Learning from Karen: Apple Upside Down Cake

I baked again! And this time, I adapted a recipe from Karen's Contemplations and Ruminations. I tried the Apple Upside Down Cake! And it was gooood! (Please say that like Bruce Almighty!)

I made it for my in-laws when we visited them this weekend, and I am glad to say they liked it! It was the kids and the husband who liked it the most, I think. My man is a lover of all baked stuff, so I couldn't go very wrong with this one! Also, Karen's instructions and pictures are really helpful, so it was a breeze! Here is Karen's recipe.

And now...

Ingredients:

2 - 3 medium apples (or 2 large ones)

1 & 1/2 cup maida (flour)

2 heaped tsps baking powder

1 & 1/4 cup sugar

about 80 grams butter

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

Equipment:

Baking dish

Baking oven (or microwave)

Method:

1. Peel the apples and slice them into wedges.

"I like this dish with its pretty African shapes and colors"

2. It will be very convenient if you have a helper to get rid of all the skins and seeds of the apples! My diligent helper did a pretty good job, I must say!

She emptied the skins onto the table and put them in the dish again to pose for this picture!!

Public announcement: At this point I felt like I will not be able to do any proper dinner-cooking, so I resorted to serving this and left over sambar from lunch, for dinner:

a South Indian favorite and the savior of all working women throughout the country!

3. Next, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan, over a low flame, and add 1/2 cup of sugar to it. Stir constantly till the sugar melts.

I may have added a tad bit more butter than necessary...I'm not saying."

4. The sugar will melt to form a golden gooey liquid. This should probably be made into currency or something!! It's that golden and precious!

The good stuff

5. Please ignore the not-so-ideal-looking pan, and go to the next step before the sugar hardens into toffee. 'Coz harden it will! I let it harden a bit too, just like Karen did! But don't worry, you can totally dilute it again, but why bother if you can do it right the first time?

6. Now add the apples in and stir to coat them with the caramel syrup. Cook till the juice of the apples completely leaves them and mixes with the caramel and the entire thing becomes sticky, gooey, golden, sweet and brown, and you can't resist sneaking a spoonful into your mouth!

7. Butter a baking dish and spread some flour over it. Now spread the apple caramel mixture at the base of the dish, making sure that the entire bottom of the pan is covered.

8. Let's make the batter now. In a bowl, add all the remaining melted butter (I like the sound of that!), and the sugar and mix well.

I have no more pictures the next couple of steps. Seriously, do you think I was so skillful to photograph the ENTIRE process?!?! I'm glad I got this far without burning anything!!

9. To the mixture of sugar and butter, add the egg and beat well. You can also add the vanilla essence into the mixture.

10. Now add the flour and mix vigorously because you really want everything to blend together smoothly. You can add the milk gradually to loosen things up and form a smooth batter that is pourable. If you are greedy and disobedient like me, you can add some chopped nuts - I added cashews!

11. Pour the batter above the caramelized apple, and sit back and contemplate on how awesome this is going to turn out. Also, you can smell the divine perfume of vanilla and caramelized apples.

12. Stick it into the oven for about 30 - 40 minutes or you microwave it on high for 10 minutes. Open the oven and take a peek to make sure everything is going okay....if you are paranoid like me!

13. When it's done, it should be brown, and slightly cracked in the middle - if you used the baking oven....head to Karen's recipe to look at the picture. If you used the microwave, chances are you're not really getting the brown look, rather it will look like this:

This looks alarmingly like the dhosa! But I assure you, it is very yummy apple cake!

I have poked a hole into the cake to make sure it is baked. I don't have toothpicks at home (I have a 3-yr-old instead), so I used the end of my wooden spoon! You may now laugh your heart out at me...sigh.

Oh! Look at the pan from the side! It looks good enough to just scoop put and eat with some icecream!

14. Now comes the 'Upside Down part. Take a large cake dish, or a stainless steel plate, if you don't have those fancy things. I don't have one because, never in my life did I expect I would be baking...So...

15. Place the plate upside down on the plate, and then carefully turn the entire thing upside down again.

16. Let the cake loosen itself from the pan and settle on the plate. Now you have the lovely apple top-side, and all is well with the world!

Oops! Sorry. I did it again!

Now, you can cut a piece, all warm and lovely, and eat it with vanilla icecream!

Learning from Karen: Macaroni and Cheese

Here's a shout out to an interesting blogger who hails from Nagercoil, and has one of the most interesting blogs I have come across. Karen from Contemplations and Ruminations , a very artistic person who loves to read, and frequently updates the best reviews. She also cooks, and is very nimble with arts and craft, volunteers at local charity organizations and does so much more cool stuff! Oh, and she also has a really cool haircut!! In fact, she is a lot like me, except way cooler than I can ever hope to be!!

So, lately, I have been quite adventurous, and have been taking pointers from Karen's food posts. I have tried out a couple of her recipes. The first that I tried iiiiis (drumroooolll)  Macaroni and Cheese!

What? That is your idea of adventure?!?!? Believe me people, when you live in a place where cheddar cheese and unsalted butter is a rarity, simple and straight-forward Mac & Cheese is akin to jumping from the top of the Empire State Building - months of research, scouring the market for the right equipment, and then, taking the plunge! When it's done people appreciate you for the sheer awesomeness of the act, but they still can't believe that you were actually able to do that! Some others will ask, "Okay, but why do you need to do such things? What is the purpose?" To those people, I say, "I do it because I wanted to tell myself I can... HA!!"

So, here's what I used for Karen's Mac & Cheese, but I made a few changes for my convenience:

Ingredients

1 cup of elbow macaroni

2 - 3 tbsps butter

1 heaped tbsp flour (maida)

1 & 1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup ham or  salami chopped. I had chicken frankfurters, so that's what I used.

salt, pepper and oregano to taste (this is the stuff that I mentioned scouring the market for - oregano. I found it in Lynns! So, Nagercoilans take heart!)

Equipment:

Baking oven (I only have my loyal microwave, so I just nuked it. Note: it does not give the best results. The baking oven is ideal)

Baking dish (or a glass or microwave friendly dish)

Method:

1. Cook the macaroni aldente (that is, it should be soft but half-done. Like it requires more cooking. Don't be like me and be oggling at the white sauce that you made and let the macaroni over cook!) Make sure you add some salt when you cook it. Drain the macaroni and set aside.

2. Heat the butter in a pan on a low flame, and add the heaped tablespoon of flour to it. Keep stirring so that the entire thing does not form one big lump! You don't want that. Lumps are bad, wherever they are...think about it!

3. While you're reflecting on the dangers of lumps, don't forget to add the milk! Add it slowly, constantly stirring the mixture to make sure that everything blends in smoothly. This along with salt and pepper, as Karen says, is the basic white sauce.

4. Remove the pan from the flame, and add 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese to the sauce. It will melt in the heat of the sauce, and you can give it a stir to make sure it makes friends with the sauce.

5. Now add the pepper, salt, and oregano to the sauce.

6. You can also add the meat - in my case, the frankfurters (about 1/2 cup) - and stir everything in well. Note: the meat part is optional. If you are on a diet (ha! what are you doing making mac & cheese?!?!!), or are resisting meat for a while (poor your!), or just do not want to add to the extra calories and guilt (join the club!) then you can leave out the meat... I know, I jabber a lot...

7. Anyway, now, pour the macaroni into your baking dish.

8. Now comes the good part. Pour the sauce onto the macaroni, and give it a light stir so that all the macaroni is completely coated with the sauce.

9. Spread grated cheddar cheese on the top of the macaroni.

10. Plop it into the oven and let it do its thing for about 10 -20 minutes. I nuked it on high for about 8 minutes.

11. There is no '11th step'. Take the macaroni out and oggle some at the browned crispy top of the dish, and then dig in!! I totally missed out on the crispy browned top because of the microwave. Invest in an oven. I will, one day...sigh!

Mine looked like this:

Ooohhh Mama!

No crispy top, but who cares?!? It was yummy, YUMMY!!! Debbie loved it! Why, even the resident cheese-hater (hint: I married him) deigned to have a plate! WIN!

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Karen's Macaroni and Cheese

Want yummy life-size images that make you drool? The Pioneer Woman's Macaroni and cheese will give you the fix!

Microwave Brownies... And my Baking Debut!

 

My mother bakes the best cakes I have ever had. She is one of those rare people on the planet who can taste food and figure out the recipe all on their own. I think 99.9% of those people are master chefs!!! Okay, you guessed right...I am really proud of my mom and her culinary skills. I would also like to point out that my

culinary skills are...well...no where in sight, so far!

The closest I ever got to a baking dish is when I dig in to my mom's Dates Cake! (will get you the recipe soon) However, I decided that, having a chocolate-loving daughter, this state of affairs could not go on for very long! And, I have been craving brownies from the time I knew they existed. The local bakery sells brownies, but I came very close to asphyxiation when I tried them!!! I want to live, people!

And then, there is the fact that I have no oven...yes, I know, I sound like the pathetic soul that I am... But I do have a microwave!! Yaaay! So...

I Googled, found, learnt, revised, and etched into my memory...this recipe:

MICROWAVE BROWNIES

(Caps lock deliberate to indicate awesomeness!) This is my first attempt at baking, EVER. So, cheer me on, okay?

This is a small serving, but you can double it and it works out just fine, as I found out yesterday. I first made these 2 weeks ago, and the pictures are from that attempt.

Things you need: (Basic, non-fancy-schmancy stuff will do for this brownie! And that's good, because, duh, I live in Nagercoil...)

1/2 cup flour (maida)

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Note for folks in Nagercoil :P - I used the Cadbury cocoa powder that is available in a purple tin in local shops)

1 cup sugar (best to use powdered sugar, because the granules take a heck of a long time to dissolve in the butter - not good. If you don't have powdered sugar, just powder the sugar you have, in your grinder/food processor!)

1 & 1/2 stick of butter (I used the Amul salted butter)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

Chocolate chips (So not optional, but I could not find this wonderful blessing anywhere in this town, and I had to do without it...*sniff*)

Chopped Nuts - any kind. I used cashews and almonds

Method:

In a bowl, mix the cocoa and flour well so that both have blended in.

Soften butter and mix the sugar in with it, until soft and creamy.

Add the 2 eggs and whisk till soft and blended in well. You can add the vanilla essence too.

Now, add the dry ingredients very gradually into the liquid mixture (one tbsp at a time) and keep stirring till your arms fall out! Or, if you are lucky like me to have a sweet, patient sister, get her to stir while you casually stand by and add the dry ingredients!! :P Better, yet, use a hand-held or table-top mixer.

When the entire batter has been stirred well, pick the bowl up and sniff the awesome aroma of the entire thing. "People" have been known to eat a finger-full of batter right off the bowl...but that's just "people"! You don't have to do that...or you could, if you want to...*hint, hint*

Now, grease a round (or rectangular) glass baking dish* with butter, and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. I did not have powdered sugar, so I just powdered up some butter cookies that I had and lined the baking dish with it, over the butter! And it rocked!!!

*Use only glass dishes that are meant for microwaves. NEVER use metal, unless you plan to blow up your microwave oven!!

Now, just pour the batter into the baking dish. You might have to spread the batter equally to all parts of the baking dish, because sometimes the batter can be on the thicker side.

Now, stick it into your microwave and set it on high, and set the timer for 10 minutes.

I would strongly suggest that you take a peek at the 7th or 8th minute to check on things. Take a toothpick and insert it into the center of the brownie. If it comes out clean, it's done. If there is almost-cakey batter stuck on it, you need it to go on for the remaining time.

There's no hard-and-fast rule here. If after 10 minutes it still looks suspicious, give it another minute of baking.

At the end, let it sit in the oven for a few minutes. Then take it out and cool it completely, because warm brownies refuse to let go of the baking dish. They still want their mommy!

When cooled, eat the whole thing up without sharing...Oh, sorry...bad advice!!

When cooled, cut out a piece, place it on a small plate, top with vanilla ice cream and a cherry (optional)....eat and go to heaven!

Then come back and tell me how it was. Okay?? This part is NOT optional! Come one, I want to know how yours turned out!

This is the chewy, moist variety of brownie that I love! I am so not into the dry-cake kind of stuff...

Not the best picture possible, but it was after 10pm and I was not at my most patient self....

...as is obvious from this picture!

Wasn't me!

Anyway, she loved it... that's what's important.