Oat and Fruit Bars

My little one is obsessed with sticky and chewy sweets. It all started with the Vitamin C supplement that I started to give him. Sometime ago, I handed him a dried apricot and told him it was just like a "sticky sweet". He loved it and asked for more. I then introduced him to raisins, which he enjoyed as well. Then, I got quite excited and bought a whole array of stuff from the dried fruit section. And he soon lost interest.

I wanted to put the stuff to good use. I thought I'd make the jewel blondies again. But since cookies keep better, I decided to look up recipes for dried fruit cookies. I came across this Pillsbury site and decided to try this recipe. I modified the recipe a little and made fruit bars instead of cookies. The next time around I will reduce the sugar in the recipe to maybe 3/4 cup in all.

The end result: bars full of the chewy goodness of oats and dried fruit. This is a keeper recipe and I am sure adding nuts or chocolate/butterscotch chips will work well too.

Ingredients

¾ cup Sugar

¼ cup Brown Sugar

½ cup Butter, softened

½ tsp Vanilla

1 Egg

¾ cup Flour

½ tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Cinnamon Powder

¼ tsp Salt

1 ½ cups Rolled Oats

1 cup Dried Fruit (I used Apricots, Raisins, Cranberries, Blueberries and Cherries)

Heat the oven to 375 F/190 C. 

Line two cake tins with parchment/baking paper. (I used 9" square tins)

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until  fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla beat some more. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix well.

Add the oats and the dried fruit. Mix together until well blended.

Divide the mixture equally into the two cake tins. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Remove from the cake tins and allow to cool a little on a rack. Cut into squares while still warm using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.

Store in an airtight container when completely cool.

These will go into A's snack box next week and maybe I can now safely say goodbye to the store bought cookies/bars.

Cherry Berry Yogurt Tart

A few years ago, our blogs were our blogs. Fellow bloggers and other readers would come to our blogs, read our posts and comment on them. I remember very clearly the time when I lived for those comments. Because they were my only connection to my readers. (Julie & Julia, anyone?) I still wait eagerly for comments to posts that I put up. Today they are few and far between. But many lines are blurring and I now have multiple connections with my fellow bloggers and readers. Facebook is one of those connections.

Last year, a few random conversations led to the formation of a Baking Club and all of us made a Mango Cake. I got a little busy in the months that followed and couldn't keep up. Over the next few months, my blog suffered from lack of attention. In the last few months, it has picked up speed again.

 

A more recent chat on Facebook led to the revival of this club. The one I fondly called The Sisterhood of Travelling Cake Tins is now christened that. And since today is the 100th birthday of Julia Child, the theme for this episode is her Baked Yogurt Tart. Keep a lookout in the blogosphere today. You are bound to see multiple yogurt tarts from my dear friends and fellow bloggers. And given that Cook For Julia is being hosted by PBS, you will see many other Julia Child recipes too.

This recipe is adapted from a Julia Child recipe found here. I used readymade frozen puff pastry for the base. You can find my tried and trusted recipe for shortcrust pastry here. I omitted the nuts from the recipe.

1 recipe Shortcrust Pastry dough/Puff Pastry

For the filling:

2 cups Yogurt

3/4 cup Sugar

3 Eggs

3/4 cup Flour

2 tbsp pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Cherries, pitted and halved

1 cup Mixed Berries (I used raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

Icing sugar, for dusting

Heat the oven to 400F/200C.



Roll the pastry doughinto a 12 inch circle of 1/4 inch thickness and fit it into a 9" round springform pan. Cover the top with baking paper and blind bake for 20 minutes with pie weights, rice or beans.

Remove the weight and the baking paper and allow the tart shell to cool. Set the oven to 325F/160C.

 In the meanwhile, beat the eggs and the sugar together. Add the yogurt and the vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour a little by little and fold it into the mixture. Pour the mixture into the cooled tart shell. Do not fill to the brim, only about 2/3. Add the fruit. (The tart will look like this at this stage.) Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Cut into wedges and serve.

Packed with fruit and the goodness of yogurt, this is one keeper recipe.

Happy 100th birthday Julia! Happy Independence Day! And a toast to dear S and I. We lost our independence this day six years ago when we got engaged formally.

Here are the links to the other posts from the sisterhood:

Aparna: Baked Yogurt Tart (Tarte Au Yaourt) With Fresh Orange & Pistachios, In An Oatmeal Crust
Nandita:Baked Yogurt Berry Tart
Arundathi:
Arundati:Baked Yogurt Tart with Blueberries, Almonds and Orange Zest in an Oatmeal Pie Crust</
Monika:Baked Yogurt Tart with Fresh Figs and Blueberries

Mixed Fruit Crumble

How does one even begin to summarize a year which seems to have packed in so much? The year which began for in the absolutely cold snow mountains and will end in the sunny and warm tropics. On January 1, 2010, if someone had told me that the year would bring a whole host of changes, I'd have laughed and said that that is what every year does. But as I look back today on the year gone by, I realize that this year was special.

There were so many ups and downs that this year brought with it. The highs outshone the lows and I am glad that the year will be remembered for the highs and it will only be a matter of time before the lows are forgotten.

On the blogging front, both my blogs suffered as a result of the highs and the lows. There simply wasn't any time. The project 365 suffered because as the monsoons began, my travel time to and from work increased from 3.5 hours a day to around 5.5 hours one way. While I did take loads of pictures, the last thing on my mind when I reached home just a little shy of midnight was to upload the pictures to the laptop or the blog. Slowly, I was so far behind that it didn't make sense to try to catch up.

The food blog suffered because there was no time. There was also no "new" cooking that happened. It is a miracle that cooking even happened on some days. I think August and September must have seen the maximum consumption of Maggi, Subway sandwiches and McDonald's burgers. We also ate out so often because that meant no washing up afterwards (a lifesaver when your maids have been thrown out of the city for 30 days).

In our initial days in Singapore, I barely cooked and definitely didn't cook new stuff. But I realized that I could churn out 3 meals a day with just 3 pans, a 2 hob induction cooker and a microwave. For someone whose kitchen articles make up 30-35% of the entire household stuff, that is a BIG revelation. The pressure cooker queen cooked for 30 days sans the sweet sound of the whistle of her precious cookers.

I have no plans for 2011. I hope to write about my experiences in a new place in my other blog. I hope to cook with the new variety of ingredients that I have access to. I hope to be able to try out the recipes that I could only fantasize about until I moved here. I don't want to make concrete plans. 2011 is going to be the "take it as it comes" year.

Keeping in with tradition, I leave you with a dessert recipe. A little warm, a little cold. A little tart, a little sweet. Just the way this year has been: a mixture of flavours that surprises you with each bite, but leaves you with a happy feeling when the last bit has been savoured.

Ingredients: 

1 Apple, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup Cherries, halved

1/4 cup Strawberries, chopped

1 Pear, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup Brown sugar

2 - 3 tbsp Butter

1/3 cup Flour

Arrange the fruit in a microwave safe dish and sprinkle the sugar. Build 2-3 layers alternating the fruit and the sugar. Leave about a spoonful of the sugar aside. Cook oh high in the microwave for 4-5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and the butter along with the remaining sugar until it resembles bread crumbs or small peas. Press this mixture over the cooked fruit and bake in the microwave on high for 8-10 minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes for the crust to harden. Cut into pieces and serve with vanilla ice cream.

I hope 2010 was a good year for each of you. Wishing all of you and yours a very happy 2011.

Cherry Polka Dot Cake

Life isn't all just one flavour. It would be terribly boring if it were. The people that make our lives what they are come in all shapes and sizes, not to mention flavours. Some people are themselves very sweet at times, a tad sharp at others and every meeting with them leaves you with a strong memory. This cake is very representative of someone just like that.

1/2 cup Flour

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

1/2 cup Milk

1/4 cup Oil

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 Egg, beaten

1/2 cup Cherries, deseeded and halved

Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C).

Prepare an 8 inch cake tin by greasing it and dusting it with flour.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl, add the egg, milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla essence. Beat well together. Add the flour mixture to this and blend well. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Arrange the cherry halves on top of the batter. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife/skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean.

Get ready to enjoy the sweet and tart flavours of this cake.

For all the sweet and sometimes tart times that we've shared in the years we've known each other, here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday, S.

Mixed Fruit Bran Pancakes

I love pancakes, but I'm not sure I could eat them everyday. Not for breakfast at least. 9 out of 10 times, I'd vote for a savoury breakfast. I eat salted oats porridge with a sprinkle of molaga podi, much to the surprise of my colleagues who cannot imagine eating a porridge that isn't sweet. But I like jam on toast and pancakes with syrup as a sweet variation.

1/2 cup Flour

1/2 cup Wheat Flour

1/4 cup Wheat Bran
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Mixed Dry Fruits
½ tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Butter
A pinch of Salt
½ tsp Butter for frying

To Serve:
Maple Syrup/Fruit Cocoktail/Fresh Fruit

Beat the egg and then add milk. Gradually add the flour, wheat flour, wheat bran and the baking powder while continuing to blend. Add the sugar, salt, and butter and mix well. Blend in the dry fruit.

Heat the pan and add the butter. Coat the entire pan with the melted butter. Pour a ladleful of the batter onto the pan. Do not spread it with the ladle. Allow the batter to flow and form a circle. Cook for a minute and turn over. Cook on the other side for about half a minute and then transfer to a plate.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Stack the pancakes on a plate and serve hot with maple syrup or fruit cocktail. I had a can of fruit fiesta cocktail that my friend brought for me. The combination of these pancakes and the fruit cocktail was very nice. S had his stack with maple syrup and I'm certain he enjoyed every bite.

Date and Fruit Cake

Sometime between Christmas and New Year, S and I were invited to a dinner party. For us, it was an impromptu invitation. Until about 5 or 6 in the evening, we had no idea that there was a party nor that we were invited to it. And I usually can't think of what to take, especially at such short notice. Since I had some rum soaked fruits handy, I decided to make this easy date and fruit cake. I was told it was tasty (by S' colleagues). I didn't get a chance to sample this cake at all. I baked two of them in aluminium take away containers. I took one to the party and S took the other to work the next day.

1 cup Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda
a Pinch of Salt

1/3 cup Date Syrup (mixed with 1/3 cup warm water)
2-3 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Dry Fruits (soaked in rum, optional)
1 Egg, beaten

Sift all the dry ingredients for the cake together into a food processor jar with the dough blade. Pour in all the liquid ingredients and run the processor for 2 minutes. Blend in the dry fruits.

Prepare an 8 inch round cake tin by first smearing a little butter all over the tin and then dusting it with flour. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 minutes at 350 F.

The cake has a Christmas Cake sort of appeal without any of the fuss. It is also quite healthy, low in sugar and fat, with the goodness of dates and other dry fruits. It is the perfect cake to celebrate Appa's birthday. By the time you see this post, my parents will be with us. I have tried very hard to be with my family every year in his birthday. (I used to make it a point to be there for Amma's birthday, until in 2001, she went to Bombay to attend a wedding about a fortnight or so before Appa and I had planned to go.I missed her birthday then, and somehow have not been very regular since. I still try. The only time I missed being with Appa on his birthday was in 1984, when he was in the U.S. and our visas took ages to come, so we joined him only later that year.) We shall celebrate the day in the best posible manner.

Happy Birthday Appa!

Mixed Fruit Mini Cakes

I’m a little sad to see this year go by. In more ways than one, 2008 was a good year. On the blogging front, quite a few people thought that both my blogs would die very unnatural deaths. They’re both alive and kicking, this one much more than the other. I ran a half marathon in May with 15 posts back to back. In July, I participated in my first ever NaBloPoMo. I didn’t think I could do it, but I somehow did. And I must have passed out or something after that because I didn’t post much in the two months that followed. October was sort of OK. November saw me running another marathon, this time it was twice the distance: 30 posts back to back. I also took part in my second NaBloPoMo that same month. After that, I consciously slowed down. I’m trying to keep it at 3-4 posts a week now.


I became a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher in 2008 and got the cutest set of business cards from them. In fact, they’re so cute, that I don’t feel like giving them out. But then I do. I remember to carry them around and hand them out when appropriate. This blog also featured in national dailies.

While The Telegraph ran this, my blog featured in the Food Bytes section of The Hindu. I also got “lucky” with a couple of lucky draws and won some stuff lovely stuff.

It is said that life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away. Going by just that, this year rocked. From a food and blogging perspective, 2008 was the year in which I

• Physically met many bloggers
• Got my first newspaper mention
• Tried to get used to being addressed as Raaga in the non-virtual world, rather unsuccessfully I must add.
• Met both my “name-sakes” and spent time with them
• Made my first sale of cakes and got repeat orders
• Learnt to make handmade chocolates
• Built up my traditional cooking expertise
• Used fresh fruit in cakes
• Tried just about every vegetable I could find in the market, including Tinda
• Burnt my face while attempting to fry vadais, my first burn ever and right across my face
• Hosted events on the blogosphere

While there is absolutely nothing I can do that will help me hold on to this year, I raise a toast with these mini cakes.

2 cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Dry Fruits (figs, apricots, prunes, raisins, currants and sultanas), chopped

1/4 cup Candied Peel

1/4 cup Tutti Fruity

1/4 cup Dark Rum

1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cup Oil

1/2 tsp Clove Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

For the Caramel:

1/2 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Boiling Hot Water

Glace Cherries, to decorate

Soak the dry fruits, candied peel and tutti fruity along with the cinnamon powder and clove powder in the rum for about 3-4 weeks. In a pinch, soak these overnight.

When you are ready to bake, start by making the caramel. In a heavy bottomed pan, place the 1/2 cup of sugar and heat slowly. The sugar will begin to melt. Stir this mixture with a spoon slowly as the caramel forms. When all the sugar crystals have melted, slowly add the boiling water and stir to form a smooth mixture. Cool this completely. Be careful while adding the hot water.

Heat oven to 400 F. Line the muffin pans with paper liners.

Sift the flour along with the baking powder. In a mixing bowl, add the oil, eggs and brown sugar and beat well. To this, add the flour mixture and the fruits by turns. Whisk well and then add the cooled caramel. Mix well.

Fill the muffin cups with the batter. Decorate with glace cherries. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Here’s to 2008: While you've been a good year overall, I have to bid you farewell. And I have to have to hope that the years that follow will only be better with more peace, less recession worries, less poverty. My wish for everyone in 2009 is lots of health, wealth and happiness!

Cherry Pancakes

Sweet beginnings. They make the journey so much better. I know that this is really the opposite of what I said here. Ending the meal with something sweet is different from a meal that is sweet to start with. Or so I believe. While I'm not the biggest fan of sweet breakfasts, I love my occasional pancake or muffin routine.

I had lost track of many events. Even those that I participated in regularly. I did manage to dig out a bag of Peterson's Triple Cherry Blend that S brought back for me last weekend. I wanted to make a cherry syrup to pour over normal pancakes, but decided to blend in the dried cherries into the pancake batter. (All of you know what must have promted that!) The taste was absolutely great.

1 cup Flour

1 tbsp Sugar

1 Egg

1 cup Milk

1/4 cup Dried Cherries

½ tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Vanilla Essence

1 tsp Butter

A pinch of Salt

½ tsp Butter for frying

To Serve:

Maple Syrup

Beat the egg and then add milk. Gradually add the flour and the baking powder while continuing to blend. Add the sugar, salt, butter and vanilla essence and mix well. Blend in the cherries.

Heat the pan and add the butter. Coat the entire pan with the melted butter. Pour a ladleful of the batter onto the pan. Do not spread it with the ladle. Allow the batter to flow and form a circle. Cook for a minute and turn over. Cook on the other side for about half a minute and then transfer to a plate.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Stack the pancakes on a plate and serve hot with maple syrup.

I'm sending this plate to Rachel as she hosts the AFAM: Cherry.

Cherry Crumble Cake

I spent 12 years at one school. I have the fondest memories of school. I have had some trying times, but they simply added to the overall experience. Several of my classmates changed every year because of the nature of their parents’ jobs. I was accustomed to seeing new faces each year (or sometimes even the middle of a class year). And although I was waiting for college to start, I was very apprehensive about what it would be like. There are some snobs I keep meeting who consider my college the most conservative and boring place, but I had this one friend who told me I would be comfortable in that environment.

I had grown up in a co-ed environment. Most of my friends from school are guys. I didn’t know how I would react to being in an all-girls’ environment. But when I stepped into my classroom, I saw a few faces that made me feel at home. I had never met them before, but I was certain that some of them would become my friends.

14 years later, I count them among a few of the constants in my life. I know now what it means to be able to take someone for granted. To know that regardless of what lemons life throws your way, these friends will be the first to bring out the tequila and salt. Despite each one being in a different corner of the world, each one leading a life that is extremely different from the other, we are in touch almost on a daily basis.

Today is the birthday of one of these girls. My dearest friend Sujatha. Hers was the first birthday we celebrated in college as it was immediately after we started college. While we all parted ways after graduation, Sujatha and I landed up at the same university for our Masters'. And in the same hostel, with just a room between us. That meant two more years of tete-a-tetes, two more years of (longer) bus journeys, two more years of fun. But more than all of that, it was two more years of comfort. Of having a known and trusted face just a shout away. I understand the importance of all that more today than I did 11 years ago. I woke her up at midnight today just as I did in the hostel 11 years ago (and just as I have for all the years in between). But I had to wish her here as well. This cherry crumble cake seems ideal for the party.

2 cups Flour

6 tbsp Oil

¾ cup Sugar

3 tsp Baking Powder

1 Egg, beaten

2/3 cup Milk

2 cups Cherries, pitted and halved

For the Topping:

¼ cup Butter

½ cup Brown Sugar

½ cup Flour

1 tbsp Icing Sugar for dusting

Grease and line two 8-inch cake tins. Mix together the ingredients for the topping.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar together. Add the oil, milk and beaten egg and whisk together. Divide the batter between the two cake tins. Arrange the cherries on top of the batter and sprinkle the topping over the fruit layer.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Outside of eating cherries straight out of the bowl, this has to be the best way to enjoy these summer fruits. Happy Birthday Sujju. May you get the best that life has to offer as anything less just won't do.

Light Fruit Cake to celebrate

Not many can have a father

Who’s half as great as you.

Others might try, but they fall shy

You’re a top-notch father, it’s true.
So that’s why on your birthday,

I want to make sure you know,

I admire your sincerely and love you dearly,

And those feelings continue to grow.

I came across this wonderful poem on a site called http://www.poemsource.com/ and this poem was penned by Karl and Joanna Fuchs. And I could relate to the emotion. I am in Chennai to celebrate, among other things, Appa's birthday. I owe this man a great deal. He has always stood behind me in everything I've wanted to do. Pushed me to excel in just about everything I did. And as far as helping me hone my culinary skills, while he always maintained that he can "boil water without burning it", he has been a willing guinea pig. The man who ate semia upma and told his then 13 year old daughter it was delicious. Much later I realized that I'd used twice the amount of water I should have. A lot of my initial cooking happened when Amma was out of town and that meant that H and Appa were left to my "raj". While on the face of it, he may have thought I don't really care about his likes and dislikes, one word of appreciation from him can put me on cloud nine for a long long time. And so, while I didn't exactly learn any cooking from him, he taught me a lot.

I baked a cake late last night ans brought it with me this morning. The first thing we did after entering the house was to have him blow off the candle and cut the cake.

1 cup Raisins

1 cup Apricots

1 cup Figs

1/2 cup Sultanas

1/4 cup Currants

1/4 cup Dates

1/4 cup Candied Peel

1/4 cup Glace Cherries

1 cup White Wine

1 cup Dark Rum

3 cups Flour

1 cup Oil

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1/2 tsp Nutmeg Powder

1/4 tsp Clove Powder

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup Sugar

Soak the dry fruits for at least 2 days in the white wine and rum along with the spice powders.

Heat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Prepare two 8" cake tins.

Sift the dry ingredients. Add the oil and sugar and beat well. Add the beaten eggs with the essence and then fold in the flour mixture. Stir in the fruits along with the liquid and then divide the batter into the cake tins. Bake for 45 minutes.

As India celebrates her Republic Day, we celebrate the other occasion that makes the 26th of January ever so special. Happy Birthday Appa!

Incidentally, this is my 200th post. I can't believe I've reached a double century. It is thanks to all of you.

Fruit Cake

There are cakes and then there are cakes... and then there is the fruit cake. The market always fills up with fruit and plum cakes this time of the year. And I while I have this strong urge to buy a cake and eat it, the urge to bake my own is stronger. This year, while I began preparations for my cake in the first week of December, the thought of making caramel put me off. You might all remember the mental fatigue that I experience when I am faced with a slightly arduous task. This seemed to be yet another classic example. I wanted to bake my cake a week before Christmas, so we could eat it on Christmas Day. I finally got down to it on Christmas Day. The picture above is of the cake I've saved for tonight. The one below is of the cake we devoured the very day it was made.

This recipe has been in my family for about 20 years now. And I made it almost every year from the time I discovered it. And exactly where did I discover this oh-so-simple recipe? On the reverse of a Rex Baking Powder label. I think this was about a year after I took an active interest in baking. I figured the recipe had one major error because of which I got pristine white cakes year after year with a generous sprinkling of fruits. The recipe asked me to mix the sugar and water and then boil it to form caramel. It just formed sugar syrup. After a few years, I started burning the sugar to form caramel and from then on I got a totally different avatar. And we were hooked.

This year, however, I made a few more changes to the recipe. I soaked my dry fruits in rum instead of in lime juice (and used twice the quantity of dry fruits and nuts the original recipe called for). I also substituted brown sugar for white sugar.

2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 cup Dry Fruits (figs, apricots, prunes, raisins, currants and sultanas), chopped
1/4 cup Candied Peel
1/4 cup Tutti Fruiti
1/2 cup Mixed Nuts (Walnuts, Cashews, Almonds), chopped
1 cup Dark Rum (optional - you could use 2 tbsp Lime Juice to soak the dry fruits)
1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup Oil
3 cloves
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

For the Caramel:
1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Boiling Hot Water

Soak the dry fruits, candied peel and tutti fruiti along with the cinnamon powder and cloves in 2/3 cup rum for anywhere between 24 hours and 1 year. (I soaked them for 3 1/2 weeks.) Do remember to remove the cloves before using the fruits.

When you are ready to bake the cake, start by making the caramel. In a heavy bottomed pan, place the 1/2 cup of sugar and heat slowly. The sugar will begin to melt. Stir this mixture with a spoon slowly as the caramel forms. When all the sugar crystals have melted, slowly add the boiling water and stir to form a smooth mixture. Cool this completely.

Sift the flour along with the baking powder. In a mixing bowl, add the oil, eggs and brown sugar and beat well. To this, add the flour mixture, the fruits and the nuts by turns. Whisk well and then add the cooled caramel.

Grease and line two 8 inch baking tins and divide the batter between the two. (I used a loaf tin and an 8 inch square tin.) Bake at 190 C/375 F for about 50 minutes. When baked, make small slits in each cake and pour the remaining rum over them. While this cake is delicious straight out of the oven, try storing it for a week before consuming it. (To do this, wrap the cake in foil and then cover it with cling film.) This cake ages beautifully. In the past, I've never been able to save it long enough as it always disappeared in 2 days. This time around, I have put one cake away and we'll cut it at midnight tonight. A friend ate her bit last night and told me it was wonderful. I really can't wait.

I couldn't have chosen a better item for my last post of 2007. The time of the year demands such a cake and I got a chance to share one of my most treasured recipes with all of you. It is by far the simplest recipe for a fruit cake that I have come across and it tastes divine. Off this goes to Lakshmi and Latha of The Yum Blog as my second entry to AFAM - Dry Fruits.

Just as I have always believed that one can find love in the most unusual of places (and my own life stands testimony to this), I firmly believe that one can find the best of recipes in the most unusual of places. If only we cared enough to look!

Happy New Year!

Fruit Stew

My cousin lived in Coonoor, Nilgiris, for a long time. She's one of the most enthusiastic cooks I have met. By self admission, she's also lazy. (Do I see an older version of myself??) During one trip of ours, I remember we bought an assortment of fruits and brought them home. She made this stew with pears, plums, peaches, pineapples and apples and served it with fresh cream. I made it several times since I learnt it, but hadn't made it in years.

Summer is all about fruits, isn't it? I just love the peaches, pears, cherries, apricots and litchis that wrestle for space along with the mangoes. I'd picked up a kilo of cherries to make cherry ice cream for Meeta's Monthly Mingle, but thanks to the burglary, they just got ignored. I also bought some plums last weekend that were extremely sour. So, I decided that they were all going into the stew.

My cousin used to peel and stone all the fruits before putting them in the stew. I need as much fibre as I can lay my hands on and put the fruits in as they were. I told S that we could have a spitting contest later on for the seeds.

I used:

250g Plums

500g Cherries

1 Green Apple, chopped

4-5 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp Fresh Cream

In a large vessel, I added the fruits along with the sugar and enough water to cover the fruits. I allowed this mixture to boil until the fruits became soft. I mashed this mixture with a potato masher and somehow got the seeds out. (I wasn't planning on doing this, but when they all came out sans the flesh, I decided to remove the seeds and ditch the contest.)

I served this with some cream. The next time, I'm going to add all my fruits. There are beautiful pears and peaches out there that would impart a lovely flavour to the stew.