Chocolate fudge using Marshmallows

Phew, after 3 days of great struggle, I took this photo.

I know this is a not great looking photo, but Im happy to report that it tasted better than it looks. The day after I made this fudge, I was waiting for a clear morning sunshine but as it always happens, the whole day was fully dark and it was raining heavily. Next couple of days tried some shots and all were disaster. By this now, the jar of fudge has been reduced to just 4 pieces.

I was having some ingredients in my pantry hiding for a long days. So decided to put all in one and make a sweet dish and good thing is it turned out very good.

Ingredients : 3 cup -- Sugar 1 cup -- Heavy cream 1 cup -- Evaporated milk 200 gm -- Marshmallows 6 tbsp -- Unsweetened Chocolate powder 3/4 cup -- Unsalted butter 1 tsp -- Fine salt 1 cup -- Chopped nuts 1/4 cup -- milk Method: --- Take a big heavy sauce pan and mix the sugar, butter, heavy cream and evaporated milk in medium heat. --- Sieve the cocoa powder and mix the powder in the milk without any lumps. --- And the cocoa milk mixture and salt to the sugar and mix well. --- Stir the sugar mixture in medium heat until the quantity is reduced to half. No need to stir constantly, good news is you can very well take a break and do in frequent intervals. --- But have an eye on the mixtuure while boiling. Be careful the mixture might overflow, so tall utensil is preferable. I used a pan then in half way changed the mixture to pressure cooker, since the mixture started to overflow while boiling. --- Meanwhile toast the chopped nuts. I used almonds.And also grease the plate with butter and keep it ready. --- Once the quantity is reduced to 1/4th, add the marshmallows. --- And stir for few minutes till the marshmallows are dissolved in the cocoa mixture. --- Drop a spoon of gooey mixture in a cup of ice water, If you able to make a soft ball then immediatey switch off the heat and add the toasted nuts and mix well. --- Transfer the mixture to the greased pan and let it cool completely. --- Using a greased knife, cut the chocolate fudge.

I cut my fudge an inch size so I got around 60 - 70 pcs. Adding salt gave a unique taste to the chocolate fudge and marshmallows gave a nice soft texture.

Cardamom dry fruit cake

A day to go to reach a small milestone in my own blogging world.  Thank a lot to all of the enouragement.

Milestones have to celebrated, right? Right. So to celebrate the milestone and as a Thank You for all of you who dropped by, here is a Cardamom dry fruit cake. A simple cake with a lots of flavor. Often I try cakes using condensed milk , but this cake I tried with evaporated milk.

Ingredients : 1 1/4 cup -- All purpose flour 1 cup  -- Evaporated milk 3/4 cup -- Light brown sugar 2 nos -- Ripe banana 6 tbsp -- Unsalted butter 1/4 tsp -- Salt 1 tsp -- Baking powder 1/2 tsp -- Baking Soda 2 nos -- Cardamom 1/2 cup -- Chopped nuts and dried fruits Method : --- Pre-heat the oven to 170 C or 350 F. --- Grease a 8" pan with butter. --- Heat the evaporated milk along with sugar and butter, until the sugar dissolves. Let the milk to cool. --- Meanwhile shift the flour, baking soda and baking powder. --- Powder the cardamom and add to the dry mixture along with the dry fruit. *** Here's a small tips to powder the cardamom. In a blender take few spoons of flour and add the cardamom and blend it  to fine powder. If using for any other sweet or dessert, blend the cardamom with few spoons of sugar. So that you will not get the cardamom pods while enjoying the dessert. --- Mash the ripe bananas without any big lumps and mix it to the milk mixture. Add a 1/4 tsp of salt to it. --- Add the dry ingredients in batches to the wet ingredients and mix well.  --- Pour the cake batter into the greased pan and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes, till its done and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. --- Cool the cake completely before serving. --- You can serve the cake with or without frosting. --- I frosted my cake with a thin layer of simple banana chocolate cream and dusted with dry coconut flakes and sliced almonds.

You can enjoy the flavor of banana, coconut flakes, cardamom and dry fruits in every bite.

Always a Hero

I received the above video from my family circle, please watch the video till the end. This video kindled me to know more about the coconut oil. Yes, you heard write, Coconut oil..

Over the centuries, we have been using coconut oil in our daily life, like cooking, cosmetics and medicine. As the time goes by, like many things faded from our past, using of coconut oil is also receded considerably. Since coconut oil is portrayed as a devil and villain, a high saturated fatty acid, which cause heart attacks and raises the cholesterol level.

But now all the research are claiming that coconut oil is in fact not bad at all. Oh, this researches and modern science, what to say! One day they publish potato is not good, drinking coffee is not healthy, after few days other researcher publish potato is good and 4 cups of coffee a day prevents diabetes.You can keep adding anything and everything in the list.

Coconut oil contains saturated fat, which helps in taking off excess weight, increases the body metabolism. The lauric acid in the oil raise the High density Lipoprotiens (HDL), simply called as good cholesterol in the blood and lowers the Low Density Lipoprotiens (LDL), bad cholesterol.The saturated fats present in coconut oil have anti microbial properties and help in dealing with various bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc., that cause indigestion. Coconut oil acts as a catalyst to other vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Coconut oil enhance the immune system to fight against the viruses and harmful bacterias. It will reduce the infection level and improve the healing process, because of its anti fungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties the oil is widely used in many skin related ointments and cosmetics.

For your reading pleasure, here is an article from The NewYork Times about the 'Goodness of Coconut oil'. Spread the word and help clear the blemish on the good name of coconut oil.

Sources : Wikipedia, Organic facts, Newyork Times,