Really Smooth Fruit and Nut Chocolate Caramel Bark

Now who doesn't like chocolate!! Its a love we all share, sometimes secretly and at other times with a passion. Yes, even adults behave like little children at its mere mention! As a child, I loved Amul chocolates, the long lost Double Decker (one of the most delicious chocolates ever, it was rarely available even in my childhood, but I heard so much about it from my parents and their siblings), Five Star Bar, Fruit and Nut Bar, and Cadbury Nutties!! Now my favourite chocolates are those made from dark chocolate, the darker the better!!

Shahi Tukre | Double ka Meetha aur Kesariya Rabri (Crispy Bread Pudding in a Pistachio Saffron Sauce)

Its been days since I made a good desi meetha or Indian Sweet!! The festival season has begun in India and I have been wanting to begin my Festive Fayre series again!! And what better sweet than the one called Shahi Tukra | Shahi Tukre | Double ka Meetha or quite simply Royal Morsels in English.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread with Oats | Eggless Baking

The one bread I have become rather partial to in the last few years is Cinnamon Raisin Bread. The thing, however, that I do not like about the store bought brands is that they are invariably made with white flour and other ingredients that one cannot get one's tongue around!!

Tamatar ki Chatney | Homestyle Tomato Chutney

The most amazing and fresh winter vegetables line the outdoor vegetable markets in Delhi. Beautiful cauliflower, okra, green peppers, spinach, radish, pumpkin, beets, red carrot, and of course, juicy red tomatoes!! The cheap and surplus of tomatoes in the market were always a motivation to make chutneys, preserves, and jams! Yes, I remember tomato jam from my schooldays, when my benchmate introduced me to home made tomato jam filled between slices of spongy white bread. But I digress.

Cream Scones with Dark Raisins

Cream Scones are the ultimate treat!! A quintessential part of the tradition of English Tea they are often served with clotted cream and a variety of fresh fruit jams and lemon curd. The best cream scones in England are found in the summer in the many tea houses that dot the pretty villages of the Shire counties!! The very very picturesque Cotswold's is famous for its cream teas and probably the best place to enjoy a pot of afternoon tea, freshly baked scones, and home-made strawberry jam.

BBD #15 Festive Breads: Second Helping

Welcome back to a second helping of Festive Breads via Bread Baking Day #15. You will find the first part of this roundup at A Roundup of Festive Breads: BBD #15.

Live :: Love :: Laugh :: Eat! is the delightful name of Kim's blog. Kim's resolution for the new year is to try new things and baking bread is one of them! She has made a truly spectacular start with the Ginger-Orange Quick Bread that she baked for her co-workers for Christmas. Here's to experimenting with more bread recipes in 2009. For a great tip on where to find candied ginger and a whiff of the warm aroma of ginger-orange, drop by at Kim's blog.

Location: Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

Emma of Gustoto baked a traditional camp fire bread from Australia for BBD #15. She says that when this bread is seasoned with chives, basil, and semi-dried tomatoes, the Damper turns into a truly festive treat!!

Location: Brisbane, Australia

Toby from Foolish Poolish Bakes has a treat for us all - a gorgeous Panotenne. Read the story of an adventure spanning no less than four months to achieve this result. Just a quick peek at the bread - its colour, texture, and taste all make the effort worthwhile. Hats off to Toby for his dedication and persistence.

Location: UK

Bejgli is a traditional Hungarian Christmas Bread and Dulmina from Dulmina tündérkonyhája or 'Dulmina's Fairy Kitchen' has baked a more vegan-friendly version of this bread. She has used whole wheat for the bread which she filled with walnuts and poppy seeds. This bread is not only beautiful but easy to create too!!

Location: Szeged, Hungary

How does Hot Cross Buns with cocoa sound to you on a chilly winter morning? Natashya chose these traditional buns from Nick Malgieri A Baker's Tour as her contribution to BBD #15. Visit her blog Living in the Kitchen with Puppies for a look at this fragrant spicy bread with the surprise ingredient of chopped dried apricot!!

Location: Ontario, Canada

Gine from i dolci fanno felici baked an exquisite Austrian Nut Bread for the holidays. Eaten in Austria and German homes around Christmas is easy to put together, full of flavour, and a real delight to serve - just look at all those lovely almonds!!

Location: Berlin, Germany

Teresa of Discovering Sourdough chose her famous Festive Hawaiian Rolls to serve with coffee on Christmas morning. Beautiful sourdough is filled with a coconut, nut, and cinnamon paste, slashed, and then baked to perfection. Can you just imagine the aroma wafting through her kitchen?

Location: Tokeland, Washington

Panfrutto is a popular fruit flavoured bread baked around Christmas in Italy. It is a favourite of Cinzia of Cindystar who says that this is a very easy recipe to create, stays well, and can be pulled out of the pantry in a snap should you find unexpected guests knocking at your door!!

Location: Bardolino, Lake of Garda, Italy

Glenda of Domesticated Engineer has sent in her own special recipe of Glenda's Christmas Bread. A wonderful recipe for a home made bread, it uses whole spelt flour, shredded zucchini, pomegranate juice, and walnuts! Glenda shaped this versatile dough into a tree and a wreath.

Location: Wichita, Kansas

The famous German Dresdner Stollen was Preeti's choice of bread for BBD #15. Though Stollen is a staple in German supermarkets at this time of the year and Preeti purchases one every year, this year she decided to bake one herself. Follow Preeti's very first attempt to making a delicious loaf of Stollen at My Kitchen Stories.

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Judy from Judy's Gross Eats took the All Purpose Holiday Bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's Crust & Crumb, and fashioned it into a lovely Christmas Bread! She says she loaded the dough with sliced almonds and finely chopped dark chocolate and made Boules!! Simply beautiful. Thanks Judy for finding the time in your busy schedule to join it the festivities. Find her recipe at All Purpose Holiday bread.

Location: Ventura, California, USA

Ulrike of Küchenlatein shared her recipe for a celebratory New Year's Pretzel. Ulrike notes that a pretzel is the symbol for infinity and is also considered to be a a good luck charm or blessing. In parts of Germany, the sharing a New Year Pretzel with friends and family is said to bring good luck and well-being!!

Sarah from What Smells So Good? baked a fragrant Vanilla-Apple Honey Challah on the first night of Chanukah!! Sarah says the holidays are filled with her baking all kinds of goodies and even though she thought she was done for this year, she chanced upon a recipe she had saved some time back!! Encouraged by her Mom, she tweaked the recipe to add Kamut flour, applesauce and vanilla to create a beautiful and golden loaf.

Location: Oshawa, Ontario

Keep reading for the final part of this Roundup!!

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

A Roundup of Festive Breads: BBD #15

In the last month of 2008, it was my delight and joy to host Bread Baking Day #15. This is a monthly event for enthusiastic bread bakers who eagerly drop in from across the world to try their hand at a themed bread baking event and share their lovely results with us all. The brain child of Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte, Bread Baking Day is guest hosted every month by one amongst an ever-growing pool of contributors to this event. As the new year 2009 begins, I pass on the baton to Temperence of High on the Hog. Do visit her blog to know the theme of BBD #16!!

The theme for BBD #15 was Festive Breads keeping in mind the many festivals that grace December. I was delighted to see the enthusiasm of my many foodie friends towards this theme and was overjoyed at the response to the event. In total, I received over 30 entries. To do justice to each entry, I have decided to do this round-up in two parts. Part 2 follows shortly. Kindly note that the entries are organised in the order that I received them. Before I proceed I would like to say a big thank you to each and everyone who participated :) December is a busy month and I appreciate your contribution!!

Uma of Essence of Andhra set the entries rolling by baking a colourful Cranberry Bread with Pureed Fruit. Though skeptical about cranberries in the beginning, she combined them with some semi-sweet chocolate chips to get a fragrant loaf. Uma also used a mashed banana in place of eggs for this recipe and was astounded at the beautiful result.

Location: USA

Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf sent in two beautiful entries. The first - Clover Leaf Rolls are attractive dinner or breakfast rolls that are prepared on special festival days. The shape of the cloverleaf is believed to represent the Holy Trinity. Though they are traditionally made with Brioche dough, Sweatha used tofu and soy milk as egg substitutes for these pretty rolls.

Festive Julekage is Sweatha's next entry for BBD #15! A Scandinavian Christmas Bread that is popular in Denmark and Norway, Julekage is essentially a spiced sweet bread filled with nuts and candied fruits. Sweatha tried this bread with and without a sugar icing and loved it in both versions!

Location: New Jersey, USA

Lien a busy mum of two young kids still finds the time to bake an Italian Christmas bread annually to share with her Italian class. This year, she decided to go with the Pandoro, a beautiful golden toned bread that comes from the city of Verona. Baking it at the very last minute ensured that the bread was still warm when Lien cut it for her class. Needless to say there was applause and the bread was a big hit. You can find Lien's recipe at her blog Notitie van Lien.

Location: The Netherlands

Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka kochtopf baked a Christstollen this holiday. The recipe comes from Backer Supke, a German baker whose blog she follows. Having successfully attempted a couple of his recipes, Zorra was encouraged to try the Stollen recipe this Christmas. Chock-full of rum-soaked raisins, candied fruits, and flaked almonds, this recipe yields a beautiful sweet festive bread that tastes best after a week!! Don't think I could wait that long!!

Location: Spain

Soma and her family have always celebrated the holidays and the spirit of sharing. Every year they decorate a beautiful tree, get ready for Santa Claus, and Soma bakes some festive goodies. This holiday Soma baked a traditional anise flavoured Greek Christmas Bread or Christopsomo . Read more about the religious significance of this bread and the tasty outcome of Soma's endeavours at ECurry.

Location: Texas, USA

A Fougasse is a flat bread that is typical of the south of France. Priya has creatively combined dry fruits and orange flower water to bake a Chirstmas Dryfruits Fougasse! Priya says this bread is easy to bake and is delicious to boot. Find it at Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Location: Paris, France

Boaz from Grain Power tasted Stollen once at a San Diego local farmer's market. Since then, he has had this festive bread on his 'to bake' list. He followed Andrew Whitely's recipe for Stollen from Bread Matters as the recipe allows for whole wheat flour. Boaz filled his bread with dried fruits and home made marzipan and dusted it with some powdered sugar for a stunning result.

Location: Israel

Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms says that potluck dinners are a part and parcel of the holidays. And what better way to pitch in than to prepare healthy, warm, and yeasty dinner rolls. Oats Whole Wheat and Barley Rolls are just perfect for any such occasion. Following a recipe from Marion Cunningham's The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, Elle found that you can easily prepare between 24-30 pull apart dinner rolls in under 15 minutes!

Location: Northern California

Mary prepared the favourite Dresdener Stollen this Christmas. Mary does true justice to this beautiful bread which is studded with raisins, almonds, and peel, and filled with a sweet almond paste. Visit One Perfect Bite for the touching story behind this bread.

Location: Eugene, OR

Aparna tells us about the origin of the Kugelhopf - the favourite festive bread of Europe on her blog My Diverse Kitchen. She baked her Kugelhopf in a bundt pan and glazed it with a delicious orange glaze! Just look at the wonderful colour of the bread!!

Location: Goa, India

A Braided Fruit Challah is the bread of choice for Yasmeen at Health Nut. She served it with home made Cranberry Preserve. What a very festive combination!! And in the spirit of giving this festival season, Yasmeen brings to notice the work of Blogger Aid to raise money for the World Food Programme.

Location: Cleveland, OHIO, USA

More of the seasonal cranberries but this time with crunchy pine nuts and fennel! Susan of Wild Yeast served a Cranberry Semolina Crown with Pine Nuts and Fennel for Christmas dinner. If you love baguettes, you will love this crusty bread, says Susan. You can also save this bread for later as it tastes wonderful toasted with coffee or a smear of goat's cheese.

Location: California, USA

You will find Part 2 of the roundup at BBD #15 Festive Breads: Second Helping :)

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007-2012. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Chewy Muesli Bars

Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day. And yet how many of us just pop out of the house in the morning thinking - 'I'll have more time tomorrow', 'I'll buy it on the way', 'I'm not really hungry', or the worst excuse of all 'I'm not a breakfast person'!! Supermarkets offer all kinds of breakfast options, and while the best breakfast might actually be oat or wheat porridge, its nice occasionally to jazz it up. These Muesli Bars do the trick!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup oat bran
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup dark raisins
1/3 cup almonds
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup grated coconut

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 320F.
2. Place the butter in the microwave for 11/2 minutes or until completely melted.
3. Remove and add the sugar. Mix well until it is well blended.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients to the the butter-sugar mix, and blend well. It mixture well just about bind together.
5. Spoon this mixture onto a greased cookie sheet, spread, and the press down with a large flat spoon. You can do this with your fingers too, but beware, the mix might be too hot.
6. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Cool on the sheet. Slice or cut into squares. (Note: at this stage the baked mix might be quite firm. Take care when cutting).

These Muesli Bars are yummy on their own, with a glass of cold milk, or your morning cuppa ( tea for me)!! Packed with whole grain goodness, I find that the coconut, almond, and pecans all add to my energy levels and keep many cravings at bay till lunch. I always make a fresh batch of these bars on Sunday. These bars also make a great snack especially during long-distance travel. They are really easy to carry and very satisfying after a nice long hike or bicycle ride. Try them once, I promise you will not look back!!!!


These wholesome whole grain bars go out to Suganya at Tasty Palettes who is hosting JFI - Whole Grains this month. And as these grains make a great breakfast, these bars go to Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen. She is hosting Weekend Breakfast Blogging, the theme for which is Grains in My Breakfast.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007-2013. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Besan Laddoos & Sabudana Khichiri

Besan Laddoos make a beautiful and tasty naivedyam. Its also one sweet that stays well and stores well too. This year I decided to make besan laddoos for Ganesh Chaturthi. This is a really tasty recipe - and makes a delicious festival food.