Gooey Lemon Pudding Cake!

Lemon desserts are always a hit. In this dessert you will taste cakiness in the top layer and gooey lemon pudding in the second. The batter of cake divides itself into these two layers like a magic! :D Its best for quick and impressive dessert for guests.

This recipe is not too sour and not too sweet, tailored just perfectly.

Ingredients: 

3 tablespoon butter

2 large lemons (1 tablespoon fine lemon zest)

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 large eggs separated

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup all purpose flour 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Lets get started:

Preheat oven to 325F.

1. Beat sugar, lemon zest and butter together until its fluffy. 

2. Now add vanilla, all purpose flour and lemon juice, mix it well. Your batter will be more of a liquid at this time.

3. Add one egg yolk at a time and whisk thoroughly.

4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites at high speed so they are fluffy and not runny at all! Remember they will resemble whipped cream.

5. Add 1 tablespoon of whipped egg whites into the lemon batter and mix it. Then with the help of a spatula fold remaining egg whites into the lemon batter.

6. We will use Bain Marie method to bake this pudding cake. 

Picture is only for demonstration and its not taken by me!

7. Boil some water and pour it into the holding dish like the one showed above.

8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center of the cake is settled. Do NOT poke this cake to check the center.

TAADA! You have your very own lemon pudding cake ! Waaaiitt a second, let it all cool for 40-50 minutes :D

Pâte à Choux with custard filling!

I always thought this French pastry was one of those tough to bake stuff. But to my surprise it was hell easy and wow what a beautiful art of the combination of ingredients. Without any baking soda or yeast this little thing gets all puffy with a hollow inside so that you can fill it with whatever you like!

Before I start I apologize for not many pictures, its really hard to take out time with a 2-month old!

This recipe is on 1:1:1:1:1 ratio (based on Michael Ruhlman recipe):

1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1 cup eggs (4 large)
1 pinch salt

Preheat over to 425 F.

1. Bring the water and butter to simmer at medium heat and then add flour. Keep stirring until the flour absorbs little water and form a dough. Take it off the heat.

2. For this step, transfer your dough into another bowl to avoid the heat of the previous one. And wait for 4-5 minutes to let it cool.

3. Add one egg at and time and keep mixing. Put the salt in at this time.

4. Your dough will be of a hard paste like consistency, get a piping bag and transfer your dough like thing into it.

5. Now pipe puffs in a circular patter going from outside to inside and up! Like a swirl ! Keep some water beside you, dip your fingertip in it and press down the peaks of your puff.

6. Bake it for 10 minutes on 425F and then on 350F for 30 mins or until they are of cute yellowish golden color.

For custard filling:

I simply used the instant custard mix (safe lot of time with the little one). Keep it thick enough for the filling and refrigerate it before you start baking.

For filling the inside of your puffs, poke a little hole by the help of a knife and use a piping bag (yes again) to fill the custard and those puffs go inside the fridge! You can also drizzle it with icing sugar or pour chocolate sauce on.

Yalla like and share foodies!

Brunch at Teayana - Jeddah

Hazelnut Latte

Teayana - all about teas! That name caught my tea-full desires to give them a try. So finally, last Friday me and Mr. Husband went to their branch at the corniche. Luckily, we got our table beside the window and I must say the view was amazing! After scanning the menu for 3 times , I wanted almost everything related to tea ! Anyways, as I am just another human being and not an alien I ended up ordering a Hazelnut latte and Lahem (meat) Manakeesh. My husband ordered a tex-mex sandwich, it came along with huge potato chunks and lettuce. The sandwich was toasted well, cheddar was oozing out and the meat was tender as it should be (lucky guy). My Manakeesh as disappointing though, I have tried many in Dubai as well and it was nothing very special or you might say I have had better. Mayonnaise, tomato and meat were not that good for the price. And I simply hate it when my first meal of the day is disappointing.

Well, their hazelnut latte lifted up my spirits, it was nutty, not very sweet, their was a distinguish taste of black tea and the best part is their cup size and the way it is designed. You may hold the cup and not feel like your hands are burning but the smoking heat from the tea will tell you that your tea is hot!

My disappointment didn't end with the Manakeesh, it grew more after I realized my serving plate was CHIPPED! I mean come on!!! I am not paying you a hefty amount of money so that you serve me in a chipped plate...that is simply wrong. I would have not complained about it if I were in some roadside restaurant. I simply decided to enjoy the view and have my tea (oh yeah don't forget to stir your tea) .

After we were done with the meal, my husband wanted to have a dessert, but they said they won't serve until prayers are over. So, we just called for the cheque and took off.

My advice: Go try their tea but do not expect much from the food menu. And next time I am going to have tea before sunset, if I get the same table!

Their website: http://www.teayana.com/

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Freshly baked cookies! Oh the smell of cookies all around you, simply crumbilicious! (I know that's not even a word) This was my first attempt at cookies, so I opted for Hershey's recipe for Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies. Well you may find the recipe here: https://www.hersheys.com/celebrate/summer/recipedetail.aspx?id=3909

 And I shall blabber my experience! I baked the first batch of 5 cookies and they went flat!!! OH MY MY! I was like WHY???!!!
*Deep breaths*
Added some flour, baked again, waited anxiously and FLAT again! That was such a failure =(
*Deep deep breaths again*
This time I added more flour, I followed my instincts, just tried to thicken the dough more.
Baked again.
And 0_0 they were all good!!! *chicken dance*
I baked batch of 10 and 10, let them cool and stored  :D
Everyone at home loved those crumby babies!

Give it a try and don't be upset with first few stubborn batches =)

Happy Cookie-Eating <3

Garlic and Cheese Fusilli

This quick and easy pasta was an accidental discovery. After trying it for the second time I thought I should share this. I will tell the quantity of the ingredients but it truly depends on your desired taste :)

What you need:
1/2 Cup Milk
5 Slices of Cheddar Cheese
Salt to taste
1 Tsp Red Chilli Crushed - Use it according to your taste
2 Tbsp Oil
3 Cloves of garlic - finely chopped
And ofcourse a packet of Fusilli (or any other pasta)

What you need to do:
1) Boil the pasta and drain it.
2) Heat the oil in a pot and add garlic.
3) When the garlic turns golden add cheese and then milk. (Do not burn the garlic =P )
4) Once, the cheese is all melted add red chilli.
5) Let this cook until the sauce starts thickening.
6) Add pasta to the sauce, put salt accordingly, mix it well and let it cook.

You are done ! :D

How to boil the perfect pasta:

1) Let the water boil, add pasta, a tablespoon of oil and salt.
2) When the pasta is done put the pot under running cold water.
3) Then drain it.

Keep your feedback coming in <3