It's nearly Christmas, kids are thrilled, adults are happy ah! sure :), yeah! are you ? most say yaaaaahh.., the long yaaaah and give a big smile, whatever it is I love Christmas, I love the festive season, makes me very happy when I see the little kids chatting away delightedly  in the gifts they are going to get and lots of pampering  from their thick and thin family, rich or poor everybody try their best to please the kith and kin around them.

I don't celebrate Christmas as I am Hindu, But, I do celebrate it in my own way, Have I ever told you my little story about why I celebrate Christmas, I have told many of them here, when they keep asking me are you ready for Christmas ? and I would go with a stupid smile on my face and start saying with "well,  I don't have Christmas but I do celebrate in my own way as my kids love it" , of I go with  my story and after hearing they would be bemused!, The story yes.., when I was in India, my children were very little and every Christmas my MIL used to bring them a small Christmas tree, it was not exactly "The Christmas tree" it was a branch but she wanted the kids to believe it was and she used to pot it and  keep it in our Lounge.
Next with totally excited kids towing behind her take them in a rickshaw to shop,  she used to buy little trinkets, fairies, colourful balls and all the little things to decorate the tree, and definitely a Santa and she used get them chocolates and spoil them with all the sweets and savouries.  when I asked her about this she used to say how she used to think of Santa and presents when she was a kid and she would say let them enjoy.
Even today I keep wondering about the things she used to do on a whim to please them and her Grand children adored her and miss her very much,  every Christmas I remember her. when my kids put up the tree and decorate they think of their Grand mother just like me.  Those days I hadn't seen any of the families around us would celebrate Christmas this way. It was a bit out of the way.

May be coming over here and celebrating Christmas has become religious and part of our life now, like the same way we did back then, I used to buy them presents and buy presents for my friends and my kids do the same, particularly my youngest girl she has all packed and kept it ready a week back, I don't buy them presents any more as they are grown up now and choose to buy things whenever they like anything.  But, they do enjoy visiting family and enjoy eating all the treats I bake.  I enjoy baking cookies, Biscuits and cakes during this festivity season.

These cookies are the tastiest cookies I have ever baked, (so I say to most of them I think :)), I myself couldn't resist eating them they are utterly butterly delicious.  These are one of the quintessential  cookies for Christmas I suppose.
Linz is a biggest city in Austria, Linz is the reputed home of the famous Linzer torte, This tart is made up of a pastry rich with butter, almonds and cinnamon, and the tart is originally filled with Black currant preserves and topped with Lattice crust. It is one of the oldest know tarts, this was given a makeover by making the pastry to little cookie shapes and jammed with Jams/preserves/conserve/jellies you can make use of any of these to make these cookies and dusting with Icing sugar.
I did not know which recipe to follow exactly so I took it from here and here and made it into Eggless and it turned out superb.

EGGLESS LINZER COOKIES
Makes around 20 cookies

INGREDIENTS:
2 and 1/2 cup ( measured 275 grms) All Purpose Flour
1 Cup  ( measured 225 grms) Butter
1 Cup (measured 150 grms) Almond meal
1/2 cup Granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
1 tsp Pure Vanilla extract
1 tsp Baking powder
1 and 1/2 tbsp water
1 tbsp Arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
Raspberry/Black currant/Apricot any choice of your filling

METHOD:
In a large bowl take Flour, Almond meal, cinnamon powder and salt, mix them all well together.
In an other bowl beat together softened butter, vanilla essence with sugar until well incorporated to this add the above said dry ingredients until they resemble bread crumbs.

In a little bowl take Baking powder, 1 and 1/2 tbsp of water, lemon juice and Arrowroot powder mix them all together you will see them bubbling up now add this to the buttery flour, combine them to a dough ball, it might be a bit sticky just flour your hands lightly and make into a ball.

Now half the dough ball into two and cover them separately with cling film and put it into the fridge and let it harden up for at least an one to two hours. ( you can even leave it in the refrigerator overnight and bake it next day).
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/ Gas Mark 5
Line baking sheets with parchment paper and keep it ready.
Take the dough out one part of it, roll into a circle or Rectangle in between two cling films do it quickly before it becomes too soft because of your hand heat or you can lightly flour the surface and roll out to an 1/4 inch thickness.

Now using your cookie one big and one small round, square, hearts or whatever shape you like cut out the circles, equally divide them into two parts and cut out 1/2 of them in the center with smaller cutters and place with 1" apart put them back in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes, this helps in the dough hardening up and when baking them in a preheated oven cooks them quickly and does not leak or spread and bake them in the preheated over for around 8 to 9 minutes. Half way through turn the cookies and bake them.
Once they are baked remove them on to a cooling rack, adapt the same procedure to the rest of the dough, re roll the left over dough and make similar cookies
I used some of the left over dough and made little cookies.

ASSEMBLING COOKIES
Dust Icing Sugar on the eyed cookies (that is the cookies which are cut in the center) and lay them out.
Once the first batch comes out fill in the cookies with Jam/jelly conserve or anything of your choice and spread it on to the base of the cookie then using the cut out cookie top it out on to the base and sandwich them together lightly.
If you store it in an airtight container the cookies will become soft and if you store it in an airtight container and leave it in the fridge, they are good to stay for several days.

NOTE:
Remember to preheat the oven  10 minutes before you would plan to take the dough out and get them ready to bake. Preheating ensures that the cookies are cooked evenly, quickly and will not melt away.
You can make your own Almond meal spread the Almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes remove, cool it and dehusk the almonds next blend them to a powder form using /14 cup of sugar, adding sugar in the process helps in the almonds becoming a paste.
Do not forget to refrigerate every time you take them out to roll or cut them into cookies put them back, and don't bake until it is firmed up.
I have used Arrowroot powder if you can't find you can use Corn flour/corn starch instead or Potato flour or Chickpea flour / Soya flour / Quinoa flour hope this helps.
My cookie cutter was a bit out of shape I was so concentrating on cutting them out I wasn't looking how they turned out, my daughter noticed it they were not exactly circle but a bit oval in shape ah!, noted point
You can also use Hazelnuts instead of Almonds to make these cookies. That is my next in the agenda baking these cookies with Hazelnuts

These cookies are so delicious, when my photos weren't too good I was so disappointed, I love natural light I struggle get good photos were it gets dark, I get upset as it goes dark so quickly in winter and as I was moaning about it, my eldest was telling it's ok you can always bake them again we don't mind eating them.., there goes the verdict on my cookies.  If you try these out do tell me... Enjoy c you soon again

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PASTA, has become a part of our life these days, I prefer them than the ready made noodles, As I can cook it with loads of Ingredients and lots of vegetables.  You also get whole wheat Pasta which is really good, My kids have started liking them, Pasta is a staple food in Italy, which has become so popular all over the world, kids just love them.  When you are living abroad and if you are a vegetarian eating food in restaurants in limited and we always have pasta in our menu!,  My friends and family living here say that their children eat pasta more in nurseries / child minders, My sister's  daughter loves Indian food , but when you ask her what you want to eat she says can you make pasta ?,  My kids were not born here but they still like pasta, especially  twin daughter, I always have stock of them at home, they are made with whole wheat but you can also get whole meal brown pasta as well, which still is not her cup of tea.., I am still trying on that side... but I have not yet succeeded !!.
Pasta is basically eaten using sauces and pestos, It is so versatile you can change with whatever you prefer to eat.  This is one such pesto which is quite tasty .
I make different kind of pasta sauces and different types of pesto as well , I had to make this pesto again especially for this bread I baked.
Bread was so delicious and kids loved it.

SUN DRIED TOMATO PESTO

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup Sun dried  chopped Tomatoes in oil ( minus the oil )
1/4 cup fresh Basil leaves
1 Fresh Red chilli
3 to 4 cloves of Garlic
7 to 8 Cashew nuts lightly toasted
1 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano ( optional )*
1/2 tsp Salt
4 tbsp of Olive oil

METHOD:
Take out Sun dried Tomatoes from oil, chop them into pieces for easy grinding and drain them on a paper for few minutes, until the time you get your other ingredients ready.
I have said 1/4 cup that is around 20 to 25 leaves Basil leaves
Remove the skin from the Garlic
Toast cashew lightly on a dry skillet for a few minutes this helps in releasing its oil and also helps for staying longer when stored.
Toast Chopped fresh Red chilli in a tsp of oil for a few seconds, this helps in removing the moisture in it.
Take all the above said Ingredients in a food processor / Mixer and blend them with Olive oil adjust salt and puree them together.
Now our Sun dried Tomato Pesto is ready to rock...

VARIATION:
* I have used just one tbsp of Parmigiano Reggiano as my kids are not very fond of this cheese you can add an other 2 tbsp of this cheese.
You can use Pine nuts which is authentic, Almonds, Brazil nuts, Macadamia nuts too..
You can use Green chilli than the Red chilli
You can omit Fresh chillies and use 1 tsp of Pepper corns.

USES:
You can use it in making pasta, breads, Noodles, Bruschetta, Bread Toast, Frittata, Tarts etc..,

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Hi everybody, Oranges and me have a great connection I think you might have noticed I have loads of Orange recipes in my blog, Oranges as we all know is good source of vitamin C, and I think this time of the year we definitely need it, Consuming Vitamin C rich food keep the cold away.., This also helps in the absorbtion of Iron when you are eating Iron rich food as well,  keeps the Haemoglobin content well.
Coming back to this cake, This is suppose to be a  Greek Cake which I got from a cakes and bakes Magazine, People in Greek bake this often and they love and enjoy it.  I searched few websites for this cake but ended up making from this magazine, as I liked the Idea of it.  Hope you like the Idea and enjoy it too.. as my family and friends did...
My Children loved it, they said it was sweet and moist, I made few changes adapting it to my way of baking, I have used silken Tofu in my bakes, but not to this quantity,  I tried and was quite satisfied, This particular cake was more interesting to me as I had  fruit in it and later on I decided to use cocoa powder in it so I could send it to Kalyani's Monthy mingle Chocolate and fruits, which I am posting it a bit late.  Check my notes for the changes I have made in this cake.
This cake stays moist for at least 5 days, no need to refrigerate it either (well I am talking about this climate)

KEIK PORTOKALI - ORANGE SEMOLINA CAKE - EGGLESS
Minimally adapted from Cake & Bake Magazine

INGREDIENTS: 
FOR THE CAKE
2 Medium Organic Oranges well Scrubbed
1/2 cup Olive oil
1and 1/2 Cup soft brown sugar
200 grms fine Semolina
1 Cup + 3 tbsp Mori Nu Silken Tofu ( around 300 gms )
50 grms Almond meal ( Powder )
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking powder
2 tbsp milk

FOR THE GLAZE:
1/2 tbsp Butter / vegan Butter
1/2 cup Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1 tbsp of Milk / soy milk
1 tsp of Orange Blossom water
1 tsp of Orange juice

METHOD:
In a very hot water add two oranges in intervals of 5 minutes for 4 to 5 times keep changing the water that is after every 5 minutes throw away the water, use fresh hot water again and do the same way at least 4 times, this will remove the sourness of the orange skin. (even though not completely )
In a thick bowl boil the whole oranges in plenty of water until softened, almost about 1 hour in a low flame, with a closed lid which had a little hole in it. keep checking that they are well covered and keep adding hot water as needed.
Once it is cooked take out the Oranges, once they are cool, Quarter the oranges to ensure that there are no pips and seeds,  Puree the oranges skin and all in a blender or food processor until you have a smooth orange puree.
Grease a Bundt pan and coat it with flour and set aside.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180 degree**.
Take all the dry Ingredients and sift them well together except cocoa powder and keep it ready.
Meanwhile Blend Tofu**  in a blender or Mixer until smooth with 2 tbsp of milk (see notes)
In a large bowl, pour this Orange puree into it, to this add oil, sugar and well blended Tofu puree also into it.
blend them all well together.

To this Blended Liquid mixture add the dry Ingredients until well incorporated.
Divide this mixture equally into two bowls to one of this bowl blend cocoa powder to this set aside.
Take your Bundt pan pour one spoonful of the white (not exactly) batter next the cocoa next to it then the white batter and next the cocoa batter on the next step alternate each batter on top of it as the batter is not very stiff but bit liquidy it spreads.
Once all the batter is used up.
Place it on the middle rack and bake it in the oven for 40-45 minutes**.
Once done remove it from the oven and place it on a cooling rack, after 10 minutes, remove it from the tin and allow it to cool.
Then I made the Glazing and poured it on to the top of the cake and leave it cool down.
Slice and enjoy the cake...

NOTES:
Blend Tofu in a blender or a mixer without any lumps, then add 2 tbsp of milk blend again so it is smooth and silky.
I always bake my cakes and other baked products in Gas Mark 3 as my oven has very high temperature, even though I have given the universal cake baking temperature.
You bake with your oven temperature and also check the timings as well.

ORIGINAL RECIPE IF YOU WANT TO TRY OUT:
Original Recipe calls for 5 eggs, 185 ml Olive oil, 140 gms caster sugar, 250 grms fine semolina, 80 grms almonds chopped and few chopped almonds for decoration.
This recipe also uses syrup to pour on to the cake after it is baked. for this syrup 125 grms caster sugar, juice of 1/4 lemon and 1 tsp orange blossom water

This recipe goes to my Bake-a-thon event by Champa and check out Priya, Suman, srivalli and Preethi

Sending this also to Kalyani's Magic Mingle - Chocolate and fruits 

The post Orange Semolina Cake - Keik Portokali - Revani (reh-vah-NEE) - Eggless appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Biscotti is an Italian cuisine : the Wiki gives you a detailed information on this....check out...

Biscotti (pronounced /bɪˈskɒti/, Italian pronunciation: [bisˈkɔtti]) more correctly known as biscotti di Prato (English: biscuits of Prato), also known as cantuccini(English: corners), are a twice-baked cake originating in the Italian city of Prato. The cakes are large almond biscuits, made dry and crunchy through cutting the loaf of dough while still hot and fresh from baking in the oven.


This is my first time with sweet punch and the september theme was ''Chocolate Almond Biscotti'' from Joy of baking, I had already made a biscotti with different flavours and eggless, I was into this as I love Joy of baking and my kids like these crunchy cakes and eat them as snacks when they come back from school. It's been quite sometime I made anything with egg, so I thought why not 🙂

CHOCOLATE ALMOND BISCOTTI

INGREDIENTS: 
makes about 16 pieces
110 gms (3/4th Cup)  Blanched whole  Almonds
135 gms (2/3 cup) Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
100 gms Plain flour
60 gms whole grain Rye flour
65 gms Oat flour ( Morn flake powdered in mixie)
100 gms Semi sweet chocolate

(Original recipe calls for 225gms/ 1 3/4th cup Plain flour)



My daughter clicked this close up from iphone!

METHOD:
As I had no ready made toasted almonds, I soaked almonds in hot water for 10 minutes, then peeled the skin off and spread it on a baking sheet set the oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 5 and toasted it for 8-10 minutes until light golden and fragrant, and set aside. Once cool chop them into pieces
Take a baking sheet and line the parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 5/350 d F
In a bowl I took all the flours, salt and Baking powder and combined them well together and then sieved them twice, just to make sure they are well mixed.
In a large bowl, I whisked 2 Eggs and sugar until thick fluffy, the batter from the beater should fall in ribbons, at this point beat in vanilla extract.
Now add the flours, combine well then fold in chopped almonds and chocolate.
Transfer this dough on to the parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12'' long and 3 1/2'' wide, as you can see in my photo, I just dumped on to the sheet and with wet hands I pressed them down into that shape (that's what happens when you don't plan and bake late in the night!).
You have to dampen your hands to form a log as the dough is quite sticky!!
Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to touch, then remove it from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile Reduce your oven temperature to 165 degrees/Gas Mark 3/325 d F, Cut the baked log into 3/4'' slices on the diagonal.  Place these biscotti cut side down, on the baking sheet and bake further for about 10 minutes then turn them over again and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and allow it cool and store it an air tight container

These are all the clicks my daughter took, I couldn't bin them as I told until you take photos no eating, she was so upset with me, she couldn't resist broke some pieces though, the smell was making them want to taste it :),  they had no fat at all, such a guilt free recipe.
I had made a Biscotti long back, an eggless one, I will definitely post it soon check out...

The post Chocolate Almond Biscotti - Healthy way ! appeared first on My Veg Fare.