Cheese Cake on a Brownie

                                      With Christmas, New year and a Birthday celebration around, indulgence is the keyword of December. I cannot miss the temptation to dig into a good slice of a cake, especially when I come across too many of them, throughout the month. Eventually, the love for the cake turns into aversion that, sometimes, even rich fruit cakes go untouched. I wanted to clear the cream cheese that's been in the freezer for quite some time and make my piece of cake, before all the receiving and the sharing of the cakes began.
                                   I love cheesecake, but never liked the biscuit base, it ruins the pleasure of eating a smooth and a creamy cheese cake. When I planned to make a Cheese cake, I was not only thinking of a good base, but also a good combination that will blend with the creamy texture of the cheese cake and I could not think of anything else but a brownie that will work well with a cheese cake and the sweet and sour strawberry sauce fills in the missing link in the cake. This "Cheesecake on a Nutella and Peanut butter Brownie" is the chocolate recipe of the month and the last recipe of the year. Time to make new plans and work hard to make dreams come true.

Recipe for the brownie and the cheese cake were adapted from bbcgoodfood
Ingredients for the Brownie 
Flour                           1/2 cup
Nutella                        1/2cup
Peanut butter             1/2 cup
Cocoa powder            1/3 cup
Light brown sugar     1 cup
Vanilla                         1 tsp
Eggs                              2

Method
Whisk flour, cocoa powder and set aside.
Combine nutella and peanut butter in a bowl, melt on a double boiler.
Add in Sugar, vanilla and stir to combine.
When the mixture is cool, add the eggs one by one and mix well.
Add in the flour mixture little by little, stir until mixed.
Transfer to a greased baking pan and bake at 180*c for about 15 minutes.
( Tester inserted will have moist crumbs sticking to it )
Let it cool.

Cheese cake
Cream cheese        180 g
Cream                    100 ml
Icing sugar             2/3 cup
Vanilla                   1/2 tsp

Method
Beat the cream cheese, vanilla and the Icing sugar until smooth, add in the cream beat until the mixture is combined. Transfer the mixture on to the brownie base, chill for a few hours until it sets.
For the strawberry sauce
Fresh strawberries
Icing sugar
Cinnamon (optional)
Combine fresh strawberries and icing sugar, puree the mixture, run through a sieve, transfer to a sauce pan, add in small piece of cinnamon and cook on medium heat, until the mixture thickens.
Cool the mixture and spread it on the set cheese cake and chill again for a few hours.

Note:
I used dark cocoa powder for the brownies, if using regular cocoa powder, add some chocolate chips in the batter before baking.
Can add chopped walnuts and fruits.
Can use butter instead of peanut butter.

Groundnut Salad

Groundnut salad
                                               I may be living in the midst of the second most air polluted area and the  disturbing honking sound of the vehicles, but my days are made lively by the chirping sound of the avians, the sharp sound of the squirrels and the barking of the dogs. Ever since we had this reflective window glass installed, birds have been very inquisitive on seeing their reflections by pecking at their image on the glass and I didn’t know I was going to a bird watcher right in the comfort of my home.

                                                 It all started with a pair of ‘Mynas’ pecking at the glass looking at their image for a couple of weeks and soon they stopped, either because, they were bored of their latest fad or they sensed our presence. There were crows seriously trying to figure out the puzzle by taping on the glass, a hawk that frantically tried to attack the image by fluttering against the glass, squirrels staring at the glass not convinced with what they saw,  soon all these birds seemed to have understood that their attempts have gone weary and continued with their business except for this little Sunbird, a colourful and a pretty looking one, which has been knocking, at all my east facing windows for the past few months now. Initially, I thought it was all cute, but now it is distressing to watch this little guy, which appears every morning by the window and pecks at the glass fluttering up and down, chirping all the while and it doesn’t seem to give up.

                          There’s a big 'Nagalinga tree' (cannon ball tree) right behind the house, named so because the flowers resemble a hooded cobra over a lingam and it has been the abode for many birds, ever since it started blooming with flowers. I have seen many fledglings of crow grow, chicks of myna resting in the tree, pigeons flying past never daring to set its foot on the tree in the presence of these birds and the squirrels running amok, asserting its presence too. A couple of years back, when a pigeon family, nested in the window sill of our bathroom, we were too excited about this bird family that moved in with us. Though, I ended up with a severe sinus infection, still no one complained about its presence or the birds taking over our bathroom, but everyone were concerned about its safety, felt sad if the chicks died and happy when they grew up to a big bird, which happened very rarely. Now, it is this daily visitor, that is knocking at my window every day, the cause of concern and I hope one day it will understand this imagery bird is never going to come out of flying.

                                        Originally a street food, groundnut salad is a hot snack that can be seen sold in small paper cones in the busy streets of Chennai. I was actually introduced to this snack by my better half, when he bought it one day to prove that what he was eating was actually healthy, as I was complaining earlier about his unhealthy eating habits. It was indeed an interesting mixture of healthy food ingredients, but I still couldn’t agree that it was healthy, as I was skeptical of the hygiene in preparing it. (I can’t help it!)
It has been a long time, since I tasted this salad and here’s my version with a little addition of my own,  the crunchy savoury that will enhance the taste of the salad.

Ingredients
Groundnuts                    200 g
Carrot                              1/3 cup
Raw mango                     1/3 cup
Onion                               1
Green chilly                    1
Coriander leaves            2 tbsp
Lemon juice                    1 tsp
Salt

Method
Cook the groundnuts in water with a tsp of salt and drain it.
Combine the grated carrot, grated mango, chopped onion, chopped green chilly and the coriander leaves.
Mix in the cooked and drained groundnuts. Add salt to taste. Stir in the lemon juice.
The groundnut salad is ready and it can be served without the crunchy savoury too, but a little crunch will always up the taste of a dish.

For the crunchy Savoury
Flour                       1/2 cup
Rice flour               1 tbsp
Asafoetida              a pinch
Ajwain                    a pinch ( crushed)
Salt

Whisk everything together, add enough water and knead to a dough.
Divide into portions, roll each portion to a thin sheet, dusting with flour as and when needed, cut out small circles, prick with a fork on the surface of each circle and deep fry in medium hot oil until golden brown.
Crush these using hand and add it to the groundnut salad just before serving, mix well and serve.

Ragi/Finger millet fruit Cake

                               A few weeks back, I was in a government emporium, to take some pictures. I was told to get the permission from the lady in charge, who in turn asked me if I was from the press(news media), when I explained to her that I am a stay at home mother and my purpose of taking pictures, she shot me back with an outrageous question that, "Why should a house wife be interested in such things"? It was disappointing to hear that from an employed woman. Was it her eight hour job that gave her the courage to speak so or it’s just her attitude, whatever, that was the first time I came across such a situation, since I took up my camera over my shoulder and unfortunately the harm was done by a woman. Sadly education does nothing to certain women. Brushing that aside, I am looking forward to the celebrations yet to come in the following days and a fresh new year.

    December the month of celebration and jubilation has finally come to enchant us with the chiming sound of bells, the rhythmic carol songs, the shining stars, the grand feast, not only to celebrate christmas, but also to welcome a new year. Christmas is not complete without a cake, especially a fruit cake. Ragi/ Finger millet cake was not made with any intention of making a healthy cake, as I always say, as long it contains butter and sugar, no food is healthy. This is a rich ragi(Kezhvaragu) fruit cake, a recipe that I came across in an old book, and saved for many years. I have made some changes to the original recipe and it is eggless, gluten free and most of all, it is absolutely delicious with full of flavour.

Ingredients
Ragi flour                                200 g
Soft light brown sugar          100 g + 1 tbsp
Coconut milk                          100 ml
Orange juice                           100 ml
Unsalted butter                      100 g
Baking powder                       1 tsp
Baking soda                            1/2 tsp
Cloves                                      4 (powdered)
Orange zest                             1 tsp
Vanilla essence                       1/4  tsp
Candied cherries                    10 - 15
Dates                                        2 large pieces
Prunes                                      2 large pieces (dried)
Almonds                                  1/4 cup

Method
Whisk ragi flour, baking powder, baking soda and the clove powder in a bowl.
Add in the chopped dry fruits,  and mix well.
Add in the butter, mix well using hand until it resembles bread crumbs and the flour has a wet texture.
Add in the soft brown sugar and mix well.
Pour in the orange juice and the coconut milk, stir, add in the orange zest and vanilla, mix well.
Transfer the batter onto a greased baking pan and bake at 180*c for about 35 minutes or until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Note:
Adding prunes is optional, can use more dates instead.
Can add chopped nuts in the batter.
If desired, can drizzle the cake with orange juice syrup ( orange juice mixed with sugar and boiled) before serving.
Since ragi flour has no gluten, the cake will tend to be crumbly, so chill for some time if you want to cut out perfectly shaped pieces, or bake as small cup cakes for about 20 minutes.
If white sugar is used, powder it before use.

  Cup cake with melted chocolate. Cupcakes were made with tangerine juice, for the above cake I used (kinnow) orange juice and I would suggest using orange juice.