LAYER CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE AND CUSTARD FILLING

“I suppose I wanted to have my cake and eat it.

But then again, what were you going to do with your cake if not eat it?

Frame it?

Use it as a sachet in your underwear drawer?”

― Marian Keyes, Watermelon

 

For the Reluctant Chef celebrates 500 facebook likes! Since the Reluctant Chef likes nothing more than celebrating pretty much anything we're going to party it up with this over the top double layer cake with chocolate ganache and custard filling.

Thank you to all those people who keep checking in to see what's going on with the world's smallest food blog. Thank you also for all those spambots trying to sell me hemarroid cream and anti-depressant medication who I suspect make up a large portion of the hits Blogger is counting. Thank you all! I'd like to repay you with the recipe for this elaborate cake  - it's definitely meant for an occassion.

I love that this cake has so much random stuff going on. There's a layer of cake! Ooh there's another layer! Oh my god is that chocolate on top? Is the whole thing stuffed with custard?! Yes! Yes! This is all true. If you have fruit/candy/sprinkes/nuts on hand you can thrown them on here and turn this into a real carnival. Don't hold back! The time for restraint was gone the moment you decided to bake this.

Serves atleast 8

Adapted from Nigella Lawson

 

What you’ll need:

For the cake

200 gm flour

3 tbsp custard powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

5 eggs

225 gm melted butter

200 gm caster sugar

3 tbsp milk

For the filling

125 gm sugar

4 tsp custard powder

75 gm butter

¼ cup boiling water

For the icing

200 gm chocolate

3 tbsp water

*sprinkles if you want to decorate some more*

How to:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter 2 equal sized dishes. Put aside.

 

2. Put all the ingredients for the sponge cake together and blend. Divide equally between the 2 pans and bake for 20 mins.

 

Note: The best way to do this is to usually sift all the dry ingredients together, then add the eggs, then the butter and to whisk everything well. Add the milk last to make the batter wetter.
 

3. Once your cakes are baked – leave them out to cool for a little while.

 

4. While the cakes are cooling, plunk in all the ingredients for the custard filling and whisk really well. Make sure the water is really hot so the custard powder dissolves and you don’t have a powdery residue left on your tongue while eating the filling.
 

 5. Spread the custard filling generously between the two cakes and stick them together. No need to be very neat, a little of the bright yellow custard oozing out between the sponge adds colour.
 

 

6. Melt the chocolate in a pan and add water or heavy cream if you need to liquefy the chocolate some more. Once melted pour on top of the custard sponge sandwich you’ve created.
 

7. Decorate some more if you want.
 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: BAGELS CAFE, MEHARCHAND MARKET - CURRENTLY CLOSED

For a light work lunch

 

Bagels Café in Meharchand is an underdog. Serving good food made with good quality ingredients in a slightly utilitarian space it seems to be an awkward fit in a market filled with overdesigned foof. There are no cutesy, hand painted tea sets strewn around and not a single bird cage draped with fairy lights and flowers. I’m not sure how this place will survive.

In an ideal world the fact they’re selling you a filling bagel, giving you a heap of options for what you can put inside it and efficient service would be enough. In the real world Chez Nini is packed every weekend because they’ve managed to delude people into believing a Prawn Burger is French food. Poor poor Bagels Café.



Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagel

LOOKS LIKE

The place is mostly white with the occasional pop of colour and a wall with seriously high def photos of bagels. It’s tasteful though far from exciting. The designer missed adding that one defining quirk or theme that would make the establishment memorable (like the anime at Mamagoto or the movie posters at Big Chill).



Lamb Burger Bagel

TASTES LIKE 

When you think about it, anything can be sandwiched into a bagel. Apparently the owners of Bagels Café think the same way. They’re offering you Pizza Bagels, Omelet Bagels, Sweet Bagels, Bagel sandwiches for fish lovers and on and on. No skimping on the range of bread either – plain white or wheat, sesame, onion garlic, cheddar cheese, multigrain, cinnamon raisin and the rather dubious sounding “everything.” There are also pastas, desserts and quiches on the menu but I really don’t see the sense in ordering salads or soup from a place called Bagels Café.  
 

The Smoked Salmon on multigrain (French Plain Cream Cheese, Smoked Salmon, Capers and Onion Rings) is ample in portion size. An intimidatingly thick layer of cream cheese topped with salty, pink folds of soft smoked salmon dotted with fuzzy green capers served with a side of potato chips and cold potato salad. This meal may look compact but it is really filling.  
 

Even heavier is the Lamb Bagel Burger (Grilled Lamb flavoured with Basil, Lettuce, Onion and Mayonnaise). I don’t know if it’s fair for me to go on about a delicious slab of lamb slathered in mayo. Lamb burgers are my go to comfort food and in the darkest of times a spicy lamb burger has put a smile on my face. Unfortunately the burger wasn’t as well seasoned as I would have liked and the staff didn’t think to offer ketchup or mustard.  
 

The drinks could use some work – the Mint Fizz was too sweet, the sugar drowning out the mint leaves and the Tropical Sunrise will make your hair curl with sour.  
 

I’m excited about trying out their home delivery. They also sell plain bagels, fresh homemade cream cheese, hummus, pesto, stroopwafers and gouda. If there had been one closer to my office I’d be ordering bagels and a share of the week’s groceries in regularly. 



Mint Fizz and Tropical Sunrise

FEELS LIKE

The staff is efficient but we were the only ones there so I’m not sure how well they’d stand under pressure. Also their card machine wasn’t working when we turned up forcing us to leave a sweatshirt as security and go hunting for ATMs.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Should you go: Definitely!

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: No

Smoking Area: No

Address: 8 Meharchand Market, Lodhi Colony, New Delhi

Phone: +91 7838302646, 011 49051192

NEW YORK STYLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

“Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it I wash my mouth out with chocolate.”

― Charles M. Schulz

 

300 people like For the Reluctant Chef! Celebrating today with a history lesson on cheesecakes!

That the ancient Greeks came up with what we today call the cheesecake makes me marvel at what a glorious and evolved race they were. The Greek physician Aegimus even wrote a book on the art of making cheesecake. Like their ideas on philosophy and politics I think people realized the Greeks knew what they were talking about and before you knew it everyone had gotten on board the cheesecake train.

The basic cheesecake is made of fresh cheese, eggs, sugar and topped sometimes with fruit or chocolate but almost every country has it's own interpretation. New Yorkers use heavy cream or sour cream and twice bake their versions while the French have come up with a much lighter cake made of Neufchatel Cheese and gelatin as the binder. South Americans like to top it up with marmalade (guava in Brazil and strawberries in Argentina) while the English, Australians and Belgians don't bother to bake their adaptation. The list goes on since cheesecakes are made on every continent (that has people) and almost every country.

This is a recipe for a rich, creamy and utterly delicious New York style chocolate cheesecake:

   

What you’ll need:
 

For the base


125 gm digestive biscuits

60 gms butter

1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the filling 


175 gms dark chocolate

500 gms cream cheese

150 gms caster sugar

150 ml sour cream

1 tbsp custard powder

4 eggs

4 egg yolks

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp hot water

For the glaze (optional)


75 gms dark chocolate

70 ml cream

 

How to:
 

1. Smash the crumbs, cocoa and butter together to make a crumbly dough.

 

2. Press into an ovenproof dish evenly to make the base and pop in to the freezer.
 

3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
 

4. Put the water to boil and melt the chocolate.
 

5. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, custard powder. Then the eggs, the yolks and the sour cream. Finally the cocoa, hot water and melted chocolate. Beat till smooth.
 

6. Put the dish into a bigger dish that you can fill up halfway with just boiled water. Pour in the cheesecake filling. Bake with the hot water bath for about 45 minutes (till the top is firm).
 

Note: Cheesecakes are really dense and continue to cook even after you take them out of the oven. The water bath helps to spread the heat evenly so they cook better and don't crack up. You'll see from the photo that mine went ahead and craked anyway but don't worry it will continue to be scrumptious.
 

7. Let it cool out in the open and then let it set overnight in the fridge.
 

8. If you want to have a glaze on top of the cheesecake - melt the chocolate and cream and whisk till its smooth.

 
 

9. Drizzle the chocolate on top of the cheesecake and serve.  

BUTTERY CARROTS

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. - Jim Davis

Carrots are full up with beta carotene which the human digestive system metabolizes into vitamin A. Vitamin A is what keeps our eyes sharp, immune function up, skin shiny and bones strong. Raw carrots only release 3% of their beta carotene value but cooking and the addition of cooking oil or butter can result in the carrots releasing up to 39%. Apart from beta carotenes carrots will also serve up a good dose of dietary fibre, antioxidants and minerals.

The sweetness of the vegetable lends itself to being used in desserts - gaajar ka halwa and carrot cakes are on my recipe to do list. We've already had carrot soup on this blog.

While I cook carrots for all these good reasons I think my favourite bit is the cheerful pop of orange red on the table. Look at how pretty this simple dish can be:

Serves 4

Adapted from Good Food Magazine

 

What you’ll need:
 

½ kg carrots (cut into chunks)

500 ml vegetable stock (I usually just melt a cube of Maggi vegetable stock in a pan of hot water)

3 tbsp butter

3 bay leaves

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp dried thyme or oregano (or whatever seasoning you have on hand)

½ tsp sugar

Salt and pepper to season

 

How to:
 

1. Pop butter into a pan, stir around with bay leaves, coriander seeds. Add the carrots and stir some more. Finally add the vegetable stock and whatever seasoning you’ve picked and cook covered for 5 minutes.
 

2. Once the carrots start to get tender cook with no lid so the stock can evaporate and the carrots get all glazed and shiny. 

MINT, ORANGE, CHICKPEA AND FETA SALAD

“The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind.” – G.K. Chesterton

This is such a glorious, colorful, citrusy salad!

Summer is here and it's time to remember all those weight loss resolutions from January. Start with this?

Serves 4

 What you’ll need:
 

 

100 gms feta (cut into little cubes)

400 gms chickpeas (boiled and drained)

2 oranges (cut it into chunks and take out the seeds)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp vinegar

Salt and pepper to season

Small bunch of mint (chopped) 

How to: 

 

1. Find salad bowl. Throw chickpeas, feta, orange and mint into it.  
 

2. For the dressing, in a separate bowl chuck together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

 

3. Pour dressing on salad. Serve.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: CHERI ONE QUTUB

For the romance (and the Sunday brunch)

This restaurant is so damn pretty I want to forgive it all its flaws. And that’s easy since Cheri mostly gets it right.  



The Mutton Shawarma

LOOKS LIKE

 Cheri has a dreamy courtyard, gilt heavy indoors and a beautiful billowy terrace - so you can pick what suits your mood. Though so close to the main road the trees shield Cheri and give it a secluded villa feel. The large windows, pristine white walls and profusion of plants continue the villa theme. Cheri makes me wish I was really, really wealthy and could just buy the place and move in.

Who doesn’t want a wood fire oven in their courtyard?



From the Salad Bar

 TASTES LIKE

I’ve been to Cheri twice and the photos you see here are from their Sunday brunch. Most of the food is very good and it would be unfair to not mention the Wasabi Cream Cheese Lychees and the bread counter with accompanying dips, pestos and preserves. The a la carte menu is sort of generic continental with pastas, pizzas, grills and salads. The buffet menu is wider with shawarmas, grills and many kinds of delicious bite sized finger food type things.



Love taking photos of bread

There were a few non starters at the buffet though – the mutton shawarma and the pasta were inexcusably bland and undercooked. I’m willing to make concessions to the extent that buffets are made up of hits and misses but I have two concerns. First, even if it is a buffet Cheri gets the complicated things right like the Tiramisu and Chicken Hearts on Bruschetta (yes, chicken hearts) so not being able to grill mutton shawarma or mucking up the pasta is just silly. Second, what about when you order a la carte? At those prices Cheri can’t afford to go wrong with a relatively basic Pappardelle Pasta (Traditional Lamb Ragout, Eggplant Caviar, Parmigiano Reggiano).

I’m criticizing out of love. If Cheri could fix these little blips, the place would be superlative.



Lychees with Wasabi Cream Cheese

 FEELS LIKE

The staff is friendly and helpful as you would expect in an establishment of this caliber. Be prepared for expensively dressed, heavily perfumed patrons here.  



How pretty is this place?! It's ridiculous.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Should you go: Go for a romantic dinner or for the really enjoyable Sunday brunch

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: Yes

Smoking Area: Yes

Address: 1501 Kalka Das Marg, Mehrauli

Phone: +91 8800480048, +91 8130891002

DANISH'S RICH CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.  Author Unknown

 

Chocolate. The only thing in life that is best when dark and bitter.

Speaking of dark and bitter. I'm sure you've guessed I really enjoy cooking. I wish I had more time to do it but since I don't get home from work too early, my time in the kitchen is usually restricted to weekends. When it finally is the weekend, I really look forward to my kitchen time except for when I get around to working on a recipe I've set my heart on only to realize I'm missing an ingredient. I am SO tired of recipes with endless ingredients lists, the number of herbs and spices every cookbook needs you to buy and the expectation that you will have feta, ricotta and mascarpone readily available in your kitchen.

To record my protest against this phenomenon which requires every budding cook to spend all their time (and money) at expensive grocery stores buying vague-o ingredients with a carbon footprint the size of an adult bison I'm putting up this. An easy, relatively quick mousse recipe with 3 ingredients that works really, REALLY well.

Thank you Danish for the recipe!

Serves 2

Recipe from Danish Sheikh

What you’ll need:

70 gm dark chocolate (The darker the better. I just crumbled and melted Chokola’s 70% cocoa chocolate bar and it came out great.)

2 eggs

1 tsp sugar (powdered)

How to:

1. Separate the eggs. Keep the yolks aside.

2. Beat the whites till soft peaks form.

3. Melt the chocolate.

4. Into the melted chocolate, whisk the yolks in quickly. Then whisk in the egg whites 1/3 at a time. Make sure it’s all well amalgamated.

5. Spoon into 2 ramekins and set for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

6. Serve with whipped cream or without.

 

STRAWBERRY AND MASCARPONE TART

A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around. - E.W. Howe

 

A flaky pastry shell filled with light, creamy mascarpone all drenched in strawberries. Since this is the only season you'll get fresh strawberries in India don't let the chance go. This was my first experience with making pastry and it turns out, like most things that seem intimidating, when you get down to it - it isn't that scary after all.

Happy Women's Day.

 

Serves 8

Adapted from Good Food Magazine

 

What you’ll need:
 

For the filling
 

 

250 gm mascarpone

150 gm hung curd [Just tie up some curd in a muslin cloth and let the excess water drip out till you have the thick white paste of hung curd left]

150 ml double cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

500 gm strawberries (chopped)

For the crust
 

225 gm flour

100 gm butter (chilled and cut into little cubes)

Pinch of salt

How to:

 

Make the pastry
 

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
 

2. Sift the flour into a bowl, add the butter and knead till you have a crumbly mixture. Add 2-3 tbsp chilled water to knead into a dough. Wrap in cling film and chill.

 

3. Roll out the pastry to coin size thickness and line your baking dish. Put a layer of foil on top and fill with baking beans (or just ordinary beans) and bake for fifteen minutes.
 

4. Take out the foil and beans and bake for another 15 minutes till the pastry is golden. Let it cool completely.
 

Make the filling

 

5. Beat the mascarpone, hung curd, cream, icing sugar and vanilla together. Fill into the cool pastry case.

 

6. Top with most of the chopped up strawberries. Stick in the fridge for atleast 2 hours.
 

7. Puree the rest of the strawberries and serve with the strawberry pulp drizzled on top.
 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: SOY

Don't bother.

This kind of restaurant defeats me. Read on if you want to hear my rant but the sum of my message is don’t bother to go to Soy.


Curry Laksa

 LOOKS LIKE

Soy is pretty. I like the use of elegant, dark wood inside and their balcony lined with (unfortunately) fake plants is absolutely charming. None of this makes a very big difference since I don’t go to restaurants to gnaw on furnishings.  

TASTES LIKE 

I’m not going to bother to put paragraphs together for this. We ordered: 

1. Curry Laksa which was bland, watery and greasy.  

2. Hot and Sour Soup with Prawns where the prawns weren’t properly deveined. There were 3 sickly prawns in a very ordinary soup.  

3. Salt and Pepper Calamari which was too too salty to palate. The calamari didn’t seem fresh and the whole thing was soggy. Doesn’t anyone taste these things before they come out of the kitchen? 

 

Hot and Sour

4. Vegetable Phad Thai which was cold and greasy and without even half the lemongrassy zing I was expecting. Also it had chicken.  

5. Virgin Strawberry Mojito which I ordered because we actually have strawberries available in January. I received half a bottle of chemical syrup for being naïve enough to think a seasonal special would be made of the fruit available that season.  

I’ve spoken to friends who didn’t have such a nightmarish experience but I don’t have a large enough heart to give the place a second chance.  



Salt and Pepper Calamari

FEELS LIKE 

The staff were sweet but ineffective. They got our orders wrong twice and it took them too long to try to figure out how to fix their mistakes.



Phad Thai

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Should you go: No

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: Yes

Smoking Area: Yes

Address: 58, Middle Lane, Khan Market, New Delhi

Phone: 011 30146022 Extn: 570