Mother’s Day is right around the corner, (literally 3 days away), and whats sweeter than a cupcake bouquet?
My Mom is a lover of marble cupcakes, and I remember we had them almost every day, as kids, with tea or on road trips, or for school snacks.
So this year, why not return the favour to her, and bake her some marble cupcakes, decorated as a cupcake bouquet!
Ingredients
125g Margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon Pradip Vanilla Essence
1/2 cup milk
1 & 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Method
Preheat your oven at 180°Celsius.
Line your cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
In one bowl, sift/whisk together the baking powder and all-purpose flour. (refer to this for the importance of sifting them together).
In a second bowl, soften your margarine with your mixer or spatula. Add the sugar and mix until well incorporated.
Add your eggs to the margarine mixture, until incorporated.
Add the Vanilla Essence.
Slowly add your flour mix and milk into the margarine and eggs mix. This should be done alternating so as to incorporate air into the batter and make your cake lighter as opposed to dense. Starting and ending with flour.
Once everything is well incorporated, divide the cupcake batter into two. Add cocoa butter to one of the portions and mix well.
Scoop both batters into the cupcake tray and bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes.
Once the cupcakes are cool,
Spread some glucose syrup on one corner of a cake board. Place around 7 cupcakes on the syrup. This will ensure the cupcakes don’t move around.
Below the cupcakes, place some fondant “stems” on the board. Add a fondant ribbon/bow.
Decorate the cupcakes with rosettes, and add little accents of choice.
It’s been raining every morning, consistently, for the past two weeks. Meaning I have good reason to just make pancakes for breakfast and have enough left over for snacking throughout the day.
The best part about these pancakes is that they are suitable for all dietary options as they contain no eggs or dairy milk.
Let’s get on it.
Ingredients
1 & 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Pradip Cinnamon Powder
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups Soy Milk
Method
In a large bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon powder.
Add the oil and then the soy milk. Whisk until all ingredients are combined and the pancake batter is lump free.
Heat up your frying pan and add about a tablespoon of oil.
Spread the oil with a serviette. This will also help remove excess oil.
Pour about 1/4 cup of the pancake batter onto the pan and swirl the pan to spread it.
Let the pancake cook on medium heat for about 1 minute on each side. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
After posting the red velvet cupcakes on Thursday, I got tonnes of requests to post the ganache recipe I used.
When making ganache i can use to pipe or cover a cake, I use a ratio of 1:1 of chocolate and whipped cream, then I let it set for about an hour.
You can let the ganache set for longer then microwave it to the consistency that you’d like.
For the cupcakes, I used-Enough for 12cupcakes
300g Dark compound chocolate
300g whipped cream – Not whipped.
Melt the chocolate using the double boiler method, until it’s smooth. You can also melt the chocolate using a microwave but be careful not to burn it.
Next, boil the whipped cream in a pot, on low heat. Once it starts bubbling, remove it from the heat source and immediately pour it into the melted chocolate.
Whisk until everything is well combined and let then cover it with cling film on the ganache. This ensures the ganache does not crust. Also cover the bowl with cling film. (Refer to video at the bottom of this post for clearer/visual explanation).
Let the ganache set in the fridge for about an hour before removing it.
Give the ganache a stir with your spatula to ensure it’s all smooth and at your desired consistency. Decorate your cupcakes/cake as desired.
To be fairly honest, this recipe happened by mistake. My red velvet recipe has always worked and I have never had a need to change it. Then last month, I sat for my master’s exams, and got slightly disoriented while working on a cupcake order, I added double the amount of buttermilk that was required, and had a bit of a panic attack when I realised it. My first instinct was to redo the cupcakes when that batch comes out because no one wants a soggy cupcake.
When these babies came out of the oven, they were super moist and had risen oh so beautifully, that i couldn’t resist sharing them. This has now been my go to red velvet cupcake recipe and topping it with dark chocolate ganache brings in a whole new level of decadence that I am living for!!
Ingredients
125g Margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon Pradip Vanilla Essence
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/8 cup Pradip cocoa powder
1/8 cup Pradip corn flour
1/4 teaspoon Pradip bicarbonate soda
3/4 teaspoon Pradip baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Pradip 4R
Method
Preheat your oven at 180°Celsius.
Line your cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
In one bowl, sift/whisk together the baking powder, red food colour, bicarbonate, cocoa powder, corn flour and all-purpose flour. (refer to this for the importance of sifting them together).
In a second bowl, soften your margarine with your mixer or spatula. Add the sugar and mix until well incorporated.
Add your eggs to the margarine mixture, until incorporated.
Add the Vanilla Essence.
Slowly add your flour mix and buttermilk into the margarine and eggs mix. This should be done alternating so as to incorporate air into the batter and make your cake lighter as opposed to dense. Starting and ending with flour.
Once everything is well incorporated, scoop about 1 tablespoon of the cake batter into the cupcake tray and bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes.
Let the cupcakes cool for at least 1hr, before decorating with dark chocolate ganache.
It’s workshop week and I am so busy, I kinda feel like I am too far behind schedule. I know I should have probably scheduled this post and edited this week’s video(s) in advance, but my schedule has been so overwhelming I didn’t even realize that last week ended suddenly!
Mahamris have been the most requested recipe on instagram, so I had to make them quick before my tardiness caught up with me! Mahamris are basically doughnuts, without the little hole in them. They tend to have cardamom and something coconut related in them – coconut milk or desiccated coconuts are the biggest options. This is mainly because, mahamris make part of the delicacy in the coastal region and if you find me looking for them I am longing for a holiday. Someone take me to Diani!!!
Mahamris are usually enjoyed with tea or with mbaazi (cowpeas) stew/curry and either way its fantastic.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting and kneading
1 tablespoon (10grams) instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon Pradip Cardamom
1 teaspoon Pradip Coconut Flavour – this will make your mahamris so good, Don’t skip on it
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup coconut milk – heated to lukewarm to activate the yeast.
Method
In a bowl, mix together the 2 cups flour, yeast, cardamom, and sugar. Stir to combine. Add the oil, coconut flavour and the lukewarm coconut milk and mix with a wooden spoon until you can knead it.
Knead until the dough no longer sticks to your hands or countertop.
Place your dough into a heat proof bowl, cover with a wet towel or clean film, and leave it somewhere warm to proof/bloom. Should take 20-40 minutes to bloom. I place mine on top of a warm oven. When proofing time is done, the dough will have doubled in volume, and will be really soft to touch.
Dust your surface with flour and roll a small piece of the dough into a circle. Cut into quarters. Video at the end of the blog!
Deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown, and let them drain the excess oil on a kitchen roll/greaseproof paper.
When the Mahamris have cooled about 5 minutes, roll them in Pradip desiccated coconut to garnish. – this is optional.
I legitimately thought I already had a chocolate chip blog post up. It just seems like one of those recipes that would have been the first that I shared. But, it’s never too late to make share these! the cookies are pretty simple, literally take no time to prep and are ready in no time!
Ingredients
250 grams margarine
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons Pradip baking powder
1 teaspoon Pradip Vanilla Essence
2 teaspoons milk
Chocolate chips – Desired amount.
Method
In a bowl, soften the margarine and then add the caster sugar to it. Mix until pale and fluffy.
When the margarine and sugar are well mixed, add the milk and vanilla essence. Mix until incorporated.
Add 1 cup flour and the baking powder to the mix, and continue mixing until incorporated. Add the remaining flour and the chocolate chips, then mix until everything is well incorporated.
Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate the cookie mix for 30 minutes.
Pre-heat your oven at 180° Celsius
Grease a baking sheet and place grease proof/parchment paper on it.
Scoop a tablespoon or less or more and roll it into a ball using the palms of your hand, place on the baking sheet. Do this with all the cookie dough. Should give 12-30 cookies depending on the preferred size.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. The edges of the cookies should be firm and the center soft to touch, while removing.
It’s April Fools Day, and also Easter Sunday. So let’s treat ourselves to making this lovely pizza.
I’m not a fan of pizza. To put it into perspective, I probably have Pizza once or twice a year. Mainly because I am not a cheese fan and also because I do know like how most pizza places make really dry pizzas with little to no toppings (but you can always request for extra toppings – but the extra toppings are usually none existent as well so it’s almost pointless.
This year on the other hand, I’ve been craving pizza on an almost weekly basis. Which is quite strange since I wouldn’t have been bothered to get Pizza 100 days ago.
Luckily, a chef friend volunteered to teach me how to make pizza and I swear this is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted.
I have possibly and probably made one once every week for the past two months. 😀 I am not complaining though! It’s Delish!!
Ingredients
For the Chicken
500g Boneless Chicken – cut into cubes
Spices – desired spices in desired amounts
Salt – to taste
1 red onions
1 teaspoon garlic
1teaspoon ginger
Dhania (coriander)
3/4 cup plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
In a large clean bowl, add the chicken, spices, salt, onion, garlic, ginger, Dhania, oil, vinegar and the yoghurt, and stir to combine. Cover the bowl in cling film and let the chicken marinate for 20-30 minutes.
For the pizza dough
1.5 cups all purpose flour ( plus extra for kneading and dusting)
1.5 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
Warm water
In a large bowl, mix in the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir to combine then add the oil. Add warm water, a little at a time, and mix to form a dough. If it’s too sticky, add more flour.
Dust the counter top with a little flour and knead the dough until soft, and doesn’t stick to the counter or to your hands.
I used a total of two cups of flour to make my pizza dough. (1.5 cups initially, then used 1/2 cup for kneading and dusting the counter )
Drizzle some oil into a clean bowl and place the dough. Cover the bowl with cling film and let the dough proof for 30 minutes
Back to the Chicken
Cook the chicken on medium heat until ready. If the marinade sauce is in excess when the chicken is ready, remove the chicken from the extra sauce.
Making the Pizza
Now that the dough is well risen and the chicken is ready, let’s assemble. Preheat your oven at 200°C
Ingredients
Pizza dough
Pizza sauce (I’m using store bought sauce)
Cooked chicken
Grated mozzarella (I use about 300g of cheese)
sweet corn
fresh coriander
Remove the pizza dough from the bowl, and deflate it. Knead it a little to remove excess air from it.
Roll the dough to desired size and thickness. I like to roll my dough a little thin, as it will rise again in the oven.
Transfer the dough to the baking tray. I’m using the oven tray lined with lightly greased baking/grease proof paper.
Grab a fork and poke holes into the dough. This is essential as it will help ensure the dough doesn’t bubble up while baking. This also helps the dough to not become soggy.
Add the pizza sauce. I love to spread a generous amount of the sauce on the pizza dough so the pizza is tasteful all over.
Add half of the mozzarella. I find that adding the cheese at this point makes the pizza more stringy and its wonderful for a cheese lover.
Add the chicken toppings.
Add the sweet corn
Add the remaining mozzarella.
Top with fresh dhania
Pop the pizza into the oven for 15 minutes. I bake the pizza on the middle rack so that the heat is evenly distributed. the edges of the crust should have browned.
Once the pizza is ready, remove from the oven, slice and serve warm!
Enjoy the pizza.
Let me know how you like it.
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Photography for this post was done by the oh so talented Abdul. Check out his profile HERE. He does bomb macro photography. You’ll possibly fall in love with bugs, and reptiles (though the latter is still a scary thing for me).
The Video would not have been possible without the help of one of my mains Cynthia! Her attention to detail brought this video to life! Check out her profile HERE. She does bomb interior, travel and landscape photography. You’ll probably want to travel after you visit her profile.
So I do not eat cake! Basically, I’m not a sweet tooth, so I don’t enjoy or get to eat any sweet treats. But this cake right here is my weakness! I remember the first time i heard of carrot cake, all I could think of was “yuck, who would want to eat that?” I was so skeptical about it, especially from it’s name, that i couldn’t bring myself to think that it was any good.
Then i took a bite of it and I was in love!!! I couldn’t believe there was a cake out thee that i could stomach eating a full slice of. I still get excited every time I eat it!
The original recipe of the carrot cake was from cakes.co.ke, but I have since adapted it to suit my non sweet tooth self and family, and I love Raisins, so why not add them to this mix and make it even better!
Here we go!
Ingredients – makes 1 kg cake
2 cups Grated Carrots
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup Pradip Raisins
2 teaspoons Pradip Cinnamon Powder
2 teaspoons Pradip Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Pradip Vanilla (optional)
3 cups all purpose flour
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease and dust a 10″ baking tin, set aside.
Sift the all purpose flour with the cinnamon and the baking powder. Set aside.
In a Large bowl, put the grated carrots and add the sugar. Whisk well, and let this sit for at least 10 minutes. This will allow the carrots to remove their natural liquid, adding more flavour to the cake and also ensuring the cake remains moist.
Once there is enough visible liquid, add the Vanilla, eggs and oil, and whisk.
Add the raisins, and whisk, then add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to ensure its well incorporated. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula when necessary.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until knife test comes out clean.
Once the cake is ready, let it cool for an hour before removing it from the tin. Let it cool completely before decorating.
I decorated mine with sprinkled icing sugar, a dollop of whipping cream and a raspberry.
This cake is overly moist, and it will serve as my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
For a visual tutorial, here’s the step by step video on our channel.
I know people always complain about how long January is, but, have have they experienced March yet? This March has been especially long. 😭😭 I’m happy with the workload, but being constantly exhausted drains my heart and soul. I’m longing for a coastal holiday. Would you like to come with?
My favourite part about being on holiday is the buffet breakfast! I would never miss it despite the circumstances. I love pancakes (or crepes depending on where you’re from) and I have especially been longing for the coconut pancakes.
These coconut crepes are especially easy to make and don’t get me started on taste!!! You’re going to devour all of them in a split second.
Ingredients
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 cup Pradip desiccated coconut
1.5 cups milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon Pradip vanilla
2 eggs
Method
In a deep bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and desiccated coconut.
In a second bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla and eggs. Whisk until well combined.
Make a well in the middle of the bowl of dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients. Whisk thoroughly until there are no lumps.
Heat up your frying pan and add 1tablespoon of oil.
Spread the oil with a serviette. This will also help remove excess oil. Pour one scoop of the crepe batter onto the pan and swirl the pan to spread it. Let the pancake cook on medium heat for about 2 minuets on each side. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Serve warm!
I garnished mine with some strawberries and desiccated coconut and they were oh so yum!!
I’m singing in the rain, just singin’ in the rain
What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again
I’m laughing at clouds so dark up above
The sun’s in my heart and I’m ready for love
-Singing in the Rain, Gene Kelly
I almost didn’t have a post up today! But I made myself a promise in January that I have to put a post and a video up every week, despite the circumstances. It’s raining right now, and I have the worst cough right about now. It kept me up most of the night but surprisingly enough, I wake up feeling much better!
I made these mandazis yesterday as I had the energy and was really craving mandazis and a coconut (I know, odd combination, probably no correlation, but I was and we shall accept it).
I had this Vanilla Coconut Flavour that I had received from Pradip that I was dying to try out, and why not with mandazis.
The powder flavour is quite rich and amazing, and if you’re a big fan of coconut flavoured products, this powder is your ticket to flavour heaven.
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading and dusting
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Pradip Corn flour
2 teaspoons Pradip Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Pradip Vanilla Coconut Flavour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup Oil
1 cup WARM water (can use milk)
Method
Place the all purpose flour in a deep bowl, and add the sugar, corn flour, baking powder, vanilla coconut flavour and salt, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
Next, add the eggs and the oil, and mix through. Add the warm water, a little at a time, while stirring so as it starts to form a dough, If it starts to become sticky, add a little flour sparingly, so it doesn’t become dry and tough.
Dust your countertop with flour
Then knead the dough until its soft and does not stick to the counter or to your hands.
Grease a clean bowl with very little oil
Place the dough. Cover the bowl with cling film, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Dust your countertop with dough once again, and knead the rested dough a little.
Pastry Pleasures 