Beetroot Chocolate Cake with Rose scented Apricot Glaze

I enjoy watching people cook, there is something more intriguing about actually seeing someone cook either in person or on television, than actually reading a cookbook. The only kind of books I have or read are novels (plenty of them.)
I do not own a cookbook, and I have an attention span of probably five minutes when I scan through one. I probably stop to ogle at those luscious pictures (especially desserts)
You can imagine what goes through my mind when some well intentioned friend tells me that I should write a cookbook! The irony of it. A person who does not own a cookbook, actually writing one!

This recipe is not from a cookbook, neither is it from a cooking show. This dish was born on a lazy Saturday afternoon. No fancy story to it, we were craving for some dessert after a nice lunch, decided to make something, anything with beets in it. Threw a bunch of stuff that I thought would meld together nicely and lo and behold my beetroot chocolate cake was born.

It has some sugar and butter use in relatively minimal quantities, but there is also whole wheat, beetroot, applesauce, and oats to make it into something that you can enjoy and yet not feel super guilty about it.
The glaze just rounded up everything beautifully. The Oat crust is completely optional. You could make the cake without it as well.
Verdict: It tasted just perfect. There is nothing I would ever change considering the whole cake lasted only that weekend. It was gone, far away to our very happy tummies.



Oats crusted Beetroot Chocolate Cake with Rose scented Apricot Glaze

Ingredients:

For the Oat crust:

Old fashioned oats - 1 cup
Light brown sugar - 4 tbsp
Milk powder - 1/2 cup
Melted butter - 3 tbsp

For the Beetroot Chocolate cake:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 3/4 cup
Finely grated raw beetroot - 3/4 cup
Original applesauce - 4 oz.
Room temperature butter - 5 tbsp
Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tbsp
Large eggs - 3
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

For the Glaze:

Apricot preserves - 4 tbsp
Rose essence - 3 drops

Method:

Combine all the ingredients for the oat crust and press it down onto a single even layer on a 8" greased springform cake pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa, and baking powder and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar using a hand mixer.

Add the eggs and continue mixing for another 3-4 minutes until the eggs turn pale yellow in color.

Then add the applesauce, vanilla and beetroot and continue mixing. It will get a little messy, so do remember to keep the mixer on low speed.

Then add the sifted ingredients slowly into the wet batter.

Pour the batter into the cake pan already layered with the oats.

Bake at 375F till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Probably after 25 min.



Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze.

For the glaze, mix the apricot glaze and the rose essence and spoon just before serving.

Almond and Yogurt Flatbread cookies

Last few weeks have been pretty eventful. I hardly have had time to think about cooking or blogging, I wouldn't complain or trade these days for anything else. It is all good!
So, today we have a flatbread cookie made with some yogurt, whole wheat and my favorite thing to include in cookies - Almonds. My love for the taste and texture of cookies with almonds has exponentially grown ever since I made Eggless Almond and Oats Cookie. It was/is a huge huge hit, and I now continue to make it for my friends and family. I haven't gotten a negative feedback till date. One cookie that I will never stop making!

This flatbread cookie is nothing like I have ever made so far. I saw a recipe in a book which I remembered and tried to make something similar. It does not have a very strong sweet or savory taste to it, which makes it ideal for pairing with a sweet fruit preserve or maybe head along the path of some salty garlicky butter.
Considering the addict I am for anything sweet, I spread some raspberry preserves and devoured them without a second thought. Even if you are not someone who bakes cookies at home, with a few simple ingredients this is one recipe where you can't really go wrong.
One wouldn't think Almonds and yogurt are something you put into a cookie dough together. It may sound odd but it would convert you the very minute you take a bite!



Almond and Yogurt Flatbread cookies

Ingredients:

Almond Meal - 1/3 cup
Plain Yogurt - 1/3 cup (I used low fat)
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp

Method:

Mix room temperature butter and yogurt well.

Sift flour, salt and baking soda and add to the yogurt mixture. Add almond meal and knead for about 10-15 min.
Let it rest for 5 minutes. Then, roll it out into a thin sheet using a rolling pin, say about 1/4" thickness.
Cut into squares and lay it on a greased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 400F for about 7-8 min or until lightly golden.

It will firm up a little on cooling. Serve with your choice of butter or jam.
Never tried peanut butter on it... hmmm.

Creamy Whole Wheat Orzo Pudding

Orzo is the most cutest shaped pasta ever in my eyes. They look like rice but only they are pasta. The regular Orzo would typically look white as they are made with Durum wheat/semolina, but these that were used in my pudding are whole wheat and hence they have this brownish hue to them.



I was so thrilled to find the w.w. ones, just because I had not seen them until then or see them being used in any of the recipes I came across.
So very excited, came home, made a beautiful Orzo pasta salad with my favorite vegetables, cranberries and plenty of sunflower seeds and the rest went into making this pudding.



I love Rice pudding, especially the Indian kind. It is called Payasam or Kheer and is very similar to that of its American counterpart. Except there is no eggs in payasam.
My mom to this date makes the best payasam. I don't know what it is that she does, but turns out just right every single time. Rich, creamy... with nice crunchy cashew nuts and fat raisins that cannot get any fatter from drinking all that milk that it soaks up. I could keep on dreaming about it. My, she works such magic with desserts!
So in short, that is where my Orzo pudding inspiration comes from. You could always substitute regular Orzo if you are not a fan of the w.w. kind.
Do keep an eye out for the tempering process (I have detailed it in the recipe below.)
It is a little tricky if you add too much hot liquid into the cold eggs. Gradually heating the mixture is key, just like any other pudding.
Just a small note before we head on to the recipe... this pudding does tends to thicken as it cools.



Creamy Whole Wheat Orzo Pudding

Ingredients:

Skim milk - 2 1/2 cups
Whole wheat Orzo - 2 1/2 cups
Fat free evaporated milk - Half a can (or) 6 oz.
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup (More or less according to taste)
Organic Blue Agave - 4 tbsp (I like the taste of Agave, if you do not have it ready, you can add more of the sugar)
Egg - 1
Baking soda - A pinch
Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp grated fresh
Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Pure Vanilla essence - 1 tbsp
Almonds - 1/4 cup chopped/slivered
Raisins - 1/4 cup

Method:

Beat together brown sugar, agave and egg in a bowl.

Combine skim milk and evaporated milk in a non-stick pan and bring it to a boil. Add orzo and let it cook till it is closer to al dente. Do not overcook since it will continue to cook during the process. Keep stirring every now and then to avoid sticking to the bottom.

Pour a little (maybe a ladle) of the milk mixture to the egg and sugar mixture and mix well. Add a two more ladles, one at a time and gradually mix it. Then add the entire mixture back to the pot and let it simmer with a pinch of baking soda.
Very slowly heating up the egg mixture is called tempering.
If you add it all at once to the hot pot of milk, the eggs will curdle and you will get scrambled eggs. And it is totally not pretty!

Add the nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla essence and stir well. Also add almond and raisins at this step.

The mixture will thicken as it is cooling. The pasta tends to drink up a good amount of milk.

I like mine thoroughly chilled. It tastes best that way.

Nutty Stollen Wreath Bread (Whole wheat)

Stollen is usually a holiday bread made with dried fruits and nuts and citrus peel.
When I say "usually" you might have gotten the drift. Yes, my recipe here is not the traditional one, neither is it holiday time, nor is it sweet.
I know someone in the far corner of this world is probably shaking their head, going... why does this woman have to twist up every single traditional recipe that ever existed!
Sorry, can't help it!

I do like the sweet kind, but once in a while I do like them savory especially when I load them with nuts like this one. Oh, those delightful little mixed nuts that come in a jar! What is your favorite kind of nut in the medley? Mine is hazelnuts. Why, oh why do they put so few of them in there?
But that said, not many can keep their hands off of the salty golden brown cashews in them.
Ahem... the cashews in the jar keep disappearing magically and ever so slowly in our household! Just when there are just a few broken lone peanuts left, the vanishing act stops. If that person is reading this, then I think its time to own up!



So, for this recipe I also used some roasted sunflower seeds (I always have a few of those and pumpkin seeds on hand.) Like I have mentioned in the past... Always keep nuts in the freezer (especially if you have a large quantity), this prevents the natural oils in them from turning rancid quickly. They stay fresh longer, and if you are worried that they might turn hard, not to worry...they do not freeze.



Nutty Stollen Wreath Bread (Whole wheat)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour - 3 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Vital Gluten - 1 tbsp
Sea Salt - To taste
Baker's yeast - 2 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup (to activate yeast, more for making the bread dough)
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Roasted sunflower seeds - 1/4 cup
Salted mixed nuts - 1/3 cup (Peanuts, Cashews, Filberts, Pecans, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Brazil nuts)
Coarse chop them if they are too large.
Egg wash - For brushing on top (One whole egg, mixed with a teaspoon of water) You will not need the entire egg.

Method:

Mix warm water, yeast and sugar and let it sit for about 10 min. The water should not be too hot or too cold. The former kills the yeast and the latter fails to activate the yeast. Yes, it is a little tricky if you are a first timer.

After the yeast starts to bloom, add the flour, vital gluten salt and form a dough by adding more water. Just enough to form a soft loose dough.

Knead for about 15 minutes by hand or use a dough hook attachment and knead till it is soft and supple.

Oil a large bowl, and let the dough sit in it covered for about a couple of hours. This is the first rise.

After it has doubled in size, add the nuts and knead just enough to distribute the nuts evenly.



Time to pre-heat the oven to 375F.

Using a rolling pin, roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness and slightly elongated as shown in picture.



Roll the dough (just like you would roll the cake for a jelly roll)



Seal both edges by inserting one into another and making into a round wreath shape. The seam will be visible.



Let it sit for about 10 minutes on a baking tray that you are going to use to bake. This is the second rise.

Then, using a pair of scissors cut the wreath partially (not entirely) into sections. The round shape should still be intact.



Brush lightly with a egg wash if desired.



Bake at 375F for about 45-50 min till golden brown, and it should sound hollow when tapped.



Let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve with warm butter/spread. I like mine with a little dollop of jalapeno jam.