Three penguins made of fondant is actually kind of easy.
Three penguins made of fondant, perched one on top of another, is not.
But when you're mad about a particular spice cake you've come up with, that's unfussy and beams Christmas like no other, you have to dream up a theme. Furthermore, the drive it took to get each of these guys snug, top on top the other, is kind of what's prompting me to let you in on the whole star perching scene.
It's not a lot of work. I promise. I made two in two weeks. I can vouch that's it worth the one hour putting the cake together and the essential three four hours fashioning a sugar dough balancing act.
The cake, itself is moist, fragranced in the terrific air scenting way that it could rival your best oil diffuser. Notes of ginger and cloves sing with cinnamon making each crumb drunk in enough Christmas spirit, you possibly wouldn't need the additional brandy used to soak a 9 inch item such as this, like tradition could demand in similar situations (though it wouldn't be counted against you , if you did).
That being said, I'll leave you to bask and enjoy in what's left of our decade's last holiday.
And have my fondant fellow trio show you how to reach and keep a neverending joyful spirit.
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Grease two 9-inch round baking pans well with melted butter, then lightly dust with flour. Shake out excess.
In a bowl whisk together flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and orange zest well. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together, butter, dark brown sugar and sugar until light and creamy.
Add eggs. Beat for about 4 minutes at high speed.
In a measuring cup, whisk together. yoghurt and water.
With mixer on low speed, beat in flour mixture to the batter, in two additions, alternating with the yoghurt mixture, until combined. Scrape the bowl in between while mixing.
Pour the batter into prepared cake pans.
Bake in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes.
Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.
This feature is assigned to those who consider the sweet tooth a vital part of their body, keeping it happy and bringing into congnizanceall the lovely thingsthat need to be eatenin a lifetime. Of course, it could purely be my own survivalist thinking, but I like to believe, that in the general realm of assumptions I speak for many of us. Am I right?
Payasam. What is it? After this one conversation, we haven't had another centering it. Surely, a coconut milk based pudding deserves more recognition than that. It certainly makes an entry into every inherited celebration our household knows, some stemming from what my imagination concocts.
With remarkably intense flavors, taken from all over the Indian food spectrum, payasam is the crown and glory of dining tables across the subcontinent's beloved Southern belt, tables teeming with no less than ten dishes and five assorted sweetmeats.
The mung bean or moong dal, a parcel of the legume family is boss ingredient in today's show. It is, in all fairness and to the credit of the post, native to India. However, of late, the moong has gained international notoriety. Punched with a plethora of minerals, these lentils are high in protein with generous amounts of disease preventing antioxidants. It would be safe to say the half cup in our recipe transcends to bowlfuls of life saving love. Shaved jaggery and spices, imminent to South Indian dessert-ing, are part of the formula in getting our payasam sweet and tasty, so that the likelihood of second and third servings are terrifically inevitable. Not to mention, working the variable of ingredients/methods through the Instant Pot will greatly decrease the gap from it being made over and again. Thanks to hyper cooker, the succession in steps of payasam slimmed in time, task, to sooner getting at a final taste. Before I conclude, below are some key points which might help in your own c.p. parippupayasam making journey. I press you to take note.
✻ There is an unsaid mung bean to lush payasam correlation. A greater amount of cooked mung, with the said amount of liquid, even a cup more, will yield a thicker, almost muckier the body, while less gives a soupy bean texture. Both are undesired. Keep to the measures given.
✻ The amount of jaggery adds to depth and sweetness. Tone it up or down, by the amount you shave in, according to your preference. You can portion in different sweeteners, like I did with the coconut sugar, to give it a bit of intrigue. But the hero of the parade will always be the jaggery.
✻ The trio of spice mentioned may be omitted. In place, you could lose out on the very essence of an old world Kerala sweet course. Hence not a commendable idea.
Take a cue and try what could be tops on your dessert list.
I'll even go as far as to dare you to swap it for one of the upcoming holiday's stipulated pies. Then give me thanks later.
In using jaggery, you can err on the side of more, without screaming sugar coma. The sweetness of jaggery is one most people prefer in Indian sweetmeats such as these. To jazz it up, I added coconut sugar, deepening the coconut flavor, which I very much enjoy.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp vegetable oil
¼ cup coconut slices
¼ cup cashews (I use roasted, salted)
½ cup split yellow gram dal/split mung beans
2 cups water
½ cup shaved jaggery
2 tsp coconut sugar
1 pod cardamom, crushed
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp ginger powder
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
Directions:
Select saute feature on Instant Pot and set to high. Pour ghee and oil into the pot.
Add coconut slices and cashews and lightly brown, about 1 minute each. Using a slotted spoon, skim them from the oil an set aside.
Place mung beans into the same oil and saute until slightly roasted, not more than a minute.
Add 1 1½ cups water. Turn off saute function.
Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook at high(manual) pressure for 10 minutes.
Allow for natural release.
Open the lid, mash the mung bean in the pot.
Select the saute feature to high, for 10 minutes.
Add the cardamom, cumin and ginger powders. Stir in jaggery, coconut sugar and stir until sugars are dissolved.
Pour in the coconut milk and the remaining ½ cup water( pour the water into the empty can to clean out milk contents and return it to the mixture)
Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, allowing payasam to boil and slightly thicken.
Top with the fried cashews and coconut slices.
Serve hot or refrigerate to serve cold.
Notes:
This gets considerably thicker as it cools. Add either coconut milk or regular milk to loosen it up for a more pour-able consistency.
Don't worry and inhale coconutš„„ Since the State of Kerala owns it when it comes to coconut production, a mere hint of the fruit would qualify for an unworthy payasam. So, it's studded to the core, with aplenty milk, and generous slices of flesh too.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:58
The last few weeks in October predictably find me in a till- January successive frenzy. My annual Pinterest phase kicks in and I am all over the place, attempting a series of household/bathroom/doggie-costume, ahem, artistries. I like to call it seasonal transition therapy. And I kind of take pride in nailing almost everything, despite the fact that half the fun of pin-posting is in its fails.
Let's just say, you need a different ending sometimes.
It was the cake technique, Wilton decides all of us can do. Not to dissuade you, but side warning, friends, whenever a tutorial tells you to pull apart a template from a seamless finish frosting, never, ever ...repeat and repeat, NEVER listen. I mean, you might as well smash the project, and start over again. Which is almost what I did. After I cried...then pushed mini pumpkin cutters in, a sort of half attempt to salvage what I thought was completely lost.
Was it the better ending? I believe so. A saving grace where peek-a-boo jack-o-lanterns in an altered, albeit better buttercream ultimately freed the avant garde creative in me.
The take away from the whole spiel? Don't get distracted by the one wrong thing that you miss out on all that could be right.
Furthermore, it was the cake that featured as the centerpiece and raffle item in a vendor stall gig I did at a nearby school fair, also major part of the above mentioned frenzy.
Justification came when the winner of the raffle stated to me the following day, "there's cake and then there's Your cake." How fine does the inflection in that"your" sound, huh?! All because shifted perspective led to cookie cutters setting in motion an alternative and veritably good destiny.
Getting to cake in point, the contents underneath the flame frosting is a moist yellow one, buttery enough that you can't deny where most of the flavor comes from.
It's moist, owing to the same reason. But a consideration here is in the preparation to getting that texture in crumb. There is an imperative balance to batter beating. Overbeating will make it dense and unable to rise. Underbeating will lead to a sort of gloop, where fat and eggs separate, leaving you with uneven baked cake.
A sizable part of the labor was painting on the extra coat of frosting, which you will not have to worry about.
Do consider making it, though, whether it be for holiday, birthday or just to amp up your weeknight dessert scheme.
Who knows? It might enthrall you enough to not weed from the monster packs of candy you're intending to hand out tomorrow.
Ingredients:
3 ¼ cup all purpose flour
¾ tbsp baking powder
¾ cup salted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour cake pans (2- 8 inch is what I used)
In bowl, whisk flour and baking powder together.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Scrape bowl as when needed.
In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, milk and vanilla.
Alternately add the flour and buttermilk mixtures, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions flour mixture- 2 additions buttermilk mixture).
Beat until just combined. Don't overbeat.
Distribute evenly among the prepared pans.
Bake for 24-28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Once done, allow cakes to cool in pans for 5 minutes.
Flip onto wire racks and let cakes cool completely, upto an hour.
"Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard." Isaiah 58:8
As far as consistent recipe writing goes, the five cooking magazines I bought the other day and timely pinterest interventionhad me up and ready to type the assembly of words you are reading at this moment. Things in life you desire should not be taken casually: those gushing, deep, dreamy vibes, total sync of elements ...you know, ingredients required for perfect cake. More specifically, a strawberry cake I longed for a number of weeks leading to its arrival. I struggled a bit. Google's top five searches were sacrilegious... falsities where gelatin was key in achieving moist crumb. Baking mix, the second main ingredient, had me all but cry. I absolutely loathe cake from a box and if the said were the only blueprints available, then I probably would've invented my own. Of course, there was a better recipe. A prior fruit reduction taking pink cake to a level of awesome I desperately needed. It compensated for a lot of bygone cravings, awash of nostalgic elements and the reason flavored pastry exists. But really, y'all, this actually could be the cake of my dreams. With fruit screaming though every crumb of its structure. And a structure so intentionally marred, it's perfect.
If ever misshapen had a higher calling, this would be it. Faultline cakes. Might take you back to grade school Science class and how well you paid attention . Not that you'd imagine volcanoes in correlation to it, but that it goes against the very theorem of proportionate caking; a congruency vital to a layered build. In fact, the more warped the faultline is, the better the whole show gets. If only all things in life harmonized to a similar fashion.
But there is a deliberateness in roughing up the buttercream edges, so they aren't too Jurassic in nature. The extra frosting coat gets a gold dust gild. A variety of adornments, like the cut berries and flowers force even the unimpressed to wonder... "just how did she do it?'.
The middle layer is what your gaze transfixes on. It makes the effort of baking/stacking/assembling/ painting multiple sizes of a project much more meaningful. There it is; strawberry cake, replete with fresh flavor, densely moist and assembled in a cavalcade of pretty you just can't take your eyes off of. Can you find fault with that?
3/4 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
1-2 dots of Wilton pink gel food coloring
Directions:
Puree strawberries in blender until smooth. There should be approximately 1 1/2 cups puree.
Boil the puree in a saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring continuously, until it's reduced to 3/4 of a cup. About 12 minutes into boil, measure the reduction and if more than 3/4 cup, add it back to pan and boil a little longer.
Place into a measuring cup and allow to cool to room temperature. This step can be done a few days in advance.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease/ flour pans and cover bottoms with parchment paper. (I used two 6 inch rounds and one 5 inch round)
Combine the yoghurt, milk, eggs in a large bowl. Separate 1 cup of this wet mixture and leave aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
Add butter to the flour mixture, a tablespoon at a time, until it clumps and resembles moist sand.
Add the larger egg mixture to this. Mix on the lowest speed until blended, then mix on medium high for about 1 minute.
Scrape down the sides of bowl and stream in the remaining egg mixture. Combine for about 20 seconds on medium high.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove cakes from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Invert onto racks to cool completely.
Frost/decorate as desired.
Vanilla buttercream~
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temperature
3-5 cups confectioner's powdered sugar, sifted (depending on stiffness and consistency)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp cream
Directions:
Beat butter in mixer for a few minutes on medium speed until smooth.
On lowest speed, gradually add your powdered sugar, until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter.
Increase to medium speed again and add vanilla extract and cream,. Beat until frosting reaches desired consistency.
Notes:
If you desire more height to the layers, proceed in doubling the recipe and tripling the amount of icing used, as well as the fruit.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
A few weeks ago, a friend asked me if I still do desserts. That, by itself, shocked me to convulsions. Like, really, how could you think there would ever be a point in my life. Like. That. When countless things come and go on our journeys, some will remain. They have to. For your mind. For your soul. And the balance between the two. Ahem. We are still talking about dessert, my friends.
Writing recipes on a computer screen for more than 7 years is, in hindsight, pure joy. And that I actually didn't quit; probably wanted to, on occasion, is quite the revelation. How regaling tales of food is not only glorious, but the very therapy my being needs. The journaling, which jumpstarts from my imagination and should in some way end on your kitchen tables, instead of slothing away into the recesses of my psyche, has always been the goal. I like to believe it's all for the greater good, for those of you wanting variety in your weekly meal rotations, to spiff up your in-home dining experiences, as well as make the grandchildren I will one day have quite proud. Envisioning a future for all is productive. Don't you think? My caramel custard recipe is epic. You should know by now that modesty is not the strong point I hold, when speaking of my culinary skills. Bear with me. I've had nonbelievers of egg and cream puddings emphatically claim Hurrah! on how undeniably lovely, expansively rich and utterly creamy this production is, as custards should aspire to be. However, when you find out you can have That Level of Grand in an easier, much quicker process, would you not be penning down 100 words for such same reasons? It was like an epiphany, replicating this favorite dessert within an eight quart pressurized vessel, to less than it takes viewing a trio of window trailer previews on Netflix.
Previously, I've gone at length over how the Instant Pot astounds me. It's nothing short of a weeknight miracle when rice, beef chili, chicken noodle soup, spare ribs, 6 types of chicken curry, Kerala beef, softened tapioca manifest in a fourth of the time it normally would take to have any one of these ready for consumption.
Getting to case in point, the flan of the IP remains true to the original, with many of the magnificent features accentuated, in what may be a luxe, tighter form. With a saucepan, a blender, which you could probably swap out for a bowl-whisk, and the instant Pot, the semi-burnt sugar sauce fused to velvet custard can be your treat too, as soon as you reach the end of our dialogue.
I deliberately halved the ingredient lineup. The list below yields around 6 3-4 ounce trays/ramekins/tubs.
Chill it and it's lush enough to be date night eligible. In almost all certainty, it will gleefully delight your inner child. Which, in conclusion would be the best possible argument for getting on it...right now.
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 whole eggs plus one egg yolk
1 ¼ cup 2% or higher fat milk
1 14 ounce can sweetened, condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
*1 ½ cups additional water needed for steaming purposes in the Instant Pot
Directions:
Arrange 6-8 small ramekins/bowls on your counter.
Microwave sugar and water on high power for 4 1/2- 5 minutes, until syrupy and deep amber in color.
Swiftly, divide and pour liquid into the ramekins/bowl(s), about 1-2 tsp per ramekin. Swirl to spread caramel evenly, covering only the bottom half.
Break eggs and 1 yolk into a small bowl.
Place eggs, yolk, milk, condensed milk and vanilla into a blender. Blend for almost a minute, until ingredients are well combined and pale in color.
Pour and strain the mixture into a big bowl.
Divide the custard among the ramekins. Cover each ramekin with aluminium foil and seal well.
Add 1 ½ cups boiling water into the Instant Pot cooking pot.
Place a steam rack or trivet into the pot.
Place the bowls onto the rack.
Cover with the lid and set the stem release handle to the "sealing" position.
Set to "steam" mode, using "low pressure" and cook for 12 minutes.
Once completed, allow 10 minutes for natural pressure release.
Carefully remove the bowls from the pot; remove foil and allow to cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate and chill for at least 3-6 hours.
Unmold onto dessert plates and serve.
Yay! Yay! I was able to get a video done of the whole IP custard making process. Check it out⇊⇊
Kerala recipes: Listed below are recipes I deem, as do many, Kerala cuisine. I am mentioning this at a point, where an individual, by lack of knowledge, proclaimed, that the categorized Malayali recipes are not authentic Kerala. While I do appreciate healthy dialogue in reference to the articles written here and the regional attribution that they are duly assigned to, it is not helpful when things are said/quoted/vented on social media out of haste, due to improper research and lack of awareness.
If ever you have questions/concerns/comments regarding the content, please message me in the comments section below.
Another question I'd like to address that came up recently, was whether the photographs displayed on posts were actually mine(?). The answer is a loud Yes! All photographs/blog content are my own original works(unless credit is stated), taken on the Canon 6D or Canon Rebel T2i, and sometimes my handy-dandy phone. Should you want to use/borrow/display an image from BFMK blog pages, please ask. I won't bite. In all fairness, provide due attribution- golden rule- give credit where credit is due.
Thanks:-)
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READS
What I read (June 2019 onwards):
The Sisterhood, by Bobbie Houston
You Came Back, by Christopher Cooke
Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney
My Oxford Year, by Julia Whelan
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin
Present Read- A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny
******
"Do not, therefore, fling away your [fearless] confidence, for it has a glorious andgreat reward.For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised." Hebrews 10:35-36
There's something about the dog days of summer, particularly those Phoenix-specific ones, where you can say 114°F, without batting an eye (because they've dried up). It's anunending scorch thatcan make one do imperatively unordinary things.
Like, for example, yesterday, when I went after a rattlesnake, who fancied the afternoon shade in my flourishing garden. The only flowers I've had in 8 years, after twenty past failed attempts. Although it's not typical of myself to use a garden rake to face such rattling fears (excuse the pun) I'd made up my mind that the new green thumb and horticulturist streak could not be deterred because a desert reptile considered my backyard its native land.
Along these same lines, a few weeks prior, I decided to order a kale smoothie at the Boba spot opposite Kiddo One's University. I'll mention that I've never been a fan of blending salad ingredients into beverage. Even if they're chockful of every single vitamin/mineral/nutrient/ironmanpower on the planet. The green smoothie trend is something no one could sell me on.
But. It happened. In that very first sip of a mega 16 ounce frosty matching my summer lawn, tethered in bouncytapiocapearls and topped with cubes of fruit. Suffice to say I'm a changed human, forever. Dog days. Heat. I live in the inferno. And I now make kale smoothies. Uncharacteristic, atypical and imperatively unordinary to my nature.
Thankfully, the grocery had packets of organic kale on sale. I bought six. Newfound cravings are a good thing, especially when they're bound by healthy choices, but most especially when the person at the register nods at your purchase in approval. It's the most responsible-adult feeling you'll ever have, and not like they'll ever know what the majority of your eating habits actually are.
Today's green smoothie is a wonderfully unfussy project and won't taste leafish in a way where you'd hesitate to blend it over and over again.
The drinkability ratio, of course, is determined by the ripeness and quality of fruit per each cup of kale. A well measured, fruit-liquid-yoghurt plexus can increase the narrow window of consuming and thoroughly relishing blended greens.
My favorite pairing is with in-season mangoes, enough to sync in sweetness and mild bursts of tart. Frozen bananas yield a creamier build, and a beverage that could challenge your favorite fast food milkshake. Throwing in chia is just something I like to do. It not only notches up the nutrient and texture quota, but the inevitable gel-ee helps in a lusher, thicker drink.
You are free to come up with as many variable smoothie conclusions your head conjures up and taste buds likely to agree upon. Packed handfuls of kale together with peach/pineapple, a slather of coconut milk, and a sprinkle of coconut sugar transcends to an island-beach feel. Dates, plaintains leverage in enough substance to be a post workout meal or just so you don't eat that last slice of cake. Keep in mind, kale leaves remain your core component, stick to the remaining advice I've given you, and you most certainly won't end up with anything short of fantastic.
The probability of messing up this recipe is near nil. It is straightforward, fantastically easy, supremely gratifying, housing a bastion of powerhouse ingredients to back it up.
In conclusion, it's important you get this right, understanding how placing kale in a blender can spark as much joy as putting cake into the oven.
Well...almost.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk(dairy or non)
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 1/2 cups chopped kale, loosely packed and stems removed
1/2 of a banana, frozen, peeled and cut
1/2 cup peeled, cubed and frozen ripe mangoes
1/2 cup plain lowfat yoghurt
1-2 tbsp coconut sugar(or sweetener of choice)
Directions:
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Taste and adjust, according to preference, such as adding more milk, sweetener, fruit, etc.
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." James 1:2-4 (MSG)
If you, like me, are a visual eater. then the bright images should send "I want" signals to your hungry brain, in about three seconds. Or peak enough curiosity you'll attempt the recipe that will come up shortly after reading through to the end of this article. If you believe this can and will apply to you, pull up close, friends and get ready to listen. Before I begin, those who understand the significance of the colors and timing of post, can totally get why I painted Indian patriotism all over today's page. To you who have no idea of what it is about, here you go...India celebrates its Independence Day on August 15 and hence the sweet salute to the stripes of the Indian Flag š®š³š®š³. I should admit it can be personally liberating to plan a post that plays to one's nationalistic fervor, where you can celebrate holidays of countries/regions you belong to/claim nationality to/ once lived in or desire enough that you believe you actually do. On the 15th, most Indians attend patriotic parades, watch flag hoistings, fly kites, attend politically incorrect charged functions, even those living outside the nation. I like todesign desserts to matchy match country flags.Last point is most likelytantamount to the ultimate religious experience.
At one period in life, I fell hard in love with layered puddings. It would be a time when culinary fashion in my small town demanded every wedding/baptismal/birthing/preschool-to-highschool graduation served multiple rows of these old school desserts. They were technicolored, often had a biscuit base, with textures ranging from bright pops of fruit, to silken Milkmaid creations and toppings of assorted caramel crunch. My life became brighter and an undying love for 2 ounce pudding-in-a-cup cups bloomed to the point that I knew, beyond doubt, I was destined to master multicomponent dessert-ing. Kiwi, cream and mango pudding. The flavor profile can be read in its very name. Subsequently, there is an incredible assortment of texture to keep a mouth curious and enough tricolored beauty to make it levels more distinctive than the manufactured gloop you were going to buy the other day.
The ingredient list is impressive. About eight kiwis solidify the fact you are consuming a stupendous serving of fruit. These, along with pinches of mint - totally optional and not mentioned- contribute to our hulk hued base layer. A smidge of tang works wonders in heavy cream desserts and splendidly balances the combination of condensed milk with thickened dairy. It's what a silky cheesecake filling would resemble, without being overly cheese-y. If you desire a fluffier, less contained structure, then subtract some gelatin to err to an airier whip side.
The final custard is made using a packaged mix doused with a plentiful amount of mango puree , thus making it shine. Because the plan here is to not overwhelm with a dish that will keep you in the kitchen for half a day.The particular brand I useis more of a thickener that benefits from enhancement and has you wonder if you actually did do it from scratch.
When raw ingredients cooperate with your patriotic endeavoursšš„š„
Use today's edit as a blueprint for the commemoration, occasion, shout out or sit down you'd like it to highlight. It adapts quite justly, doesn't demand much and will wow pieces of garments off anyone you present it to. Feel free to replace fruits/ colors/presentation to realize a full range of thematic desires.
Happy Independence day India! God bless.
Ingredients:
Green layer-
2 packets gelatin (14 grams of 5 tsp)
1⅓ cup white grape juice
8 kiwis, peeled, sliced and quartered
⅓ cup cold water
White layer:
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 packets gelatin (14 grams or 5 tsp)
½ cup cold water
½ cup roasted, salted cashew pieces
Orange layer:
1 ½ cups milk
3 tbsp custard powder
½ cup mango puree
1 cup assorted peeled and finely chopped fruits- either/or/and oranges/peaches/mangoes.
Directions: Green layer:
In a bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup of grape juice.
Meantime, in a saucepan, bring kiwi pieces in remaining juice to a boil. Allow to simmer and kiwi to cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
Combine gelatin mixture with this and stir till dissolved.
Pour into cups or molds, about 1/3 up.
Refrigerate.
Prepare the white layer.
White layer:
Beat cream, condensed milk and cream cheese in a stand mixer, on medium speed, until smooth.
Sprinkle gelatin in cold water and let it stand for like 5 minutes.. Heat in the microwave until it turns liquid again, almost 40 seconds.
Combine with cream mixture. Stir in cashews.
Set aside until lightly thickened but not set. Then pour over firm set kiwi layer in cups or molds, another 1/3 up.
Refrigerate and allow to firm.
Prepare the orange layer.
Orange layer:
Heat milk in a double boiler. Add the custard powder. Allow to thicken and simmer.
Take off heat. Let cool for a 2-3 minutes.
Take a few spoons from the heated custard and add it to the mango puree, so it doesn't separate. Stir this mixture back into the custard and combine until you have a smooth emulsion.
Transfer this to a medium sized bowl.
Add oranges, peaches, mangoes to the the puree-custard. Combine well.
Refrigerate in bowl until cooled.
Spoon over the white layer to fill to rim. The orange layer has softer texture and does not set stiff.
Notes:
I used 4 sprigs of mint, blended it with 1/4 cup of water to add color, and a bit pep to the kiwi (green) gelatin.
For the white layer, you could also add pieces of tender coconut.
The pudding above has chopped mangoes in it. For the bottom picture, oranges were used. Fruit toppings as a fourth layer work well too.
"No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NABRE)
