Chocolate Christmas Cake...

Maria and Rosie of Sweet & Simple Bakes have again come up with a beautiful recipe and have stimulated many a creative mind to put their thoughts into action and make a regular bake an extraordinary and memorable one...As part of their November Bake Off they have asked fellow bloggers to partake in baking a sumptuous Chocolate Christmas Cake...

Here is my effort of this beautiful cake...A modest effort to make something wonderful to look extra special....

Here's how it started...firstly with the Fruit Mince (sometimes called as mince meat)...I adopted the recipe given by them here....I made this fruit mince 2 days in advance in order to let the fruit develop more flavour.

Then Proceeded in making the cake...The recipe for the cake is given at S&SB here...

I dont have to put up the recipe as it is very clearly explained by the girls at S&SB. All I will do is put up pictures of the step by step procedure I have followed for the cake.

1. All Ready to go into the Oven.

2. Perfectly baked and cooling down rapidly.


3. Ready to be decorated.

4. I used store bought ready to use Marzipan (I'm not a huge fondant enthusiast) to decorate the cake. I then proceeded colouring the marzipan using liquid food colours making sure I wore gloves while working in the colours to avoid staining my hands.

Make sure you keep the marzipan wrapped in order to prevent it from drying out completely.

5. Then covered the top part of the cooled cake with plain uncoloured marzipan. (Roll the marzipan on a flat surface and dust the surface with Icing Sugar if needed in order to prevent it from sticking).

6. Using mini cookie cutters,I cut out desired shapes out of the different coloured marzipan.

7. Then went on decorating the cake with the coloured marzipan bits. I also used silver coated sugar balls to essentuate the look of the different shapes.

8. A close-up of the marzipan decorations.

9. To Finish off the decoration with a bit of classy touch is a nice wide Satin Ribbon in magenta to give that extra bit of Oumph.

10. And here it is...one of my best creations to date...(thanks to the ideas given by Rosie and Maria)

It has been an exciting experience working on this bake. My husband was so impressed that he decided to take it to his staff Christmas Party and guess what it was a huge success at the party. And I am truly happy for it.

Hope this has impressed my blogger friends as much...

Thanks to Rosie and Maria for such a lovely round up of this months bake. Please check the others here...

I am definitely looking forward to participate in next months bake.
Until next time...Loads of Love...Amu :-)

A Token of Appreciation...

Praneetha of Kitchen Flavours has passed on this Butterfly Award to me. This Award is given to by Fellow Bloggers who consider other blogs/sites as some of the Coolest they have come across. Thanks Pranee(as we call her) for passing this to me and thinking that my Blog is worthy of it. This surely has boosted my spirits up.

The Rules of the award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate 10 other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on yours and leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

I would to pass this on to Deeba, Padma, Spandana, Swati(Sugarcraft India), Srivalli, Rosie and Maria, Sirisha, and Rajani.

I have been away from the blogging world for a long time now. Several reasons and I dont want to get into depth as to why and this award has surely come my way to cheer me up. Thank You Pranee once again.

See you Soon...Amu :-)

Victoria Sandwich Cake...

I recently accidently stumbled upon a Brilliant Blog that belongs to Rosie and Maria...They call it Sweet & Simple Bakes...and true to the name...they do have a sweet and simple blog that encourages people new to baking by giving loads of useful tips and resources to help them learn a new skill...which I personally think is very noble of them..

Not only that they also have a Monthly Bake Concept where they come up with a different but still an easy recipe that they have tried and tested and encourage co-bloggers and others who follow their blog to participate by baking it and to share their experiences while doing it...This is such a great effort on their part and I truly appreciate them for the encouragement they are giving to many people like me because of this...Thanks Rosie and Maria....

So I decided that if time permits I will participate in their monthly bake off for the month of August which is Victoria Sandwich Cake...But since then I have been really busy at work and also because of the festive season could not get to cook it up until this weekend...I rushed off shopping and bought stuff that I needed...and started off...

The recipe and method of preparation for the Victoria Sandwich Cake can be found here...

I have used the same same recipe for the cake base...only changed the filling as per our liking as buttercream is not one of my favourite for a cake baked at home. Also since I didnot have two cake tins...I baked them in a single ring mould I use to bake my regular sponges...and then after cooling them cut them into two halves...and proceeded using them as given in the recipe by its inceptors Rosie and Maria...

Since I dont have to give step by step instructions to the recipe as it is very clear in the recipe given in Sweet and Simple Bakes....I will put up pictures instead..:-)

1.Getting Cake Mould Ready...

2. Creaming Butter and Sugar...

3. Cake mixture in the mould ready to go into the Preheated Oven...

4. Cake baked and cooling on a Cake Rack...

5. One half of the cake topped with Homemade Strawberry Preserve...

6. Topped with Whipped Cream...

7. And Strawberries...

8. And finally other half on top...and dusted with pure Icing Sugar...

And the Final Result...I am pretty Happy with the result and so are the people who finished it off...but I guess the pictures are not as clear...but cant undo it...because already the cake is long gone as they say it was simple irresistable...WOW !!! All thanks to Rosie and Maria of Sweet and Simple Bakes...

I was not able to click a snap of a single slice....because it was over before I got to do it..which is quite sad..but when I make it another time...I will update this post with it...

It has been a great experience working on this month's Bake... Hope Rosie and Maria approve this...and my bake is upto their standards and expectations...and you all enjoyed reading this post....

Please do drop by Sweet and Simple Bakes and check out the monthly round-up for this Bake...

So until next time...Take Care..:-)

Remember Britannia Little Hearts....

Love is in the Air...and what best way to express it than with a treat that always wins hearts....

They are coming your Way....:-)

Check out this page soon....

Award Time Again...:-)

Praneetha Raghava of Kitchen Flavors and EC of Simple Indian Food have passed on this 'Wylde Woman Award' to me.

Thank you so much Pranee and EC for considering me worthy of this Award. I really dont know if I deserve it. This gesture is very much appreciated. It gives me a lot of motivation to keep this Blog going on with more and more innovative posts. Thank You So Much ..:-)

The rules of this award are:
1.You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post

2. Link back to this blog site http://tammyvitale.typepad.com/ Tammy can go visit all these wonderful men and women and remember the Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to men and women, who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy. It's been a blessing and an inspiration to meet all of you through your wonderful blogs.

To keep up the Tradition I would like to pass on the award to my blogger friends/ real time friends who have encouraged me from time to time not just by their comments but also through their silent acknowledgement for each and every single post. Thank You All for the tremendous support for a Blogging Novice like me. It is very very encouraging.

I would love to pass on this award to :

Deeba

Padma

Rajani

Swati

Spandana

Sirisha

Srivalli

Shubha

Usha

Keerthi

Jaya

Ramya

Sree

I would love to include Deepthi and Swathi here...but have seen that they have already received theirs from Praneetha.

Thank so much once again...

Loads of Love....Amu :-)

Tiranga Halwa...

Happy Independence Day to all Readers of this Blog....:-)

India this year has celebrated its 61st Independence Day...I feel very honoured and proud to be born as an Indian and come what may I will never give up on this Cultural Identity of mine...I strongly respect my Roots and where I come from...Though I live in a Foreign Land...there is not a day I don't think of My HomeLand. I truly cherish all the Memories of me growing up and developing all the characteristics of being a True Indian...i.e. Respect for Our Motherland India and deep-rooted trust and belief for all our Values and Traditions...which every Indian associates themselves with.

This Year August 15 falls on a very Auspicious Day of Varalakshmi Vratam (Sravana Sukravaram)...and it happens to be My Best Friends Birthday...So it was an apt day for a Triple Celebration...I was busy all day making different food items to offer as Naivedyam (Prasadam) to the Goddess Varalakshmi and then spent another couple of hours reverently praying for the Health and Good Life of My Husband...

But how can I forget My Motherland and the importance of August 15th and how well we used to celebrate this day back home...and all the sweet Goodies we used to get at school and college on this day...So I decided to make something to mark the occasion of Indian Independence Day...I remembered that my friends Spandy and Siri both came up with this wonderful treat for last years Independence Day...While theirs is a traditional recipe...I worked on producing one a little different...and with a few modifications/additions to their recipe, I made my Own Trianga Halwa...representing the colours of our Indian National Flag....SAFFORN, WHITE and GREEN....

Here goes the Recipe:
Ingredients:
1.5Cups Fine Semolina (Bombay Rava,Sooji)
1.5Cups Fine Dessicated Coconut( can use finelt grated fresh coconut)
2Cups Sugar
1Cup Ghee (Clarified Butter)
4Cups of Water
1tsp Cardamom powder
1/2Cup Roasted Cashews (powdered to a fine powder)

To Finish:
Orange Colour
Green Colour
Roasted Cashews
Sultanas

Process:
1) In a Large Pan, melt the Ghee and add the Rava and Dessicated Coconut to it and roast it on a slow flame till the ghee is well coated over them and a nice aroma wafts the air. Care must be be taken for them to not get any brown colour. So continously stir when they are getting roasted.
2) Then add the Sugar, Cardamom Powder and Powdered Cashew Powder to the the above mixture and stir it till all the ingredients are well mixed.
3) In another pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
4) Slowly add the water to the rava mixture while continously stirring to avoid any lumps from forming.
5) You will know that it is cooked when the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan.
6) Once cooked, divide the Mixture into 3 equal parts.
7) Mix both colours separately with a little water and then add Orange to one part of Halwa and Green to other part of Halwa. Mix well to ensure even distribution of colour.
8) On a warm greased plate firstly place the Green Part of Halwa and spread it to form an even layer.
9) Then place the uncoloured Halwa on top of the Green and spread it evenly again.
10) Lastly top with Orange part of Halwa and spread it to form an even layer.
11) Smooth the Sides and leave it aside to cool.
12) Using a Warm Knife, cut the halwa into desired shape and garnish it with roasted nuts and sultana. Serve them Warm or at Room Temperature.

This is how it looked...

The Orange colour might not be exact because I actually didnot have Orange...I used Yellow and added a little Pink to it to achieve this colour. My Husband and our friends who visited us for dinner that night were very impressed and enjoyed the sweet immensely...and I am very Happy that they liked it. So heres another food item I tried to be innovative with by adding Powdered Cashew and Dessicated Coconut. But if you prefer the regular Sooji Halwa...check out Spanz and Siri's Recipes which are equally Awesome...!!!

I wanted to send this entry to Pooja's Theme of the Week:Safforn,White and Green (Independence Day Special) but missed on posting the recipe by the due date...

So I am sending this across to EC's What's Your Favourite (WYF): Colour in Food Event

Recipe Source: Spandana of Cinnamom Trail and Sirisha of Ambrosia Flavours....and My Modifications...
Image Source: My Phone Camera...

Hope You All liked this Post...Please do try this version and let me know how it turns out...
So Until Next Time...Happy Cooking...:-)

Blogging Friends Card...

Padma of Padma's Kitchen and Usha of My Spicy Kitchen has passed on this Blogging Friends Forever Card...

She is a Friend and I truly cherish this Friendship Gesture from her...Thank You so Much Padma...Much Appreciated..:-)

I would love to pass on to pass on this Friendship Card to my Good Friends...who are also my Blogging Friends...

* Keerthi of CuminHut and Microcosm...

* Swetha of Swethsy...

* Sirisha of Ambrosia Flavours...

* Deepthi of Deepthi's Cosmos...

* Poornima's Maya...

Thank You...and until next time...Take Care..:-)