It was all yellow.

Donna Hay says, " I don't think it is good to start a recipe with a confession." But what the heck, I will blurt it, anyway. For the life of me, I can't bake cupcakes. Apparently 5 year old kids can make cupcakes, but not me!

For weeks and months, this bothered me. I decided to let it go an focus on things that I can do. Cupcakes can wait. I am not a big fan of them either. The whole world, on the other hand, is going quite  gaga over them. So world, don't expect any cupcakes from me anytime soon.  Instead, I am making stuff I am pretty good at and tastes even better. 

Summer screams ice cream, lemonades, and lemons! Every cookbook I own has a lemon-based recipe and I thought, why not!

I have never had any lemony dessert in my life and boy, I have wasted a good 23 years without understanding the magic of lemons. I never was a big fan of lemons when I was young; trust me when I say this, a teeny tiny bit of lemon makes so much difference in your food. I am not even joking here. I had this lemon curd with biscuits, bread toast and cakesThe recipe is an adaptation from Martha Stewart and  this one is a keeper ( recipe, I mean!)


                         
                                                                 LEMON CURD

Yields: 2 cups
Stores: 2-3 weeks (but trust me, it will get over before you know it)


Ingredients:

• 4 large egg yolks
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/3 cup  granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cornflour
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups water

Method: 

• Whisk lemon zest, sugar, corn flour, salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Add water and lemon juice to the saucepan
• Whisk continuously till the sugar and cornflour dissolves completely
• Bring it to a boil over a medium-high heat. Remember to whisk continuously for about 2 minutes
• Reduce the heat and take 1/3 rd of the mixture and add it to the egg yolks in a heat-proof bowl.  This will reduce the chances of your eggs scrambling in your hot mixture. Last thing you want in your lemon curd is scrambled eggs!!!
• When the eggs are mixed with the lemon curd, add that  mixture to the rest of the cornflour, lemon juice mixture.
• This immediately gives a nice pale yellowy color. So beautiful!
• You need to cook it for a further 2 to 3 minutes. I would suggest, keep tasting it constantly to see if you, need more sugar, or if the eggs need more cooking. 
• Once you are happy with it, remove it from the stove, and add your vanilla to it. 
• The next few crucial steps are as follow, 1. allow it to cool completely, 2. make it a day in advance, it tastes even better the next day, 3. try not finish it in one single day (because, I did!).

 TIPS:

• Strain the lemon curd through a sieve once it is done, just as a precaution to remove any scrambled pieces of egg. 
• Cover the lemon curd with a cling firm, so it does not make layer on the top. 
• Refrigerate when not in use.  

Love, 

Shobitha Suresh 

Vanilla Cupcakes with butter cream frosting

  Let me just ask this , what's not to love about a cupcake? I mean, it is portable, it is absolutely cute, it is a cake in a cup. It is divine.  And, did I mention the sprinkles? It just adds to the glam quotient. 


This is the very first recipe I found when I was looking for the recipe for cupcakes. Cupcakes are so versatile, so many different varieties, I cannot begin to tell you. It is a world of its own. I am going to try everything under the sun. I want to make muffins too, but that is for another place and another time. 


For now, all I can tell you this is such a good recipe.  


                                             Vanilla Butter cream frosting Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2/3 cup( 130 grams) granulated white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
• cupcake liners*
• sprinkles (optiona)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and line the muffin/cupcake tray with cupcake liners. If you do not find the cupcake liners* , it is okay, you just need to grease the tin well.
• In a bowl, add butter and sugar with the help of a hand mixer or a whisk, beat till it is light and fluffy
• Add eggs one at a time, and with the addition of each egg beat till it gets incorporated with the butter and sugar
• After the eggs are incorporated, add the vanilla essence, and beat well. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt together. With the help of a hand mixer (on a low speed)  or your regular whisk , add milk and flour into the batter, alternatively. Starting with flour and ending with flour. 
• Scoop the batter with the help of an ice cream scoop into the arranged muffin tray for 17-20 minutes **
• Remove from the tray and allow it to cool before you can frost them.

                                      Butter cream Frosting 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (230 grams) icing sugar or finely powdered 
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp light cream  (or just milk, if you have it)

Method:

• Whisk all of them together until nice, smooth and creamy in texture.
• Spread generously on top on the cooled cupcakes
• If you are all for piping, you can pipe the frosting on for a nice twirl.

* Cupcake liners are nothing but the paper cup that holds the cake, it helps to remove the cupcake from the muffin tray and it is easy to carry around since it is convenient to eat from the liner. However, you can do with it. You just need to grease the tray well, and allow it to cool on a rack before diving into the deliciousness.
** The clear indicator for a well-done cupcake is the nice rise it has and it become nice and golden, and the skewer comes out clean when inserted. Start checking on them at 17 minutes. 

Homemade Pasta from scratch

 I am almost embarrassed to admit to  this, my inspiration  to make fresh pasta  came to be because I was watching  "Jersey Shore", I know, don't judge.  They were in Italy and they would not stop talking about how good the food was. I got around to read Jamie Oliver's recipe and he mentioned how old women in Italy get offended by the idea of using a machine to make the pasta. If they can do it, so can I

I can't remember the last time I passed up an  opportunity to eat pasta or make pasta or go out for Italian food. So making fresh pasta was a long time coming. I will polish off a bowl of pasta with no shame what so ever and come back for seconds. I am unapologetic when it comes to pasta. When I  started looking at recipes, I found a million versions to it, but I finally found  one which was not fussy and nonsense-free


I won't lie, it is a little work, but it is worth it.  I cannot begin to tell all of you how good it tasted. It was so good, I stood there and watched over my pasta with such joy. Because, it is that good. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with store bought pasta.




The Verdict : It was unbelievable.


                                                                       Fresh Pasta

 Ingredients:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt

Method:

• Have clean working area, like your kitchen counter. Make a  well  in the dough and beat the eggs  in the welland slowly whisk them into the dough.
• Combine the eggs with the flour with a fork till the flour is coated and it is good enough to knead with your hands.
• The key is kneading. You have to knead for  at least 5 minutes, till you get a nice soft dough. 
• If your mixture is too wet, add a little flour. If it is too dry, add a little egg mixture. 
• Chill the dough for 45 minutes in a plastic wrap. 
• Here is the little difficult part in the whole process--rolling the dough You need to roll it 1/4th thickness. 
• To cut them into the shape of pasta. You can do it two ways, you can either roll the dough out into a big circle and roll it and cut them out. Open each cut piece and allow it to dry for 10-12 minutes. The other way is to fold it into a square and cut from the open corner. ( I know it looks super complex, but once you start rolling the dough out, it is quite simple, trust me. Like Jamie Oliver says,  "use your head and you'll be fine)
• The drying phase is quite important as it allows the pasta not to stick to each other when it cooks. Allow it to dry separately for 12-15 minutes



• Cook al-dente for 5-6 minutes Use to your preference. I made a quick pasta with red peppers, chilli, basil, pepper, olive oil and parsley.