Tag Archives: strawberry

Watermelon,Strawberry & Pomegranate Punch

 

 

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The summer solstice is long gone and the summer school holidays have finally started here,which means in less than a month’s time we will be in the summer bank holidays which unofficially marks the end of summer.So there’s not much time in hand to enjoy and make most of the left over summer days.We are trying hard to catch up with the pace of summer ! But phew!! Last weekend when the sun was out, I thought of doing a bit of pampering to myself.Throughout the weekend this is what I did.Reading,eating,relaxing and repeat !

 

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I made this cool and refreshing drink for two of us.All I did was hurl all my favorite fruity red(s) together into a glass pitcher and made one of the most refreshing yet low calorie beverage possible.I don’t know about you ,but my favorite summer red(s) are watermelon,strawberry and pomegranate.If I am not making a salad with them,I am making a dessert with them,and if I am not making a dessert I am making some cool ,refreshing drink with them.

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Strawberry is my favorite smell ,whereas watermelon is one my most favorite summer fruit.Watermelon is not only sweet and refreshing on warm days,but it is also high on water content,which is fabulous for keeping you hydrated. A strawberry,watermelon,pomegranate drink was the order of the day.Whereas the  flavors of lime and mint added the much needed twist to the otherwise sweet and fruity drink.

 

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What you’ll need:

  • 1/2 litre water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 cup assorted red fruits* : watermelon chunk(de-seeded) ,strawberry,pomegranate
  • 1/2 litre  fresh watermelon juice
  • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • lime slices,a few
  • crushed ice
  • few mint leaves for garnish

 

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How to make it :

  • In a liquidizer blend the water,water melon juice , watermelon chunks,honey  until smooth.
  • Add the lemon juice and crush ice and blend for a few seconds longer.
  • Put the red fruits*and lime slices into a pitcher and pour the blended drink on top of the fruits.
  • Coat the mint leaves with some honey and garnish it on top of the pitcher.
  • Refrigerate until ready to serve,serve chilled.
  • Enjoy!

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Related posts :

Petite Strawberry Cheesecake

Yogurt Mousse with Strawberry Marshmallow & Blueberry Compote

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Strawberry and Twix

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An ode to the British summer with Petite Strawberry Cheese-cake

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The Great British Summer is here and how! We have been (so far! touch wood!!)blessed with a wonderful summer  this year and we are making most of it,as long as it lasts.British countryside has so much to offer that we are practically hopping around almost every weekend .Fortunately we live in the neck of the wood of one of the most scenic places in UK,called Peak District,so all we need to do is to pack our picnic hampers,and zoom off for some 45 minutes to land up in some lush and  scenic green.And how green and beautiful it is?..well check it out yourself!

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Talking about summer and summer day outs,how can I not mention about my favorite summer fruit.You guessed it right.I love strawberries,and I love desserts too(as if it’s still not evident from the number of my desserts post!).With not much time to spend in the kitchen (why should I ,when the sun is out?)I decided to make these quick  make-ahead petite strawberry cheesecake desserts to treat myself and my family.

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Easy- check

Wow presentation- check

Mouthwatering -check

Do you still need reasons to make these beauties?

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Ingredients:

  • Digestive biscuit or your choice of biscuit base -75 gm
  • Butter – 25 gm,melted
  • 250 gm cream cheese,soften
  • 50 gm granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon strawberry essence
  • 140 gm plain natural yogurt
  • Strawberries, to decorate

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Method:

  • Melt butter in a pan over low heat.Crush the biscuits in a blender until they resemble bread crumbs.Mix the crumbs and the butter until the mixture is soft and moistened enough.Spoon equal portion of the mixture in 6 shot glasses.Lightly press down and leave to chill in the fridge.
  • While pressing down your biscuit base,apply moderate pressure as excessive pressure can make the base extremely hard to spoon out.
  • Beat the cream cheese, yogurt,strawberry essence and sugar together with a fork till the mixture becomes smooth and creamy.
  • Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the prepared shot glasses.Leave to chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours or until set.
  • Top with a strawberry before serving.

 

Note : You can replace strawberry with other berries of your choice for this dessert.

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Chocolate Fudge Cake with Strawberry and Twix : The making of a birthday cake

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Whether it’s the 1st birthday  or a surprise 30th birthday  or a 100 year celebration, birthday cakes are as special as the birthdays themselves. Ain’t they? Birthdays for me are sheer nostalgia of home made fruit cakes specially baked by Maa with lots of love.I would wait year round for this special day to smell and taste the richness and goodness of home baked cakes.There were not many bakery shops back then in Kolkata and not many catering custom made cakes ,so Maa was the only one who I would look up-to on my birthdays for cakes.I would be her little assistant helping her making the cake batter or keeping an eye on the cake from outside the glass door of the cake oven.Helping her doing the cake was so much fun.Little did I know one day this cake apprenticeship with mom will inspire me to bake birthday cakes myself.

It was my husband’s birthday,been 4  year into the marriage I have been doing the baking ritual every year on his birthdays or shall I say growing with my baking abilities on the occasion of his birthdays?!! I have planned an impromptu surprise party; there was so much to do like inviting guests,arranging things, doing the groceries ,baking a cake -all that secretly! Quite a tough task at hand with only 5 days to his birthday.So I decided to ease out on the cake.The plan was to make a simple chocolate cake with a fudge ganache and easy but interesting decoration to go with.I  chalked out the idea and look of the cake that I would like to make, and made a quick list of ingredients to buy.Once the ingredients were at my disposal making the birthday cake was a cakewalk,literally !

And here comes the confession : I am no pro at this,just learning my way through lots of trial and error- the art of baking.But honestly I feel baking can be therapeutic.It’s like a magic to see a batter of cocoa powder,sugar,plain flour to transform slowly into a moist  fluffy chocolate cake.It’s like the caterpillar to butterfly  transformation story for me.

Recipe for Chocolate Fudge Cake with Strawberry and Twix 

Ingredients


For the Cake

225 g plain flour/self raising flour

350 g caster sugar

85 g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 free range eggs

250 ml milk

125 ml vegetable oil/sunflower oil

2 tsp vanilla extract/ vanilla essence

250 ml boiling water

 For the chocolate fudge icing

400 g blocks  of milk chocolate,chopped

2/3 cup thickened cream/double cream

1/2 cup caster sugar or to taste

3-4 tbsp milk (if required)

 

For decoration of the cake

200 g strawberries, halved

A few packet of Twix or KitKat

A ribbon of your choice

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Preparation  of the Chocolate Cake


1.Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F

2.Grease a cake tin of 20 cm/8 inch

3.Sift the cake flour, cocoa powder ,sugar in a large bowl ensuring that there is no lump in the batter.

4.Add the baking powder and salt to the mix.Give a dry whisk with the hand blender to mix all the dry ingredients.

5.Start adding all the wet ingredients (except boiling water) one by one: eggs,milk,oil and vanilla essence or extract.

6.Using an electric beater or a hand blender mix the batter well so that the ingredients are well combined.

7.Add the boiling water a little at a time,blending well so that the batter is smooth and liquidly.

8.Pour the mixture in the greased cake tin.

9.Bake at 180C for about 40 mins or until the top is firm to touch or skewer inserted to the centre of the cake comes out clean.

10.Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 10 mins.

11.Use a spatula or a blunt knife to loosen the cake from the side and base.

12.Cool the cake in the wire wrack completely at least for 2-3 hour before applying the fudge icing.

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Preparation of the fudge icing


1.Add 1″ of water in a medium saucepan or pot and bring to gentle simmer(you can speed up the process by adding 1 tsp of salt to the water)

2.Place heat proof bowl with an handle attached on top the pot when the water has reached the boiling point.Make sure that the bottom of the pot is not touching the boiling water.The steam of the water will gradually heat up the pot.

3.Add the chopped chocolate pieces to the pot and stir occassionaly until smooth and melted.Add the cream at this point mixing throughly.Finally add the sugar to the mix and let it melt.

4.Keep little milk handy,in case if the fudge icing becomes very thick,adding milk will make it smoother and easier to apply on the cake.

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Decorating the Chocolate Cake

1.You can keep the fudge icing in the fridge for half an hour or so to thicken it a bit.It should be thick enough to hold the Twix or Kit-kat sticks when placed against the cake wall.

2.Spread the fudge icing or ganache with the back of a flat spatula generously on top and all around the cake so that it forms a thick coating.

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3.Then stick the Twix or Kit-Kat sticks,one by one against the fudge coating.

4. Top the cake with halved strawberries.

5.Drizzle some of the leftover fudge icing on the strawberries if you wish to.

6.Don’t forget to tie a ribbon round the cake to make it look like the perfect gift ever 🙂

Serving suggestion

When serving individual portions warm the cake pieces with a Twix  or KitKat stick for about 30 seconds in the microwave and serve with a scoop of your favourite vanilla icecream.

CAKE