Its time to celebrate with Eggless Chocolate Almond Cookies

Yes its my Dear Bloggy's Birthday :) Haiya..Finally the day has come to celebrate.... When i started this blog i was all passionate and everything..but then i wasn't regular..I should say last year i posted just 4 posts 3 recipes and my Welcome Post. Only this year that too after March i was kinda regular... I started this blog for my passion for cooking so named it "COOKING WITH LOVE AND FOR LOVE "  This one year i have learned so many things but first and foremost be Regular and Patient to reap the result :) Just like every other blogger i want my blog to be famous but for that i need to be dedicated and regular...which iam trying to achieve ... I would really like to take this opportunity to thank my hubby a lot...Seriously without his encouragement and help..I would have never continued posting at all..seriously..coming back from work everyday at 9:00 PM and then cooking dinner is a big task for me(Lazy Lazy) ....I try to do most of my relaxed cooking/baking on Saturdays/Sundays... Also I received The Versatile Blogger Award from dear Ikky and Rids too :) Thanks to all my fellow bloggers for the encouragement ,who never miss to leave a lovely comment in my blog every time a new post appears..That gives so much motivation for the next post :) So i have decided not to find reasons to be lazy and be regular and make my blog Famous someday :P Also take better Photos.. Soon :D So here is my treat for the anniversary :) I took the recipe from dear priti 's Blog :) Ingredients: All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 Cup Powder Sugar - 3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp Butter - 1/4 Cup [at room temperature] Yogurt - 1/4 Cup Baking Powder - 1 tsp Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp Almonds - Chopped 1/4 cup Method Whisk Yoghurt, Powdered sugar and Butter till creamy Sieve flour, cocoa and baking powder Now add the flour mix to the butter mix and fold well such that there are no lumps Now add the chopped almonds and vanilla essence. Preheat the Oven at 180C Bake the cookies for about 10 - 12mins Yummy cookies are ready :) Love, Varshini

Mastering Baking - All about Baking - Oven Temperatures - Part 1

It has always been a herculean task for a person like me to find an information in the Internet Ocean especially regarding baking ...It has millions of resources but not all at one place for me to refer ...
Be it Temperature setting, Fahrenheit to Celsius, Measuring Cup size, Teaspoon, Tablespoon what not....
Also where to find chocolate chips , baking pans, chocolate rice/strands, cheese in my city...Oh my god the list is endless

I thought I should dedicate a space just for this in my blog...so that this will be a reference for my future endeavours (That's a huge word) and for other amateur bakers like me :)

Each week I will try to take up a topic and collect information and put it here..so that it will be useful for all of us :)

Let us start with

Oven Temperatures
Source for this info : http://www.joyofbaking.com/

Fahrenheit(F) Celsius(C)  Gas Mark Oven Terms 

225  F         110  C     1/4     Very Cool
250  F         130  C     1/2     Very Slow
275  F         140  C      1      Very Slow
300  F         150  C      2      Slow
325  F         165  C      3      Slow
350  F         177  C      4      Moderate
375  F         190  C      5      Moderate
400  F         200  C      6      Moderately Hot
425  F         220  C      7      Hot
450  F         230  C      8      Hot
475  F         245  C      9      Hot
500  F         260  C      10     Extremely Hot
550  F         290  C      10     Broiling

Love,
Varshini


You can send in your mails regarding the topics you want me to cover ?
Also if you have any info or queries and want to share it with me..
Please mail me : cookingwithloveandforlove@gmail.com

Perfect Eggless Strawberry Cookies - Piped Cookies

I am always in search of Melt in Mouth cookies....I still remember some years back my mom got me some lovely yummy biscuits which just melted in my mouth...
Here in India Cookies are referred as biscuits...:)

As usual..I was blog hopping to find one...I found some hundreds of recipes..So I let dear google choose...I landed in Anushruthi's Divine Taste...Just as the name of her blog , Its a one divine place for all the foodies..well written ,lovely photography & lovely flowers...I have almost read all her post I can say..Please do check it out...Its Addictive

She has the recipe for the perfect eggless cookies...I modified that into a perfect recipe for Eggless Strawberry cookies...I know i can't stick to any recipe...

So here goes my recipe...

Ingredients:

APF/ Maida - 3/4 cup
Cornflour - 2 tbspn
Icing sugar - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Strawberries - 2
Milk - 2 tbspn
Strawberry Essence - 1 tspn


Method

Preheat the oven at 180C

In a Mixie Jar/Blender blend the two strawberries with a 2tbspn of milk and make it into a paste.

Now take a big mixing bowl ,whisk the butter and icing sugar to a creamy consistency

To this add the strawberry paste and strawberry essence, blend well

Sieve Maida and courflour

Now add the flour to the wet mixture and mix well such that the consistency is smooth, creamy and lump free

Now put the cookie mixture into a piping bag a fit in your favourite nozzle(I used both star as well as drop flower) and pipe it in a greased baking tray . else you can make the usual round shaped cookies




Bake the cookies for about 12 - 15mins at 180C

Bake until top of the cookies turn slight golden brown...



can you see the teeny weeny bits of strawberry ? :D
Now let the Cookies cool and enjoy it with a cuppa Tea...

Tip :
Don't over bake the cookies as they might become little hard.


Love,
Varshini

Apple Pie /Tart with Chocolate Chips- Eggless

"An Apple a day keeps the doctor away" Who doesn't know this quote
I had so many apples lying in fridge for a very long long time....I wanted to use them up ..i dint wanna eat them as it is...

So i went through my copy of " The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking" by Tarla Dalal

I saw Apple Pie and started preparing the dough...but then i can never stick an recipe..so i prepared the filling in my own way....And it was a Huge hit So sharing it with you all..

So here is the recipe

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

Plain Flour/ Maida - 1 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup & 1Tbsp
Cold Water - 2 to 3 Tbsp
Sugar - 1 Tbsp

For the Filling :
Apples - 5
Butter - 2 Tbpn
Milk - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tspn
Chocolate Chips - 1/4 Cup (Optional)

Method

For the Filling:

Peel, De seed and Cube the apples

In a sauce pan add the butter and saute the apples until the juices come out

Now add in the sugar and saute for a minute

Now pour in the milk and cook until the milk is absorbed and now turn off the heat and add in the vanilla essence, mix well.


For the Crust:

Mix Flour and Sugar in a large bowl

Now add in the Cold Butter and rub into the flour with your finger tips

Gradually add ice cold water and make it into a dough similar to poori dough (Rolling Consistency)

Now divide the dough into two parts

Dust the rolling board with some flour and roll out one part

Cover your pie/tart tin so that the flute tin is covered properly

Now bake the pie/tart for about 8 - 10mins at 150C

Take out the half baked shells and Add in the Filling as well as chocolate chips

cover the filling with the other rolled out dough and prick it with knife

else you can roll out and cut it into strips and make a Crissy cross pattern

Bake it for 12 to 15mins at 180C or until you the Pie/Tart Turns Golden on the Top



Yummy Pie/ Tart is ready
Serve it with Vanilla IceCream

Can you see the chocolate chips peeking ?

I used Small Tart tins instead of Pie Dish :)

Love,
Varshini

Eggless Whole Wheat Butter Cookies

Cookies...Cookies...Cookies
"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." -Robert Fulghum

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was sitting in my balcony and gazing....saw the roadside biscuit seller ..When he saw me drooling at his biscuits & cookies ..he came towards my home with handful of samples....I thought what a lovely day..free cookies...but then my hubby has warned me not to let anyone in....especially these sales people..so i had to ask him to leave immediately...finally i was tempted...so rushed into the house...browsed through for eggless cookies.....

I wanted to bake(read eat) some immediately...So when i saw eggless butter cookies in Divya's Blog i had to make(read eat) them rightaway ...But then i ran out of All purpose Flour(Maida), so i replaced APF with Whole wheat flour ( Healthy snacking i thought...indeed forgot about dear butter)


So here is the recipe

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Cornflour - 1/2 cup
Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 3/4 cup(
Vanilla extract- 1 tsps
Milk - 2 tbspn(optional)

Method :

Preheat the oven at 180C
Sift Wheat flour, icing sugar and cornflour
Beat the softened butter with vanilla extract
Now mix the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
if the dough is very dry add little milk and make it soft


Divide them in to balls and flatten them with your palm
Place the them in a greased baking tray and bake it for about 18 - 20 mins or till golden brown

(I made the pattern using the table spoon :D)
Cookies are ready...your house would be filled with the lovely aroma :)




Love,
Varshini

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Cakes have changed through times....Oh don't get me wrong i am not wee bit Philosophical...In those days say about 10 to 15 years ago i never had anything called Layered cake..Moreover never knew they existed ...I knew only those plain vanilla cakes covered with huge dollops of so called butter cream which i used to relish because i dint have a choice then...

But once i started having layered cakes with fresh cream ..I am unable to go back to those lovely plain cakes...Moreover i once had a plain cake which was smelling eggs ..Made me hate plain cakes ....So i thought if at all i bake it should be smell free( read egg smell free ) else i shall bake eggless

So when i was browsing through Divya's Blog...She has a lovely blog ..do check it out I came across recipe for eggless vanilla cake

As always i can never stick to the recipe i made some changes also halved the amount of ingredients...

Original recipe used refined oil but i replaced it with butter...I know i am still working on my waistline..:P

This was one of the best vanilla cakes i ever baked...yummy...My hubby loved this cake so much..he has asked me to bake this again...

Here it is :

Ingredients

Maida/ All purpose flour – 3/4 cup
curd – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Butter – 1/4 cup
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
Baking soda – 1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp
Cocoa Powder (Optional) - 1 Tbsp


How to ?

First Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a mixing bowl whisk curd and sugar till sugar dissolves

Add baking powder and baking soda , vanilla essence to curd mixture , mix well and leave it for 2 mins

Now slowly add in the flour and mix well without lumps to a smooth batter

Now grease a baking tin with butter and dust it with some flour

Pour in batter into the baking tin




If you want add Tbpn of Cocoa powder and swirl it to get a marbled effect


Bake it for 25 to 30 mins at 180C



Tada cake is ready ...yum yum..the aroma ...



Can you see the marble effect ?




Lessons Learnt:

Check the cake but inserting a toothpick/ knife in the center and if it comes out clean , your cake is ready.

Don't invert the baking tin immediately put it on a cooling rack for about 10- 15mins before removing cake from the baking dish else you will get a cake crumble just like mine...:p


Love,
Varshini

Eggless Garlic Buns

As a kid i would wait for evenings to come...because in the evening my Dad would bring home yummy Bun Butter Jam ....or sometimes masala bun they would simply melt in my mouth....i still cherish those times....

Even after growing up still am fond of yummy jam buns, masala buns and pav buns...
So when i came across Eggless Garlic Buns in Rak's Kitchen i was simply transported back to those times...
I simply find reasons to bake...BAKING IS ADDICTION.....

Immediately baked them up and had them when they were still warm...as suggested by Raji :)

Since this was my first Bun baking attempt i dint wanna take risk so i just halved the amount of all the ingredients ....But then this bun baking has been my best experience ever ...right from the beginning....this a fool proof recipe....

For original recipe please visit Rak's Kitchen So here is the recipe...

Ingredients
maida 3/4 cup
Dried Yeast - little less than 1/2 tblsp
Water 1/4 cup
Salt 1/2 tsp
Sugar 1/2 tblsp
Olive oil 1 tblsp

For the garlic Spread:
Garlic chopped very fine 3-5 flakes
Butter softened 2 tblsps
Chopped coriander leaves 1 tblsp
Cheese grated - 1 tblp

Method

1.Add yeast , sugar and salt to warm water and dissolve the yeast well...let it stand for 5 - 10 mins...you will be able to see a frothy liquid ..this means the yeast is active

2.In a big bowl , add the flour make a dent in the centre and add the mixed yeast water.



3.Knead the dough with olive oil to smooth and pliable(add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water if water is needed,the dough should not be too stiff and dry,it should be soft,smooth and pliable)





4.Keep covered the bowl with either a clean wet towel or a cling wrap(wrap the bowl to cover it,not the dough). Here i used wet towel method and let it stay for 1 hour

5.Now the dough should have raised double in volume. knead it again a little

6.Now divide the dough into 2 equal balls and arrange it with enough gaps in a greased baking tray.

7. Mix Butter, cheese, garlic and coriander for the spread

8.Make a small slit on top using a knife to fill the garlic spread and spoon in the spread but not too deep



9.Keep it aside in warm place for 45 minutes so that the balls double in size.

10.Pre heat the oven for 180°C

11.Bake for 20-25 minutes or till you get a golden coloured buns.Just cook for needed,over baking makes it harder! - Herei baked my buns for 20mins








Yummy,fluffy,garlicky, cheesy buns are ready


Love,
Varshini