Lamington Cake

The Lamingtons are Australian cake squares dipped in chocolate icing and covered with desiccated coconut. Some history about this delicious bite size cakes:

 The Lamington, Australia's famed dessert, was actually invented in New Zealand and originally named a “Wellington". It is also believed that Lamington was named after Lord Lamington who served as governor of Queensland between 1896-1901. I heard about this from my sister who lived in Australia for sometime. I wanted to make something special for our 25th anniversary (December), and made these delicious spongy,moist cake bites. I adapted the recipe from whereismyspoon.com.

Ingredients:

2 Cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 Cup milk

For Chocolate Icing:

3 1/4 Cup icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)

2/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 Cup unsalted butter

1 Cup milk

2 Cups unsweetened desiccated coconut

Method to make Sponge Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8 inch square baking dish.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of mixer beat the soft butter on medium speed until creamy.

                                                         

4. Add sugar and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

                                            

5. Add one egg, beat well to incorporate, then add the second egg and the vanilla extract to incorporate as well.

                                             

6. Set the mixer at the lowest speed. Alternatively add the flour and milk, starting and finishing with the flour. Beat the mixture, just until smooth. Do not over beat.

                                                            

7. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Let it cool completely.

                                  

8. When it is completely cool, wrap it with a cling wrap and refrigerate over night. This is will help the cake to be more stable.

Method to make Chocolate Icing:

1. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add milk. 

                                   

3. Mix and start adding dry mixture while whisking the whole time. Add about 1 cup at a time. Continue to whisk until everything is well incorporated, without any lumps.

                                       

Icing the Lamingtons:

1. Take about half of the chocolate icing in a bowl. This way you can dip half of the cake squares in the bowl and when it gets too crumbly, you can use fresh chocolate sauce for the remaining cake squares.

2. Take 1/3 of desiccated coconut in a plate, so when the coconut gets clumpy you can discard it and add fresh coconut to the plate.

                                                      

3. Using a sharp knife cut the cake to make even bite size squares. Remove any crumbles.

                                                       

4. Dip the cake squares in chocolate sauce and coat them in coconut one at a time. 

                                        

Work carefully (the cakes are delicate), but quickly. Turn the lamingtons into the sauce with the help of two forks or toothpick. Let the excess chocolate to drain a little before you drop the cake piece into the coconut. Roll the lamington in the coconut with the forks. Transfer it to the wire rack and continue with the next lamington.

                                          

5. Refrigerate the lamingtons until set. Serve them at room temperature.

                                  

Note: 

You can warm the chocolate sauce if it gets thick.

Coquito, Puerto Rican Coconut Beverage

 Eggnog is a favorite drink served during Christmas. I always buy it when my brother visits us for the holidays. This year I heard about the Puerto Rican version of the beverage from my co worker. It is made with coconut milk, coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk and rum. I made the non alcoholic version. It was a huge hit.  

Ingredients: 

2 Cans Evaporated milk ( 12 oz. each)

1 Can Cream of coconut (15 oz.)

1 Can Coconut milk (13.5 oz.)

1/2 Cup Sweetened condensed milk

1/2 Cup White rum (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish

Method:

1. In a blender, add evaporated milk, cream of coconut, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, rum (if using), vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Blend on high until mixture is well combined, 1-2 minutes.

2. Pour the mixture into glass bottles. Cover and transfer to refrigerator. Chill until cold.

3. Before serving, stir or shake the bottle well to combine. Pour coquito into small serving glasses. Garnish with ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks.

Arroz Con Leches (Mexican Rice Pudding)

 Very similar to Indian rice kheer, Arroz con leches is a Mexican dessert. It is rice cooked in milk and sweetened condensed milk, and garnished with cinnamon. I got the recipe from my co worker and made this delicious dessert for Christmas last month.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

7 Cups water

1 Cup long grain white rice

2 cinnamon sticks

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz.)

1 Cup whole milk

ground cinnamon for garnish

Method:

1. Add water, rice and cinnamon sticks to a large saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat, 15-18 minutes.

                                                   

2. Drain liquid from the saucepan. 

                                                    

3. Remove cinnamon sticks and put the rice back in the pan. 

                                                     

4. Add evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk to the pan. Bring it to a boil.

                      

4. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly until it thickens. 

                                   

5. To serve, spoon pudding into cups. Sprinkle ground cinnamon. Enjoy the pudding warm or cold. I prefer my pudding warm.

                                                   

Note:

I add 2 marbles in the sauce pan while cooking to prevent burning. Be sure to remove the marbles before serving the pudding.

Make sure to keep stirring pudding after adding milk. This also prevents burning.

Thavala Dosa

During our weekly call to India, my sister in law mentioned that she made Thavala Dosa. It is a crispy pancake made with powdered rice and lentils batter. I tried it out for the first time this week. Thank you manni for the recipe. The powdered mixture looked like falafel mixture. Thavala dosa mixture can be made ahead and stored in a container, and use as needed.

Ingredients to make into coarse powder:

1 Cup Idly rice

3/4 Cup Toor dal

1/2 Cup Channa dal

1/4 Cup Urad dal

1 Tablespoon Moong dal

For 1 cup of coarse mixture:

3 green chili, chopped

2 teaspoon grated ginger

5-6 fresh curry leaves

1/4 Cup grated coconut

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida

2-3 Tablespoon yogurt (more if required)

1/8 teaspoon Mustard seeds per dosa

Method:

1. Slightly dry roast 1 cup idly rice in a pan, just until the rice gets some heat. Allow to cool.

2. Pulse rice in a blender or mixer to a coarse grain, like idly rava. Remove from blender into a large bowl.

3. Add all the lentils to the blender and pulse to coarse rava. 

4. Remove from blender and mix to combine with powdered rice. This would yield about 3 cups of powdered mixture. Store it in an air tight container until you want to use it. 

5. Take 1 cup of the thavala dosa mixture in a large bowl.

6. Add enough water to immerse (about a cup, add more as required). Cover and let it rest for 2 hours.

7. After 2 hours, stir the batter. Add 2-3 tablespoons plain yogurt and stir to make a thick dosa or adai batter. 

                                                         

8. Stir in chopped green chili, grated ginger, curry leaves, coconut, asafoetida, and salt. Add a little water or yogurt if required.

9. Heat a heavy bottom pan or kadai on medium heat. 

10. Heat 2 teaspoons oil ( sesame or coconut oil). Temper 1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds. Spread oil around the pan.

                                                              

11. Pour 1/3 cup of batter and gently spread it so it is even. 

                           

12. Cover the pan with a lid. Cook on low medium, without disturbing, 5-7 minutes. 

                                             

13. When you see the edges turn golden brown, gently flip dosa over, lift gently from the edges. Be careful not to break the pancake. Cover and cook for another 5-7 minutes, until both sides are golden brown. 

                                             

14. Carefully remove thavala dosa from the pan onto a plate.

                                             

15. Repeat process with remaining batter.

16. Thavala dosa is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It tastes good as is. You can serve it with coconut chutney or milagai podi (chutney powder). My husband likes to eat it with brown sugar (vellam / gud).

                       

Note:

1.Using sour yogurt enhances the taste of thavala dosa.

2. You can add 1-2 teaspoons of fresh coarsely ground black pepper.

3. You can add tempered mustard seeds directly to the batter before cooking, instead of tempering before every dosa.

4. You can pulse dried red chili along the lentils instead of adding fresh green chili to the batter.

5. Thavala dosa tastes better when made in cast iron kadai, makes them crispy.

Chocolate chip Cookie

Before the holidays, while talking about what to bake, one of my coworker talked about the famous chocolate chip cookies given at Double Tree hotels, at the time of checking in. They had shared the recipe on social media. My daughter used this recipe and made these wonderful cookies over the holidays. 

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened ( 1/2 pound)

3/4 Cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 1/4 Cups all purpose flour

1/2 Cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch cinnamon powder

2 2/3 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 3/4 Cups chopped walnuts

Method:

1. Sift flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Keep aside.

                                                         

2. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.

                                                           

3. Add eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl.

                                              

4. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, and blend for 45 seconds. Take care not to over mix. 

5. Remove bowl from mixer. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

                                               

6. Portion dough with a tablespoon on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.

                                                            

7. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.

                                                             

8. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet before storing in an airtight container.

                                                    

Note: 

You can freeze the unbaked cookies. 

Frozen cookies can be baked without being thawed. 

You can bake a little longer if you prefer hard cookies. I prefer soft cookies.