Sugar High Fridays- Fruit & Nut Roundup

Its Friday, and that means the weekend is round the corner, and its time to give in to indulgences - so we celebrate it with the Sugar High Friday - Fruit & Nut Roundup! No one needs a reason to enjoy good food, and each one of these delicious desserts that you are about to see below is a culinary treat in itself. Thanks for sharing all your delicious recipes with us, and hope these inviting entries will help you enjoy your weekend, making it a bit "more sweet"!!

Cakes & Muffins
Fruit & Berry Spoon Cake - eCurry
Chunky Banana-Nut Muffins - Life's Too Short for Chocolate
Gluten-Free Cranberry-Apricot Cake - Green Gourmet Giraffe
blueberry Banana-Nut Bars - My Experience with Cooking
Strawberry-Almond Scones - The Short (Dis)Order Cook
Oat Flour Cranberry Muffins - Madhuram's Eggless Cooking
Tamra Davis' Apple Cake - Split Pearsonality
Chocolate-Pecan-Banana Muffins - Maple Corn Bread
Banana-Walnut & Apricot Muffins - A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine
Banana-Date-Walnut Muffins - Sumi's Kitchen
Lemon Shortbread with Pecan Toppinge - Earth Vegan
Eggless Cherry Chocolate Cake - Madhuram's Eggless cooking
Vegan Applesauce Cake - Earth Vegan
Strawberry & Almond Muffins - Plantain Leaf
Plum & Pecan Bread - Chef in you

Frozen Treats
Mango Kulfi - Appyayan
Mango-Coconut Sorbet - Jaya's Space
Strawberry-Yogurt Delightt - Priya's Tasty Recipes
Frozen yogurt-Banana Dessert - A Culinary Odyssey
Mango PannaCota - Parita's World
Avocado Cream Pots - Sugar Nut
Mango-Almond Sorbet - Priya's Tasty Recipes
Mango Pistachio IceCream - Indian Khana
Mango Yogurt Mousse - Plantain Leaf

Cookies & Concoctions
Almond Fruit Tart - Tasty Touch
Mango Shrikhand - Renu's Kitchen
Fruity Phyllo Stacks - A Culinary Odyssey
Apricot & Nut Cookies - NewF in My Soup
Apricot Yogurt Parfait - An Edible Symphony
Peach-Strawberry-Almond Salad - Fearless Kitchen
Unnakkayi - Malabar Moplah Speciality - My Experience with Cooking
Peach-Blueberry-Almond Galettes - Passionate About Baking
Orange-Walnut Shortbread Cookies - Akshayapaatram
Richmond Maids of Honor - The Well-Seasoned Cook
Drunken Grapes - Sophie's Foodie Files
Mango & Chocolate Ganache Truffle - Dido Lives to Cook
Kitchen Sink Cookies - Samaithu Paarkalaam
Apple Marzipan Galettes - The Cook's Collection
Strawberry Kheer - Shail's Kitchen
Dry Fruit & Nut Laddoos - Kalyani's Kitchen
Date & Pistachio Cookies - Renu''s Kitchen
Apricot-Strawberry-Almond Shortcakes - My Diverse Kitchen
Fruit & Nut Cookies - Cook's Hideout
Pineapple Halwa - Prasu’s Kitchen

All these wonderful entries surely make me drool, and I have already bookmarked a few recipes for the coming weekends! Thanks once again for making this such a huge success; wishing you all a Sugar High Friday indeed!

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Mango Coconut Snack Cakes

Summer is the time I miss India the most - No, NO, not for the Heat, but for the delicious Mangoes that we relished during the season, never mind the pounds it added to my frame! Indian Mangoes have no parallel, but after so many years in the US, I guess we've started appreciating the fact that we can at least get mangoes in California, and they are of "decent-quality". So to satisfy my Mango mania, I baked these Mini Mango-Coconut Snack Cakes, a healthy, delicious alternative to regular decadent cakes or muffins. Made with whole-wheat, and a low-sugar content, these baby cakes can be eaten for breakfast, or turned into delicious desserts by sprinkling some icing sugar, and maybe some syrup or whipped cream on the top!

Ingredients
Makes about 12 mini cakes

2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour (optional, you can use AP flour instead)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 cup mango pulp - sweetened
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2-3 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet your mango pulp is)

Method
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour your large muffin pans or 12 individual ramekins and set aside.

Beat the eggs, oil and vanilla together. When it becomes fluffy, add in the mango pulp and mix well.

In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except coconut flakes and walnuts.

Now slowly pour the dry ingredient mix into the egg mixture and keep beating on medium speed. Do this till the entire cake batter becomes smooth and uniform, about 5-8 mins. Finally, fold in the shredded coconut and the chopped walnuts.

Distribute evenly in the prepared cake pans and bake for at least 20-25 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn off the oven and let the mini cakes cool on the wire rack for 5 mins.

Then gently turn out the cakes from the pan. Garnish with a topping of more walnuts if you like, and sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on the top.

These taste great with tea or coffee, and as they are low in sugar and trans-fat, they are also a healthier option to indulge in!

These Mango-Coconut Cakes are my entry to the SHF-Fruit & Nut event being hosted on this blog this month. If you haven't sent them in already, I'm looking forward to your entries.

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Raspberry Almond Crumble
Chocolate Hazelnut Coffee Cake
Mango Cake with Streusel Topping

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Free Weekend Getaway with Chef Bonnie

Most of the schools in US have closed down for summer and people are frantic planning their family vacations as the heat turns up in Sunny California! For those of you who have not yet experienced the sunny shores and the cool waters of the Pacific, here's something that could get you closer to a romantic Southern California getaway, which also includes a surprise package for food-lovers like me!

As the economy vacillates between good and not-so-good forecasts, everyone is looking for a way to cut costs, or better yet, find free stuff! So I was really happy to receive this email in my inbox about a free weekend getaway in a Southern California vacation rental home, sponsored by VacationRentals. For those of you who haven't heard about them, it is a popular website for vacation homes that connects property owners with vacationers seeking a private, home-like atmosphere for their accommodations. Something like finding a hotel, except this is more like a private home or retreat, which I'm sure you'd enjoy on a vacation. I did find a great deal on something I was looking for, but what caught my eye, and got me into writing this post is the current sweepstakes that they are offering! Just a little something to test your luck!:)

They are sponsoring a giveaway which features a vacation getaway in a Southern California vacation rental home where Chef Bonnie, (yes, the chef from Food Network and Hells Kitchen) will cook a gourmet meal for you in the rental home that the winners book!! The Prize includes money towards airfare, rental, and the personal gourmet meal cooked just for you! Bonnie Muirhead is a 26-year-old nanny and personal chef from Los Angeles, CA, was a finalist in the hell's Kitchen-Season 3, and missed winning the title by a few inches. However, those who have seen her know she's a great cook, and if given a chance, who wouldn't wish to be served by a Gourmet Chef?

So for those who are interested, and who have a history of being lucky, can try a hand at winning the Chef Bonnie Weekend Getaway, or any other of their Golf & Spa vacations by entering the sweepstakes over at Vacation Rentals. It is free, it is valued at $5,000, and it only takes a few minutes of your time; but if you win it, those would be a few minutes very well-invested!

For those who think this is a waste of time, here are some other interesting weekend destinations in California, just in case your travel plans happen to bring you over to the west coast!

Lake Tahoe - All-Season Travel Guide
Napa & Sonoma Valley - Wine, Food & Scenic Countryside
A Visitor's Guide to San Francisco

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How To Carmelize Onions

If you love cooking as much as I do, I am pretty sure at some point of time, you must have been enthused by the flavor of Carmelized Onions, be it as a topping on your Pizza, or a garnish on your Pasta or Salad, and I've received several requests to post about how to make them at home. The first thing you notice about these Onions is that they are "Golden-Brown". But the more important fact is how they smell and taste; unlike regularly sauteed onions, Carmelized Onions have a unique flavor, fragrance and texture, which is brought upon by the chemical reactions between sugar, water content in the onions, and of course, the heat in your skillet. Here's a scientific explanation for carmelized onions, if you are interested, but for home cooks like me just looking for a simple tutorial on How to Carmelize Onions at home, just hop ahead and read on! [Image courtesy: Fine Cooking]

Making Caramelized Onions at home is not as difficult a job; the key is to cook them on medium-low heat, a process which is called Sweating, and which allows all the water to release into the pan and then evaporate slowly. ensuring that your onions will be soft and caramelized all the way through. Here's what you need, in addition to patience, and some spare time on your hand (not when the kids are cranky for dinner!!)

Ingredients
1/2 cup clarified butter or olive oil
2 cups of onions of your choice(white, yellow, or red) - chopped thin
2 tsp granulated sugar
Hot water as needed
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method
Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar as soon as the onions have been coated with butter.

Continue cooking until the onions are deep brown and candied, and look browned & crisper from the edges; this can take up to 35-45 minutes. Add an occasional tablespoon of hot water if the pan becomes too dry, or if you see that the onions are sticking to the pan. Season well with salt and pepper to overcome the sugar, and also to help preserve their sheen or gloss.

Now you can use them in any recipe that calls for Caramelized Onions. Remember, the trick is in the right amount of sugar, and using medium-low flame, and slowly letting the onions get cooked; patience is the key, so hurrying will not help you get those burnt edges that are so typical for caramelized onions.

Note: The more the quantity, the longer it will take to caramelize your onions! Also, the sugar helps to accelerate the browning process, but you can skip it or lower the quantity if using red onions, as they have more water content than their white counterparts.

Related Recipes
How to Make basic Onion Sauce
How to Cut a Pineapple
How to make Pie Crust at Home

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Masala Chhas (Spiced Buttermilk)

Summer has surely set its mark here in Northern California, and the temperatures are slowly rising to higher 80's! Its getting so hot all I want to do is sit back and lounge on my rocking chair, sipping gingerly from an array of cool summer drinks:) Juices, smoothies, ice-cream shakes are all preferred choices, but sometimes, the tongue craves for something "chatpata & masaledaar", and that's when this cooling and refreshing Masala Chaas, or Spicy Buttermilk comes to your rescue! Lots of people don't like buttermilk, but believe me, when you make it fresh at home, with regular curd, and jazz it up with a few Indian spices, you will be amazed at how something so simple can uplift your mood so much!

Ingredients
2 cups fresh curd (not too sour)
3 cup water
1/2 tsp salt - or adjust to your taste
a bunch of cilantro - chopped
8-10 fresh mint leaves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies - chopped
1/2 tsp mango powder (aamchur) - optional

Method
Add the chopped cilantro, mint leaves, cumin, green chillies and amchur powder to a blender. Add 1/2 cup water and blend to form a smooth paste.

Now add the curd, salt and remaining water, and again blend to make a thick and smooth buttermilk. Add more water if needed to get desired consistency.

Pour into serving glasses, garnish the cool, green Spicy Buttermilk with some mint leaves, and sit back and relax as you allow it to cool and refresh your mind and senses!

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Orange Creme Soda
Refreshing Beetroot Juice
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