And obviously you know I'm trying to make new flavours with strawberry, something other than usual flavours and that is how this dessert came to be!

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RECIPE

🥄Servings: 6-8 mini OR 1 regular pavlova

🔪Prep time: 20-30 mins

⏳Baking time: 45-55 mins

🌀Cooling time: Over night or at least 2hrs after baking

INGREDIENTS

🌸For the pavlovas

• 2 large egg whites

• 1 cup (100 g) white sugar

• ½ tsp corn flour

• ½ tsp lemon juice OR vinegar

• ½ tsp vanilla extract OR 1 tsp Vanilla essence

• 1 tsp rose syrup

🍓For the compote topping

• 1 cup (150 g) strawberry

• 2-3 basil leaves

• 1-2 tbsp sugar (adjust according to sweetness of berries)

• Tiny squeeze of lemon

• 1 tsp Corn flour + 1 tsp water

💚For the garnish

• Handful of chopped pistachios

INSTRUCTIONS

🌸For the pavlovas

1. Preheat oven to 250°F (120°C). Line a tray with parchment

2. Separate egg whites and yolks and whip the whites to soft peaks. Store yolks and use later in anything else you might need.

   This is how soft peaks look -

   (P.s: I should have whipped them for a tiny bit more but I realised that later, so you don’t do that. The basic idea of soft peaks it they should hold shape but have a tiny bent/curve at the end)

   • Tip: I find it is easy to separate whites and yolk when the egg is cold.

   • If you have time separate yolks using cold eggs then let it get to room temparature.

   • If not, you can still whip cold eggs, but they'll take a little extra time to whip

3. While the eggs are whipping, add sugar 1 tbsp at a time, beating until stiff, glossy, and the sugar is dissolved.

   • Remember to whip it to soft peaks.

4. Once done, add cornstarch, vinegar or lemon juice, vanilla, and rose syrup and fold gently, until just combined.

   • Do not mix it too much or you'll end up deflating the pavlovas

5. Spoon into small mounds, about 3–4 inches wide. Create shallow wells in the centers.

   • Or you can just dump everything at once and make one big mound and create a pretty deep well in the centre.

   • This is how I did it -

     (P.s: I wanted mini pavlovas so I did this but you can just dump everything in one big blob and make a deep too)

6. Bake for 45–55 minutes until dry to the touch.

7. Turn off oven, crack the door open, and let them cool inside overnight or at least 3hrs.

P.s: Not all of my pavlovas turned out perfect and that’s ok because for some reason these are supposed to be complicated, so if something like this happens, don’t put yourself down

Here’s the pictures

🍓For the compote

1. Place a saucepan on medium flame, add roughly chopped strawberries into it.

   • Remember to wash strawberries before you cut them. Here's a video on how to clean them in case you need it.

2. Let the strawberries cook until they are soft and mushy.

3. Finely slice the basil leaves

4. Add sugar, lemon juice, and the basil leaves to the strawberries and mix well.

5. In another small bowl, add corn flour + water and mix

   • This is called corn flour slurry

6. Now add the corn flour slurry to the strawberries and mix well.

   • Adding cornflour directly can sometimes result in lumps that is why we make a slurry and add it.

7. Let it cook for 5-10 mins until thick, then take it off the heat and let it cool

💚🍓 Assembly

• Just before serving, spread the strawberry-basil compote on top of the well on the pavlova

  • Optional: You can spread some whipped cream before the compote, so it's like: pavlova → topped with whipped cream → then compote. This makes it a decadent dessert. I wanted something light so I skipped it.

• Finally top it all with chopped pistachios, slice and enjoy!

How to store

This is so good, why do even have leftovers!?

• Ok on a serious note, you store the pavlova in an air tight box and the compote in another air tight box, both in the fridge for 2-3 days.

• Assemble just before serving and enjoy.

• If you have the assembled leftovers, pop them into an air-tight box and store them in the fridge for upto 2-3 days.

See you in the next batch ;)

❗️DISCLAIMER ❗️

• I need you to approach this with an open mind because trying new flavours is not for everybody but I’d not put this out if this wasn’t amazing - I get if you don’t like it when you try it but don’t be rude/hyper-critical about it.

• I know biscoff is a strong flavour so you need to trust me when I say I made it such that it compliments the strawberry and does not overpower it. But you won’t know that if you don’t try. So if you have any rude opinion without trying, just zip it!

I give this a solid 8/10 - I’m proud of myself for coming up with this flavour combination!

RECIPE

🥄 Servings: makes 3 individual pastries

🔪 Prep time: 20-30 mins

⏳ Baking time: 17-24 mins

INGREDIENTS

🤎 For the Puff Pastry

• 3 ready-to-bake puff-pastry squares

• 1 egg for egg wash (For eggless option: use milk + butter)

🍓 Strawberry compote

• ½ cup (80 g) strawberries

  • remember to wash your strawberries - here's a video incase you don't know how to clean them

• 1 - 2 tsp sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of your strawberries)

• ¼ tsp cornstarch + ½ tsp water

🤎 Whipped Biscoff Cream

• 30 g heavy cream

• 35 g Biscoff spread

  (I recommended weighing these instead of using cups because biscoff spread in a cup can vary a lot in weight = lot of risk for flavour variation - that is also why I did not give cup measurements for these)

  • On side note: if you are someone who likes baking, weighing scale is a must-have - it's extremely cheap and the most accurate tool. If your baked goods never come out right, no matter how precisely you follow the instructions then I can bet not having a weighing scale was definitely a major reason.

INSTRUCTIONS

🍓 For the strawberry compote

1. Wash your strawberries - click here if you don’t know how

2. On low flame on the stove, place a saucepan - add chopped roughly chopped strawberries, let them cook for 5 mins till they become thick

3. Now add sugar and mix well. Cook again for 2-3 mins.

4. In a small bowl, add corn starch (or flour) + water - mix this then add this to the strawberry on the stove while stirring.

5. Cook it for 2-3 mins until the compote is almost thick and take it off the heat and let it rest.

   • Compote thickens as it cools down so it's important you cook it to a less thicker consistency than desired

   • This is how thick it should look -

🤎 For the puff pastry

• While this cools down, let's shape the puff pastry into this cute shape I made.

  • This shape is optional but it definitely gives a very bakery feel to it.

  • If you don't want to do that shape, just use this simple hack and you are good to go!

• Once your puff pastries are shaped well, poke them with a fork in the centre, give the egg wash and bake them for 15-25 mins (according to the instructions on the pack)

• Once baked, take them out and let them cool on the baking tray

While they bake you can make the whipped biscoff cream

🤎 Whipped Biscoff Cream

• Using an electric whisk, whip Cold heavy cream to soft peaks.

  • Make sure the cream is cold enough before you start whipping or it'll take a lot of time and won't hold shape.

  • Tip: if you cream isn't cold, you can pop it into the freezer for 5 min and then it'll be good to whip.

• To this, add biscoff spread and whip until stiff peaks form.

  • Tip: if your biscoff spread is too thick, melt it lightly in the microwave in 30 sec bursts.

  • Careful not to make it too hot or it'll end up curdling the cream.

• Once done, let it chill in the fridge

🍓🤎 Assemble

• Once baked, push the puff down lightly inside the cuts made on the puff pastry before baking (see video)

• Fill the pastry with strawberry compote then top it with whipped biscoff cream and enjoy!

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How to store

• I recommend baking these fresh as you don't have to make the puff pastry from scratch but if that's not possible -

  • Store the unfilled baked puff pastry in an air-tight container

  • The strawberry compote in another air-tight box

  • Whipped cream goes into the freezer.

• Assemble just before serving.

• You can assemble and then store them too but there's a chance the puff gets soggy.

  • If you do need to do this, store in an air-tight box for 2-3 days in the fridge

See you in the next batch ;)

Anyways, a follower requested these a very long time ago and me being me, obviously I forgot and she’s been very patient ever since - thank you girl!

So enjoy these brownie cookies and have a great weekend!🤎

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You can make these ahead and store them in the freezer - that way you always have cookies whenever you want - maybe like a sweet treat after dinner

(more about this at the end of the recipe - if you are interested)

RECIPE -

🥄 Servings: 6-8 giant cookies OR 12-14 regular cookies

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

🧊 Chilling time: 20-30 mins

⏳ Baking time: 15-17 mins

🤎 INGREDIENTS

• 3 tbsp (42 g) Butter

• ½ cup (85 g) Semi-sweet chocolate (55%)

• 2 tbsp (10 g) Cocoa powder

• ½ tsp Instant coffee

• 1 large egg

• ½ cup (100 g) white sugar

• 2 tbsp (28 g) brown sugar

• ½ tsp Baking powder

• ¼ tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla essence OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• ⅔ (80 g) all-purpose flour (maida)

🤎 INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl, add butter and chocolate - melt them.

2. To this warm melted chocolate mix, add cocoa powder and coffee; mix well and set it aside.

   • It is important you add cocoa powder and coffee to “warm” mix because this warm temperature will bring out the intense flavour of the cocoa

3. In another bowl, add eggs and sugars - beat them for one minute on lowest speed, till it turns slightly creamy and white-ish colored. (see below)

4. To the egg mix, add baking powder, salt, vanilla - mix.

5. Now add the melted butter-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and give it a good mix.

   • Make sure your chocolate mix is not hot because then you’ll have scrambled eggs - which is obviously not what we want here, since we are aiming for cookies.

6. Finally add flour and mix only until combined - DON’T OVERMIX!

   • This is how it should be like

7. Chill this cookie dough for 20-30 minutes - DON’T SKIP THIS!

8. 30 mins later, preheat your oven to 170°C. Line the baking tray with parchment paper.

9. Scoop cookie balls onto the baking tray and bake for 15-17 mins

10. Once baked, let them cool on the baking tray for 5-10 mins, sprinkle some flaky sea-salt and enjoy!

    • Don’t skip the cooling

    • If you like fudgy cookies, bake them for 11-13 min, let them cool on the baking pan for 5-10 minutes and enjoy

How to freeze

• Just make it like making a regular cookie dough, chill the dough, scoop out the balls, and chill again for 5 mins. After chilling -

• Store them -

  • In an airtight box: If you are stacking one cookie on top of other, place a parchment paper in the middle so that the 2 cookies don’t stick to each other

  • OR In a ziplock bag: For this I’d suggest you freeze your balls then once freezed transfer them to the ziplock bag and pop it back into the freezer. (I know you want to dump all the cookie balls directly into the ziplock then freeze but they’ll stick together and not really be cookies ‘balls’ anymore, it'll become one big cookie slab)

  • Or you can dump the cookie dough onto a cling wrap, make it kind of a log, wrap it tightly, put in an air-tight box and freeze.

• How to bake these -

  • This is my fav part! You don’t need to thaw them or wait for them to come to room temp before baking

  • Just preheat your oven and immediately pop them from the freezer into the oven and bake like usual and enjoy!

(NOTE: when baking freezed cookies, add 1-2 min extra than the usual time your cookies take to bake

How to store

• Once baked, store in an air-tight container for upto 5-7 days and enjoy

  (though these get finished within 2-3 days at our house😅)

See you in the next batch ;)

RECIPE

• Prep-time: 20-25 mins

• Chill time: 1-2 hrs

INGREDIENTS (see pic)

• The ingredients are for different batch sizes: small-medium-large. You choose whichever size cheesecake you want to make and use the measurements accordingly!

  

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I made a 6-inch cheesecake here

INSTRUCTIONS

🤎 For the biscuit base -

1. Line the cheesecake pan with a parchment paper and set aside.

   

2. Crush all the ingredients of the biscuits base (digestive biscuits, instant coffee, melted butter) to fine crumbs.

3. Transfer this into the cheesecake pan and tap it down to form a nice biscuit base and let it chill while you make the cheesecake filling.

🤎 For the cheesecake filling -

1. In a bowl, whip cold heavy cream until soft peaks form.

   • Soft peaks is when at a point during whipping, you stop and remove your whisk from the cream - you can see the peaks form, the peaks even hold their shape but they are not stiff and pointy, instead there is slight curve. This is called soft peaks.

   • Also, it's important that you use cold cream or else it'll take up lot of time and prolly won't even hold shape really well. (Tip: if your cream is not cold, pop it into the freezer for 5 mins and then whip it!)

2. Let the whipped cream chill while you do the rest of the work.

3. In another bowl, add the rest of the ingredients (mascarpone, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, instant coffee) and whisk until soft and well combined.

   

4. Now add the whipped heavy cream to this and fold GENTLY. Don't overmix it, it will deflate.

   

5. Once combined, transfer this onto the biscuit base,

   

   level the cheesecake at the top so it looks pretty good and let it chill.

   • This is a thing I like to do, so that it looks really pretty and presentable.

   • Chiling: if you have time I recommend chilling overnight. If not, freeze it for 1 hr - not more than that, then let it set in the fridge for 30 mins and you are good to go!

6. Once it sets, remove from the pan, dust some cocoa powder, chill and enjoy!

   • Don't even think about dusting the cocoa powder before chilling the cheesecake.

   • If you dust cocoa powder before the cheese filling is set, the cocoa powder will end up getting mixed with it and it becomes weird and clumpy.

Tip - I quickly heat up the sides of the cheesecake pan using hot air from a hair dryer on a high setting, this way the pan is removed easily without getting stuck.

How to store

• Store it in the fridge by wrapping it with foil or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying and absorbing the food odors from the fridge.

• An air-tight container also works!

• When stored right, they can be edible for upto 1 week

See you in the next batch ;)

• Also, I'm sorry this recipe took a while, my sinuses were acting up like crazy😮‍💨

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RECIPE

🥣 Servings: 16 buns

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 30-35 mins

INGREDIENTS

🍔 For the buns (dough)

• 2½ tsp active dry yeast OR instant dry yeast

• 1½ cup (360 g) Warm milk

• 7 cups (850 -900 g) All-purpose flour

• 2 tbsp Sugar

• 1 tsp Salt

• 1 Egg OR ¼ cup (50 g) yogurt

• ¼ cup (60 g) Softened butter

🍗 For the filling

• I used chicken but you can use whatever you want - paneer, veggies etc - go wild!

• For the chicken - Below is the recipe I used but you can also use any leftover chicken or buy cooked chicken and use it to stuff inside.

  • I buy chicken tikka and stuff it inside occasionally if I'm not in the mood to cook.

Chicken filling I made -

• 2 cups (500 g) Boneless chicken cut into small pieces

• 4 tbsp (60 g) Yogurt

• 1 tbsp Oil

• 1 cup Onion, sliced

• Spices -

  • Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp

  • Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

  • Cumin powder: 1 tbsp

  • Red chili powder: 1½ tsp

  • Turmeric powder: 1½ tsp

  • Garam masala: ½ tsp

  • Lemon juice: ½ tsp

  • Salt: tp taste

• ½ cup shredded cheese

• Optional: Mixed vegetables as Add-on like bell peppers, corn, or mushrooms (optional)

🍔 For finishing

• Egg wash: 1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp of milk

  • Eggless: Mix 2 tbsp milk + 1 tbsp butter

• Sesame seeds for sprinkling on top

• Garlic butter: Melted butter mixed with garlic powder or paste or finely crushed garlic

INSTRUCTIONS

🍔 For the buns (dough)

1. Go directly to step 2 if you are using Instant dry yeast.

   • If you are using active dry yeast - activate the yeast: Mix yeast with lukewarm milk and a pinch of sugar. Let it sit for 5-10 min until foamy.

2. Just mix all the dough ingredients together (wet + dry) including the instant yeast

   • If you are using active yeast - then add the milk mixture from step 1 to all the dough ingredients.

3. Knead until combined, will prolly take 9-11 min until smooth and slightly elastic. (It should be like a soft dough - see pic)

   

4. Take another bowl, grease it lightly with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a lid or wet cloth. Let this rest in a warm place for 1-1½ hrs, until it is almost double in size.

   • Tip: You can create a cozy spot by turning on your empty microwave for about 30 seconds, then switching it off. Place your dough inside the microwave, close the microwave door & let it rise for 1hr or until it is doubled (the gentle warmth inside the microwave will help them rise evenly)

     

5. Make the chicken while this rests.

   • If using leftover or store-bought cooked chicken, you can just rest and come back to the dough 1 hr later

6. 1-1½ hour later, you'll see the dough has doubled in size.

   • Just for fun give it a slow punch - yeah you can see how light and airy it is.

7. Now cut this into approx equal sized 16 pieces

🍗 For the filling

1. In a bowl, combine the chicken with yogurt, all the spices and lemon juice. Mix well and let it marinate for 15-20 minutes.

   • You can do this step at the beginning, before you even start the dough for your buns.

   • This will deepen the flavours in the chicken!

2. Cook the chicken: Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Sauté the sliced onions until translucent. Add the chicken and cook until tender.

   • Don't overcook it or make it too dry because this will also cook inside the oven and overcooking will make it really dry.

3. Stir in any additional vegetables (if using) like bell peppers, corn, or mushrooms and cook until softened.

4. Take everything off the heat. Set this aside to cool completely.

   • This will be ussd for stuffing the buns.

🍔 Assemble and bake

1. Remember the 16 pieces of dough?Flatten each portion into a small circle.

   • No need for perfect circles, just a regular circle shaped flat dough is sufficient.

2. Place 2 tablespoons of chicken filling in the center. Top with shredded cheese.

   • Don't overfill the buns to prevent the filling from leaking out during baking.

3. Shape the buns: Gather the edges of the dough and pinch them firmly together to seal the filling. Roll the ball between your palms to create a smooth, round shape.

4. Place the buns on a baking tray: 1-2 inches apart, sealed-side facing down. Cover with a lid or wet cloth and let them rise in a warm place for another 30-45 minutes.

   • Tip: You can create a cozy spot by turning on your empty microwave for about 30 seconds, then switching it off. Place your bund inside the microwave, close the microwave door & let it rise for 1hr or until it is doubled (the gentle warmth inside the microwave will help them rise evenly)

     

5. Towards the end of the second rise, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).

6. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash, sprinkle sesame seeds.

   • Use milk + butter mix for eggless option

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

8. Immediately after removing the buns from the oven, brush them generously with the melted garlic butter for a glossy finish.

9. Cover the buns with a cloth immediately after brushing them with melted butter. This helps trap moisture and keeps them soft.

10. And enjoy!

    

    

How to store

• Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

• Reheat: warm leftover buns in the oven for a few minutes before serving.

See you in the next batch ;)

And some of these are extremely basic because these are meant for the people who are beginners.

You can still make them if you are a pro in cooking/baking - but you don't get to tell me this is very basic. It is meant to be basic.

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RECIPE

🥄Servings: 1 small loaf

🔪Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳Baking time: 45-55 mins

🤎 INGREDIENTS

• 5 very very very very ripe bananas (~ 2 cups or 480 g)

• ¼ cup + 1 tbsp (70 g) butter

• ¼ cup (50 g ) brown sugar

• 3 tbsp (40 g) white sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract OR 2 tsp vanilla essence

• ½ tsp instant coffee powder in 1 tsp hot water (I promise you won't tast it - it just brings out the flavors)

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp (140 g) all-purpose flour

• 3 tbsp (20 g) rolled oats

• 1¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp baking soda

• Chocochips (as many as you want!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.

2. Stir constantly - it’ll foam up, then turn golden and smell nutty.

3. When small brown bits form at the bottom and the aroma is toasty, remove from heat and set it aside.

   

4. Preheat oven to 180°C (350 °F) Line your loaf pan. Set it aside

5. In a large bowl, mask bananas until mostly smooth.

6. Dump all the ingredients except flour and oats (brown butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, coffee, baking powder , baking soda) and whisk until smooth and slightly creamy with few tiny bubbles (should take about 1-2 mins with a manual hand whisk)

7. Now add the flour and oats, and chocochips. Mix only until just combined - DO NOT OVERMIX!

   • The batter should be thick but scoopable. If it feels too thick, add 1-2 tbsp of water. Be careful and don't add too much water at once, do it slowly, one spoon at a time or you'll accident end up making it too runny

8. Pour into your loaf pan, sprinkle a few more choco chips on top

9. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

10. Once baked, cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

    • Wait until it’s fully cool before slicing - it’ll firm up beautifully.

11. And then you cut and enjoy!

🤎 Storage instructions

• Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for 4-6 days

See you in the next batch ;)

And some of these are extremely basic because these are meant for the people who are beginners.

You can still make them if you are a pro in cooking/baking - but you don't get to tell me this is very basic. It is meant to be basic.

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• My fav thing about upside down cakes is they come out decorated and I have to put in zero extra work for that!

RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 2-3 (larger batch recipe at the end1

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳ Baking time: 32-35 mins

INGREDIENTS

💜 For the topping

• 1 tbsp (14 g) Butter

• 2 tbsp (25 g) Brown sugar

• 1 medium plum, thinly sliced

• 1 - 2 tbsp sliced almonds (optional)

🤎 For the cake

• ½ cup (60 g) all purpose flour

• ⅛ cup or 3½ tbsp (25 g) almonds

• ½ tsp Baking powder

• ⅛ tsp Baking Soda

• Tiny pinch of salt

• 1 tsp Instant coffee powder

• ¼ cup (60 g) hot milk

• ¼ cup (60 g) Yogurt

• 3 tbsp (45 g) Neutral cooking oil

• ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar

• ½ tsp Vanilla extract OR 1 tsp Vanilla essence

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).

2. Grease and line a 4-inch round baking pan with parchment paper.

3. Add melted butter + brown sugar on the parchment paper and spread evenly.

   • You can skip this and use a store-bought regular caramel if you prefer!

4. Arrange the thinly sliced almonds (if using) → then sliced plums on top of the butter - sugar mixture

   • Make it look pretty and neat because this will be the top layer of your cake.

   • You can google upside down plum cake to understand it better (It's kind of similar to the ratatouille dish)

     

5. Set this aside. Now onto the cake -

6. Lightly roast your almonds on a stove. Let them cool and then grind them into a coarse powder.

   • Don't grind it too much or the oil will release from it and it'll end up being a paste. (see pic)

     

7. In a bowl, mix yogurt + baking Soda. Set it aside.

8. In another bowl, mix coffee into the hot milk. Set it aside.

9. Take another bowl, add all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, almonds powder) give it a nice mix.

10. To this, add all the wet ingredients (yogurt + coffee + oil + vanilla) and fold gently until just combined - DO NOT OVER MIX!

11. Pour cake batter over plum layer in the baking pan and bake for 32-35 mins, until toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.

12. Once baked, let it cool for 10-12 min - DO NOT SKIP THIS COOLING STEP!

13. After it cools, loosen the edges, invert carefully onto a plate, remove the baking pan. Peel the parchment to reveal glossy, caramelised plums

14. Cut and enjoy!

💜 Serving suggestion

Serve with vanilla ice-cream for a decadent dessert!

• But honestly, I love how it tastes by itself - icecream is not truly a necessity here, just a choice!

🤎 Storage instructions

Can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for upto 3-5 days.

See you in the next batch ;)

1

Measurements for a larger cake -

Essentially you can make bombolonis using this recipe and coat them or fill them with any filling of your choice, depending on whatever flavour you love!

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RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 4 (if you want a larger batch, there's recipe measurements for that at the end1

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

💤 Resting time: ~ 2 hrs (you don't need to do any work during this time!)

⏳ Cooking time: 10 mins total

INGREDIENTS

🟡 For the bomboloni dough

• ¾ cup (95 g) all-purpose flour

• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp instant yeast OR active dry yeast

• Pinch of salt

• ¼ cup (60 g) warm milk

• 2 tsp softened butter

• ¼ tsp vanilla extract OR ½ tsp vanilla essence

🤎 Other ingredients

• Oil for frying

• Filling of choice: Chocolate, custard, jam, Nut cream, Lemon curd , etc (there's tonnsss of options - you can google it. There's some savoury options too)

• Coating of your choice: Sugar, Cinnamon sugar, Glaze, Ganache, Nuts etc (again you can find them on google)

I used -

• A simple chocolate ganache filling

• Cocoa powder + Powdered sugar coating

INSTRUCTIONS

🟡 For the dough

1. Go directly to step 2 if you are using ‘Instant’ dry yeast.

   • If you are using active dry yeast - activate the yeast: Mix yeast with lukewarm milk and a pinch of sugar. Let it sit for 5-10 min until foamy.

2. Just mix all the dough ingredients together (wet + dry) including the instant yeast

   • If you are using active yeast - then add the milk mixture from step 1 to all the dough ingredients.

3. Knead until soft and elastic, will prolly take 6-7 min by hand, 4-5 min using mixer

   

4. First rise (first proof)

   • Cover the dough with a wet cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled. (this is called proofing)

   • Tip: You can create a cozy proofing spot by turning on your empty microwave for about 30 seconds, then switching it off. Place your bomboloni dough inside the microwave, close the microwave door & let it rise for 1hr or until it is doubled (the gentle warmth inside the microwave will help them rise evenly) - if this point is confusing you can reach out to me - I will help you understand it.

   • Remember to cover bombolonis with a wet cloth, so they don't dry.

5. Shape for second proof

   • Cut dough into 4 pieces of approx same size.

   • Roll them into perfect round balls. The dough should not have any cracks on them (see below)

     

     

     

     

     I’m so sorryyy but i lost some videos I recorded - so I had to improvise!

     Here’s a link of a video I found on Instagram - maybe you it can be helpful (not my video)

   • Thin, surface cracks are fine, but if they are too deep it will result in broken bombolonis when frying them

   • Place each dough ball on small square piece of parchment paper - same size as each bomboloni ball, cover, and let these rise again for 30–40 min. (This is the second proof = second rise)

6. Heat your oil

   • Heat oil to 170–175°C (340–350°F).

     The temperature is an imp thing when frying these -

   • If oil is too hot, bomboloni will brown outside but stay uncooked inside; Oil too cold and they’ll soak up oil and turn heavy, and soggy, greasy

   • If you don't have a thermometer, here's some tips - (or best if you have a desi mom who can perfectly guide you because the oil needs to be as hot as you’d need it for bhajiya)

     1. Place the end of a wooden spoon or a clean wooden chopstick into the oil.

        • If you see small, steady bubbles forming around it, the oil is ready.

        • If bubbles rush up rapidly, it’s too hot. If there are few or no bubbles, wait a little longer.

     2. Another way: Drop a tiny crumb-sized piece of dough (from any leftover edges, not one of your bomboloni) or even a small piece of bread.

        • It should sink, then float up slowly with gentle sizzling - The oil should be hot enough to bubble softly and evenly, not roaring or smoky or no reaction at all.

It should be like when you fry bhajiyas - the sizzling should sound lively but calm, not angry or dull.

7. Fry the bombolonis

   • Once you know your oil is at the right temperature, fry 1 - 2 at a time until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

     How to fry -

   • Once the dough has finished its second proof, very gently lift each piece holding the parchment paper on just the corners - Be very careful here - the balls are soft and full of air now, even small touch and they make get compressed

   • Tip: if it did get compressed, you can proof it again for 20-25 mins and it's good to go!

   • Once you have carefully picked up the dough using the parchment square - place the whole thing into the hot oil - yes with the parchment paper, place the whole thing in the oil - your paper side should be in the oil.

   • After a few seconds, the parchment will loosen and float away.

   • Use tongs to carefully remove the paper from the oil and throw it away

   • Once the bomboloni is golden on one side, flip it so the other side also cooks

   • Fry the bomboloni until golden on both sides

   • Remove them from oil, when it's golden brown on both sides and drain on paper towel

8. Coat & fill

   • Roll warm bomboloni in coating, if using it

   • Use a piping bag to fill with your favorite filling and enjoy!

   • (I rolled them in a mix of powdered sugar + cocoa powder. For the filling I made a simple chocolate ganache in 1:1 ratio)

Some notes to help you -

• Proofing

  • The dough is left to rest - during this rest, it increases in size

  • How!? – The dough has yeast in it. This yeast ferments and release carbon-dioxide, which will make your dough to rise and double in size. This process is called proofing.

  • Is your dough perfectly proofed/under proofed/over-proofed?

    When it's almost double in size, give a very gentle light feather touch with your finger -

    1. If it springs/bounces back slowly - it's perfect (see video)

    2. If it springs /bounces back quickly - it's under-proofed, let it rest and rise more

    3. If it doesn't spring/bounce back at all - it's prolly over-proofed: it's ok, it's still edible - it's not the picture perfect texture but it's not a total waste

• The famous White bomboloni lines on the side

  • I didn't get them and apparently it's not compulsory you have them.

  • Some times the oil level in your pan will be so high that it may the reach the sides too and turn them brown - which is not wrong - all it means is it's cooked.

  • However, if you really do want those white lines, I can suggest you try slightly under-filling your pan with oil - so the oil depth will allow the bombolonis to just float halfway submerged

  • Again, this is mostly for aesthetic and it's not a compulsory thing and has no effect on taste or texture!

I'm sorry there's too many tips and I tried to keep them easy and simple to understand BUTTT if things are still confusing, (no judgment, i promise) - just let me know if you'd like me to make a detailed video about this.

• There's absolutely no need to hesitate at all! Please don't feel shy to reach out - especially my introverted people👀

Leave a comment

See you in the next batch ;)

1

Measurements for a larger batch -

If that's your preference, good for you! But if it's not, do not come at me because I did already warn you.

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RECIPE

🥄 Servings: Makes single 2-layered 8-inch cake

🔪 Prep time: 20 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 35-40 mins

INGREDIENTS

🍫 For the cake

• 1⅓ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour

• ½ cup (60 g) cocoa powder

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar

• ⅔ cup (160 g) neutral cooking oil

• ½ cup (120 g) milk, room temp

• 1 cup (200 g) hot water

• ½ cup (120 g) yogurt

• 2 tsp vanilla extract OR 1½ tbsp vanilla essence

• 1 cup (100 g) chopped 70% dark chocolate, melted & slightly cooled

🍫 For the ganache

• 6 cups (360 g) 70% dark chocolate, chopped

• 1½ cups (360 g) heavy or whipping cream

• ¼ cup (50 g) butter (optional - gives silkiness & shine)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line two 8-inch round pans with parchment.

   • You can bake it in one 8-inch pan and cut through the middle, horizontally - But it'll take lot of time to cook (almost an hour ) and will prolly be a bit dense. Still edible!

2. In a bowl, add hot water, cocoa powder - mix well. To this warm mixture add chopped chocolate and such that it melts completely. Set it aside.

   • If the chocolate isn't completely melted, you can warm up the mixture slightly, just enough to melt it - Be careful to not make it too hot!

3. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients except cocoa powder (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) Set aside.

4. In another bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together (sugar, oil, milk, yogurt, vanilla) until smooth.

5. Now mix all of the above together - Mix gently until just combined - DO NOT OVERMIX!

6. Transfer to baking pan -

   • Divide batter evenly into the two pans, if using 2 pans bake at 180°C (350°F) 30–35 minutes, until the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter) OR the cake springs back lightly when you touch it gently with your finger

   • If using one pan, dump all of it into one pan - bake for atleast 45-50 min, until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter) OR the cake springs back lightly when you touch it gently with your finger.

7. Let cakes cool in pans 10 min, then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely before layering

8. Prepare the Ganache while your cake is getting baked –

   • Melt chocolate completely. (Here’s a post on how to melt chocolate)

   • Add butter to it. Mix well until it's melted.

   • Add chilled cream, in 2-3 parts to the warm chocolate while stirring continuously

     This is what it’ll look like once it’s mixed perfectly. (Don’t worry if the color varies, I whipped my cream lightly because I like it airy, light - hence the different color but it is still the same, I promise!)

9. Note - I know you will want to add all the cream at once. Please don't.

   • The chocolate and cream are at different temperatures and sudden mixing of those will shock the chocolate and make it seize up.

   • Add the cream in 2-3 parts.

10. Whisk gently until smooth and glossy.

    • You can whip it on low speed for a min or two, if you prefer a lighter, airy texture

11. Set it aside while the cake cools down.

12. Assembly

    We are basically going to stack up the cake here:

    Cake → Ganache → Cake → Ganache (see pic)

    

    Not my picture - taken from the Internet.

    • I just want you to have an inspired in case you are new to this.

    • I’m not making a fully decorated, bakery type cake - I made something similar to the one in the pic. Just cake - ganache - cake - ganache - cut and enjoy!

      (Had some leftover cream and few cake crumbs - so I spread the cream along the sides and stuck the cake crumbs onto it - totally optional - go for the cake type in the picture if that’s your preferance!

    • I love this because it is super beginner-friendly!

    You can google or YouTube search for “naked cake” if you are still confused.

13. Assembly -

    • Level cakes if needed. (Cut any cake at the top such that the cake is a neat flat top)

    • Spread a layer of ganache on top of one layer.

    • Place the second layer of cake on top of ganache

    • Finally spread all the ganache and let the cake chill before you enjoy!

14. Chill 15–20 min to set before slicing your cake and enjoy!

See you in the next batch ;)

And some of these are extremely basic because these are meant for the people who are beginners.

You can still make them if you are a pro in cooking/baking - but you don't get to tell me this is very basic. It is meant to be basic.

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RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 2 (Measurements for larger batch at the end1

🔪 Prep time: 10-15 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 22-25 mins

INGREDIENTS

🤎 For the Pudding

• 3 tbsp (40 g) butter, softened

• 3 tbsp (40 g) brown sugar

• 3 tbsp (45 g) milk

• ½ tsp vanilla extract OR 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 3 tbsp (40 g) all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 2 tbsp (25 g) chopped dates (this is how much it should be AFTER the dates are chopped)

• 2 tbsp (25 g) hot water

🤎 For the Butterscotch Sauce

Traditionally, caramel sauce is used but I like it with butterscotch sauce - gives a rich warm flavour.

If you want caramel - use any caramel sauce recipe or use a store bought caramel sauce

• 2 tbsp (25 g) butter

• 2 tbsp (25 g) brown sugar

• 2 tbsp (25 g) heavy cream

• ¼ tsp vanilla extract OR ½ tsp vanilla essence

🤎 Topping

• Vanilla ice-cream OR whipped cream (optional but tastes diabolically amazing!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. Grease your 4-inch baking pan and set aside.

3. Add hot water to chopped dates. Mash it with a fork and set aside.

   

4. In another bowl, mix butter and sugar until smooth.

   

5. To this butter-sugar mix, add milk and vanilla, and date mix from earlier. Mix it well.

   • Optional but you can add ¼ tsp of cinnamon powder if you like the flavour - it'll give you a warm, cozy, evening comfort dessert.

6. Sift flour and baking powder into this mixture and fold until just combined - you should know by now to NOT OVERMIX.

7. Transfer to the baking pan and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8. While the cake gets baked, make your sauce –

   • In a small pan, add all the sauce ingredients

   • Cook on a low heat, while stirring continuously

   • Let it simmer for 3-4 mins, till it gets thicker - But remember you still want it to be pourable - so don't cook it too much.

   • The sauce will thicken as it cools down, so it's ok if you don't cook it to the exact final consistency - it should be ‘almost’ like a sauce

   • Remove from heat and set it aside to use on the pudding.

   • Tip: if you feel it's too thick - immediately transfer it to another pan after taking off the heat - this will prevent it from thickening further.

9. Once the pudding is baked, let it cool slightly for 5-10 mins

10. Poke a few holes in the top with a toothpick or fork and pour some warm butterscotch sauce over it.

11. Serve warm and enjoy!

12. You can top it with some ice cream or whipped cream, if you want (optional but tastes really good)

    • Tip: if you are topping it with icecream or cream, I suggest saving half of the sauce to pour on top of the icecream

See you in the next batch ;)

1

Larger batch measurements

And some of these are extremely basic because these are meant for the people who are beginners.

You can still make them if you are a pro in cooking/baking - but you don't get to tell me this is very basic. It is meant to be basic.

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RECIPE

🥄Servings: 8 lamington squares

🔪Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳Cooking time: 28-35 mins

Sorry the recipe looks long, it's because I explain the steps in detail

But here's a small overview so you know what you are getting into -

INGREDIENTS

🍰 For the cake

(Skip this if using store bought cake or pre-mix: use ingredients on the premix box - should be a vanilla cake)

• 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ cup (100g) sugar

• ½ cup (120g) plain yogurt

• ¼ cup (55g) oil

• ¼ cup (60g) milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract OR 2 tsp vanilla essence

• 1 tsp vinegar OR lemon juice

🍒For the raspberry jam

(Skip if using using store bought jam)

• ½ cup (80 g) frozen raspberries

• 3 tbsp (40 g) sugar

• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) lemon juice

🍫For the Chocolate glaze

• ½ cup (40g) cocoa powder

• 1 cup (200g) sugar

• ¾ cup (180 ml) water

• 2 tbsp (30 g) butter

• 2 cups (150–180 g) dessicated coconut Or coconut flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

🍰For the cake

• Skip this step if using store bought cake.

• If using premix - follow the instructions on the box

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350 °F) Grease and line a 9-inch square pan.

2. In a bowl mix curd + baking soda. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, mix rest of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar)

4. To this, add all the other wet ingredients (oil, milk, vanilla, lemon juice or vinegar) + curd mix from earlier.

5. Fold the ingredients until the flour is just combined - DON'T OVERMIX!

6. Transfer to the baking pan and bake for 28-35 mins, until the cake is not jiggly and springs back upon a very light finger touch OR until toothpick comes out clean or with fine crumbs

7. Once baked, cool for 10 min in the baking pan, then transfer to a rack and COOL COMPLETELY before cutting.

   • Chill for a while if possible

🍒For the Raspberry Jam

(Skip this if using store bought jam)

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan on medium flame.

2. Simmer for 5 min, stirring, until thickened.

3. The jam will thicken more as it cools down, so only cook it till it almost a spreadable jam consistency.

   • It basically be like a spreadable paste

4. Take it off the heat.

5. Cool completely before spreading.

🍫Chocolate Glaze

1. In a saucepan, bring water to boil whisk.

2. Add cocoa powder, sugar, butter - keep stirring.

3. Let it simmer on medium-low until it thickens slightly - to a syrup consistency

4. Remove from heat. Let it cool to lukewarm temperature, before using.

🍰Assembly

I’m sorry i forgot to record this step but here’s a drawing I try to explain as easy as possible. If it is confusing - Do let me know and I will help you understand

1. Cut cooled cake into 2 halves from the middle

2. Spread jam on one slice of cake (if using store bought - don't spread a thick layer - because it'll start leaking - you want a neat thin layer, enough to taste)

3. Place the other half cake on top of this layer

4. Now cut such that you have 4 square cake sandwiches

5. Freeze these for 5-10 mins

6. Remove from freeezer

7. Dip sandwiches into LUKEWARM chocolate glaze, let the excess drip off

8. Roll it in coconut flakes.

9. Chill and enjoy!

See you in the next batch ;)

And some of these are extremely basic because these are meant for the people who are beginners.

You can still make them if you are a pro in cooking/baking - but you don't get to tell me this is very basic. It is meant to be basic.

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RECIPE

For the first dessert of this series, there is no one recipe because this dessert is more of an idea -

I hope you get the idea from the picture.

Here's some tips that will help you

You can make this in any sized batch of your choice - But remember to use a transparent bowl/glass/vessel to make this because this dessert is all about the looks.

Here's a video to help you understand better

For the cake

• You can use any cake - store bought, muffins, pre-mix, or make it yourself

  • I used a chocolate cake but you can do this with any flavour you love!

• If your cake is too dry, brush it with a tiny amount of milk

For the mousse

I used a simple melted chocolate + whipped cream mix in a 1:1.5 ratio

Basically 1 part chocolate + 1½ parts whipped cream

• So if you take 100 gms chocolate, then you'll need 100 x 1.5 = 150gms whipped cream

• For 200gms chocolate, you'll need 200 x 1.5 gms = 240gms whipped cream

(Let me know if this is confusing and I promise to help you understand)

Leave a comment

How to make the mousse

Whip your cream till soft peaks, let it chill.

In another bowl melt some chocolate (here's an old video + post on how to melt chocolate)

Let the chocolate cool down a bit - to lukewarm temperature

To this melted chocolate add cream - NOT ALL AT ONCE!

• Add it in 2-3 parts - the cream & chocolate are at diff temperatures so if you immediately mix everything together you'll have a grainy mousse - still edible but it won't be too smootthhh)

And keep whisking gently while adding the cream to chocolate

DON’T OVERMIX - the air in the cream can get deflated

And your mousse is ready!

• If you find it's too liquid - freeze it for 5 min, if it's still too runny, you can add a small amount of melted chocolate.

• If it's too thick to your liking - add tiny bit of whipped cream.

And your mousse is ready.

Finally, layer it all up - CAKE → MOUSSE → CAKE → MOUSSE

Top with some chocolate shavings - chill and serve!

See you in the next batch ;)

And of course it’s eggless like most of my recipes!

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Also, I made this cause I don’t like cinnamon rolls in particular

(please don’t hate me🫣)

RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 4 rolls (But there's larger batch measurements at the end if you need it1

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 15-18 mins (more if making a larger batch - see at the end)

INGREDIENTS

🤎 For the dough

• 100 g (½ cup) all-purpose flour

• 12 g (2½ tsp) cocoa powder

• 10 g (2 tsp) sugar

• 15 g (1 tbsp) softened butter

• 60 ml (¼ cup) lukewarm milk

• ½ tsp vanilla extract OR 1 tsp vanilla essence

• ½ tsp instant dry yeast OR active dry yeast

• 15 g (1 tbsp) yogurt

🤎 For the filling

• 25 g (2 tbsp) softened butter

• 25 g (2 tbsp) brown sugar

• ¼ tsp cinnamon powder

• 1 tsp cocoa powder

🤎 For the ganache

(This is kind of a chocolate glaze. If you are feeling lazy, you can skip this and just spread some of your favourite melted chocolate or chocolate spread)

• 45 g (3 tbsp) semi-sweet chocolate (55%)

• 55 g (¼ cup) heavy cream

• 7 g (½ tbsp) butter

INSTRUCTIONS

For the dough

1. Go directly to step 2 if you are using Instant dry yeast.

   • If you are using active dry yeast - activate the yeast: Mix yeast with lukewarm milk and a pinch of sugar. Let it sit for 5-10 min until foamy.

2. Just mix all the dough ingredients together (wet + dry) including the instant yeast

   • If you are using active yeast - then add the milk mixture from step 1 to all the dough ingredients.

3. Knead until combined, will prolly take 8-10 min until smooth and slightly elastic. (It should be like a soft dough used for rotis - see pic)

   

4. Take another bowl, grease it with very little oil. Place the dough in it cover with a lid and let it rest in a warm place for 1-1½hrs, until it is almost double in size

   

For the filling

1. Just mix all the filling ingredients together till you get a soft spread.

Filling & shaping

1. Roll the dough into a rectangle, roughly about 6x4 inches.

   • Sprinkle some flour on the platform wherever you are rolling your dough before you start rolling - this prevents the dough from sticking while you roll it. But sprinkle veryyy little flour - not oo much, we don't want to make the dough hard but adding too much flour

   

2. Spread the filling mixture evenly.

3. Roll tightly from the shorter end, into a log shape

4. Cut into 4 rolls. (You can use a knife but some people recommend using floss to get clean cuts)

   

5. Place rolls in a greased 4-inch baking tray, leaving space between them.

   

6. Cover with a lid, place in a warm place and let it rise again for 30-40 min.

Baking

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) Bake for 15-18 min

2. Once baked, immediately cover with a cloth or tight lid for softness, for about 5-10 mins (you can make the ganache in this time)

Ganache

1. Mix butter, chocolate, cream together.

2. Slightly warm it, while stirring continuously - just enough to melt chocolate, so that it mixes well.

3. Once everything is melted and mixed well, let it sit till the cinnamon rolls cool down

4. Once rolls have cooled slightly, drizzle ganache on top and enjoy!

1

Measurements for a larger batch

• The best thing? I have this recipe in 3 diff pan sizes, according to the number of servings you want to make!

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RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 2-3 (larger batch measurements at the end1)

🔪 Prep time: 10-15 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 25-35 mins (different for bigger batches)

Resting time: 40mins - 1 hr.

🤎 INGREDIENTS

67g (⅓ cup + 2 tsp) 55% Semi-sweet dark chocolate, chopped

38g (2½ tbsp) Butter

7g (1 tbsp) Cocoa powder

Tiny pinch of Instant coffee powder

1 egg

67g (3½ tbsp) Granulated white sugar

37g (2½ tbsp, packed) Brown sugar

22 g (3 tbsp, heaped) All-purpose flour

🤎 INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Line a 4-inch square pan and set aside.

2. In a bowl, melt the butter - in microwave or double boiler method. To this WARM melted butter, add coffee and cocoa powder - This is called blooming the cocoa - it brings out the intense, rich flavour of cocoa

3. To this bloomed cocoa mixture, add chopped chocolate - let it melt completely. (You can gently warm this mixture if needed)

4. Set this aside and let it cool. (Cooling is important here, because we will add eggs to this mixture - And we don’t want scrambled eggs, if this butter is too hot)

5. In another bowl, add both the sugars & eggs; Whisk it well using a manual hand whisk - till it’s almost white and creamy

   (I don’t recommend electric whisk because I know you will over mix it) - please don’t over whisk this mixture please, even by hand. It’ll cause too much of air to incorporate - it’s going to be a cake.

1. Add this egg-sugar mixture to the melted butter-chocolate mix and give it a good final mix

2. Now add the all-purpose flour and mix only until combined - DO NOT OVERMIX!!! (you’ll get rubbery, elastic blobs if you mix too much)

3. Transfer to the lined pan and bake for 25-35 mins, until toothpick comes out with MOIST CRUMBS, not wet batter. Or until the center is not jiggly

4. After baking, let it cool in the baking tray itself for at least 40min - 1hr

   (we are underbaking here so letting it cool after baking on the hot baking tray is imp - the brownies will cook and become dense as they cool down - Don’t skip this if you want a really dense, fudgy brownie)

NOTES

• Baking and cooling time changes according to the change in batch size (see at the end for more details)

• If you like brownies a bit on the cakier side, then bake them for 5-7 mins more than time in the recipe and enjoy

• For clean edges while cutting -

  • Dip knife in warm water - make a cut - wipe the knife with tissue or cloth - dip it again in warm water - cut and repeat as above for each cut.

  • OR you can refrigerate then for 15 min before cutting and you’ll get even cleaner slices

Not really a tip but these taste amazing the next day, so if you have some extra, don’t forget to save them for the next day! I promise next day is soooo muchhhh better than the day you bake them🤌🏻

How to store

You can store these in an air-tight box

• at room temperature box for 5-7 days and

• in the refrigerator for about 10-12 days

1

Larger batch measurements-

Personally, I prefer brownies made with eggs. Eggs do more than just adding fat in brownies, they bind , emulsify, make them fudgy etc etc.

But I haven't been able to recreate them exactly without eggs.

So now you may think I have finally gotten it right? WRONG!

But they are close to my egg brownies. And for now I'm settling with it.

Maybe someday I will work enough to find the exact thing without eggs

Till then, enjoy🫶🏻

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RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 2-3 (larger batch measurements at the end1)

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 18-22 mins (more for a bigger batch)

INGREDIENTS

🤎 For the brownie layer

• 30 g (2 tbsp) brown butter - not butter that is 30 gms then browning it. It should be 30 g (2 tbsp) after browning. So take around 10 g (1 tsp) extra before browning

• 40 g (about 3 tbsp) sweetened condensed milk

• 35 g (¼ cup) semi-sweet dark chocolate, I used 55%

• 20 g (1 ½ tbsp) white sugar

• 15 g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder

• 25 g (3 tbsp) all-purpose flour

• Pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter

• 1 tbsp hot water

🍪 For the cookie layer

• 25 g (1 ¾ tbsp) browned butter (same process as above, but you can brown it alongside the brownie butter if you want)

• 25 g (2 tbsp) sweetened condensed milk

• 20 g (1 ½ tbsp) brown sugar

• 35 g (¼ cup) all-purpose flour

• Pinch of salt

• 25 g (2 tbsp) chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

INSTRUCTIONS

🤎 For the brownie

1. In a small saucepan, cook butter over medium heat until golden brown bits form and it smells nutty. Immediately remove from heat.

2. While still hot, add chopped chocolate + cocoa powder; stir until melted.

3. Whisk in condensed milk and sugar until glossy.

4. Finally add flour & salt; fold gently. Add hot water and stir until smooth and thick. Set aside. - DO NOT OVERMIX!

🍪 For the Cookie layer

1. Brown the butter, let cool slightly.

2. Stir in condensed milk and brown sugar until smooth.

3. Add flour and salt; fold in chocolate chips. Dough should be soft but not sticky - if too sticky, add a teaspoon more flour.

👩🏻‍🍳 Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 170 °C (340 °F) Line a 4-inch square pan with parchment.

2. Divide brownie batter into approximately 2 equal portions. Same for cookie dough.

3. Layer in this order -

• ½ brownie batter → spread evenly

• ½ cookie dough → crumble or flatten pieces to cover brownie

• Remaining brownie batter → spread gently (it’s thick, so work slowly)

• Remaining cookie dough on top (crumble in chunks so it bakes into a marbled look)

👩🏻‍🍳 Baking

1. Bake for 22–26 minutes - you want a slight wobble in the center or until the toothpick comes out with moist CRUMBS (not wet batter)

2. Cool in pan completely for atleast 30-40 mins before cutting (refrigerating 1–2 hours makes slicing neat).

Please have some patience and let it cool completely.

See you in the next batch ^_^

1

Measurements for a larger batch

He described things with a glaze and a bit decor etc and I'm not doing all of that.

I'm just here for the taste and the flavours which, if I may - I have captured pretty well in this cake.

About the cake -

It's a pretty evolved flavour and not something a kid would love.

But it's definitely something that'll stick in your mind, in a good way!

The tart raspberry + bitter dark chocolate really do hit all the decadent spots. But I wouldn't call it a summer cake, it's more like an late fall-early winter sort of cake.

RECIPE

(this is a mini tall cake recipe)

🥣 Servings: 3-4

🔪 Prep time: 20-25 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 1hr (there's cake + filling etc - you'll only work for 20-25 mins tho)

INGREDIENTS

🤎 For the cake

• 45 g (⅓ cup) all-purpose flour

• 15 g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ⅛ tsp baking soda

• Pinch salt

• 50 g (¼ cup) sugar

• 40 ml (3 tbsp) neutral oil

• 30 ml (2 tbsp) milk, room temp

• 50 ml (about 3 tbsp + 1 tsp) hot water

• 30 g (2 tbsp) yogurt for eggless

• ½ tsp vanilla extract OR 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 25 g (¼ cup) finely chopped 70% dark chocolate, melted & slightly cooled

♥️ For the raspberry coulis/filling

• 80 g (½ cup) raspberries (fresh or frozen)

• 15 g (1 tbsp) sugar

• ½ tsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp cornstarch + 1 tsp water (slurry)

🤎 For the ganache (cream)

• 90g (1½ cups) 70% dark chocolate, chopped

• 90gms (⅜ cups or 6 tbsp) heavy or whipping cream

INSTRUCTIONS

🤎 For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F). Line a 4-inch pan (bottom + sides) and set aside

2. Melt chocolate; set aside to cool slightly. (we'll get back to this again)

3. Whisk all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a bowl.

4. In the bowl with melted chocolate, whisk together sugar, oil, milk, water, vanilla, and yogurt until smooth.

5. Sift dry ingredients mix into this wet batter - fold until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX!

6. Pour into pan, bake ~35–45 min until the cake springs back upon light touch or a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

7. Let the cake cool in pan 10 min, then turn out to a rack. Chill 1 hr before cutting.

♥️ Raspberry Filling

1. Heat raspberries, sugar, and lemon in a small pan until berries soften.

2. Mash lightly

3. Stir in slurry (corn flour + water mix) ; cook 1 min until thick.

4. Take if off the flame and let it cool completely.

🤎 Ganache

1. Add chopped chocolate + heat in a bowl

2. Melt carefully and mix until just combined

3. Refrigerate for 1-2 hrs (till it thickens)

4. Another way to do this -

   • To warm melted chocolate, add chilled cream in 2-3 parts (not all at once)

   • Keep whisking in between and finally until it's smooth. Chill for 10 mins and it's ready!

Enjoy my silky smooth ganache!

♥️ Final assembly

1. Slice cake horizontally into 2-3 even layers, depending on the size of your cake. (I did 2 layers but i felt it was kinda thick, should have done 3 layers instead)

2. Spread a thin ganache → raspberry filling in between the cake layers

• If you have 2 cake layers this is how it goes -

  • Cake → ganache → raspberry →

  • Cake → ganache →raspberry →

  • Done or you can top with chocolate shavings or chopped chocochips!

• If you have 3 cake layers -

  • Cake → ganache → raspberry →

  • Cake → ganache →raspberry →

  • Cake → ganache → chocolate shavings or chocochips

    (You can even add raspberry at this point but i don’t think you'll have any leftover - if you have, go ahead and add it!)

This was my cake with 2 layers -

Some things to keep in mind -

• Spoon raspberry filling over ganache- keeping ~½ cm away from edges.

• Apply thin layer of ganache, too much will topple your cake

  • If your ganache is tooo thick to spread, you can gently heat it for 5 secs, not too muchhh - heat it enough such that is can spread easily.

6. Chill the final assembled cake until firm - fridge at least 1 hr and enjoy!

Although, I think I need to clarify, the reason I haven't made a dessert is prolly because of the heavy monsoons in my city.

RECIPE

🥣 Servings: 8-12 generous servings; more with smaller portions

🔪 Prep time: 15-20 mins

⏳ Cooking time: approx 1hr

INGREDIENTS

🍝For the Kheema Filling

(This is very general recipe, you don't have to necessarily use mutton - you can do this with any meat of your choice)

• Mutton mince – 750 g

• Onion – 2 medium, roughly chopped

• Tomatoes – 3 medium, roughly chopped

• Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp

• Oil – 3 tbsp (more if needed)

• Whole spices –

  • 3–4 cloves

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1-inch cinnamon stick

• Powdered spices –

  • Turmeric – ½ tsp

  • Red chili powder – 1 tsp

  • Coriander powder – 2 tsp

  • Garam masala – 1 tsp

  • Cumin powder – 1 tsp

• Salt – to taste

🍝Vegetables

(it's a good way to get them in and you can't taste them in a bad way - alternatively you can skip them)

• Mushrooms – 200 g, roughly sliced

• Broccoli – 100 g, small florets,

• Corn kernels – 200 g, cooked (frozen, canned, or fresh) - I used frozen ones

🍝Béchamel Sauce (white sauce)

• Butter – 50 g

• All-purpose flour – 3 tbsp

• Milk – 750 ml, warm

• Salt – 1½ tsp

• Black pepper – to taste

🍝 Others

• Lasagna sheets: 8–12 (no-boil or regular) - cook according to instructions on the packet if using store bought kind.

  • If you are new to this, here’s a few mistakes I made, so you can avoid them

  • Do not add pasta sheets to water that isn’t hot and boiling with bubbles in it - the sheets will stick

  • Drop one sheet at a time into the hot, boiling water. Don’t add all of them at once.

• Mozzarella cheese – 200 g, grated or shredded or chopped or diced

• Cheddar cheese – 200 g, grated or shredded or chopped or diced

(Both the cheeses will melt anyways, they just need to be not clumped so that you can sprinkle them efficiently - like for cheddar i had slices, so I just chopped them into small bits, sufficient to spread it)

Some inspo, in case you need it!

INSTRUCTIONS

🍝Prepare Kheema

1. Heat oil.

2. Add all the spices (powder + whole)

3. Add onions, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste and salt mix well & sauté on medium heat until lightly golden brown (will prolly take 7-10 mins)

   This is how it should look -

   

4. Add mutton mince; cook until browned and mutton is soft and oil separates. (15-20 mins max)

5. Add ¼ cup water if needed. (optional) - add if it's too thick or you have slightly overcooked your onions and everything is sticking to the pan.

6. Once done, remove mutton from the pan and set aside.

   Don't throw the pan in the dishwasher/sink yet.

🍝Prepare your veggies

(You can completely skip veggies if you want or you can add any veggies of your choice too!

My family hates veggies so I see this as a good way to add some to their diet)

I used brocolli, mushrooms & corn -

1. Sauté mushrooms, on low flame - (in the same pan in which you cooked your mutton earlier) until the mushrooms shrink and lose all their water.

2. After all the water is gone, saute for a min or two, till the mushrooms are golden-ish brown and then take it off the heat.

(Mushrooms generally have a lot of water, all of which will be released when you cook them. So if you see lot of water in the pan, don't panic. Don't add oil or water to it either - It'll just make more mess)

Once the mushroom is all cooked, take it off the flame and mix it in a bowl with chopped broccoli & corn. Set this aside.

🍝Make Béchamel sauce

1. Melt butter in saucepan.

2. Add flour, salt, pepper; whisk for 1–2 min

3. Gradually whisk in warm milk.

4. Cook until smooth and slightly thick. (see below)

🍝Make the Lasagna pasta sheets

Prepare lasagna sheets according to the instructions on the packet

If you are new to this, here’s a few mistakes I made, so you can avoid them

• Do not add pasta sheets to water that isn’t hot and boiling with bubbles in it - the sheets will stick and it’s a huge mess! (still edible tho!)

• Drop one sheet at a time into the hot, boiling water. Don’t add all of them at once.

🍝For the cheese sprinkle

Mix both the cheeses together in one bowl and set aside.

🍝Assemble

(9×9 pan or a 9x13 pan or two 8x8 inch pan work too - for the 8x8 you’ll have only 2 layers but you get to have more servings in a way)

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).

2. Spread thin layer of sauce in base.

3. Build layers:

Pasta → kheema → veggies → sauce → light cheese sprinkle

Repeat in the same pattern until everything is finished: Ending with sauce → all remaining mozzarella + cheddar.

4. Bake for 23-30 min until golden brown.

5. Rest 15–20 min before slicing and enjoy!

It has different names, depending on the dialects and places it comes from. It is called -

• Basbousa in Palestine

• Hareeseh in Syria

• Nammoura in Lebanon

• Ravani or Revani in Greece

However it is an amazing tea cake!

Why you will love making this?

Eggless • Uses simple ingredients • Minimal prep •. Almost a one bowl prep

What I loved about this?

It’s like biting into a breezy, soft almost spongy cake with just a hint of coconut complimented by subtle taste of roasted almonds.

The coconut is not a HEAVY COCONUT flavour - I especially love that when the flavour of coconut doesn’t overpower!!

All the flavours are perfect for the evening tea when you just want to sit down, relax and have a moment by yourself. It compliments the calm and collected thoughts yet will also take care of the chaos in your mind

RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 2-3 (As always larger batch recipe at the end1

🔪 Prep time: 10-15 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 18-22 mins (varies for different batch sizes - see at the end)

⏱️ Rest time: 20-30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

💛¼ cup (53 g) plain yogurt - not too watery

🥥½ tsp Baking soda

💛½ cup (71 g) fine or medium semolina

🥥2 tbsp (18 g) desiccated coconut

💛1½ cup (65 g) granulated sugar

🥥2 tbsp (27 g) milk

💛2 tbsp (27 g) unsalted butter or ghee, melted

🥥1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

💛Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

🥥Whole blanched almonds for topping

For the syrup

💛4 tbsp (50 g) granulated sugar

🥥3 tbsp (40 ml) water

💛Choose any one -

• ¼ tsp lemon juice OR

• ¼ tsp orange blossom water OR

• ¼ tsp orange zest

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 180°C

2. Grease your 4-inch pan with butter; Some recipes recommend tahini paste - it gives a good nutty flavour - you can use that as well. Set this aside.

3. In a bowl, mix yogurt & baking soda and set it aside. It’ll become bubbly while you do the rest of the things

4. In another bowl, mix semilina, dessicated coconut, sugar. Add it to the yogurt mix from earlier

5. Finally add milk & butter to this and give a final mix - DO NOT OVERMIX!!

   • The batter will be slightly dense that usual cake batters - it’s completely normal.

6. Transfer the batter to your lined baking pan.

7. Make cuts in the batter according to the size of whatever pieces you’d like at the end. Some do a diamond shape, I did a square. You can cut any size and shape - there’s no wrong way (see video)

8. Top each piece with one almond each like so -

   

9. Bake it at 180C for 18-22 mins, until the top is golden brown, or a toothpick comes out clean

   • Don’t worry if the cake seems too dry - it is meant to be that way since it’ll be soaked in sugar syrup later on

10. Make the sugar syrup: make this while the cake gets baked

    • Add water & sugar to a pan

    • Heat it until the sugar is just disdocled, while stirring occasionally.

    • After the sugar dissolves, add lemon juice OR orange blossom water OR zest of orange - whatever you prefer (any one)

    • Cook for 1-2 minutes more them turn off the heat.

    • Immediately let it cool. (You can transfer it to a wide dish to cool it faster, OR you can make the sugar syrup first then prepare the cake - this way syrup will cool down while you work on the cake)

      I accidentally cooked my sugar syrup too much and then I had to fix that by adding more water and sugar etc - it was a big mess. And then I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to add the entire sugar syrup since I made extra - and my cake was a bit on the moist side. Still tasted good, but not kind of dry sponge side like a tea cake, rather like a regular cake. But it still tasted amazing and that is all that matters!

11. Back to the cake: Once it’s baked well, immediately pour the cooled down sugar syrup onto the HOT cake

12. Let it cool for 30 minutes and enjoy!

    (Please be patient. You have come this far - you can do more.)

HOW TO STORE

• It can stay upto 3 days in an air tight box at room temp

• If you plan on having it longer, refrigerate in an air tight box.

• Even if you didn’t plan yet have leftovers, you can still refrigerate it in an air tight box after 3 days

  1

  Measurements for a larger batch

  

I mean, I make amazing brownies too, so I guess I could make those too…

Nevertheless, I promise, you will regret making this because you'll want this every week!

(Note: I didn't scale up this recipe for larger batches because this was meant to be single serve - but I'm happy to do it if you want. Drop a comment here and I'll make it happen for you!)

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Why you will love making this?

Eggless • You prolly have all the ingredients at home • It's single serve • Hardly takes 15 mins of prep (just like all my recipes!)

What I loved about this?

The texture is to die for! It's fudgy but light and not dense, moist and has the melt-in-the-mouth feel to it.

The cream is equally good - not something you'll want to take off and only eat the cake. It's doesn't the weird after taste like cream in general.

It's like swimming inside a willy wonka factory!

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Backstory on what made me make this recipe

RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 1-2 (but it's so good, one person will end up devouring the entire thing - I know I did!)

🔪 Prep time: 10-15 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 22-24 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the cake -

Dry ingredients:

🍫 3 tbsp (24g) all-purpose flour

🤎 2 tbsp (25g) sugar

🍫 1/8 tsp baking soda

🤎 Pinch of salt (don't skip!)

🍫 1 tbsp (7g) unsweetened cocoa powder

Wet ingredients:

🤎 2 tbsp (30ml) milk

🍫 1 tbsp (15ml) water

🤎 1/4 tsp instant coffee powder

🍫 1 tbsp (15ml) oil

🤎 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

🍫 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

🤎 2 tbsp (50-55%) roughly chopped chocolate chunks or shards (Use a mix of dark and milk chocolate)

For the fudge cream topping -

🍫 2 tbsp (30ml) heavy cream

🤎 1 oz (28g) chopped semi-sweet chocolate (50-55% - I use 55%)

Enjoy my attempt at asmr chopping chocolate (I really like the audio!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 160°C or 325°F. Line a 4-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a bowl, take milk - add water to it. Gently warm it (30 sec microwave or you can use warm milk itself) - add coffee and cocoa powder to this WARM milk-water mixture.

   • Adding cocoa powder to warm liquids is called ‘blooming the cocoa’ - it brings out the deep intense flavour of your cocoa!

3. To this add oil, vanilla, lemon juice or vinegar. Mix it well and set aside

4. In another bowl, take all the dry ingredients - give a good mix.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix only until combined - DO NOT OVERMIX (you'll have dense blobs!)

6. Add chopped chocolate and give a final mix.

7. Transfer it your pan and bake for 22-24 minutes

8. To check if it's done, lightly press the cake and if it springs back it's done! Or insert a tooth pick - if it comes out with ‘moist’ crumbs - it's done (moist crumbs - not wet crumbs.)

9. Immediately transfer it from the pan to wire rack and let it cool. Don't remove the parchment paper just yet.

10. Let it cool completely then you can peel off the parchment paper.

11. Once completely cool, spread the cream on top of the cake and enjoy!

For the creamy topping -

(you can make this while the cake gets baked)

1. Melt the chopped dark chocolate (be careful not to burn)

2. To this add approx 1/4 of your CHILLED cream and give a good whisk. (chilled cream, not frozen)

3. Finally add the rest of the cream and mix it well and set aside. It will firm up as it by the time your cake gets baked.

Note: I know you are going to go ahead and add the entire cream at once. I can only tell you why you shouldn't, the rest is up to you -

• The chocolate is warm from melting and the cream is chilled. Adding cool cream directly to the warm chocolate - this sudden change in temperature will cause your chocolate to become grainy and weird. (it can be fixed, but why damage it at all?)

• You don't have to measure anything, just add a small portion of cream to the chocolate at first, then when it's mixed well you can add it all and mix everything together.

It's that simple. I promise it's easy.

This is what you’re missing if you don’t make this -

A few other things I published this week on the website

• Honey Butter toast with Spiced Mango and Pistachio icecream: a savoury dessert recipe

• Is the apartment cafe trend worth it?

See you in the next batch ;)

But at the end of it all, I still want a dessert - I’m someone who wants dessert for breakfast too!

That’s how came the brilliant idea of this recipe!

What you will love about this?

15 mins to make • No-bake • Eggless • Uses simple ingredients • dessert for breakfast • you have a reason to eat icecream

What I loved about this?

The way the flavours played with each other as soon as I took a bite.

The subtle buttery honey crispy-yet-soft toast, is immediately met with the caramelised mango combined with the nutty, earthy flavour of pistachio icecream - all of which is finally balanced with just a hint of spice at the end that balances everything

• If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s an experience similar to how we have feel when flaky sea salt is combined with chocolate chip cookies or the way salted caramel plays with us!

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RECIPE

🥄 Servings: 1

(it’s a single serve recipe - of course if you’d like a larger batch, let me know in the comments and I’ll make it happen - I’m just not sure if anyone would be interested to make this on a larger scale)

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🔪 Prep time: 7-10 mins

⏳ Cooking time: 10 mins

INGREDIENTS

For the toast

💛 2 bread slices (preferably milk/white bread)

💚 1 tbsp butter

💛 1 tsp honey

For the charred mango

💚 1 large mango

💛 1 tbsp butter

💚 1/4 tsp red chilli powder

💛 Pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Topping

💚 1 scoop of plain pistachio icecream

💛 Garnish - Chopped pistachios (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add honey to your butter and mix

2. Spread this onto your bread (both sides) and toast on a pan or in your toaster. Once done, set aside

3. Peel and cut your mango vertically straight, parallel to the seed (I don’t know how to explain - I’m gonna show a pic and hope for the best)

4. In another bowl, mix butter, red chilli powder, salt.

5. Put this on a non-stick pan. Then place your mango on this and let it char (cook undisturbed till it’s brown - should look nearly burnt) on a medium heat

6. Once done, turn it over and let it char on the other side too

7. Then remove and cut into slices (see video)

8. Place the cut slices on top of the toast.

9. Top it with plain pistachio icecream and some chopped pistachios and enjoy!

This recipe made my mother fight with me - see why

See you in the next batch ;)

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