aliceineatland

Christmas Cake Recipe

December 24, 2016 by aliceineatland 2 Comments

Christmas Cake Recipe (updated 18.12.23)

A classic homemade Christmas Cake has to be one of the nicest gifts you can give your family and close friends.

It is the ultimate Christmas present and people are always pleased that you went the extra mile and baked them a Christmas classic.

A rich fruit Christmas Cake is great for gift giving but also great to have on hand at home during the festive season.

Like many families that celebrate Christmas, it is an important part of our festive Christmas table that is especially set up for guests visiting during this very special season.

Christmas Cake: The Inspiration

Since Christmas time can be crazy hectic for many people, you want a no-fuss recipe that requires minimal effort and delivers maximum results.

For me, a good Christmas Cake recipe is fuss-free and makes a cake that tastes something like a good rich fruit wedding cake or an old-fashioned Plum Cake. Bonus points if it looks like a traditional Dundee Cake.

Rich Fruit Celebration Cake recipe by Mich Turner of the fabulous “Little Venice Cake Company” is the basis of my Christmas Cake recipe.

I discovered Mitch Turner, and a few other skilled wedding cake bakers, on the tv show “The Great Cake Bake” on the now defunct channel Wedding TV UK, over a decade or so ago. What a master of her craft!

Her recipe promised a deep, dark, moist fruit cake with a flattish top ready to be covered in marzipan and that is exactly what it delivered.

I have adapted this Christmas Cake recipe very slightly from Mich Turner’s. A photo of this lovely retro looking Dundee Cake on Pinterest inspired this almond and glacé cherry cake pattern.

Rest assured that this Christmas Cake recipe gives you a deep, spicy and decadent cake that tastes of Christmas itself!

Christmas Cake: When Good Things Come In Small Packages

My reason for making smallish Christmas Cakes is a fairly practical one; a well made rich fruit cake is a joy to eat, but is best enjoyed in small quantities as it is indeed, quite rich.

I don’t know anyone who eats Christmas Cake in copious quantities.

Moreover, I’ve seen leftover Christmas cake lying around and drying around far too many times and in far too many homes and it literally breaks my heart.

Also with quite a few other delicious Christmas goodies and treats competing for attention at homes celebrating Christmas, I feel small sized cakes are best for gift giving.

However, you do you, so feel free to bake a bigger cake should you wish, adjusting the ingredients, cake pan size and baking time accordingly.

Christmas Cake: Spreading Joy Beyond Christmas

This cake makes a pretty awesome New Year’s celebration cake.

Or any special occasion celebration cake really; a milestone wedding anniversary such as a silver or golden one, calls for a uniquely special cake, such as this one.

Christmas Cake: Where To Buy The Ingredients From

As far as sourcing some of the special ingredients required to bake this Rich Fruit Christmas Cake such as the glacé cherries & the orange peel, online stores are your best bet.

In the US, you may find everything you need on Amazon.

Daraz.pk most probably has every ingredient available to make this cake in Pakistan.

Sethna Store in Empress Market is the place where Karachi folks can find them.

I have vague memories of a few stores in Saddar that stocked these supplies – I will ask my Mother if she remembers the names of those shops and will update the post if she does.

For people wishing to bake this cake in Lahore, head to The Bake Shop or Metro and you will find most ingredients called for in the recipe.
Treacle and molasses can be found at Esajee’s (DHA).

Christmas Cake: Fruit Soak Options

Your choice of the liquid that is used to steep the fruit will give it a slightly different flavour profile and affect the colour of the cake somewhat as well.

Lighter coloured juices will obviously give the cake a lighter tone whereas darker juices, tea and coffee will obviously impart a deeper hue.

However the colour turns out, be assured that your cake will look and taste wonderful.

Christmas Cake: Patience Will Be Rewarded

This is an ingredient heavy (read “chock full of dried fruit”) Christmas Cake recipe.

Hence the cake is pretty delicate when freshly baked so I would suggest that once completely cool, let it sit airtight and uncut for 2-3 days.

That not only makes the cake a bit firm and easier to cut but also gives the many flavours of the different fruits and spices time to harmoniously blend and settle together.

The taste improves and gets far deeper, complex and better after a few days.

Christmas Cake: A Note On The Recipe Update

Originally, I would bake half the recipe in a 6” cake pan. The baked cake, though absolutely delicious, was on the thinner side as can be seen in the photos.

While this was fine with me, and was actually perfect for cutting dainty bite-sized Christmas Cake pieces to serve to guests, I began baking the full recipe in a 6” cake pan for a taller cake (and a more substantial slice when cut).

A taller cake definitely makes for a better presentation and that is my preferred way to bake this cake now.

I have updated the ingredient amounts to reflect that, which is something I regretfully forgot while updating the original post a few days ago, sorry!

Christmas Cake: Video Tutorial

I have very recently uploaded a video of the recipe on YouTube which can be viewed here.

Christmas Cake

Recipe Type: Dessert Author: Alice In Eatland

Steeping Time: 4 – 12 Hours

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 60 Minutes Total Time: 80 Minutes

Dark, moist and fruity – this easy and delicious Christmas Cake is the ultimate traditional holiday classic!

INGREDIENTS

200 grams glacé cherries, chopped
300 grams raisins, stemmed
300 grams black currants, stemmed
20 grams candied orange peel, chopped
1/2 cup fruit juice (apple, orange, pineapple, grape or cranberry) OR black tea
1 tbsp treacle or molasses
160 grams butter
160 grams brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence or extract
2 large eggs
160 grams plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 (1/2″) sticks cinnamon (daarcheeni)
1/4 of a whole broken nutmeg (jaiphal)
2 small (1/2″ or so) blades mace (javitri)
4 whole cloves (laung)
1/2 tsp ginger powder
Whole blanched almonds, to decorate
Halved glacé cherries, to decorate

METHOD

Pour your choice of liquid onto the raisins, glacé cherries, black currants and candied orange peel. Mix well, cover and let stand 6-12 hours or overnight at room temperature, stirring the mixture once half way through.
Preheat oven to 170 degrees C / 338 degrees F.
Line a square 6″ x 2″ pan or a round 6″ x 2″ pan with grease proof paper or foil. Butter and flour the lined pan well. Set aside.
Place the cinnamon stick, nutmeg, mace and cloves in a coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. Sieve through a fine strainer.
Combine flour with the baking powder, ginger powder and the sieved ground spices and set aside.
Put the butter and brown sugar in a small pan over medium heat and stir until butter melts. The butter and sugar will appear separated at first so keep stirring for a few minutes until they both become uniform.
As soon as you see the mixture beginning to bubble gently in places, remove from the heat and pour into your mixing bowl.
Cool mixture 5 minutes and then beat in the treacle or molasses until combined.
Next beat in the egg and vanilla essence or extract.
Mix in the combined flour, baking powder and spices.
Finally fold in the soaked fruit with any remaining liquid.
Turn mixture into your prepared pan and level the top as much as possible with the back of a tablespoon.
Press the blanched almonds and halved cherries on the surface in flower shapes or any other decorative pattern.
Bake around 40 – 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean and the top is brown and set.
Remove cake pan from oven and place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Let cooled cake remain in the pan, cover airtight with foil and let sit overnight at room temperature.
Remove the cake from pan, peel off the paper or foil lining and store airtight.
This cake is best cut and eaten 2 – 3 days after being baked.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

November 5, 2016 by aliceineatland 6 Comments

The moistest chocolate cake and the fudgiest chocolate frosting come together to make this super delicious Chocolate Fudge Cake. If you are a chocolate lover, then this cake will take you straight to chocolate heaven!

My previous post was about chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I try to vary my posts as in one sweet and then one savoury post and so on and so forth but then this chocolate cake happened and I felt it was too yummy not to be shared. Hence here I am with another “sweet” post and another chocolate post at that which is funny considering what I’m going to reveal about myself in the next paragraph.

Unlike many women, I am, perhaps shockingly, not crazy about chocolate. As a child chocolate was admittedly, the ultimate flavour for me and chocolate bars, chocolate cakes and basically chocolate anything was my first love. Not anymore. I do like chocolatey things once in a while but it’s not something I would have all the time. Unless it is white chocolate, which I hopelessly adore to bits.

This Chocolate Fudge Cake is one of those few chocolatey things that even someone not fond of chocolate would find hard not to like. The cake part is deeply chocolate and moist plus the chocolate fudge icing is like eating a softened bar of milk chocolate; what’s not to love!

Normally, I like to pair my chocolate cakes with contrasting flavoured frostings such as vanilla or coffee but this cake was requested by a close friend for his Mom’s birthday and the only cake that that particular family eats is chocolate cake. So I made them the one chocolate on chocolate cake that I really like which is this Chocolate Fudge Cake. It did look quite lovely in my humble opinion and I felt I must share it on my blog.

The chocolate cake is made using my all-time favourite moist chocolate cake/cupcake recipe that I wrote about in detail in my previous post. It is an easy, straightforward and foolproof recipe that results in amazingly moist and lusciously chocolatey cakes and cupcakes.

The chocolate fudge frosting is actually a cocoa-based frosting and is a breeze to make plus it tastes wonderful. I have adapted it very slightly from this recipe by “Chocolate, Chocolate and More”. I am not a big fan of ganache type frostings and call my taste buds unsophisticated but my heart still belongs to the basic old-fashioned cocoa frostings of childhood.

I came across a photo of Pink Cherry Cake with Fudge Frosting by the bake queen “I Am Baker” sometime last year and instantly fell in love with how she had iced her cake. The frosting was done in an elegantly minimalist way with fudge icing rosettes crowning the cake and I knew I was going to try frosting a chocolate cake the same way one day. Well, I got my chance when I baked this Chocolate Fudge Cake; I am working on honing my cake frosting skills so one day I too can ice my cakes as flawlessly as “I Am Baker” does.

The best thing about this Chocolate Fudge Cake is that it reminds me of the chocolate birthday cakes my Mom would bake for my brother and I when we were kids. Since my Mom’s chocolate cake is the best chocolate cake in the world for me, anything that reminds me of it has to be a close second.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Recipe Type: Desserts Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 50 Minutes Total Time: 60 Minutes Serves: 6 – 8

Chocoholics, one bite of this sinful Chocolate Fudge Cake will take you straight to chocolate heaven! Moist chocolate cake & fudgy chocolate frosting – yum!

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup milk
4 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups caster sugar or superfine sugar
1 cup + 3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
2 tsp instant coffee
1 cup boiling water

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
Grease a deep round cake pan (I use an 8″ by 3.5″ round cake pan) or two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans (cake pans should be a bit deep as this batter rises!) and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper. Or line cake pan(s) with aluminium foil and grease and flour the foil. Set aside.
Stir the milk and vinegar together in a small cup or bowl to make buttermilk. Set aside.
Combine all the dry ingredients, except coffee, in a bowl.
Whisk the eggs. Stir the buttermilk and add to the eggs along with the oil and vanilla.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat until well mixed.
Stir the instant coffee into the boiling water and carefully stir into the cocoa mixture. Batter will be quite thin.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan(s).
Bake 30 – 40 minutes or until the cake has risen and a wooden pick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. This can take up to an hour depending on your oven.
Let cake(s) cool in pan(s) for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. Invert so that the top of the cake(s) is up and cool completely.
Your cake(s) might have a domed top so trim it off carefully with a long serrated knife and discard (by “discard” I mean eat with chai like I do).
Now your flat topped cake is ready to be frosted.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup salted butter (I use Lurpak’s Slightly Salted Butter)
1 cup + 4 tbsp cocoa
5 cups icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract or essence
4 tbsp cream
4 tbsp milk
Extra milk

METHOD

Melt butter in a small pan over low heat.
Stir in cocoa so that the mixture forms a thickish paste.
Add the remaining ingredients except extra milk into a mixing bowl and add the cocoa mixture.
Beat well until smooth.
Add extra milk if needed, a teaspoon at a time until frosting is of spreading consistency.
Sandwich the cake(s) with about a third of the frosting and use the rest to frost the top and sides and to pipe out rosettes at the top.
Pipe an additional layer of rosettes directly on top of the first set of rosettes for added height and a gorgeous effect. This is what I did.
Store frosted cake airtight and serve at room temperature – please do not serve it cold straight from the fridge!

Chocolate Cobweb Cupcakes

October 24, 2016 by aliceineatland 2 Comments

Trick or treat! These chocolate cobweb cupcakes are absolutely delicious and a confirmed crowd pleaser. Make these for Halloween or for any day of the year really – they are as good to eat as they are to look at!

I adore this chocolate cupcake recipe because it is so easy and incredibly delicious plus it gives me the moistest chocolate cupcakes ever – dry cakes and dry cupcakes are one of my pet peeves!

The creamy vanilla frosting that these chocolate cobweb cupcakes are topped with is actually a crusting buttercream that tastes really lovely and is perfect for piping swirls, rosettes etc as it really holds its shape while remaining soft and creamy inside – this has to be my favourite recipe for pipeable frosting.

The fun cobweb toppers that the cupcakes are crowned with are made from melted chocolate and are a breeze to make!

Growing up, Halloween was something we’d just read about in books or comics or watch on tv or movies. Thanks in most part to Hollywood, many of us knew of Halloween as the spookiest time of the year when folks don scary costumes and kids dress up in adorably spooky costumes or as their favourite characters from books, cartoons or tv shows and movies and go trick-or-treating for candy.

I am a big fan of all things “horror” be it scary movies, creepy stories, haunted houses – you name it. So you can imagine how the spookiest time of the year makes me feel. The late October autumn/fall weather adds an additional something to the atmosphere; I love it! Even if Halloween isn’t celebrated in Pakistan as such, at least those of us who want to enjoy it can do so in ways that make us happy, be it pumpkin carving, making scary costumes or coming up with cutely creepy food!

The only time we actually kind of ‘celebrated’ Halloween was in the early ’90s in Daharki. A few Canadian engineers had been emlpoyed by Engro to help set up its new fertilizer plant that had been shipped from Canada. So they, along with their families, had relocated to the Engro Colony in Daharki from Canada until the new plant was up and running. It was Halloween, and the Canadians thought why not celebrate Halloween with the Pakistani residents of the colony and it was a great idea indeed.

Since there was obviously no “trick-or-treat” culture in the colony, the Canadian families arranged an evening Halloween party at the colony’s Club and everyone was invited. The Halloween celebration was more of a fancy dress party for us non-Canadians and it was a lot of fun.

There were some really nice things to eat at the party, made by the Club and I think some made by the Canadian ladies. As there are none of those huge gorgeous orange pumpkins growing in the middle of Sindh, the Canadians made do with what was available; they carved those classic scary Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkin faces on stocky little roundish green kaddus from the vegetable shop at the local Gulnar Market. Necessity truly is the mother of invention!

The party was arranged within a day or so of being decided which left almost no time for anyone to think of or make any elaborate costumes. All the kids were in costume and by costumes I mean all of us more or less improvised with whatever we had lying around at home or could borrow from friends. I went to the party dressed as a fairy. That decision was based solely on a shimmery green (the hue of green that was known as “bottle green” back then; haven’t heard that color described as such in decades!) dress that I owned and I think we created a makeshift wand for me to hold from a small cane stick with one of those decorative stars that you get at party decoration stores stuck at the top. So I was a fairy and a wingless one into the bargain as there was absolutely no time to make any DIY fairy wings.

Fast forward to the present and with that one Halloween celebrated long ago, there was not much after that and frankly there are still no Halloween celebrations as such apart from a few parties here and there. But in the last few years, social media and Instagram and Pinterest in particular, have literally brought Halloween to the rest of the world with the celebration becoming something exciting to look forward to. There is an amazing array of wonderful Halloween ideas such as for food, decor and makeup shared by bloggers, makeup artists and other insanely creative folks that has made the countdown to Halloween one of the most exciting times of the year, for me at least.

This year, I have decided to do the creepy-cool half skull makeup look made popular by the uber talented makeup artist Chrisspy that she posted on her YouTube channel back in 2014. Though I obviously cannot come even remotely close to matching her finesse and experience as a makeup artist, I think I did a pretty okay job practicing getting the half skull look to look decent enough, haha! Fingers crossed for the final look on the day! You can watch Chrisspy’s tutorial here as she uses her mastery over makeup to transform her look in minutes.

Just like Chrisspy, the sheer scale of talent and creativity of ideas, be it makeup, costume design, baking or anything really, on social platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest etc is nothing short of staggeringly impressive; so many great ideas and the fact that people share them in near microscopic detail to make it as easy as possible for anyone who might want to try them – how amazing is that! Thank you kind, helpful and crazily talented people for sharing your wonderful ideas and techniques so wholeheartedly!

I too wanted to do something in the spirit of Halloween (pun intended, hehe!). I had been wanting to put my go to chocolate cupcake recipe on the blog for a while so thought of making some Halloween-ish cupcakes to accommodate that idea. So I started browsing Pinterest for some spooky cupcake ideas and came across so many amazing Halloween cupcakes! It was hard to choose just one idea but these Pumpkin Chocolate Spiderweb Cupcakes by Bright-Eyed Baker frosted with orange colored frosting and topped with chocolate spiderweb toppers stood out as they were so arrestingly beautiful! So I decided that these would be my food inspiration for Halloween this year and that is how my chocolate cobweb cupcakes came to be.

The chocolate cupcake recipe I use most is a chocolate cake recipe that was shared by someone back in Daharki during the late ’90s – early 2000s and was titled “Deep Chocolate Cake.” It is such a flavourful and supermoist recipe that I instantly fell in love with it. Years later I discovered it is actually the recipe for Hershey’s Black Magic Cake. It is pretty much the same recipe that Ina Garten used to make “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake” on an episode of “The Barefoot Contessa” so, if the recipe has her approval, then you know it must be pretty good.

The vanilla frosting recipe is a very slight adaptation of the wonderful Crusting American Buttercream Icing by Peggy Does Cake. It is a very good recipe, not overly sweet or too intensely buttery and the original can be found here.

I used orange coloured frosting for my Chocolate Cobweb Cupcakes plus the classic bewitching purple of Halloween, thanks to a post on Wilton’s Instagram earlier this month of chocolate cupcakes with purple frosting topped with mint green spiderwebs! Wilton has been posting some really fun Halloween ideas this month so you might want to check them out.

So before we go on to actually making and decorating the cupcakes let’s keep the following in mind:

The first time I made orange icing for these cupcakes by mixing red and yellow gel food colors (both by AmeriColor) I added the red a little too enthusiastically which meant that I had to use A LOT of yellow to bring it to any semblance of orange. I did end up with a very vibrant, heart-stopping orange but also ended up thinning my frosting a bit – yes, even gel food colors, when used in copious amounts, can affect the texture of your frosting so note to self: Practice restraint when using food colors! You can obviously use orange food color for the frosting. AmeriColor’s “Electric Orange” seems to be a popular choice for bright orange frosting.
The chocolate cupcake toppers are very delicate. If you live in a place with a warmer climate it would be best to freeze the toppers until ready to serve and add them to complete your chocolate cobweb cupcakes right before serving. They’ll soften to room temperature fairly quickly. Literally seconds after being placed on the cupcakes, the toppers began bending at the base which is the point where they’d been pushed into the frosting and finally, gently toppled over. The toppled cobwebs then softened and meltingly drooped over the frosting which kind of gave them a fairly cool look in a creepy sort of way, which if less pretty, was actually far more realistic as you can see in the photo above.
I discovered, rather very late in the day (after 2 attempts at making the chocolate cobwebs and having them topple over the cupcakes both times) that it is best to use chocolate that contains no cocoa butter to make the toppers as that kind of chocolate sets up firm and is not prone to softening just seconds after being placed on buttercreamed cupcakes. I used Hershey’s semisweet chocolate chips to make the cobwebs, which obviously contain cocoa butter, hence the super quick softening and yes I wish I had researched more before attempting to make the toppers. Candy coating or candy melts might work well too in creating firm toppers. I would still place the toppers atop the cupcakes just before serving to be on the safe side.
Serve the frosted chocolate cobweb cupcakes at room temperature. Store them airtight and if they’ve been in the fridge, allow them to come to room temperature before serving. Cold cupcake and cold frosting are not very nice, unless it’s a whipped cream frosted cupcake.

Chocolate Cobweb Cupcakes

Recipe Type: Desserts Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Total Time: 50 Minutes Serves: 10 – 12

Moist chocolate cobweb cupcakes with swirls of creamy vanilla frosting – perfect for the spookiest time of the year or for any time of the year!

CUPCAKES:

INGREDIENTS

Around 12 – 14 (1.5″ base) cupcake liners/paper bake cups
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 cup caster sugar or superfine sugar
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup plain flour
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or essence
1 tsp instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
Line cupcake/muffin pans with the cupcake liners/paper bake cups and set aside.
Stir the milk and vinegar together in a small cup or bowl to make buttermilk. Set aside.
Combine all the dry ingredients, except coffee, in a bowl.
Whisk the egg. Stir the buttermilk and add to the egg along with the oil and vanilla.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat until well mixed.
Stir the instant coffee into the boiling water and carefully stir into the cocoa mixture. Batter will be quite thin.
Pour batter into a measuring jug.
Fill cupcake liners/paper bake cups with batter almost 3/4 full. I fill them nearly to the top with less than an 1/8 of an inch to spare at the top as I like my cupcakes to have nice high domed tops but if you’re making these for the first time, fill them 1/2 or 3/4ths full to see how they bake in your oven as every oven is different and you don’t want your cupcake batter spilling out and over while baking.
Bake 18 – 20 minutes or until cupcakes are risen and a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out almost clean. Its okay if a few crumbs are sticking to the wooden pick. Try not to overbake.
Remove baked cupcakes to a wire rack.
Cool completely before frosting.

CREAMY VANILLA FROSTING:

INGREDIENTS

200 grams salted butter (I use Lurpak’s Slightly Salted Butter), soft but cool
1 tbsp water, at room temperature
1 lb (around 450 grams) icing sugar, sifted/sieved
1 tbsp cream
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract or essence
Orange food colour (I used “Super Red” and “Electric Yellow” both by AmeriColor to make orange)
Purple food colour (I used “Violet” by Wilton)

METHOD

Cream butter until creamy, fluffy and pale in colour.
Add the water and beat until combined.
Add the rest of the ingredients, except the food colours, and beat until smooth, thick and creamy.
Divide the frosting equally into two and colour each half with the food colours.
Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and store airtight.
If storing in the fridge, allow your frosted chocolate cobweb cupcakes to come down to room temperature for 10 or so minutes before serving.

CHOCOLATE COBWEBS:

Print out cobweb templates (I used the one available here by Candiquik – there are some cute bat and cat templates as well and these too would make pretty awesome chocolate toppers).
Tape the cobweb printout on a flat cookie sheet or the backside of a flat tray.
Lay a sheet of greaseproof or wax paper on top of the printout and tape it flat on top of it. You will be able to see the template design below.
Fit a piping bag or a Ziploc bag snipped at one corner with a small plain writing nozzle/icing tip (I used tip number 4 by Ateco).
Put 1 cup of dark or semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (whichever chocolate you use, make sure it has NO cocoa butter in it) in a bowl and microwave on high for 20 seconds. Stir and microwave again in 10 second increments, stirring every time until the chips are melted and smooth.
Cool the melted chocolate a few minutes and put into the prepared piping bag.
Carefully pipe out the chocolate over the wax paper covered templates, tracing out the pattern beneath. Don’t worry if you’re not super neat, as long as all the lines of each cobweb are connected by the chocolate.
Once all the cobwebs have been piped, put the tray or cookie sheet in the fridge to set for at least half an hour.
To remove cobwebs, carefully slide a thin spatula or thin flat butter knife under the cobwebs to dislodge them and carefully and quickly place them on top of the frosted cupcakes just before serving.

Spicy Sri Lankan Cheese Omelette

September 29, 2016 by aliceineatland 2 Comments

Brighten up breakfast time with this deliciously spicy Sri Lankan cheese omelette, perfect for everyday or when you’re looking for a little extra something to spice up the most important meal of the day on a special occasion.

I vacationed in beautiful Sri Lanka in 2013. It is such a lovely country, with scenic beaches, gorgeous greenery and the most hospitable people. Having had such a wonderful time there, I hope to return again someday soon to explore more of its gorgeousness.

The bright and airy dining room at Mount Lodge Colombo opening onto a small and serene Zen-like garden area complete with small koi type fish swimming in stone ponds and a variety of green fronds

I have not been able to forget any of the delicious Sri Lankan food I had while there. I was lucky enough to stay at Mount Lodge Colombo which is a charming boutique hotel with a pleasing mix of colonial chic and Ceylonese aesthetic, away from the hustle and bustle of central Colombo.

I’m one of those people who will always prefer small, family run hotels over large chain hotels. Add tropical modernism and a seamless blend of indoor comfort incorporated with natural outside elements into the equation and I’m completely sold. Deciding on this organically stylish yet comfortingly homely boutique hotel was a rewarding decision – a restful stay, excellent food and outstanding hospitality.

The congenial caretaker Gamini and his wife Padmini, the fabulous cook

A lovely couple, Gamini and his wife Padmini, occupy one of the rooms on the ground floor of Mount Lodge. Gamini is the resident caretaker of the property while Padmini is the resident cook and prepares all guest meals to order at the hotel.

I fell in love with the scrumptious spicy Sri Lankan cheese omelettes that Padmini would lovingly make. Honestly I think I have had one of the best breakfasts ever at Mount Lodge Colombo; fresh tropical fruit, those amazing omelettes and thick rustic slices of toasted bread served with butter and jam and washed down with strong aromatic Ceylon tea – divine!

After years of coming back from Sri Lanka, I still could not forget Padmini’s cooking and her fabulous spicy cheesy omelettes.

So after trying to replicate her special omelettes without much success, I decided to e-mail Mount Lodge and request Padmini to please share her recipe if possible. I received a reply very promptly from Mr Benjamin Pereira who is the son of the couple that owns the hotel and is also the property’s manager. Within just two days of my e-mailing him he sent the omelette recipe that Padmini had very graciously agreed to share with me.

Breakfast time closeup at Mount Lodge Colombo – just look at that beautiful spread!

I’ve been making this spicy Sri Lankan cheese omelette nearly every other day ever since I got the recipe a month or so back. What’s more, it’s great for people like me who follow the “breakfast for dinner” mantra some days.

I have adapted the recipe very slightly from Padmini’s – you’ll see how the simple ingredient list and straightforward cooking instructions elevate the humble omelette into something fairly spectacular.

The Mount Lodge Colombo terrace, open to the elements yet perfectly private – a lovely spot to read a good book over a nice cup of tea or coffee

A few tips you might wish to consider before making this omelette:

This is a rich omelette so you can reduce the quantity of the butter called for in the recipe but please do not substitute the butter entirely with oil as the result, though still tasty, will just not be the same.
Use a good sharp tasting cheese to make your spicy Sri Lankan cheese omelette – I prefer a spicy cheddar. Just make sure you don’t go overboard with the cheese so that you can taste the delicately rich taste of the omelette itself and not just the overpowering taste of the cheese.
The butter that you use to cook the omelette in should preferably be the butter that you like to spread on your toast; I like Lurpak Butter for this.
Use the correct pan size to cook the omelette so that it does not turn out too thick or too thin. I use a 9″ non-stick pan to make this recipe.
Please do use fresh ground black pepper – it does make a difference.

Spicy Sri Lankan Cheese Omelette

Recipe Type: Breakfast & Brunch Cuisine Type: Sri Lankan Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Total Time: 20 Minutes Serves: 1 – 2

Whip up a deliciously fluffy & incredibly easy Spicy Sri Lankan Cheese Omelette with this very special recipe right from the heart of Sri Lanka!

INGREDIENTS

1 – 2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, seeds removed and cut into small dice
1 – 2 green chillies, seeds removed and chopped finely
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 eggs
Grated cheese of choice
Toasted bread to serve

METHOD

Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Heat butter with oil in a small non-stick pan.
Add onion, tomato and half the green chilli.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Saute on medium heat until onion begins to turn golden and the tomato softens.
Stir in the remaining chopped green chilli and remove sauteed vegetable mixture from heat.
Add half of the vegetable mixture to the beaten eggs. Reserve the other half and put the frying pan back on the heat.
Pour the egg and vegetable mixture into the hot frying pan, tilting to help it spread evenly.
Let cook until the omelette edges begin to firm up, then flip to cook the other side.
Spread half of the top cooked side of the omelette with the vegetable mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Lift the other uncovered half of the omelette with a flat frying spoon or spatula and fold on top of the cheese and vegetable covered side.
Remove omelette to serving plate.
Serve your spicy Sri Lankan cheese omelette at once with crusty bread and butter.

Green Goddess Hummus

August 25, 2016 by aliceineatland Leave a Comment

Take regular hummus up a notch by making it refreshingly herby and spectacularly green – this delicious Green Goddess Hummus makes a super tasty snack or a super yummy starter!

The first time I had (and made) hummus was years and years ago in Daharki.

Back then hummus was non-existent on local restaurant and café menus unlike now, so people who wanted to have it would make it themselves.

Prior to life in London, I had no idea what “flavoured” hummus was.

Most people are purists when it comes to hummus and even though I agree that great tasting well-made plain hummus is a joy, there are a few flavor additions that do take it to the next level.

The first hummus I bought in London was a caramelized onion hummus from good ‘ol Sainsbury’s.

It was very good and a staple at my place, since popping over to the Middle Eastern restaurants and cafés along Edgware Road every other day for my hummus fix was not exactly a financially feasible option!

Now back in Lahore, I make it at home and experiment with additional flavors that might add a little extra oomph to the regular version.

Hummus is a very personal thing.

Once you start making it yourself, you begin adjusting the ingredients called for in the basic recipe to get it to taste exactly the way you like it.

Regular or flavored, it is always a great idea to have it on hand for an enjoyable snack or as a pleasing party menu item.

I have to thank Cookie and Kate, one of my favorite blogs for fresh and healthy vegetarian recipes, for this Green Goddess Hummus.

This gorgeous blog is also the inspiration behind my wanting to start my own blog – many thanks to adorable little Cookie and to Kate Taylor for being an inspiration and also for her ever so helpful blogger resources and selfless guidance that made setting up the blog so much easier for a technologically challenged person like me!

You can find the original Green Goddess Hummus recipe by Cookie and Kate here.

Green Goddess Hummus contains herbs that make up the classic Green Goddess salad dressing, namely parsley, tarragon and chives.

Since the dressing was primarily named for its lovely pale jade color, you can use any combination of fresh green herbs to make your Green Goddess Hummus.

I stuck with the classic Green Goddess salad dressing herbs since I am fond of them.

Use the herbs that you like; there’s no point in making Green Goddess Hummus with say, parsley, if you do not like it.

Fresh basil, coriander, mint etc are some of the many herbs that make a delicious green herby hummus.

I had to wait a long time before I could actually make this Green Goddess Hummus.

First of all, I could not find parsley.

This perennial herb was surprisingly not available anywhere in Lahore which reaffirmed my belief in the fact that I seriously need to start growing my own herbs again.

A chance comment by the admin on one of the popular local food forums Pakistan Food Forum helped me discover Isloo Fresh, an Islamabad based supplier of organic herbs, vegetables and fruit.

They also supply other organic foods such as honey, ghee, eggs and chicken.

I was delighted to find that they not only had parsley but the flat leaf variety into the bargain.

I have seen only curly parsley at the local shops here and just adore the fresh grassiness of flat leaf parsley.

So I placed my order with Isloo Fresh and was rewarded with insanely fresh flat leaf parsley and chives shipped from Islamabad to Lahore, 24 hours later.

I got the tarragon from the Lahore stalwart Pioneer Store.

I use both my food processor and my blender to make hummus.

I start with the food processor but since it is fairly old and I refuse to part with it for sentimental reasons, it doesn’t process the hummus into the creamy consistency that it should.

So I transfer the slightly chunky hummus to my blender and blend it into cloud-like oblivion, which is exactly how it should be.

The result is a creamy, fresh and gloriously green hummus that I can’t get enough of!

Serve Green Goddess Hummus with grilled pita bread cut into wedges, fresh vegetables crudités or, my favorite way to eat hummus – with Doritos.

Green Goddess Hummus

Recipe Type: Snack & Starter Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 5 Minutes Total Time: 10 Minutes Serves 2 – 4

Jazz up regular hummus for a deliciously creamy and refreshingly herby taste with this light-as-a-cloud, herb specked Green Goddess Hummus!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 – 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, finely grated
A few tablespoons water
2 tbsp tahini
1 cup canned or boiled chickpeas
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
Salt
Chopped fresh herbs to garnish
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

METHOD

Put the fresh herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, grated garlic and a tablespoon or so of water in the bowl of a food processor or blender.
Process or blend until the herbs are well chopped.
Add tahini and process or blend again until the mixture looks smooth.
Add the chickpeas (drained and rinsed, if canned), ground cumin (if using) and salt. Continue processing or blending until the hummus looks creamy.
If needed, add a little water, a teaspoon at a time while blending or processing until the desired consistency of hummus is reached.
Taste to check if more lemon juice or salt is needed.
Serve hummus swirled in a bowl with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some chopped herbs, if liked.

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream

August 13, 2016 by aliceineatland Leave a Comment

I have something of an obsession with cake batter, cookie dough and funfetti hence this dreamy Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream!

The first time I remember seeing a box of cake mix was back in the 80s. It was at the house of one of my Mother’s cousins. Her husband was in the army so they used to live in Malir Cantt. Going to their house was always a treat; I have not been to Malir in decades but I remember it being clean and non-congested with wide open spaces plus our hosts had a beautiful home and the glamorous lady of the house was a great cook.

One time at their home she was putting one of her lovely meals together and we were hanging out in her spacious kitchen as usual. On one of the open shelves built into the wall I remember a seeing a lone box of cake mix. The box was yellow and it was for a yellow cake mix. She had gotten it on a recent trip to London. It was like I could taste that yellow cake just looking at the box of cake mix.

The mind is a strange and beautiful thing. It always amazes me how sometimes you can remember ordinary things like a box of cake mix at somebody’s house from your childhood with such vivid clarity and yet some recent apparently electrifying moments are all but a blur.

As a child I would lick the cake batter from the mixing spoons every time my Mother would bake a cake. To this day, I am more interested in the cake batter itself than in the actual baked cake! My Mother would scold me that I’d get sick or develop a tummy ache if I ate raw cake batter but I, like every good rebellious child, never listened. Thankfully I have never suffered any ill effects from raw cake batter so when I came across a few ideas for a Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream, it was like a dream come true and I was hooked.

My first encounter with sprinkles was in Daharki. They weren’t available in Pakistan back then and the folks who had them would get them on trips abroad. I remember seeing SuperCook (now Dr Oetker) ads in my Mother’s magazines advertising hundreds and thousands, food color and white icing in a tube. I tore out the page and sent it with my maternal Grandmother who was travelling to the US soon and asked her to bring this kind of cake icing and decorating stuff for me.

I discovered ice cream made with just cream and condensed milk in BBC Good Food Magazine back in 1994. It was a recipe in the kids’ cooking section of the magazine and since it was so easy and utterly delicious, it has since been my go to recipe for a quick and easy ice cream base. No ice crystals, no forking , no churning or ice cream machine required. It is a great base for this Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream and quite a few no-churn cake batter ice cream recipes use this base too.

I have always baked from scratch. For me, baking from scratch versus baking from a boxed cake mix can best be summed up like this: you know what they say about healthy eating that if you stay on track and eat whole, unprocessed nutritious food 80% of the time, you can afford to indulge in tasty but maybe not so healthy treats 20% of the time. That’s how I feel about boxed cake mixes – I will always bake from scratch but on the rare occasion that a boxed mix is required to add a certain flavor to something, then I don’t have a problem using a bit of it, like for this Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream.

A few things you might want to consider:

If you absolutely do not want to use a boxed cake mix you can leave it out and add a few teaspoons of good vanilla essence or extract. The result will obviously not be Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream but you will still have a very delicious Vanilla Funfetti Ice Cream.
If you can get hold of cake batter flavored bakery emulsion, that too can be used in place of the cake mix. I have not used bakery emulsions as yet but have read good things about them.
Not all brands of sprinkles are the same. I would suggest not to use the local made sprinkle brands as the colors usually start to bleed shortly after contact with moisture – trust me as I speak from experience. I use Cake Mate brand sprinkles that I got from Esajee’s, (DHA, Lahore branch).
If you want to make scoops out of the ice cream then freeze the mixture in a rectangle shaped airtight container to facilitate easy scooping.
Since this ice cream is very creamy with zero ice crystals it melts fast (as can be seen in the photos!) so it is best to serve it in chilled bowls.

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream

Recipe Type: Dessert Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 10 Minutes + Freezing Time Serves: 6-8

Looking for an easy, delicious & fun dessert? Made with just 3 ingredients, both kids & adults will love creamy no-churn Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
1 can (around 400 grams or so) sweetened condensed milk, well chilled
1/2 cup vanilla, yellow, white or Funfetti cake mix
Sprinkles

METHOD

Whip cream until thick, fluffy and almost double in volume.
Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until thick and increased in volume.
Beat in cake mix. The mixture will thicken.
Taste and see if you like the flavor or if more cake mix is needed. The amount of cake mix called for in the recipe gives a nice but subtle cake batter flavor. Keep in mind that your ice cream mixture will get sweeter if more cake mix is added.
Turn mixture into plastic container, cover airtight and freeze 6-8 hours or until firm.
Scoop out into chilled bowls or into ice cream cones, sprinkle with sprinkles of choice and serve.

Thai Curry Khao Suey

July 27, 2016 by aliceineatland Leave a Comment

When both Thai Curry and Khao Suey are at the top of a girl’s comfort food list, she does the natural thing and combines them to make a soupy curry of deliciousness that is the Thai Curry Khao Suey!

I think the first time I had khao suey was when I made it myself. I had heard of and read about this Burmese dish and it sounded wonderful – delicately spiced soupy coconut gravy spiked with lemon juice and served with boiled noodles or spaghetti and topped with a number of yummy toppings such as crispy fried garlic slices, crunchy chopped spring onion and fresh coriander leaves. Since this dish had never been made in my family and I knew of no restaurants that were serving it at that time, I did what any food lover would do – I made it myself.

There were a few very nice Thai restaurants in Lahore back in the day. This place called “Lemon Grass” was my perhaps my first introduction to Thai food and my family and I used to love it. I have yet to have a better Pad Thai than the one that used to be served here – flat noodles in a sweet and sour tamarind based sauce topped with crushed peanuts and an over-easy egg. They also did a fantastic Thai green curry with fragrant lemon grass and chunky eggplant slices – I can still taste it! The interior was fairly opulently Thai looking and I was so sad when they closed down – such a pity.

Another Thai restaurant in the city was “Royal Elephant” at the Pearl Continental Hotel. It had good food and regal looking Thai style decor but that closed down too. I guess with the only Thai restaurants I knew of at that time shutting down, this Thai food fan had no choice but to start making it herself.

I am glad to see khao suey on a few restaurant menus in Lahore now. Only a few people in the city were aware of this coconut curry soup unlike folks in Karachi, where its almost always been popular thanks to the Memon community who brought it to the city from Burma or Myanmar, and often call it khausa.

There are so many regional variations of the soupy noodle khao suey, hence many ways to make it. There’s the Burmese version, the Memoni take on it, the way its made in northern Thailand, the one made in Laos and the variations made in India, to name a few.

Thailand’s khao suey is called khao soi and versions of it are sometimes popularly known as as Bangkok curry noodles or Chiang Mai curry noodles in different places. It is a coconut based curry soup served with condiments and both boiled and fried noodles.

Thai curry and khao suey consist of coconut milk and a similar sort of curry-spice base, so it made sense to combine them for a very flavourful “the best of both worlds” soupy noodle outcome.

Commercial yellow Thai curry paste includes the usual curry spice ingredients such as turmeric, red chilli, cumin and coriander so it makes a good flavouring base for the khao suey part which is made with many of the same spices. I suppose red Thai curry paste can be substituted for the yellow one but I have not tried it and moreover I wanted to stick with the yellow base color of Burmese khao suey. You can also increase the quantity of the mixed vegetables, chicken and prawns up to 1 cup depending on your preference.

Thai Curry Khao Suey is a complete meal. But what makes this fusion curry soup gravy stellar is the variety of the khao suey toppings. Adding boiled noodles or spaghetti to each serving is a must but other than that everyone gets to customize their portion with the rest of the toppings of their choice. Enjoy!

Thai Curry Khao Suey

Recipe Type: Mains Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Total Time: 30 Minutes

Deliciously aromatic, pleasantly spicy & comfortingly creamy with fresh, crunchy & crispy toppings, this 2-in-1 Thai Curry Khao Suey is a complete meal!

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 tbsp Thai yellow curry paste
2 tbsp gram flour / chickpea flour
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (preferably no/low salt variety)
1/2 cup sliced mixed vegetables (I like mushrooms + baby corn + lightly steamed French beans) OR 1/2 cup chicken strips OR 1/2 cup prawns (fresh or defrosted if frozen)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

TOPPINGS

Boiled noodles / spaghetti
Deep fried sliced onions
Deep fried sliced garlic
Chopped spring onions, both green and white parts
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh chopped coriander leaves
Hard boiled egg halves / quarters
Lemon halves / quarters
Dried chilli flakes
Chilli oil
Roasted crushed peanuts

METHOD

Heat oil, add onions, ginger and garlic and saute half a minute or until fragrant.
If using chicken, add it now and saute a few minutes or until chicken changes colour – do not overcook. Remove sauteed chicken to a plate and cover.
Add curry paste to the pan and cook a few minutes until curry paste darkens slightly.
Sprinkle the roasted gram flour, stirring until everything becomes a thickish paste.
Remove from heat and whisk in the coconut milk gradually, making sure all the spice mixture is thoroughly combined with it and no lumps remain.
Add stock, return to heat, bring to the boil while stirring then lower heat.
If using vegetables or the sauteed chicken, add now and simmer 5 – 10 minutes.
If using prawns, add and simmer 1-2 minutes (do not overcook prawns or they’ll become tough and rubbery).
Check salt, stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.
Serve everything separately family style. Every diner helps themselves to the curry soup, noodles and other toppings.

The Paloma

July 11, 2016 by aliceineatland Leave a Comment

How gorgeous is the Paloma! Visually stunning and a treat for the taste buds, I like to think of this lovely drink as the perfect salmon pink sunset on a tropical beach and as an ode to the incomparable Paloma Picasso! Without doubt one of my favorite summer mocktails, the Paloma is sensational in taste and a guaranteed crowd pleaser when entertaining.

My earliest memory of something like a “cocktail” or technically a mocktail, goes way back to the 80s.

I was born in Karachi and my family and I moved to Daharki in 1987. The Exxon Chemical Pakistan Limited (now known as Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited) community in Daharki, which we became a part of, was a like a small family and it had the most amazing culture that involved a lot of activities to keep the residents of Exxon’s small and stunningly pretty colony engaged and occupied.

I have had the good fortune of having been exposed to the best baking I’ve known anywhere right in the middle of a tiny colony in a quaint little town in interior Sindh. The fine desserts, chic cakes and assorted fancy bakes that the larger cities of the country have begun to have access to for the last decade or so, the Exxon community ladies were making these and more back in the 80s – probably since the 70s actually. Like me, most of the girls who grew up in Exxon Daharki learnt to bake years before they learnt to cook.

Cooking and baking classes were a regular feature for the Exxon ladies. I remember the cooking class leaflets (they were called “notices” back in Daharki) that would be delivered to each house a few days in advance, printed with details about the latest upcoming cooking class, plus which recipes would be taught and by whom with the time and venue of the class mentioned. Since the classes were for the community ladies only, kids like me would wait in anticipation for their Moms to return from cooking class with a printout of the recipe and an account of how good it tasted. Good times!

At one of the cooking classes a recipe for a fruit punch was demonstrated. This was a refreshing mix of different flavored fruit squashes and a fizzy drink, usually Sprite, topped with tiny bits of fresh fruit. It quickly became a popular party drink and for many of us, it was the first introduction to something mocktail-like. I used to love it – still do! Now that I think about it, it was like a delicious cross between a punch, a fruit spritzer and a non-alcoholic Sangria. I will share that fruit punch recipe soon along with other timeless recipes from Exxon Daharki’s legendary baking diaries but for now let’s get back to the Paloma.

The word “paloma” means ‘dove’ in Spanish and contrary to popular belief, the Paloma and not the Margarita, is said to be Mexico’s most popular cocktail. The basic way of preparing the Paloma is to mix silver tequila with grapefruit soda or fresh grapefruit juice. Club soda or soda water is also added to some versions. Believe me when I tell you that my refreshingly zingy alcohol-free version will have you swooning!

Going through the produce section at HKB the other day I came across a gorgeous pile of ruby grapefruit. I knew right away what I was going to make with those beauties – yes, the Paloma.

You can obviously use regular grapefruit to make the Paloma but ruby grapefruit will give you a beautifully rosy drink, perfect for when you’re having your girl friends over for a mocktails-and-canapes-meets-gossip session or at any occasion really – this makes a really awesome “welcome drink” when hosting formal parties, lunches or dinners.

So give the Paloma a try; I know you will adore it!

The Paloma

Recipe Type: Drinks Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 2 Minutes Cook Time: 5 Minutes Total Time: 7 Minutes Serves 1

Pretty peach-pink & refreshingly zingy, the Paloma is perfect for a girly get together or for whenever you’re looking for a deliciously impressive mocktail!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 cup sparkling soda water / club soda
1/2 – 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Good pinch of salt
Quartered lemon
Coarse salt
Grapefruit slice, quartered

METHOD

To make the simple syrup, put sugar and water in a small pan and swirl over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature and chill.
Rub the rim of the serving glass with the quartered lemon. Put the coarse salt in a small plate or bowl and dip the lemoned rim of the glass in the salt.
Make a cut on the quartered grapefruit slice and fix it on the rim of the glass.
Add fresh grapefruit juice to mixing glass, pour in soda water / club soda, 2-4 teaspoons of chilled syrup, lemon juice and pinch of salt.
Stir and taste to see if it needs more syrup or lemon juice depending on how sour the grapefruit juice is and how sweet you like your mocktail.
Pour into serving glass.
Keep any leftover simple syrup tightly bottled in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Mocca Coffee Gulberg

July 1, 2016 by aliceineatland 2 Comments

Considering the fact that I am a food lover and living in Lahore, a city known for its fierce love for food, I don’t really eat out that much. Or not as much as folks think I do. I like trying out a few new places here and there sometimes but just like most people, I have a few go-to places that I keep returning to from time to time and Mocca Coffee Gulberg, housed in Mall 94 on Main Boulevard is one such place.

Most restaurants and cafés in Pakistan offer some pretty good sehri and iftar deals during Ramzan. So when one of my good friends and I decided to catch up over some good food, we headed to Mocca Coffee Gulberg to partake of the exquisite looking Ramzan Platter that they had a picture of on their Facebook page.

Known for its fine micro-roasted coffees and superb gourmet food, Mocca Coffee Gulberg loves the concept of uncluttered space and lots of it – none of that standard ‘restaurant-café’ look here. Their minimalist Scandinavian design aesthetic is reflected in the stripped-to-essentials chicness of wood, space and light. This place has perhaps the most cleanly modern look out of all restaurants in Lahore, a winning look indeed as it gives an immediate sense of calm and peace as soon as I step into it. It is also, in my opinion, perhaps the most efficiently air-conditioned café in Lahore, an oft overlooked but important consideration when operating an eatery in Pakistani temperatures.

The glass entrance door of Mocca Coffee Gulberg takes you straight to their gorgeous patisserie display counter – under elegant glass cloches, you will find familiar sweet treats like buttery croissants and Swiss chocolate brownies and more unusual ones such as marzipan apple pie and Paleo energy bars. This drool-worthy section of the cafe with its mouthwatering selection of sweet beauties has something to satisfy every kind of sweet tooth.

Rooftop seating at Mocca Coffee Gulberg

Mocca Coffee Gulberg has a pretty nice open-air rooftop sitting area which is great for cool evenings and winter days. It is my favorite place to have breakfast in winter. I was very happy to see that they’ve built a closed section right next to the open-air seating area so you have the option of sitting out in the open and taking in the views or sitting inside when its a bit too hot to sit out in the open.

Closed seating area at Mocca Coffee Gulberg rooftop

This closed rooftop seating area is another example of simple minimalism and has the same pared-down design aesthetic like the rest of the café. The beautiful large floor-to-almost-ceiling doors and windows shaped like hollow one dimensional Rubik’s Cubes give a sense of still being out in the open while inside the merciful comfort of an air-conditioned room.

The Mocca Coffee menu is not only delicious but healthy and nutritious into the bargain. From fresh artisan salads, stuffed savoury crespelle and vibrant pasta dishes to detox breakfasts, Paleo brunches and well-thought out vegetarian options, it makes me want to order the entire menu in one sitting.

Ramzan Platters at Mocca Coffee Gulberg

Since this time we had gone there especially to try the Ramzan Platter, we ordered two of those plus grilled paninis for later. Mocca Coffee’s iftar platter is a bit different than most restaurant/cafe iftar platters. It consists of:

pitted dates
dried figs
fresh peaches and mangoes cut in small dice served in a small glass
two spicy crisp fried chicken strips
a decent sized piece of grilled chicken breast with a deliciously piquant sauce
a portion of Greek salad
choice of 2 macarons or slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
a glass of fresh fruit juice or lemonade (we opted for a ginger-lime lemonade and an apple-mint-ginger smoothie

Everything on the platter was fresh, tasty and refreshing – a complete mini-meal. The chicken was hot, the salad, fresh fruit and drinks cold and the dried fruit and sweets at room temperature – perfect.

Grilled Paninis at Mocca Coffee Gulberg

Our paninis arrived after we were done with the Ramzan Platter; frankly the iftar platter was filling enough but since we are fans of Mocca’s paninis we’d ordered them anyway. Each panini (grilled paprika-jalapeno panini for my friend and marinated grilled vegetable panini for me) was accompanied by a side of potato wedges encrusted with a paprika and rosemary coating, some crisp salad greens with sun dried tomatoes and black olives and some tangy aioli. Both paninis were deliciously crisp grilled with flavorful fillings but since we’d already had the Ramzan Platter, we could finish just half of our paninis and doggy bagged the leftovers for later.

Overall another pleasant experience at Mocca Coffee Gulberg. We stopped at the luscious patisserie on our way out and exited the café with a box of 8 different flavored macarons, the finest in Lahore in my opinion. Yum!

Note: This is not a sponsored post and I was not compensated by Mocca Coffee Gulberg in any way for it. The views expressed in it are entirely my own based on my experience.

Three Cheese Roasted Chilli Bread Pudding

June 23, 2016 by aliceineatland 2 Comments

This three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding is absolute love! Intensely cheesy and deliciously fluffy, it is the absolute perfect accompaniment to a special breakfast or an elegant brunch.

I was never a breakfast person. As a child I found it very hard eating anything when it came to the most important meal of the day. I remember reluctantly downing, tiny sip by tiny sip, a small mug of warm milk flavoured with either Ovaltine, Milo or Horlicks and considering that breakfast. Most days I would have just half a mug of milk. Some days I would valiantly make myself nibble on a toasted slice of bread but that is by far the most I remember eating in the mornings as a school-going child.

Fast forward decades later, and on the rare days that I do have a proper breakfast, it has to be a special one and a long and leisurely meal into the bargain.

My idea of the perfect breakfast consists of a laid back and unhurried meal, mid to late morning, eating what I consider ‘the works’ for myself – a spiced cheesy fluffy omelette, thick rustic looking slices of brown bread, plenty of Lurpak or Nurpur butter, hash browns, maybe some fresh pineapple and banana on the side (thank you beautiful Sri Lanka for spoiling me rotten while I was holidaying there with your deliciously unforgettable breakfasts and getting me to appreciate eating fresh fruit in the morning) accompanied by strong chai or good French press coffee. Add to this the three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding and my breakfast goes from simply “perfect” to downright “spectacular”!

I love watching Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen” show, even when it’s not Christmas. There’s something very cozy and cheery about the show and the recipes are wonderful. On one episode Nigella makes what she calls a Triple Cheese Strata, which is essentially a savory bread pudding, golden and toasty on top and fluffy underneath. Nigella, with typical eloquence says “It’s like a toasted cheese sandwich but a celestial one, eaten by angels.” My three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding that has been adapted from it is no less heavenly, if I do say so myself.

I had been wanting to try Nigella’s recipe for years but you know how it is when you really want to make a particular something but never really get around to it. When I did, finally, make my own version of it, I kept wondering why I had not made it much, much earlier. Yes, it is that good.

Nigella’s recipe hardly needs tweaking but I’ve adapted it to my own taste and preferences. I’ve also played around with the quantities of the cheeses and added more liquid along with fire roasted green chillies. The result is a supremely flavorful souffle-like casserole flecked here and there with tiny bits of spicy smokiness.

I use regular bread to make my three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding because that is what I usually have in the house. I change up the types of cheeses frequently depending on what cheeses I have in the freezer at that time and have made this with a combination of different cheeses like pepper jack, Swiss etc. with great results.

This folks, is quintessential breakfast and brunch comfort food. Nigella serves it as a supper dish and frankly, I can eat it for lunch and dinner as well and have done so. But for me, this three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding really shines served as part of a nice breakfast or a lovely brunch. I’ve made it for family and friends and whoever has had it has loved it.

When this three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding is baking in your oven, the inhabitants of your abode will most certainly start salivating as the aroma that emanates from the baking is truly nothing short of drool-inducing and will make the whole house smell divine! Bliss.

This recipe was featured in the first issue of “My Kisan Kitchen“, a Pakistani food and lifestyle magazine.

Three Cheese Roasted Chilli Bread Pudding

Recipe Type: Breakfast & Brunch Author: Alice In Eatland

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Total Time: 35 Minutes Serves: 2

Savory three cheese roasted chilli bread pudding. Soufflé-like with a gorgeous puffy golden top, this is guaranteed to take you to comfort food heaven!

INGREDIENTS

2 medium fresh green or red chillies
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 spring onions, finely chopped (both green and white parts)
2 cups cubed bread, at least a day old (crusts removed)
Spring onion green parts, extra, chopped, to garnish

METHOD

Puncture the chillies in several places with a small sharp knife and with the help of tongs, roast both chillies directly on stove flame, turning frequently until blistered and charred in places.
Remove chillies from heat and cool. Slit from the sides, remove the seeds and chop finely.
Stir together all three cheeses until combined; remove 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture and reserve.
In the jug of a blender or the bowl of a food processor, put the cream, milk, eggs, spring onions and combined cheeses. Blend or process until combined.
Place the bread cubes in a single layer in a lightly buttered ovenproof dish.
Stir the finely chopped roasted chillies into the cheese mixture and pour this mixture all over the bread cubes, covering evenly.
Cover dish tightly with cling film and let sit in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours, preferably overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) and take bread pudding dish out of the fridge 30 minutes before baking to let it come down to room temperature.
Sprinkle the reserved cheese mix evenly all over the surface the the pudding.
Bake 20-30 minutes or until bread pudding puffs up and is golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.
Garnish with chopped spring onion greens and serve warm with a crisp green salad, if liked.