White Chocolate Cinnamon Mango Cake with fresh Mango and Cream – Happy Mothers Day!!

 

Hello my wonderful readers!!

Today is Mothers Day!! Happy Mums days to all the wonderful mums out there!

This time I wanted to make it extra special so I baked a cake for my mum. In all honesty I am always looking for a reason to bake a cake and when something this wonderful comes my way, why wouldn’t I bake!! My mum loves simple subtle flavours. She like soft textures and warm colours. Everything I am today is because she taught me the right way. Often I stop in my tracks just to rethink and I ask my self, what would “Amma” / mum do right now? This usually happens when I am dealing with my son 🙂 You know many people say they won’t wanna have kids and for the longest time even I dint think I would ever be ready, but then today I look back and I ask myself, how could I have been so stupid to see the obvious. Yes I would have been able to travel more and meet more people and learn more languages and read more, but you know what? some day my little one will also fly away from my nest and then I will have all the time in the world for that. This journey that I am on is the most fulfilling journey ever! No it cannot be compared to anything and I will not undermine it by saying that it can 🙂 The reason I say all this is cause, today as a mother I realise how and why my parents said what they said. Today I realise how wrong I was and how miserable I would have been if I decided otherwise. There are exceptions to the rule, but the bottom line is, the only reason “Home” is “home” is cause home is where nothing can go wrong. My son will turn two in a few months and today we were learning how to eat mangoes with our hands. It was so funny! I had to give him a bath after the whole episode, but these baby steps are so precious. So heart warming!! These are the moment I thank my mum for having helped me decide what was right. When I see my child do well that is when I see how my mum made the right choices for me! Its funny how mums have it all under control no matter how things are on the outside!!

Ok this recipe is actually a very simple white chocolate cake with fresh mangoes, mango cream and a hint of cinnamon. Super simple to make and it is both decadent and yet so simple and fresh!! You should totally try it. Its the best Mothers Day cake ever!!

Ingredients for the White Chocolate Cake :-

1. White Chocolate – 400 gms
2. Butter – 400 gms
3. Cake flour – 4 cups
4. Cinnamon Powder – 1/4th tsp
5. Powdered Sugar – 2 cups
6. Vanilla Extract – 1 tbsp
7. Whole Milk – 1 + 1/2 cup
8. Vinegar – 1 tsp
9. Baking Powder -3 tsp
10. Eggs – 5

Instructions :-

1. Pre heat your oven to 180 C and grease and dust two cake tins with butter and flour. Set aside
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and cinnamon powder
3. Sieve the mixture into another bowl and set aside
4. Now heat a large pot of water. In another bowl, add the butter and white chocolate. Now place the butter and chocolate bowl over the mouth of the boiling hot water (without touching the  water) Let the chocolate and butter melt completely. Once the mixture has melted set it aside to cool down
5. In another bowl add the milk and the vinegar. Stir with a fork and set aside. It will curdle ( thats what you want)
6. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the eggs. Beat till well combined
7. Then add the butter and white chocolate mixture and mix for one minute on medium
8. Next add the milk and vinegar mixture and finally the vanilla extract
9. Mix well on low speed till it combines well
10. Next add the flour and cinnamon mixture into the wet mixture, in 3 batches. Give the mixture a good mix (make sure to stop in the middle to scrape down the sides of the bowl)
11. Weigh the enter wet mixture and then pour equally into the two tins
12. Bake at 180C for 45 – 50 min or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean without any batter stuck to it
13. Once the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and set to cool down to room temperature for 15 mins
14. Then run a knife around the sides of the cake and demold the cake and let it rest till completely cool.

Ingredients for the Filling and the cream :-

1. Mangoes – 3 cups of finely cubed
2. Whipping Cream – 3 – 4 cups
3. Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
4. Fine Powdered Sugar – 1 cup
5. Sprinkles – as much as you like ( optional)

Instructions :-

1. Take one cup of the chopped mangoes and blend to a fine paste. Set aside
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the whipping cream and whip on medium speed. Once the cream reaches a soft peak consistency, add the vanilla extract and mango puree. Now with the speed on medium, slowly add the sugar and whip to stiff peaks. Set aside ( you could make some without the mango puree just for colour contrast)
3. To assemble the cake, cut the cake into two equal halves, pipe the mango whipped cream, add chopped mangoes and top with the next level of cake
4. Once you reach the top, pipe a little mango cream anyway you like and top it off with sprinkles!!

Rosemary & Strawberry Madeleines with White Chocolate

 

Hello Dear Wonderful Readers!

How are you all doing today? Is the Christmas season turning out to be wonderful for you as well? It’s been a month of many changes for us, starting with potty training my son (Phew!!) and introducing cows milk into his diet and making him learning to say ” Boww boww” when you see a doggy. My son has also started learning to eat on his own and when I mean eat I mean spill half of what’s on his plate and the other half may find it’s way to his mouth but first it has to be on a place on the table/floor (other than his plate) and then into his mouth! (Lol!!).  Its a long process but at the end I am so proud of him for every piece of fruit that he eats on his own. We have officially said “No” to keeping a nanny too, that means lesser number of posts (but more time with my son).

So I wanted to start my Christmas inspired baking with simple, sweet, light and airy madeleines and they are unbelievably yum! This one has rosemary infused with the sweetness of strawberries giving it a wonderful twist and the sweet and spicy aroma of strawberries, rosemary and vanilla is just delightful! The basic madeleine is just the right kind of sweet with a cup of hot coffee right? This one infuses fruit and herb to give  a delicious twist to the French Madeleine. Personally I think they are miniature versions of cupcakes which look like cookies! What do you say? Not really sure why they are classified as cookies! Yes I know some cookies are soft and gooey as opposite to crunchy and chewy but Madeleines are light and airy, soft and spongy like cake! Yup I am going to say they are like butterfly kisses sent from a cupcake 🙂 Ok so here is how I made them!

Ingredients :-

1. Butter – 120gms
2. Rose Mary – 2 tbsp (chopped)
3. Strawberry – 1 +1/2 cup
4. Flour- 250 gms
5. Sugar -150 gms
6. Baking Powder – 1 tsp
7. Eggs – 3 at room temp
8. Red colour – 5 – 6 tbsp
9. White Chocolate –  200 gms

Instructions :-

1. In a clean sauce pan, add the butter and melt. Then add the chopped RoseMary to the butter and let the butter simmer for a few mins ( Make sure not burn the butter). After 2 – 3 mins turn off the flame and leave the butter mixture to rest for 15 to 20 mins
2. Clean and de-stem fresh strawberries and chop them up into small pieces
3. Then using a stick blender, blend them into a nice thick puree. Your puree should measure to one cup
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the eggs and sugar. Using the paddle attachment, blend on medium till the eggs are nice and foamy
5. In another bowl add flour, baking powder and salt
6. Once the egg mixture is foamy add the strawberry puree and mix for combine
7. Then add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix only to combine ( do not over work the batter)
8. Now using a strainer, pour the melted butter into the mixer bowl making sure not to drop any chopped rosemary into the batter
9. Add as much food colour as required
10. Now butter and dust your madeleine trays with butter and flour and scoop out the strawberry batter into the moulds
11. Set the madeleine tray into the fridge for 20 mins
12. During that time pre heat your oven to 180 c
13. After 20 mins pop the tray into the oven and bake for 6- 8 mins
14. You will know when the madeleines are done when they become slightly golden from the sides
15. Once they are done, take them out of the oven and set to cool for 5 mins. Then take them out of the tray and place on a wire rack to cool
16. While they cool, melt your white chocolate in the microwave at 20 sec intervals (strict in between)
17. Once the madeleines have cooled completely, dip them into the white chocolate and place on the cooling rack to dry
18. Serve along with a hot cup of coco/coffee, as you like 🙂