LAVENDER TRUFFLES

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I am finally in India! Met my parents after almost a year. It feels so different- being at home after your marriage. I am still trill trying to comprehend the feeling I have, so it would be difficult to put it in words right now. The journey was long- more so thanks to my fever and cough.

I had a four hour wait at LA airport and thought I would blog to kill some time- but, the internet service was really bad at the airport, so guess the post had to wait. It was just not the greatest time for me to board a flight. Amidst excitement of meeting everyone back in India and of course the sadness of leaving V alone for such a long time, I was also fighting a terrible cold accompanied by severe body ache and fever. The day of my flight I was up in the morning at 3, waking V up and exclaiming how am I going to take the flight today- I just had no strength. Definitely, this was not a good time to get sick.

I hate travelling alone- I mean I really hate it- especially if I have a lot of luggage- which, of course, I did. And to travel with a fever and cold- well, hate would be too mild a word for the feeling I have. It kind of surpasses the excitement and the sadness- and the feeling that I had was to just get to India in one piece.

In the plane, though, I had a revelation. I watched 127 hours. (127 hours is a true story of a real life mountain climber Aron who gets trapped in a boulder for more than five days and has to amputate his arm to free himself. The movie is based on Aron’s book Between a Rock and a Hard Place). It kind of made me realise how petty my problem was- it was just a fever, cold- nothing a medicine couldn’t cure- and that gave me strength to enjoy the rest of the journey and not keep saying- why me,God! why now! (I tend to be a drama queen at times!) So, by the time I reached Dubai, I was all excited to meet my parents and everyone at home!

I never had a favorite color- it kind of keeps changing. Black has been constant but the rest evolve. Now, for a long time I have had this obsession with the color purple and all its hues. My iPhone case is purple. One of my favorite scarfs is purple. From Denver I picked up these measuring cups and spoons from Sur La Table for my mom and they too were purple and well, the list goes on. This obsession with purple might explain my current inclination to use lavender in the food I make. (My friends from the coffee group have promised helping me set up a herb garden once I’m back. I plan to have my own lavender plant and some other herbs.)

So, the other day, while going through Helen’s blog Tartelette for her macarons tutorial I stumbled on her lavender truffles recipe. (I love her blog- she is a true inspiration!) I knew I had to make this. I did not have enough of the ingredients called for so I did add some hazelnut creamer (I was out of cream). It gave a nice nutty toasty flavor to the truffles. Adding lavender made them so exquisite and a perfect gift to give some one!

In case you just want to use heavy cream, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and don’t add the creamer at all.

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Lavender Chiffon Birthday Cake

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It was my birthday yesterday and finally I turned 18 (or so I would like to believe..sigh…how I wish that was true!!!). Christmas is over but the hang over is still there. The weekend was spent in Vegas (I know- life is gooood!!). It was my first time there and after a long time I had so much of fun! Three days of drinking, eating, drinking, gambling, drinking, shows, lights and did I mention drinking?! Came back late night 26th since V was working on Monday, 27th – my birthday. Called people over for cocktails and cake- it was supposed to be a surprise but V had to tell me since the house was in a mess after the long weekend. So much for the surprise!

Luckily, the cake was already planned. A few days back I discovered Deeba’s blog, and was floored by her baking skills. The moment I laid eyes on her version of the Lavender Chiffon Cake, I knew this was it- this was the birthday cake I had to make. Impressed with the whole look of the cake I decided to replicate it. I tried my hand at the firm white chocolate ganache decoration too with a mango motif design, though with not much success. Of course, Deeba’s cake looks so much more beautiful and wish my pictures were as good (I should have photographed in day light- but the cake got ready in the evening, just in time for the party). Looks aside, the cake was excellent- just baked, it was springy to touch like a chiffon cake should be, and light as a feather! So what if my photography and decorating skills aren’t that good! As they say, you learn from your mistakes and am happy to come out of this as a more experienced decorator- I promise next time would be better.

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