Irish soda bread

It appears everyone has their favorite Irish soda bread recipe. Some with olives, some with raisins, some with both, some with neither. The essential ingredients in a traditional Irish soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the base of the baking soda to provide the bread’s leavening.

Its been an all time favorite in our household. Its really quick to make and doesn't require any proving time.. 

Soda bread dries out quickly so is only good for a day or two. It is best eaten freshly baked and warm or toasted.

Here is a simple recipe that I use.. 

Ingredients :

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning ( I used the Pre- mix that comes in the market)

1 cup chopped black olives

21/4 cups buttermilk

Method

Before going into the oven

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly oil a large baking sheet using olive oil or cooking spray. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Add the italian seasoning and chopped olives and stir well to combine.
2. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the buttermilk into the well. Stir the buttermilk into the flour mixture, starting in the center and working your way to the outside of the bowl until a dough forms. If needed, add additional buttermilk (1 tablespoon at a time) to form the dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Form a large disc out of the dough. Cut the dough in half with a knife and with floured hands, form two small discs out of the dough.( or you can make it one large loaf like i did) ... Using a serrated knife, cut a ¼-inch deep square or X into each disc of dough.
4. Place both discs of dough on the lightly-oiled baking sheet. Be sure to place the discs far apart, as they will rise while baking. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and bread tests clean when poked with a knife. Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool at least 20 minutes before slicing!
   
   

The simplest ever Eggless pancakes!

Samarth had been asking for some pancakes for the longest time ever! I decided to google for an easy recipe that would also be eggless (so in case I don't have eggs at home on a particular day, I could still make them). In fact I am always on the lookout for eggless recipes for the same reason. 

So here you go, easy peasy way to make yummy tasty, McDonald's style pancakes! 

You'll need:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of milk

1.5 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon of oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Sift dry ingredients together and make a well. Add wet ingredients and whisk well. Set it aside for 10 minutes.

Grease a griddle pan with a little butter and pour a ladle of batter. Don't spread it. Bubbles will start to form on the surface. 

Flip it over after a bit, make sure it is a gentle brown colour.

Drizzle honey over it, fold and serve!

Eggless Chocochip cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Teaspoon of No Egg - Natural Egg Replacer ( can be purchased by clicking on the link) 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

 For the base:
Marie biscuit - 1 packets (24 nos)
Chocolate biscuit - 1 pkt 
Melted butter - 3 tblspn


For the cake:
Oreo Biscuits : 1 Big packet ( broken into chunks) 
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Hung curd - 1 cup
Fresh cream - 1 cup (used Amul cream 200ml)
Agar agar/China grass - 1 pkt (10 gm)
Water - 4 tblspn

1.I used a combination of marie biscuit and chocolate biscuits. You could use marie biscuit alone. Pulse the biscuit coarsely in the mixer along with the melted butter. Or take the biscuits in a zip lock cover and powder it coarsely with the chappathi roller. 


2.Take a round spring tin. Spread the biscuit mix on the base of the tin. The base should be firm. So press it down tight. Freeze the base for half an hour. Meanwhile prepare the cake mix.


3.Mix hung curd and cream in a bowl. To get hung curd, take almost 4 cups of fresh curd and tie it in a muslin cloth and hang it. The whey will be drained and you will be left with creamy curd.


4. Break the Oreo biscuits in big chunks. Mix in the biscuits to the curd+cream mix. Mix well so that its uniformly blended in.


5.The China grass I used were strands. I put them in warm water for 10 minutes. Then put that bowl in a pan of boiling water for the china grass to fully dissolve. Add the liquefied agar agar to the mix. Mix it well with a spatula Leave in the refrigerator for overnight, to set.


6.Once set, Open the spring tin and serve the cheesecake. You could garnish with some Oreo Biscuits, though I served it plain. 

Easy Eggless Cooker cake.

Check out my Post on making an Easy Eggless cooker cake !!!!