Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Panna Cottas

                       

                        

As one chapter ends, another begins.

That phrase had been going through my mind for the past month. After four years of studying, reading, researching, and writing, I have finally graduated with a B.A. in International Studies. Now, things for the first time are like a blank page- waiting for us to fill it with splashes of color.

                       

Everyone says that, now, we are finally in "the real world" (although I was told that when I graduated high school as well so I don't know which version to pick really...). We're continually told that the toughest and most challenging is yet to come and that our college days mark the last of being absolutely carefree.



It seemed kind of paradoxical to us. We weren't exactly "care-free" while pulling all-nighters, and reading hundreds of pages a week, and racking our brains thinking critically. But in retrospect, although it's only been eight days that I've graduated, I can somewhat sense what everyone meant.



Our primary responsibility was ourselves, and our grades. And if we didn't really commit to that, we were ultimately the only ones who suffered. But now, with getting jobs and starting families- a lot of other people factor in the equation- and they all have to be taken into consideration when we make decisions in our lives.

The mouse disguised as a "present"

But I'm glad that I realize that while also having lived "in-the-moment" during my university years- especially during my last year. I tried my best to experience as much as possible and enjoy every little moment- because I'd heard so much from my older friends about how "these days never come back". Most of the time, experiencing and enjoying as much as possible simply meant sitting with friends and having a good conversation. Or doing something really laid back- like playing Carem- or something really silly- like accidentally flinging a lab rat on the department table and terrifying everyone around me with my screams. (Do not ask how a lab rat ended up in the department of international studies- where, I can assure you, no biological experiments of any kind take place).

Playing Carem outside our department

On my last day of classes, I felt extremely melancholic. How many of the tons of friends that I made would I see again? And even if I did, it wouldn't be in the same environment that I had grown to love. But we move on, and as with any milestone in life, it's marked with celebration. 

White Party Dessert Table

A few days ago I threw a small party marking our graduation and invited a few close friends. I had chosen the theme to be white (don't ask me why, maybe because it's one of my favorite "colors"). So everyone, almost everyone, (I can imagine the ones who didn't squirm while reading this, haha) wore white. I had some white balloons and had a white dessert table.

White desserts were mini vanilla cupcakes with white frosting, sugar cookies (which I wanted to ice with white royal icing but didn't have time to), white meringues, white chocolate cake pops (with ginger cake inside), white marshmallows, white rice krispie treats, white chocolate mousse, and white panna cotta.

It was the first time for me to make panna cotta and yes, I admit it's kind of silly making something for the first time just a few hours before you have guests over! But that's me and my idea of being daring. Also, I didn't even manage to try it before I pulled it out of the fridge and served it to my friends. But they liked it, and I had a few spoons and liked it. So there.

                      

I had never made panna cotta and did not realize how simple and easy it is to prepare. And more so, it's so versatile. You can be SO creative. The one I made for the party was rosewater scented with a dulce de leche topping (not exactly a combination you'd expect- but it worked-well!)

                     

Yesterday, I made some more. This time, I wanted it vanilla and passionfruit flavored. I love the crunchy seeds of a passionfruit. But all three nearby supermarkets were out. So I resorted to making the panna cottas dark chocolate and raspberry flavored- which I don't regret one bit!



Ingredients
750ml whipping cream
1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
120g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
3 tsp vanilla essence
50g dark chocolate
2 tsp olive oil
200g raspberries

Procedure
Place one cup of the whipping cream in a deep pan and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. On low heat, stir the mixture until gelatin dissolves. Then, add the caster sugar and remaining whipping cream and stir until sugar is dissolved. Next, add the seeds of the vanilla pod and the vanilla essence and stir through.

Pour mixture into containers of your choice (I made 12 servings in 1/8 cup sizes) and refrigerate until set.
Before serving, melt the chocolate with the olive oil in a double boiler. Pour over the panna cotta and arrange with raspberries on top.

 

Lemon and Blueberry Jelly Cheesecakes

We all have our favourite ways to unwind. Yours might be to curl up with a book (I like that, too). Another person might go for a long walk (I also like that, too). I, for one, first head into the kitchen. There's nothing like shutting yourself off from the world for a while and indulging in your creativity. The scene is perfected if you have someone keeping you company who you can talk to or if you have some of your favourite music playing (what I like to play when I cook is some Chopin or Mozart, Arabian or Latin lounge music works too, though). 

This week I'm on spring break. That means nine days of not attending class and also, in my case, not looking at anything remotely academically related. I think we all need to tune out for a while; it helps re-energize and motivate. 

After seeing this beautiful post I was inspired to create something with the same jell-o technique which I find absolutely gorgeous. But I made it cheesecake style. Because I had also seen a picture of  individual no-bake cheesecakes in jars on Pinterest. So voila I combined the two. And what better flavor combination than lemon and blueberry? Ok there's raspberry and white chocolate and pumpkin and sage and caramel and apple. But you get my point. The lovely thing about this is that it's so versatile- you can experiment with so many different fillings. 

I had to make my own jello as all the supermarkets were out of lemon-flavored jello, but it was healthier (if that's possible!) since the flavors were real and not artificial like the ones we get in sachets here. The result was fabulous at the end but I would've loved to have a deeper yellow for the jelly. 

Also, only after eating it did the ditz in me realize that gelatin is not vegetarian-compatible. And I was at 5 days short of 6 months of being vegetarian. 

Anyways, the past is in the past. Let's move on and get to the recipe. This makes 10 servings. I made four and turned the rest into a trifle.

for the lemon jello

2.25 tbsp unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

750ml lemonade

Juice and zest of one lemon

2tsp sugar

Soak gelatin with water. 

Boil the lemonade and pour over gelatin.

Add lemon juice and zest with sugar and stir through. 

for the cheesecake

300ml sweetened condensed milk

500g cream cheese

Juice of half a lemon

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup blueberries

Beat together the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla essence. 

Gently mash the blueberries and stir through the cheesecake mixture. 

Refrigerate until needed. 

Just before using, beat once more.

for garnishing

40g crumbled digestive biscuits

blueberries, extra

1 tsp lemon zest

Assembly

Place a quarter cup of liquid lemon jello in a 250ml glass. 

Place the glasses in a loaf tin at a slant angle and refrigerate until set. 

Once set, fill the other half of the glass with the cheesecake mixture.

Sprinkle the crumbled biscuits as a topping and garnish with some lemon zest and blueberries.

 This is what I did with the leftovers: made a trifle!

And this is post-munching status.....

Eid Mubarak! & a Spiced Caramel Cake recipe!

Have you taken part in my giveaway yet?! Closing date is November 23!

My centerpiece

Eid Mubarak everyone!!
Yesterday was the first day of Eid al Adha here in the UAE.
Eid is a major religious holiday just like Christmas and Diwali except that we have it twice a year. The first Eid for this year was in early September and the second one was yesterday. It runs for three days each.
Eid's dates on the solar calendar change according to the moon so next year Eid Al Fitr (the first eid) will be in mid August and the second one will be in late October.
I love Eid and all the preparations that go along with it. With any event, I think half the fun is in preparing for it.

For Eid, Muslims are religiously obligated to shop for a new outfit (amazing, huh!) or wear the best outfit that they have. Women obviously take this shopping task much more seriously than men and there is a lot of talk on what outfits each person has bought, where to find the best ones, and what colours they're wearing.

I, for one, designed my own outfit this Eid. It was somewhat Grecian inspired and had a creamy jersey bodice with a tight gold, silk, and high-waisted skirt. Everyone thought I had bought it from somewhere, so I gather that it was a success then! I personally really liked it.

Eid is all about reconnecting with one's friends and family. It is an occasion to take time off from your daily routine and catch up on everyone you haven't seen in a while. Eid is also a time to pamper children where instead of receiving gifts, they receive money which they can then use to buy whatever they want. So during Eid, you have people visiting you and then you visiting other people. And with all that visiting comes lots and lots of eating. Eating sweet things, to be precise.

The Eidiya for the neighborhood children

I had a dessert overdose yesterday and I think it's going to take 26 hours of running to burn it all of.

Each family has their own Eid routine and ours go something like this:

I start baking for Eid two days before it starts. A whole mix of biscuits and cookies and everything of the sort. I always have a few "classics" that I make every Eid, these mainly being lemon cake, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate shortbread drops, and vanilla and chocolate cookies among many other things. This time though, I decided to go on a complete revamp and the only "classic" thing I stuck to were the chocolate shortbread drops.

This time, I made vanilla biscuits, chocolate shortbread drops, spiced Belgian biscuits with raspberry jam, maple syrup butter whirls, vanilla kisses, cherry and almond loaf, spiced caramel cake (which I am sharing today!), marble cake, mini triple chocolate cakes, and lavender cupcakes.

Bread for breakfast!

The night before Eid, I package them in cute boxes and send them to some relatives and friends. The rest I keep for Eid breakfast at our place.

I love planning for Eid breakfast at our place because that's when I get to be all creative with a table setting and give out presents to family members and friends who come over. Our breakfast also includes doorbell rings from neighborhood children asking for Eidiya (eid money that you give children). We package these in cute little pouches with candy and hand it out to them.



At Eid, women also get elaborate henna designs done and the henna salons are packed with hundreds of people the nights leading up to Eid. Sometimes you have a wait of 8 hours (yikes! I know!) They hand out numbered coupons like counter tickets and if I'm getting henna done at a salon I pick up a ticket at 1PM and return at 9PM (which is inevitably when my number is called!). Most times, I have a henna lady come over to the house. It's so much better that way since I prepare for bed, wear my pyjamas and then get Henna done. It takes a while to dry and if you wash your hands soon after it dries off, chances are the color won't turn out as deep as it could. That's why I prefer getting Henna done at the end of the day and at home. It also gives me a chance to prepare for breakfast until the last possible minute.

Here's the recipe for the spiced caramel cake which is extremely easy and quick to make!

125g butter, chopped
200g dark brown soft sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp golden syrup
225g self raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
125ml milk
240g sifted icing sugar
30g softened butter
2 tbsp milk
50g dark chocolate, chopped 


Grease deep 20cm round cake pan, cover base and side with baking paper.
Combine all ingredients in medium bowl of electric mixer, beat on low speed until ingredients are combined. Then, beat on medium speed until mixture is just smooth and changed in color; do not overbeat. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake in moderate oven about 55 minutes. Stand 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.
Mix together the icing sugar, butter and milk until fluffy, smooth, and spreadable. Spread over the cake.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and spoon into a sandwich bag.
Make a tiny incision at the base of the sandwich bag and draw lines over the cake with the melted chocolate. First draw vertical lines, then horizontal ones, then diagonal ones.
Eat and enjoy!

spiced caramel cake

More of the floral table

A Very Floral Luncheon Indeed

This is a slightly more colourful rendition of my classic feminine table setting. I was thinking of the best way to camouflage floral foam in a transparent vase of a funny/odd shape and saw a bunch of petals in a plastic bag at the florist's... And so I thought, ta-da! Might as well stuff the vase with petals all around so that the foam's hidden.

Eid baking