Baking Eggless - Scrumptious Eggless Doughnuts!

Within the first few days of my arrival in the US almost 10 years ago, I got to taste the quintessentially American Krispy Kreme doughnut ! With its melt in the mouth soft texture and the sweet glaze, it was quite a treat..Since both TH and I do not subscribe to the 'doughnut as a breakfast' theory, the occasional doughnut remained a treat. But as the years passed, I stopped eating these sweet calorie laden treats because of how it would make me feel immediately after - a greasy feel in the mouth as well in my stomach. The unhealthy processed while flour, the unnecessary sugar and calories just added in the guilt as well. As a result, it has been a really long time since I have had a crispy doughnut !
So when I saw this month's Baking Egg-less challenge - Homemade Egg-less Doughnuts - it was bittersweet and intimidating as well. No one I know had ever tried these before and I am an amateur baker at best !
So one fine day, I made sure I had all the ingredients needed and set out to whip up these delicious morsels at home. I decided to halve the recipe, the original recipe made 18 and I decided that making 8 - 9 doughnuts for a family of 4 was more reasonable. Really, who needed to have 18 of these temptations at hand ?? I followed the recipe exactly, replacing the egg with yogurt and the shortening with butter.




Recipe (Adapted from Allrecipes)

Ingredients:

 1 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast (I used slightly less than 1 envelope)
 2 Tbsp warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
 ¾ cups lukewarm milk
 ¼ cup white sugar
 ½ teaspoon salt
 ¼ C yogurt (replacement for 1 egg)
 2.5 Tbsp butter
 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
 Oil for frying

Method:
1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let stand for at least 5 minutes. I googled and found out that if you change the recipe( either reduce or increase), you need to change the amount of yeast also accordingly. So if you halve the recipe, then halve the amount of yeast needed. Similarly if you double the recipe, then increase the amount of yeast as well. Although, I also read that one should err on the side of less yeast than more because more yeast causes a change in the texture of the end product..whew !!
2. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, yogurt, butter and half the flour. I used unsalted butter instead of shortening, because I don't cook or bake with shortening. But if its something that you use, then that's what the original recipe called for.
3. Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Then add in the remaining flour, a half a cup at a time until the dough stops sticking to the bowl.
4. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until smooth. Place the dough in a greased bowl and set in a warm place to rise until double. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour. It also depends on the freshness of your yeast and the temperature of the room. Dough is ready when you tough it and the indentation remains.
5. Place the dough on a floured surface and gently roll to ½ inch thickness. Cut out the doughnut shapes using a floured doughnut cutter or use a cookie cutter and a milk can top to cut out the holes if you do not own a doughnut cutter.
6. Let doughnuts rise for a second time until double.




7. At this point, the original recipe asks us to deep fry the doughnuts in hot oil. Fry on each side until golden brown and then drain on a wire rack.

I had made the dough in the morning. I was going to bake these little treats and then found out that baked doughnuts are best served hot. I was in a dilemma. I wanted to surprise my son who would get home only in the afternoon. So what was I to do ? I placed the doughnuts on a cookie tray, loosely covered them with cling wrap and placed the entire tray in the refrigerator.
I removed the tray about an hour before I wanted them to go into the oven.
Meanwhile, I preheated the oven at 350°F. Once the oven was hot, I baked these for about 10 minutes, until the top was lightly browned and the bottom was nicely browned as well.
I did reserve a few doughnuts to deep fry as well. The doughnut hole also went into the oil. I am a very reluctant deep fryer. But somethings, one just has to fry !
I had prepared a chocolate glaze beforehand. The recipe can be found here.
Once all the doughnuts were cooked (baked and fried), I let them cool for a little while and then dipped them in the chocolate glaze.




For the fried doughnut holes, I prepared a simple powdered sugar - cinnamon mixture. Once slightly cooled, I rolled the crunchy holes in the sugar and set them aside until serving.
They were pretty delicious.

Once the glaze sets, homemade eggless doughnuts are ready to serve!
You have no dearth of options on the glaze to use for your doughnuts. You could use a simple yet delicious sugar glaze or you could go with a decadent chocolate glaze. Use sprinkles, while chocolate or even nuts to top up your glazed doughnuts and enjoy with family and friends.

Notes:
1.The baked doughnuts were quite soft in texture and tasted really good, without any greasy aftertaste. The fried doughnuts were closer in texture and taste to the store bought ones.
2. The expression on my son's face was reward enough for the effort that it took to bring this dessert to fruition !! He was stunned and delighted to realize that his mom had made doughnuts at home !

(Home Made From Scratch!) Eggless Tiramisu - Baking Eggless Challenge

I have come to realize, the hard way in fact, that I am more likely to complete any given task or project in a given frame of mind, if I were held accountable for it! I am sure many of us are the same way. Its not that I lack self motivation or the tenacity to stick to something and see it through completion. But I do let things slide if I perceive other tasks or items with a higher priority (for e.g. kids, their activities, their health, you get the idea.. )
To make a long story short, I came across the Baking Eggless group when I was going through some blogs and I thought it was an immensely interesting idea and a relevant one since any and all baking that I do is eggless ! So I joined the group and here is my first challenge - completed (by mere hours to spare , but completed nonetheless , whew ! )

The challenge this month was to make Tiramisu, the Italian pick me up :) , completely from scratch and eggless to boot. I had made Tiramisu before, but had used store bought savioardi and mascarpone cheese. The second time around, I stuck to the basic recipe and kept it simple.





The mascarpone cheese was pretty easy to make and I was totally surprised by the result. I followed the recipe faithfully and the cheese turned out really well.

Now the all-important lady finger cookies or the savioardi cookies were a different matter altogether...My first attempt turned out pretty badly..the cookies were totally flat and chewy and unusable for a Tiramisu..They weren't inedible, thankfully..I would have hated to see them go to waste !
Then I decided to follow the eggless recipe that most of my fellow baking enthusiasts seemed to have success with and was pretty satisfied with the results...I halved the recipe because I was afraid of not getting the proper results and then seeing them go waste.They were still not as fluffy and light and perfectly shaped as the original version, but I wasn't complaining !





The next step was to make the whipped cream, which was as simple as taking cold heavy cream in a preferably chilled bowl and whipping it with preferably chilled beaters until soft peaks form . I added a little bit of sugar to the cream halfway through the whipping. This helps in getting to the soft peak stage.



Ingredients:
1 C heavy whipping cream
2 tsp granulated sugar

Method:
Pour the cream into a bowl and using a hand held mixer, whip the cream for at least 3 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and continue whipping until soft peaks form, at least another minute or so.

The mascarpone cheese is mixed thoroughly with sugar. The whipped cream is then gently folded into the cheese in parts, so that the aeration is not lost. This helps in in keeping the final mixture creamy and light.




Last but not the least - the assembling:

I used a 9 X 5 loaf pan, you can use any kind of container, square or round. You might have to cut your cookies to size. Line the container with cling wrap so that its easy to unmould and cut before serving.

Method:
1. Dip the cookies quickly in cooled coffee and place them in a single layer in your container of choice. You can make the coffee to your preferred strength.
2. Using half of the whipped cream - mascarpone mixture, layer it onto the cookies using a flat spoon or a spatula. Cover all the cookies evenly and get the mixture into the corners of the container.
3. Place another layer of coffee dipped cookies onto the layer of cream.
4. Use up the remaining of the cream - cheese mixture to top off the cookies.
5. Sprinkle unsweetened cocoa over the top , cover with foil or cling wrap and refrigerate overnight before unmoulding and serving and devouring :)



Notes:
1. The eggless lady finger biscuits will probably not come close to the version with the eggs. They will be delicious and useful in a Tiramisu, but they probably wont be as fluffy and light as the original ones.
2. You can use as many or as less of the cookies as you want. It depends on the size of the container you use.
3. Refrigerating the assembled Tiramisu is highly recommended, because it will help the cookies absorb the liquids and will help the flavors merge.
4. Although there are several components to this recipe and it is definitely a time consuming recipe, it is definitely a must try!
5. We ate the Tiramisu after refrigerating it for 24 hrs. It was really good. Although, I think I should have dipped the cookies a little bit longer in the coffee. I was unsure of whether it would hold up to a longer dipping. The cookies didn't soften all that much, but since they were no delicious as well, it didn't really matter in the end ! 

T.G.I.F and a Simple Plantain Fry

The end of a week - brings such a relief and joy, doesn't it ? No need to rush early in the morning, no need to urge (read that as scream yourself hoarse) your kid to get ready for school on time, no need to rush about the day getting all your chores done satisfactorily before your child comes back home, no need to multitask in the evening, trying to get dinner on the table in time and having your child(ren) finish their homework. (Of course, if we applied a little more organization and discipline to our week days, they would be as joyful as weekends too, but that's another story altogether ;-) )
Weekends are meant for sleeping in, for lazy breakfasts, for fun games with your kids, for leisurely drives with the family, for playtime at the park !
How do you spend your weekends ?
T.G.I.F !!

Today's recipe is one that I learnt from my sister-in-law, a simple, no-fuss side dish.
It goes well with any traditional Indian menu.





Ingredients:
2 raw plantains
2 dried red chiles
1 tbsp coconut oil (or oil of choice)
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
generous pinches of asafoetida
5 - 6 curry leaves
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 tbsp shredded coconut (preferably fresh)
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method:
1. Bring a pot of water to boil with a pinch of salt.
2. Wash the plantains, cut them in half and immerse them in the boiling water.
3. Cook for about 8 - 10 minutes or until the plantains are tender but not mushy.
4. Let cool for a while. When cooled, peel the plantains and then shred them coarsely using a
shredder or a mandolin.
5. Heat the oil in a pan. Traditionally, coconut oil is widely used in southern India, and that is what I used. But feel free to use any oil of your choice.
6. Once the oil is sufficiently hot, add the cumin seeds and the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the asafoetida. Stir well and then add the washed and dried curry leaves.
7. Add the red chillies and stir until slightly fried. Increase the amount of chillies if you need it hotter.
8. Add the turmeric to the hot oil and mix well.
9. Add the shredded plantain and the salt and mix thoroughly.
10. Garnish with shredded coconut and cilantro and serve hot with rice and rasam !!


Notes:
This dish is best served hot. When cold, the plantain shreds become slightly chewy.

Have a great weekend !

Citrusy Nutty Tea Bread

The weather down here in North Dallas has been very weird, fluctuating like a yo-yo. Hot and humid one day and cold, windy and rainy the very next. I don't mind cloudy and rainy days, they offer a perfect reason to snuggle up under a warm comforter with a good book in hand and soulful music playing in the background...and although yesterday was once such day, even good books and beautiful music seemed insufficient...I looked to the kitchen for a rescue and found it in this recipe from MyRecipes. I didn't have all the necessary ingredients at hand, so substituted accordingly. The loaf turned out very well indeed !
It was not as sweet as cake, but was perfect for an afternoon snack with a  steaming cup of coffee. My son enjoyed it in his lunch box too !



Ingredients:
1¾ C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp allspice powder
½C sugar
½ C yogurt
¼ C chopped nuts
3 Tbs milk
3 Tbs oil
3 Tbs apricot pineapple preserves

2 flax eggs (2 Tbs flax meal with 6 Tbs of water)
2 tsp orange rind

Glaze
2 tsp orange juice
½ C confectioner's sugar

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the spices in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix well.
3. Combine the sugar, yogurt, milk, oil, preserves, flax eggs, orange rind and the nuts.
4. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix in gently until everything is nicely moistened. Do not over mix.
5. Spray a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan ( or an 8 X 4 inch pan) and spoon in the batter evenly.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes.
7. When a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean, remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
8. Cool completely on the rack.
9. Mix in the ingredients for the glaze and pour evenly over the loaf.
10. Slice and serve :-)



Notes:
1. I used a combination of white whole wheat and unbleached flour.
2. The original recipe called for buttermilk, which I replaced with sour yogurt.
3. I doubled the quantity of baking powder, since I wasn't using any eggs.
4. The loaf really was very tasty. But I think next time I will use orange marmalade and orange rind for a more citrusy flavor. (There  will definitely be a next time ! )
5. The allspice added a nice spicy note to the bread. If you do not have any, you could use any of your favorite spices.
6. The glaze adds an additional sweetness to the loaf, but is not cloyingly sweet.
7. The loaf can easily be made vegan by using non dairy milk

Carrot Amaranth Kheer

Every year in school, for Republic Day and Independence Day, we used to gather in our schools to sing the national anthem and to unfurl the national flag. After watching parades and band performances, we used to get the customary 'Rajgeera wadi', a rice crispy like concoction made of popped amaranth seeds and probably sugar syrup. Little did I know then that the tiny amaranth grains would turn out to be supergrain powerhouses!!

I had some toasted amaranth at hand and I decided to use it up along with some shredded carrots and evaporated milk to make this sweet kheer..Why did I have toasted amaranth, you ask ? I had actually intended to pop the amaranth to make granola, but the amaranth was probably not fresh enough, because it didn't pop as I expected. The moisture content of the seeds must have been very less. I read somewhere that the moisture present in the seeds is what causes them to pop under heat..if the seeds have dried out, or have been sitting in your pantry for too long, then they wont pop!The carrot amaranth kheer turned out surprisingly well, considering that I didn't follow any particular recipe.

Carrots have been long acknowledged as a wonderful vegetable, chock full of vitamins and fiber and beta carotene. Its a naturally far free food and easily adaptable to savory as well as sweet dishes.
Amaranth has been slowly emerging as a super grain and a super food.

• It contains all 8 essential amino acids which make it a complete protein. 
• It has 9 grams of protein per cup (cooked) and has a decent percentage of fiber as well as iron. 
• It is a very versatile grain, it cooks up easily and can be used in a variety of grain dishes, breads, salads. 
• It is easily digested and makes a very good baby food. 
• It is also gluten free.

If you haven't tried it before, definitely get some from your nearest health food store. If your grocery store has a bulk food section, then you can try some from there..Always a good alternative to getting a big pack and then not knowing how to use it all up!




Ingredients:
1  C shredded carrots
½ C amaranth (washed and drained)
½ C evaporated milk
½ C low fat milk
¼ C grated jaggery
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 Tbsp chopped nuts (cashews , almonds)

Method:
1. In a medium sized pan, boil two cups of water with a pinch of salt. When water comes to a boil, add the amaranth and let simmer until the grain is cooked. This should take about 20 minutes. If required, add more water. Amaranth, when cooked, gets slightly soft , but is still slightly crunchy.
2. Meanwhile, heat up a stair fry pan and saute the carrot shreds until they are no longer raw. You may add a few drops of your favorite oil, but that is optional.
3. Once the grain is cooked, reserve a quarter cup of water in the pan and drain the remaining (if any). Add the evaporated milk, low fat milk and the carrots.
4. Add the grated jaggery, which is nothing but an unprocessed sweetener that is widely used in Indian sweets, and the sugar.
5. Simmer on low flame for about 20 minutes more.
6. Garnish with roasted dry fruits and serve either hot or cold.

Notes:

• The kheer was not overly sweet, the carrots and the cooked grain making it quite creamy. The nutty taste of the amaranth was pleasantly delicious. I preferred eating it cold. Its better to serve it after a few hours, because the flavors seemed to have melded better the next day. If you want a different texture, you could blend up the cooked carrots before simmering along with the grain. This will give a smooth, orange colored kheer.

• Jaggery is an unrefined cane sugar product that's mostly used in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It is healthier than refined sugar. If you cannot get jaggery, you can always substitute raw sugar, turbinado sugar or brown sugar.
• If the kheer seems to be getting too thick as it cooks, add more milk.
• Adjust the sweetener to your taste.

Ideally, this post should have been up at the beginning of the year..what could be a better way to herald in a new year, new beginnings and new experiences than a delicious creamy kheer ? But life interrupted (well...I have a lot of other excuses too..) but better late than never. After all, where does it say that we have to limit new adventures to the beginning of the year, right ?

I do hope you do try this recipe and commence on a new culinary adventure of your own :-)