Baking my first cake from scratch and a shoutout to a wonderful blogger and photographer
Happy Birthday spelt the way a real citizen of Mumbai would pronounce Birthday 😉
Did I ever tell you that my last name is Photographer? Yes. It really is. I get asked questions about how I got the last name pretty much all the time I’m interacting with anyone outside my house. And by rote, I say, “It’s my Husband’s family name and I took it on when we got married”. And then, inevitably, they go on to ask me – “So you must be great at photography, no?”. After several instances of feeling a lot of irritation when I get asked this second question, I’ve learned to forgive a little and politely answer back and say that I’m not that great a photographer after all 🙂
Honestly, I don’t think I have that big a passion for photography. I’ve taken it on a little bit more seriously the past year all thanks to this blog, but I’ve realized that doing what amazing food photographers out there do is something that honestly, does not interest me as much as making yummy food and simplifying Indian recipes for my readers does. All I really want is to take a simple picture of the food I make to show a visual representation of the dish and the recipe.
Now that I have that difficult confession out of the way, I want to give a shout-out to Prerna – one very talented food photographer whose blog I’ve been following for a while and who never ever fails to inspire and amaze me, post after post after post. Please do check out her blog. You’ll love browsing through it for hours at end 🙂
It is Indiansimmer’s first anniversary this month and I wanted to show my appreciation for Prerna’s work by choosing a recipe from her blog and making it myself. It was my husband’s birthday on Sunday and while researching cake recipes, I came across this recipe on her blog for Chocolate cake. I think this was probably the most adventurous cooking attempt I’ve ever made. I really mean that. Simply because I’m not good at baking at all!
As this was my first time baking a cake from scratch, to minimize damage, I stuck to a single-layer cake, and so I simply used half the proportions in the recipe. I somehow managed to produce a fairly delicious cake that was soft and fairly gooey, with some very very good icing to go with it. The coffee in the cake batter and the icing adds a layer of deliciousness that I’ve experienced only in cakes from gourmet patisseries. A friend suggested that the trick to getting a light and fluffy cake is to beat the eggs with the sugar very vigorously till the whole mixture is a pale yellow. She also suggested I let the cake batter sit for about 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. A final variation I made was to use PAM cooking spray to grease the baking pan, instead of the butter + flour coating. The cake slid off the pan like jello when it was done.
But of all the ‘firsts’ this cake baking attempt made me undertake, the one I was most proud of was being able to separate the egg yolk from the albumin the way chefs do it – plopping the yolk from one shell half to the other 😉
I took the cake with me to a Superbowl party we had with our friends, where we also cut the cake. The hubby, my friends and the children enjoyed it thoroughly. What more could I ask for!
What are some cooking firsts that you’ve been not so great at? Better yet, what are some cooking firsts you realized you were brilliant at?
Spicy Butternut Squash soup
The new year has been incredibly hectic so far in my house. Compared to the quiet and lack of activity that dominated the 2 years I’ve spent as a married woman managing my own household in the US, the last few weeks have been insane. As soon as we got back from our trip, both my husband and I have been busy with our respective graduate programs. What this means is that we end up eating meals together only a few nights a week. And I simply hate eating alone! More importantly, I miss the conversations I have with my husband over meals.
However, as they say, there always is a silver lining to everything. The only good that’s come out of this arrangement is that I get to make these interesting, off-beat, non-Indian dishes that I really enjoy, and which my husband doesn’t. So earlier this week when he was at school, and it was -15F here in MN (I’m not kidding), I made myself some delicious Spicy Butternut Squash soup.
I picked up a small squash from the grocery store after I saw this recipe for Spiced Butternut Squash soup on Allrecipes.com. I’ve modified the recipe quite a bit and done my own spin on it to make it a little lower on fat as well as faster to cook. The result was a creamy, meal-in-a-bowl, mildly sweet and interestingly spicy soup that went really well with some fresh bread I picked up from a local bakery. Don’t you love the sense of fulfillment you get after eating a warm bowl of soup?
Here’s my recipe for 2 people – You will need:
- 1 small butternut squash, around 1 lb
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- 1 large shallot
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- About 1 cup diced, peeled potatoes
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Halve the squash and de-seed + devein it. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a baking pan with sides, pour a little water, place the squash halves cut side down and bake for about 40 minutes or until the flesh in the squash is mushy
- While the squash cooks, cook the diced potatoes in the microwave and slice the shallots and garlic
- Once the squash is cooked, allow it to cool while you start with the soup. In a pot, heat the EVOO and then add the shallots and garlic. Allow to cook on medium to low heat till everything is soft
- While the onion and garlic soften, peel the squash. Add the mushy squash pieces and the cooked potato to the softened onion and garlic. Also add the chicken broth.
- Cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes and mix well. Then, pureé this mixture in batches in a blender
- Return the pureé to the pot and turn on low heat. Add the milk, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well and heat the soup but don’t boil. Add more chicken broth if you feel the soup is too thick.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with warm crusty bread
Giveaway winners
So here are the winners of my Giveaway!
Joanna AND….
Jordan P.
I hope you both make lots of yummy things with the spices! Please email me on onelifetoeat[at]gmail[dot]com with your US postal addresses. I will check your email address with the one you used to comment so please make sure you email me from the same address. I will also be emailing you both to confirm your win. If I do not receive an address from you by Friday Feb 4th, I will have to choose another winner.
Thank you all for participating and making my first Giveaway so fun! All your suggestions have been well noted and I will try my best to incorporate them in my future posts. Happy cooking!
One Life to Eat 