Quinoa Whole Wheat Painted Bread

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I had pinned this recipe for Quinoa bread quite a while back. The recipe was in French (or that’s what google says) but it intrigued me quite a bit, and with the help of google translator I could figure it out more or less and seemed like an easy recipe.

And it IS easy.

Not much of kneading, though I did knead it a little more than what the original recipe suggests. Well, the original recipe just calls for mixing everything with a wooden spoon. Maybe because I used slightly less water than called for I did have to knead it a little by hand to make it into a smooth dough. But that was it.

Also, I was a little wary of adding the walnuts before the first rise, because my knowledge of bread baking tells me that any additions like seeds, nuts weighs the dough down and thus inhibits rising so they should be added after the first rise. Luckily the dough still rose but since I was in a time crunch I did not wait till it tripled in size, as the recipe states but baked it once it was double in size after an hour and a half.

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Raisin and Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

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Chewy, crispy, soft oatmeal pecan cookies, with so many levels of texture and flavor in each bite.
Chewy, crispy, soft oatmeal pecan cookies, with so many levels of texture and flavor in each bite.

Chewy, crispy, soft oatmeal pecan cookies, with so many levels of texture and flavor in each bite.

“Raisins that look like chocolate chips are the reason I have trust issues.”

Yesterday was one of those rare days when I actually got up at 5.30 in the morning and went for a jog.

It always feels good when I do that, but the only problem I face is that the day becomes way too long. I was showered and done with breakfast by 7.30 and with the house clean, my friends out of town and nothing to cook since V was not coming home for lunch that day and enough leftovers in the refrigerator for me, I had nothing much to do.

As a result I was wandering around the house aimlessly. I read my book for some time but then that also lost its charm and I ended up doing what I generally do when I am bored at home. Bake.

Well, either I bake or open the refrigerator, look for something to eat (read chocolate), realise it’s not healthy and shut the door, only to come back and repeat the process three times, before finally caving in. (Damn you, chocolate!)

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

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I have never understood the hype behind red velvet cupcakes/cakes. So much food coloring in a baked good. Just does not seem right. And since I do not understand the hype, I have neither attempted making one or ordering it in a bakery, except for one very unfortunate dry and unflavorful experience at a bakery once. So when my friend asked to make a red velvet cake for one of our coffee friends’ farewell party, I was in a fix. Being such a popular cupcake/cake choice I thought I should see what the hoopla is actually about and agreed to baking some.

I searched and bookmarked many red velvet recipes. But finally went with the one that I am sharing today after reading the reviews on allrecipes.com. I ended up making cupcakes instead of a cake because I feel they are so much more fun sometimes, plus I had more fun decoration ideas for cupcakes than a cake.

What drew me to the recipe was actually the frosting. It called for cooking flour and milk together and then adding to the cooked mixture creamed butter and sugar. Its something I had never done or heard of before. It’s also how traditionally red velvet cakes were iced- with a french-style butter roux icing. And after reading the reviews, and how good the frosting and the cupcakes were I decided its worth trying. I was sure my friends would forgive me if they turned out bad.

Well, honestly, since the only experience I have had with a red velvet has been a dry, too-fake-red red velvet cupcake , these turned out to be very good. They were fluffy, moist, with a hint of chocolate too. The frosting, though, I was not sold. It wasn’t particularly bad, quite decent actually, but I think I am biased towards cream cheese frosting on top of a red velvet cupcake or any cupcake for that matter. So I missed the cream cheese flavor.

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