Cherry Friands

I can’t re-blog any more in WordPress…What gives?

But glad to see cherries back in the groceries!

This is a re-post from September 2016.

Looking forward to making this again!

Cherry Friands

When I saw these, Cherry Friands, I knew I desperately wanted to try them. I saved the recipe. I even saved my last batch of fresh cherries in the freezer just for this recipe!

I created a lighter version with less butter and maple syrup. Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

45 grams flour
3/4 stick butter (will use only 1/2 next time)
80 grams almond meal
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 egg whites
a pinch of salt
6 pitted cherries

Prepare a 6 muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together: melted butter and egg whites. Add in flour,  almond meal, pinch of salt and maple syrup. Add 1-2 tbsp of batter into muffin tins. Top with a pitted cherry.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked and toothpick test passes.

 

Enjoy with a nice cuppa tea!

Cranberry Friands

I really enjoyed my Cherry Friands.

A lot.

I have been eagerly awaiting the Cherry season so I can make them again with fresh cherries.

Meanwhile, I decided to try some Cranberry Friands, mostly  following this recipe. It makes 12 friands and here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup almond meal
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking power
1 stick butter
5 egg whites
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup coconut flakes
2 tbsp white chocolate bits
a handful of slivered almonds (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees F. Prepare two muffin tins.

In a bowl mix together flour, almond meal, and baking powder. Whisk together egg whites, melted butter and sugar. Combine the two and mix well. Fold in cranberries, coconut flakes and chocolate bits. Mix well.

Scoop and add batter to muffin tins about 3/4 full. Sprinkle some slivered almonds and bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy with a cuppa tea!

Georgetown DC CupCakes

This was never a serious bucklist item. But since I have lived in the east coast for the last few few years, and CupCake Wars have been airing since 2010. When friends visit, I am happy to make an exception.

Strolling through Georgetown, we chose to wait 20 to 30 min outside Georgetown DC cupcakes to  purchase our first 1/2 dozen cupcakes: Salted Caramel, Chocolate Mint, Coconut, Pumpkin Spice, Red Velvet and Chocolate Ganache.

It was my birthday week. My best friend from childhood was here to help me celebrate. Who else better to do so…

Although coconut was my choice, we both agreed Salted Caramel as the best, followed by Pumpkin Spice as second best.

Healthy Whole Wheat Chocolate Cherry Muffins

After the intense heat of the summer, I finally dared to turn on the oven, this past weekend to bake some fresh Jalapeno sun-dried tomato bread and these delicious Chocolate Cherry Muffins. I came across this recipe a while back, and had thoughts of baking it with fresh cherries when they could be found in abundance,  but since, I was loath to do anything baking-related during the intense heat of the summer, I opted instead to wait until fall.

Deeba of PassionateAboutBaking makes everything look so delicious and easy, that I am always motivated and driven to try my hand at baking. I have always been interested in baking, but I don’t have the patience or the courage to try something so rich, decadent and ostentatious as the recipes that she posts. If pictures speak a thousand words, her’s seem to speak in millions!

While I coveted and craved her Mango Pastel de Tree Leches, I opted instead for the saner, simpler, and healthier: Chocolate Cherry Muffins. I had promised my colleagues, come fall, I would bring in some muffins. Here’s how I made mine:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup dry cherries
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup milk ( I used skim)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients,1 through 11, including cherries and chocolate chips. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil and vanilla essence. Combine with the dry ingredients and mix well.

Prepare 2-3 cup cake tins. Drop 1-2 tbsp of the mix into the prepared tins. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 15 happy and healthy muffins.

Happy Fall!

Mango Madness: Mango Carrot Muffins

Anything with mango piques my interest.

I first saw this recipe on Better Homes and Gardens Magazine at the gym and I was intrigued. I don’t have the patience to be a good baker. After two failed attempts to make a Mango Carrot Cake (both times it went from oven to trash), I was ready to quit. But I am not a quitter!

When a cake requires 2 slabs of butter, 1 8 oz of cream cheese and 5.5 cups of powdered sugar, I am less enthusiastic. I had the frosting right the second time, although the cake felt uncooked. I still say it takes more than 30 minutes to bake the cake!

With a some changes, and yeah when you call something Mango it had better be filled with Mango instead of Carrot, I improvised and made these really tasty, healthy,  Mango Carrot Muffins.

Ingredients:
1 cup white all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup mango juice (i used unsweetened)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cup shredded carrot and mango (I used 2 carrots and 1 mango)
2 eggs

Topping:
light natural frosting
some shredded carrot and mango

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder. In a separate bowl whisk 2 eggs and canola oil. Add to the flour mix and whisk. Add 2 cups of shredded carrot and mango.

Meanwhile prepare muffin tins. Add mix to muffin tins and bake for 35-45 minutes until golden and tooth pick test passes. Makes about 18 muffins.

Top with some light natural whipped cream, or make some cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle with some shredded carrot and mango just before serving. Enjoy!

Orange Blackberry Muffins

So… I still had the oranges I bought last week for the Cranberry Orange Bread  (which by the way was delicious… I took it in for an office party and it was all gone save a slice for me!)  And some fresh blackberries that were on sale. This was a perfect recipe to try.

Although this time rather than use orange rind, I decided to use the real thing.

Turned out pretty good….

Ingredients:
1 cup blackberries
1/4 cup fresh orange pulp
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tbsp  baking powder
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

Blend butter and sugar, add egg and milk blend until smooth.

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients. Mix well. Add orange and black berries and mix.

Grease muffin tin and add batter.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy with a cuppa of fresh cardamon tea. Yummy!

Makes 6 muffins.

Adapted from ELR.

Note: If you like your muffins sweet, you might want to add more sugar.

Celebrate end of summer with Mango

Anything with mango always attracts me. Coming from a tropical country where mango is a native fruit and vegetable, I crave to eat mango especially raw, green, and sour mango.

Mango season usually starts in early spring or the start of summer in  March in tropical climates. Or maybe even earlier. In tropical climates, mango trees start to flower in January-February and are in full bloom. Baby mangoes can start appearing as early as February and start to mature in early spring. It is a hectic time when people buy or harvest raw green mango and transform it to the different pickles while relishing the raw vegetable in dal, chutney and other forms.

Summer is also the time the fruit is found in abundance: juicy fruit enjoyed after a meal, best eaten by sucking the juice directly from the fruit or sturdier variety sliced into pieces and enjoyed with curd rice.

Mango has many uses:

• baby mangoes are sliced and used in pickles
• in vegetable form, raw green mango is used in pickles, in dal, in rice and other recipies.
• dried mango powder is used as spice in cooking
• dried sliced mango is preserved to be used in dal during off season
• as a fruit it is available as different varieties
  • juicy and soft and enjoyed by sucking the jucies
  • sturdy varieties peeled and sliced and enjoyed usually with curd rice or stand alone

Mango Preserves

Mango is also preserved in different forms for use during the rest of the year. Raw green mango is sliced and dried in the sun so it can be used in dal in the off season or is also dried and powdered  (Amchur) is available for use as a spice in recipes that need a tangy flavor. Dried mango pulp is sweetened and dried to be relished as a snack, or made into jam or used in mango ice cream or simply sliced and preserved in it’s own juices that can be used in smoothies, lassies or fruit salads.

Mango is versatile and delicious in its numerous forms. Enjoy the end of summer with one of these recipes!

Fresh Mango recipes:

Mango Vermicelli
Mango Dal
Mango Pickle
Mango Gazpacho
Mango Salsa
Mango Banana Muffin
Mango Tea Bread
Mango Pie or Mango Ice Cream Pie
Mango Lassi
Mango Salad

Mango Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 ripe mango
3/4 cup whole wheat or white flour
1/4 cup chopped dry mango
1/4 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup walnuts
1 egg
1/8 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Blend chopped mango and banana in a mixer. Transfer to a bowl. Add egg and canola oil and whisk. Combine with dry ingredients. Add the nuts and dried mango and mix well.

Meanwhile grease a muffin pan. Scoop batter to 3/4 of the way in the greased pan and bake for 25 minutes. Makes 6 muffins. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee or tea!

This recipe is adapted from Banana Mango Muffin recipe on Eat, Live, Run

See also:
Celebrate end of summer with Mango