Kids Enjoy Easter Fun ~ Adults Enjoy with Zesty Orange Chocolate Brownies

Easter is fun time for kids as exams are over in this part of the world.... There's a break from school for kids just before the new session starts in their new classes....

That's Ciona, in her bunny ears... isn't she just adorable.... She informs me that she's big girl now and is going into her BIG class, Nursery-B. She loved the idea that eggs shells can be painted..

I had quite a time preparing for all this.... Cleaned up empty egg shells for the kids to paint.... Made Orange Cookies and went about icing them with royal icing... This was the first time I was dealing with royal icing... Was totally paranoid about how it will work out.... Guess that's what baking is about for me... pushing my limits..... Icing was [and is] back-breaking work for me... need to work very fast with it else due to the horrid temperature n humidity levels here, icing tends to grow a mind of it's own... [which definitely doesn't wanna do what I need it to do....]
This time I thought, instead of just yummy stuff to eat, the kids should get to do some fun activities too... Each of the kids got their own write up on, What is Easter? Why is it celebrated, Why the Bunny and Eggs on Easter? etc which their mummies read out to them Read up here...

They also got an activity sheet with Step-by-Step instructions for making this bunny basket... Find them here....
A print out of an Egg drawing, which they could colour along with the empty eggshells.

Some more colouring fun....

That's Simran and Armaan, my next door neighbours... very sweet kids.... Simran's still working on her basket her mummy informs me...

This post is off to Easter Cake Bake Event, being hosted by Julia at 'A Slice of Cherry Pie ... I guess my 'Zesty Orange Chocolate Brownies' would qualify as cake for this event... :-)

Pat a cake pat a cake baker’s man

Bake me a cake as fast as you can

The kids enjoyed the Easter Fun with cookies, colouring and craft work n I ENJOYED making these while the parents enjoyed my Zesty Orange Chocolate Brownies....

Mr.Nibbles loved the Zesty Orange Chocolate Brownies

Heart Cupcakes n Rainbow Icing for Ciona

Ahhh.... the joy of baking for kids..... They're just adorable.... That's Ciona.... She's a cute little kid who has this running joke with me... मिठाई से कपरे धोते हैं....['indian sweets are used to wash clothes' cause the small white ones look like bars or soap, n she loves to wash clothes.. all sorts of clothes, even washed clothes :-) ]

The rainbow icing was my experiment with leftover icing..... lesson learnt... butter icing in summers is very difficult to handle.... it's either too hot in the kitchen so it melts and doesn't hold shape or if put in the fridge... it hardens and doesn't flow well to ice the cupcakes.....

The heart shape cupcakes happened from the Mini Heart Silicone Wilton Baking Cups bought by my sister from USA.... They did give a nice shape to the cupcakes.... did have to use a knife though to wedge in the join on the top to make the heart shape more pronounced. Over all, was happy with the effect.
Had asked her mom to refrigerate these for storage and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds before eating, when i sent them over..... forget refrigerate.... They were polished off, the second the kids lay their hands on them. Ciona's teenage elder sister, disha refused to be photographed.[super conscious teens :-)]

Email from Ciona
Thank you Nachi di.
I couldn't wait for mom to even bring me a spoon to eat the yummy looking cupcakes.
It was the yummiest I ever had.

tks
Ciona

Orange Butterfly Cookies for Gunjan, The Little Imp

Butterfly In The Wind

A child is........

A butterfly in the wind,
Some can fly higher than others;
but each one flies the best it can.
Why compare one against the other?

Each one is different!
Each one is special!
Each one is beautiful!

Author Unknown

Gunjan is my friend Yogita's daughter..... She's such a cutie....

Her expressions are just brilliant... She has the ability to wrap her parents around her fingers and make them do exactly what she wants in the most adorable way....

The minute she saw a box passing from me to her mom, she just had to know what was in it.... it was opened instantly and oh the look on her face..... made the entire day's effort worthwhile on 'Orange Butterfly Cookies with Chocolate Ganache'.....

She even had a butterfly bib.... infact she herself was looking like a fairy in a white n pink frock...
Since she's had the cookies..... She's been eating out of my hands.... and what a poser she is :-)

The glee n joy in her eyes was so apparent...
I want more.... I want more.... I want more.... I want more.... I want more....

Mommy n baby... gunjan's mimicking the 'googly woogly woosh' of the ponds cold cream ad...

So Readers, What would you do to eat cookies, have you broken jars as kids?

Gunjan n Anuraag's Birthday Cookies n Chocolate Cake ~ Eating Your Words 2010

Happy Birthday Gunjan and Anuraag.....

They are both born on 1st of March... Different years ofcourse..... ;-)

Both of them work in the tech team of 99acres.com at Infoedge with me.....

We had a small cake cutting party in the lunch room.... [much after everyone left.... they just didn't want to share this cake....] so what did they do??????????????? They had got another cake from Nirula's which was used for smearing on their faces..... :-)

That's Sahil... Gunjan's hubby, who joined in for the celebrations... and got smeared along with them. He's very sweet and came all the way last year aswell ..... isn't that adorable... :-)

Bhaskar is our perpetual camera man... finally captured in front of the camera.... and Puneet also our photographer got smeared......

Bahut dino ke baad haath aaye ho.... holi bhi nahin kheli thi.... to lo phir.... cookie khao..... ;-)

My sister in the US came visiting and got me a load of goodies.... icing colours came calling when Gunjan asked me to make her cake COLOURFUL......... where i really got stuck was.... this was a common cake for a guy and girl.... what should I do?

After a lot of craziness in my head... decided that balloons are for celebrations irrespective of the gender...... took out my cookie cutter and baked away.....

The cake was a Chocolate Black out Cake, soaked with lots of rum and fabulously Chocolatey Ganache on top.....

This Post is off to Eating Your Words... 'Write, spell or draw’ using food or drink. A fun challenge hosted by Savor The Thyme and Tangled Noodle. Their Round up [Eating Your Words Roundup, Part I || Eating Your Words Roundup, Part II] for the last event was really fun....

So here's my entry for it... Cookies which spell the names of the Birthday gal and guy..... ANURAAG & GUNJAN....

Happy Birthday to both of you... :-)

Update: Eating Your Words... 'Write, spell or draw’ using food or drink, round up has been published by Savor The Thyme at Eating your Words 2010 Round Up and Tangled Noodle at Eating your Words 2010 Round Up

Fruit Pannacotta.... ~ For Tuesdays

This friend of mine loves fruits and fasts on Tuesdays as a health regimen and eats only fruits n curd......
For you.... fruit pannacotta....

Step 1:
Puree the fruits you like in a blender.... I used Sapodilla (Cheeku), Water melon(Tarbooz) and Melon(Kharbooza). Blend 1 fruit at a time.


Step 2:
Add castor sugar to taste depending on the sweetness of the fruits used and mix well in the blender.

Step 3:
To set the fruit, add gelatin (depending on the fruit... Water melon will need more gelatin to set it as compared to cheeku as it's way more watery) and chill till set.

Step 4:
Whip up hung curd and add a layer over the chilled fruit layer.

Step 5:
Decorate with chocolate shavings and thousand island to add some colour.

Step 6:
Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hope you had a gr8 time :-)

Happy Birthday to me ~ Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake for Parshad

Wished myself Happy Birthday by making 'Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake' for Parshad.
With babaji, mom and parshad....
The awesome ladies in the kitchen..... Veena didi, Gunu didi, Charu aunty, Meeta didi along with Neha didi, Upma mom and babaji......

My love for coffee reflected in the choice of parshad aswell... It's winters in this part of the world, so I could use loads of hung curd and some whipped cream without the fear of it getting spoilt in the heat... :-)
Coffee Mania, which is why I have a T-shirt that says... "Too much Blood in my Caffeine System"..... and the only thing which wakes me up on a groggy morning is a mommy-made-cold coffee.... an awesome 'pick-me-up'.....

The recipe for this is available at Cappuccino Tiramisu Cheesecake ~Happy Birthday, Baking Queen ~ Deeba
I used loads of Coffee, Kahlua and some coffee flavouring [for the sugar free ones where alcohol couldn't be used]
Ahhhhh... the aroma of coffeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee in the house..........

The soft creamy mixture of hung curd, whipped cream, mascarpone.... so light n heavenly.....

Had cooked for 300 people.... so we had the whole kitchen and room full of stuff for 2 days... The entire bed and then the 2 refrigerators were full of little boxes at various stages of preparation.....

Every body picthed in while making parshad..... mom and the 2 cooks in our house.....

This is one of the cutest kids in mall road... Gunjan.... She's a real imp... She's one bundle of happy energy and bounces off the walls after eating the cakes, sweets n desserts that i get her..... ain't she adorable...

The verdict: Yummy........ lots of people asked for seconds... however, the kids found it a tad bit bitter....

Chocolate Tiramisu ~ Amrita's Birthday

Happy Birthday Amrita..... Sisters certainly fall in the A-List of people who I bake for.....

The bon fire gave the evening such warmth.... The girls had a blast..... No chocolate facials this time....
Happy Birthday....

Army of cousins Tushar, Abhimanyu, Nivritti, Amrita and me... Chetan and Akshita... U were missed a lot.... Daksayani sends you her love from the kitchen... Add to this the friend brigade of Bennifer and Sheena...

Me bitten by the Tiramisu bug...... yes.....
Amrita says... but everyone whose coming likes chocolate.....
hmmmm.... adding Chocolate to Tiramisu can't be that tough..... :-)
Chocolate Tiramisu... Here I come..... I added Cocoa to the cream mixture after it reached soft peaks...

Daksayani also wishing Amrita didi while participating in making the Tiramisu..... and naughtily eating up lots of the cake... You can't miss the gleam in her eyes.... :-)
Daksayani polishing away the cake n freaking out at the sight of Cocoa aka Chocolate.... me adding the final touches with cocoa sprinkled on the top....
Find the entire recipe of the Tiramisu here...You Know.... It's For YOU, Tiramisu...
The Verdict:

Have a great time Amrita... Happy Birthday :-)