Indian Bread Pudding/ Shahi Tukda

This is an Indian style bread pudding , it is a very rich ,exotic and flavourful dish . I make this whenever I want an easy dessert  , so here goes.............

INGREDIENTS

6-8 white bread cut diagonally 

450 gm sugar 

600 ml water

a pinch of cardamom powder

oil for frying 

2-3 tbsp rose water 

4 cups milk 

1 can of sweetened condensed milk 

2-3 tbsp all purpose flour 

4 tbspn milk 

1/4 toasted chopped almonds

METHOD

In a deep pan boil the water and sugar till all the sugar dissolves and add the cardamom powder to it .

Deep fry the bread pieces till it turns golden brown and drain on absorbent paper.

Soak the fried bread in the sugar syrup for a few sec , do not soak it in for long as the bread will come apart .

Arrange the soaked bread in the bottom of a serving dish and just sprinkle some more of the syrup on it . 

Sprinkle the rose water on the bread peices and set aside .

In another pan bring the milk and condensed milk to a boil .

Mix the flour and the 4 tbsp milk into a paste and stir it in the boiling milk and cook it on low flame till the mixture thickens .

Pour this mixture on top of the bread and top it with the toasted almonds and chill and serve .

mango and orange sorbet

This recipe is perfect for the summer , it is a wonderfully delicious and also very easy ( my favourite word ) to make , so here goes ........

INGREDIENTS

2 cups orange juice
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large mango cut in to cubes and chilled

METHOD

Mix everything in a blender and freeze in an icecream maker according to instructuctions or freeze it in a freezer and every hour just prick it with a fork.

simply irressitible caramel eclairs

Ever since I  watched the movie simply irresistible starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flannery , I have really, really wanted  to make those irresistible caramel eclairs , believe me those who have seen that movie will know what i am talking about and those who haven't , try watching it is a really cute movie . Finally after trying various recipes where some of them really flopped or some of them tasting very eggy I found a lovely recipe which is a very delicious , melt-in-your-mouth eclairs , so here goes .

Choux Paste :
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees c 

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour and salt all at once.
 Stir until a smooth ball forms, and pulls away from the edges of the pan.
 Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.
 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth.

It is better to wait the 5 minutes before adding the eggs. Adding immediately could cause the eggs to cook slightly and the dough won't rise well.

Put dough in a pastry tube with the large holed tip.Line of pastry should be about 1/2 to 1 inch. It will puff into a larger shell.

Pipe onto a greased baking sheet, in 3 to 5 inch strips.

Bake in preheated oven for about 15-20 min or until lightly brown 


Fill with vanilla pudding or instant pudding whatever you prefer .
Slice open the eclairs and fill in with a pastry tube , it is much neater .
Top them with the  caramel icing .

Caramel Icing 

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar 


Melt everything together till it becomes a thick paste .