Orange and Chocolate Chiffon Cake

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Orange Chocolate Chiffon Cake

This cake, guys, needs to be made. I baked it the other day, served it to my mom, my biggest critic, and one bite and she was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. When she gives it a go in the first bite without any criticism I know its a recipe that is worth sharing. Orange and chocolate are a classic combination and if you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely must try it in this orange and chocolate chiffon cake.

Chiffon cakes are light, airy cakes that get their light texture from whipped egg whites. The oil in the cake lends moisture to the cake, making them more tender than sponge cakes. The recipe I have used is one from a cookbook I own and have baked from before, Sarabeth’s Bakery. All the recipes in this book have been great successes. In case you are interested you can check it out on amazon here.

According to the cookbook, chiffon cake was a well guarded secret recipe of a Los Angeles caterer, who for the right price sold the formula and now many have developed their own variations and spins to this lovely cake.

While orange provides a fresh citrus flavor to this cake, the chocolate brings a little bit of decadence. The ganache on top is a must.

I baked the cake in an angel food cake pan, which is what is recommended. Do not use a fluted pan. Since the pan is not greased, getting the cake out will be a task.

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Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

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Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

 

I love pasta. If it were up to me and I could eat as much as I want without the worry of carbs, I would eat pasta at least 3-4 times a week.

For me the secret to good pasta lies in its sauce. Today I am sharing one of my favorite ways to prepare pasta/pizza sauce from scratch. I have quite a few tried and tested recipes. For a meat based sauce I use my dad’s spaghetti sauce recipe. When I have cherry tomatoes, this Marco Pierre’s pasta sauce recipe is what I make. But on most days when I make pasta sauce from scratch I use this recipe that I am sharing today.

The recipe is easy but takes some time to come together. It isn’t active cooking time, since the oven does most of the work. Slow roasting the tomatoes releases the sweet juices in them and imparts a lovely flavor. Roasting a red bell pepper along with the tomatoes gives the final sauce that lovely red color you see in store bought sauces, without adding any canned tomatoes to the sauce. And to it, if you add roasted garlic, the sauce becomes absolute perfection in terms of flavor.

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Khatta Meetha Gobhi Gajar Shalgam Achaar ( Carrot Cauliflower and Turnip pickle )

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Carrot, Cauliflower and Turnip Pickle

People from Punjab love their Achaar. Aloo parantha (flatbread stuffed with potatoes), ghar ka makhan (homemade white butter) and achaar is comfort food at its best for us.

What we call achaar is basically pickled vegetables. Our pickling is done with various spices and not just vinegar. Today I am sharing a punjabi recipe of a popular achaar in our parts of the world – gobhi, gajar and shalgam ka achaar (carrot, cauliflower and turnip pickle).

My grandmother was known for the pickles she made and every winter she would make this cauliflower, carrot and turnip pickle in bulk and send us back with jars of her famous pickle that we would enjoy for months.

When I started blogging (around the same time I started cooking), one of the recipes I wanted to share (and document for my own purpose) was my grandmother’s achaar recipe. One ambitious day I thought I will try it out and called my grandmom up to get the recipe. She explained it in as much details possible how she makes her famous pickle. She tried her best to explain it to me but somewhere I screwed up. I had decided the next time I am at my grandparents for a few days I will learn from her. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to and she passed away three years back.

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