Baked Bread Pudding

A must try for every dessert lover!!!!!!

Very simple ingredients and an absolute ripper in taste.
My mom had read/seen this recipe somewhere and she passed it on.
Not very accurate instructions were recieved as she did not note it down anywhere (humph), something for which I m always behind her :D , however we did some experiments on our own and everyone @home loved it..including the lil one!!!! yay!!!!!
So here goes:

Ingrediants:

8 Slices of Whole Wheat Bread (again I do not think the original recipe called for whole wheat bread. This is just part of the whole "Healthy" thing going on @home)
1 tin of condensed Milk
1 cup of boiled Milk (can use low fat)
Butter and Sugar : Enough for the 8 slices
1/4 cup of roasted Nuts to garnish (i used cashews)

Method:

Now this part is really what I came up with, we have no idea how it was originally intended.
I buttered the bread lightly (no-one in my family needs any more fat than we already have ;P, but the more butter more the flavour).
Spread some sugar in a plate and place the buttered side of the bread down so that it gets covered with sugar. Repeat for both the sides.
Now heat a non-stick pan and palce the bread pieces on this till the sugar is caramalized to a golden brown. Keep a close watch to avoid burning. Caramalize both the sides.
Repeat for all the eight slices.
Now place these bread pieces in a pudding dish. Mine could hold just 4 slices , so I got 2 layers with the 8 pieces. Better to use similar dishes or if using larger increase the bread pieces.
Pour the boiled milk over the slices.
This will get absorbed by the slices and some get mushy whereas the others still resisit where the caramalisation hit hard :)
Place in a pre-heated oven at 160 for 20-25 mins till the top gets a golden brown.
Garnish with the nuts!!!
Tada!!!! THE most irresistable dessert is born.
You just cannot resist from taking seconds.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for the lil one

My 2 year old is frequently asking for biscuits these days which prompted me to bake some cookies at home for him, to provide a healthier option.
This has oats,whole wheat, apples what more can a mom ask for..........can avoid the choc chips for toddlers though, dont think they need a chocolate addiction this early on (cant see how he wont be a chocoholic seeing his mother ;))

Followed this recipe ,minus the essence, and he loved it!!!
though it did not come out as I expected it to, was expecting a crunchy cookie like the ones we get in the market, but going through various blogs I have come to realise that these are expected to be chewy.
Never the less they were delicious and a keeper for sure :)
Tarla Dala's Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
2/3 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup grated apples
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Method
1. Combine all the ingredients except the chocolate chips in a bowl and knead into a dough.
2. When it is ready, add the chocolate chips and knead the dough lightly again.
3. Refrigerate the dough for 15 to 20 minutes and divide it into 12 equal portions.
4. Roll out each portion into a round and flatten it between your palms to make a circle of approximately 6 mm. (¼") thickness.
5. Place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160°C (320°F) for 25 to 30 minutes or till the cookies are golden brown.
6. Cool completely and store in an air-tight container.

My Bundle Of Joy

It has been a long long time since I have blogged ...... wat close to 4 years..phew!!!
These days I am mostly into blog trotting ... food blogs :D
So much has happened since, that chronicling it here would go on and on boring the hell out of everyone :)
Well to summarise things I am still working ,got married and am now a proud (and a very much sleep depraved) parent of a one and half year old !!! ...
Yes it seems so unbelievable that now there is someone who is calling me Amma ...OMG!
Its a magical journey, parenthood, not entirely a fairytale let me warn you though, there are moments when you are close to losing your patience, those long sleepless nights accentuated by the wails of an infant.
Yet in spite of all this if you ask me if I would ever want to go through all this again, I would surprisingly say YES.. Its quite an out of the world experience that first time you held your newborn, the first time he calls you AMMA, the look on his face when you walk into the room, the welcome you get when you are back from office............Priceless!!!!!