Soulful Creations

It has been hot, hot, hot here in Houston. Ever since we landed here, the temperatures have been in the triple digits. Add to that " stay-at-home " all day situtation- you get one cranky little lady (well may be not little but definitely cranky). So to remind me of some cooler weather- here is an easy dessert that combines most of my favorites- strawberries, lavender and whipped cream Ingredients (adapted from the minimalist's version ) 1 cup strawberries 1/4 cup raw sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 tbsp vanilla powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp lavender- I just crushed it using my mortar and pestle Method Hull strawberries, wash them and chop into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Toss with half the sugar, and wait 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they give up their juices. Place half the strawberries and all the juice in a food processor, and purée. Pour purée back in bowl with the remaining strawberries. Whip the cream with powdered sugar, crus...

Who does not love candy? I certainly do and it is just the perfect challenge to come out of hibernation! The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?! . These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy! Fruit and Nut chocolate bark To temper: With tempered chocolate pieces, also called “seeding” Tempering Ranges: Fahrenheit Dark: 113°F-122°F > 80.6°F > 89.6°F Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depend...

Its been 2 months since my last post, isn't it? Our move from Boston to Houston was a long wonderful winding road. We flew to Denver, CO and drove from there to San Diego CA. On our way we did devour some great food. From San Diego the wise guy flew to Boston for some last bits of work while I set sail to SFO and had a great time there- oh so much to eat, so little time! More on that in a later post- but today read on for my first Indian Cooking Challenge post The melt-in-your-mouth tirunelveli halwa Ingredients Wheat berries- 3/4 cups Sugar- 1 cup almonds & walnuts, chopped- 3/4 cup, reserve 1/4 cup for garnish Ghee- 5 tbsp cardamom- 1tsp Pachai karpooram- a pinch Food color Method Soak the wheat berries overnight. Grind in a blender with about a cup of water. Strain the milk into a bowl. Return the husk to the blender and grind again with water. Strain and repeat the process about 4-5 times. Note*: Clean the strainer and blender immediately, otherwise you wo...