pop, Rum Balls are also called ‘Borrachitos’ in Peru, which when translated to English mean ‘Little Drunkards’. True to their name, these little drunken delights turned out to be an absolute favorite among many of our friends.

Ice Cream Zuccotto Cake

There are times when Annu takes my calling him ‘Baby’ very seriously and starts making cute kiddy demands which I find impossible to deny. A month before his birthday he came across this amazing looking ice cream cake and insisted that he wanted the same one for his birthday party. That was the first time I got introduced to this exotic, traditional Tuscan dessert.

Zuccotto is a molded and richly layered pastry or ice cream filled sponge cake dessert. The word "zuccotto" means "pumpkin" in Italian; the dessert was originally molded into the shape of a pumpkin. It is widely believed to have been inspired by the dome of Florence, the main cathedral in Italy. It also got its name from the cardinal skullcap, also known as zuccotto, which it resembles.

This dome-shaped dessert was an absolute delight to make and it was exceptionally beautiful when I upturned it on the serving tray. I enjoyed every step of making this cake, right from baking the sponge to cutting and setting the cake strips in to the dome shape. The lined sponge cake strips are given that extra bit of character by adding a hint of rum. I layered the empty space inside with vanilla ice cream – strawberries - vanilla ice cream – orange ice cream (in the same order). After a serving of Chicken Stuffed Buns, Thyme and Garlic Flavored Bread, Shepherds Pie, and Creamed Corn; Zuccotto gave a perfect end to the perfect lunch.
There’s nothing more priceless and special than that smile on Annu’s face and the compliments which everyone poured. I am so glad he demanded this one. I know I’ll be making this one often. I surely will be experimenting with the fillings and will come up with better and better ones :).
I know it looks so very impressive but I can say that it's easy to make and amazing to eat. I know everyone who was there to eat it will second me on that :).

Chocolate Coated Shortbread Cookies

‘Mmmm…Mmmm…Mmmmmm!!!!’ continued as Janc and Annu continued to pop one cookie after the other. No words were actually needed to describe these as the empty tray was telling its own tale :). When it comes to baking, cookies are an absolute delight because of the sheer simplicity of the process and the amount of variations one can bring in. The aroma of butter and cookie dough which fills the house and leaves your neighbors guessing is priceless too. Traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour, these melt in your mouth Shortbread cookies are Scotland’s favorite during Christmas and New Year parties. But as I really enjoyed baking these sweet and salty bites, I am so sure that I won’t wait till Christmas to make these. So it’s no surprise what I’ll have in stock for friends who decide to drop by next week. Ingredients
All-purpose flour - 2 cups
Butter - 1 cup room temperature
Confectioners sugar - 1/2 cup
Pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
Bittersweet chocolate for dipping
Making the Cookies
Whisk the flour and set aside.
In the bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough until firm.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a 1/4 inch thick circle. Cut into rounds or other shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Taking one cookie at a time, dip one end of each cookie in the melted chocolate and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Christmas Bake Sale (for friends only in Bangalore)

Place your orders atleast 2 days before you require the goodies… you can mail me on FB or on pink.pallo@gmail.com and drop your number for confirmation. I’ll call you back..
I can’t get it delivered though :( so you can pick it up from Bagmane Tech Park, CV Raman Nagar or Banaswadi (my home) or come close to any of these places according to your convenience.

More Goodies coming up soon.. :)