Classic Cake Series : Madeira Cake

My baking journey began when I was in class 7. We had a stove-top oven which resembled an idli cooker and the cake I had perfected was the sponge cake that was in the oven’s recipe book. Of course that was during the pre-internet stage and cake was still a western goody.

Along the journey I experimented variations of that lovely sponge. I never felt the need to try a different sponge until I actually started studying recipes and cakes. Now that I bake for commercial orders, I have little time left to bake something for myself. And each time I do get a chance I pick a naked cake, which is free from any kind of icing.

I spend a lot of time reading about classic cakes and decided that I am going to try all of them, in my own time, of course. The first on the list was the Madeira cake.

 This cake has a firm yet light and fine texture making it a perfect base for decoration. It is eaten with tea or  for breakfast and is traditionally flavoured with lemon. This cake dates back to 18th century. Madeira cake is similar to a pound cake or yellow cake.

It is named after Madeira wine, a Portuguese wine which was popular in England and the cake was served with wine. It is often mistaken that the cake originated from Madeira Islands.

Ingredients

175 gms / ¾ cup unsalted butter

175 gms / 1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

15 ml/ 1 tbsp lemon juice

225 gms/ 2 cups all purpose flour

7.5 ml / 1 ½ tsp baking powder.

Method

Preheat the oven to 160⁰ C. Grease a 7 inch round deep cake tin and line with parchment paper. Sieve the flour with baking powder. Beat together butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one egg at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in the lemon juice. Stir in the flour and baking powder. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.

Bake for about 40 mins , until golden brown or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the til for about 45 mins.

Note:

The original recipe called for a baking time of 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hour, but my cake was ready in 40 mins or so.

I used two 6 inch pans and divided the batter equally.

Eggless Tender Coconut Souffle

The day I dug my spoon into a tender coconut souffle years ago, I knew I had to make it. This dessert makes me fall in love with it with each passing bite. The restaurant I had it in served it as part of their buffet and I remember shamelessly serving myself again and again and again. This is a famous dessert in Kerala and there are loads of recipes on the net. Many call it a  pudding too. I didnt want ANY recipe. I wanted an easy peasy exact tasting recipe. After several tries, I did stumble upon this recipe and its super duper awesome. The sad part is I dont remember the source as I had written down too many versions of the souffle.

This has become such a popular dessert now at Just Like Mum's, Bangalore that I get many orders for this one. 

All this takes is three simple ingredients - coconut milk, condensed milk and gelatin. Well, the other recipes on the net have a lot more ingredients and the results were not great. 

Here's my treasured recipe of the tender coconut souffle. 

Ingredients: Sweetened Condensed milk - 400 ml Gelatin - 3 tbsp Tender Coconut water - 5 cups
Method: Take half a cup of warm water and dissolve the gelatin making sure no lumps are formed. In a large bowl, add the condensed milk and dissolve the gelatin mixture in it slowly without forming lumps. Now pour the coconut water into this bowl and mix well.

  Pour into desired serving glasses/bowls and refrigerate for  3-4 hours or until set. Garnish with fruit of your choice or chocolate decorations like I have done and serve chilled.

Note:

• If you have unsweetened condensed milk, add about 2 tbsp of sugar.
• Use tender coconuts which have cream (malai) in them for better taste and texture.
• I have not tried this with agar agar, you are free to try it and let me know.
• This recipe serves a llloooottt of people. Feel free to reduce it as per your choice.
• Refrigerated, this stays good for a week. 
• Use garnishes just before serving.

The Tao Terraces

A perfect date it was! Asian food, romantic restaurant and my 4-month old fast asleep. 

Tao Terraces would not have happened, had it not been for a meal voucher we got for that place. Considering my little one can’t be out all day, we do not travel far when we want to have a good meal.

The craving for Asian food had been there for very long but I had to avoid it to stay healthy for the baby. This was like a major indulgence in many ways for me.

Tao Terraces is a great place for a fine dining experience. With a water body right in the middle and several Buddha statues adorning the walls, the place warms the heart. Their menu spans across Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines. The place also offers a buffet which we chose in order to make sure we tried a whole lot of stuff.

The buffet per say is not a spread. Each dish is brought to you when you pick it from the menu. I missed peeping through multiple dishes. With the little one sleeping on the couch until mid-way through our main course, Vinod and I did manage to enjoy our food and our time together.

So here’s what we sampled through the afternoon. And yes the pics are bad! With diapers, water bottle, rattle, change clothes, umbrella, hand towels, wallet and wet wipes, I totally forgot to carry a camera. So we had to make do with a mobile camera in low light.

Soups : We tried both the Veg Tom Yum and the Chicken Hot and Sour Soup. Both had sharp tastes but nothing out of the ordinary. Vinod said they were both great for his stuffy nose on a rainy afternoon.

Veg Tom Yum Soup

Chicken Hot & Sour Soup

 Starters : On offer were three veg and three non veg starters.

Chicken Dimsums which were like comfort food for us were great with the honey chilli sauce. The diced chicken with ginger and red chilli was superb with tender pieces of chicken well marinated and cooked. 

Chicken Dimsums

Diced chicken with ginger and red chilli (fish in the background)

The wok tossed fish in fermented black bean and peanut sauce was good but not better than the chicken.

And then we decided we wanted to taste the veg spring rolls. I wonder why I did that. The after taste of flour in the rolls remained until main course arrived.

For main course, there was the quintessential Thai Red Curry and Green Curry. My meal was done with this. I cleared went in for the buffet for these two items and I made sure I had my fill. 

Thai Green Curry

Thai Red Curry

The green curry is usually my favourite but somehow there the red curry took over. It was creamier and perfectly spiced. My mouth is still watering as I write about it. Loved it! I missed the plain rice here. We were served Szechwan fried rice and Hakka noodles, both of which were good.

Szechwan fried rice

Vegetable Hakka Noodles

Somewhere in between we had a mixed vegetable and tofu with bamboo shoots in a black bean sauce. Decent, but again not out of this world. Another dish worthy of mention is the Wok tossed fish in a Chinese Parsley sauce. This was mildly spiced and went well with both the rice and the noodles.
 

Mixed vegetables in black bean sauce

Fish in Chinese Parsley Sauce

 The buffet also came with a drink. I picked a Fresh Lime soda and Vinod picked a pint of beer.

Fresh Lime Soda

For the dessert, we were served a platter of fresh fruit, banana toffee, Darsan with vanilla ice cream. The Darsan was good but the ice cream was sadly below average. 

The desserts

While this meal was not very different from any of the regular Asian food joints, the ambience gives it those extra points and for me it was clearly the red curry.

Will I go back there? May be, if someone treats me again J

Pay by : Cash and cards

Average meal for two : Rs 1500

Mel’s overall rating : 2.5 out of 5

Location: 5th Floor, 1 MG Mall, Mahatma Gandhi Rd, Halasuru, Bangalore, Karnataka 560008. Phone: 098 86 640445

Fort Cochin

If Kerala is God’s own country, then their cuisine should definitely be heavenly. I couldn’t agree more after I visited The Fort Kochi Connection (FKC) a great addition to restaurants in Koramangala. Situated on the Jyoti Nivas College Road, a basement provides ample parking for two and four wheelers.

I had heard great reviews of the food here especially the buffet. While we could not make it for the lunch buffet, we decided try the place for dinner. A group of friends meeting after long and FKC seemed like the perfect place.

With Mals and half-mals in the group….there was no reason to complain of the choice of cuisine. The ambience is mixed. One section had red lighting making it look like a lounge bar. We skipped that owing to a birthday party that was happening there. We chose the normal seating area. Bright yellow walls and photoframes of the typical Kerala landscape made a decent ambience.

The menu was vast with several cuisine options spanning across food from Kochi, Syrian Christian, Malabar, Chinese, British, Portuguese and Dutch. I am yet to decide if that was a good idea but yes, if you had an idea of the history or Kerala and the influence of various cultures, this would probably make sense. I was there for the food so totally counted on the waiter to recommend the different courses of our meal. 

We had a vegetarian among us who chose the must-try kappa (steamed tapioca) with kadala curry (a traditional favourite made of black chickpeas and served with a red chutney. All three were very good. I made sure I had a bite of each before I lost myself to the meat.

Kappa

Kadala Curry

This place serves great seafood, chicken and beef. I will be telling you what we ordered through the evening. Get ready for a crash course in Malayalam. Our first choice for starter was Achayan Pothularth which were beef cubes sautéed in spices. Reminds one of the typical Kerala beef fry and make sure you don’t miss this if beef is your thing.

Achayan Pothularth

On the recommendation of the waiter, next on our plates was the Chemmeen Ularthu – a delectable dish of fresh prawn in a semi-spicy mix. The non-Keralites and non-beef eaters seemed to like this one. For me it didn’t score that well, as it was close to what we made at home. To keep the egg lovers happy, we picked the Mutta Chikkiyathu – a variation of egg burji with coconut and mild spices. What I likes about this one was that there were onions or tomatoes to adulterate the taste of eggs and the coconut added a special flavoring.

Chemmeen Ularthu

Mutta Chikkiyathu

So many starters and no chicken. That’s not possible. Again on the waiter’s recommendation, we went for the Dak Bungalow Chicken Fry. The name had a history to it. The taste was good with boneless chicken cooked to perfection in homemade spices. This one was a good choice again though the beef still is my favourite.

Dak Bungalow Chicken Fry

When you have many girls at the table, you end up being full mid-way through the starters. Well, counting on the two boys who were with us, I went ahead and ordered an elaborate main course. We ordered many gravies and to go with it the Kerala staples of appam and iddiyappam (string hoppers). 

Appam

Iddiyappam

The Pachakkari Istew (veg stew) for the vegetarian was a good one with rich coconut milk added to it. To ensure we tried more seafood, we opted for the Neimeen Moilee, seer fish cooked in a coconut based gravy. I liked this one. A little extra tanginess and this would have scored a 10 on 10. The gravy was little on the salty side as well but that could be ignored.

Pachakkari Istew

Neimeen Moilee

We even tried the Syrian Christian Prawn Curry. This was a good choice as well. All the gravies went very well with the appam and idiyappams and a safe bet considering the spice levels are suitable for all palettes.

Syrian Christian Prawn Curry

One of the other must-try items here is the Kappa Biryani which was a great mix of mashed tapioca and spiced beef. This was a first time for me and I loved every bit of it. I wonder why I hadn’t tried this earlier.

Kappa Biryani

The place offers some mocktails as well, but I really missed out on taking down names. So here is one of the pictures. 

Overall, I think the Fort Kochi Connection has done a fabulous job with their food. All that we had had authentic flavours and a home made comforting taste. We decided to give one dessert a try at the end of a sumptuous meal and picked the Vattelappam. This pudding of coconut and jagggery was so good, that I will start my course with it the next time around. A dessert to die for.

Vattelappam

Pay by : Cash and cards

Average meal for two : Rs 1000 (including mocktails). For 5 of us, it worked up to close to Rs 3000

Mel’s overall rating : 4 out of 5

Location: Ground Floor, 77/A, Cygnus Chambers, Jyothi Nivas College Road, Koramangala, Bangalore

Ph:  080 67947389 ext:253

Urban Solace

I dont know why I hadn’t visited this place for so long. Located opposite the Ulsoor Lake, Urban Solace provides a great view with some good food. We landed there on a day when Vinod and me were so hungry that we could eat a horse.

We found our seats near the terrace area overlooking the lake which was perfect. Vinod could directly look into the next apartment and follow what was happening on their TV but then that’s a different discussion altogether.

Wasting no time, we dived straight into the menu and ordered for a chicken platter. The quantity was pleasing for the price. And for carnivores like us, this is a good meal in itself too. And somehow when you are extremely hungry, it’s surprising that you can’t eat much. How unfair! The platter had wings, crumb fried chicken breasts, chicken steak in brown sauce and sautéed chicken. Fantastic is the word.

Chicken Platter

Tom Yum Soup

The craving was for oriental food that day. Tom Yum soup was next on the menu. I loved this version of the soup. It was not clear like in most places but had that tinge of the Thai green curry and I totally welcomed it. Spicy and piping hot – this made my day.

Call me less adventurous, the Thai flavor won me over and Thai Green Curry rice was my choice for main course. A repeat of awesomeness with the coconut milk and the distinct fragrances that are distinct to Thai food. I wiped this dish clean and drank up the remaining gravy. I have not been to Benjaron or High on Thai but this was very close to what I had in Thailand, so I’d vouch for it.

Thai Green Curry Rice

Vinod had a beef stroganoff. This dish too was great with its creamy sauce, just right on spice and scored high on our list as well.

Beef Stronganoff

For dessert it was Choco Fudge. Gooey, soft, warm, very chocolately…if you are a chocolate lover, you’re going to order a second one of these and if you bake, you’re going to hold the chef at knife point for the recipe.

Choco Fudge

This meal, though after a tiring day made our evening. The open air seating and the great food would definitely call us back. And the best part, this place is very affordable (as compared to a lot of places that serve similar food).

Pay by : Cash and cards

Average meal for two : Rs 800

Mel’s overall rating : 3.5 out of 5

Location: 32, Annaswamy Mudaliar Road, Next to Tamil Sangam, Ulsoor Lake, Bangalore 560042. Ph: 080 25553656, 25553657, 9845013055.

 

 

Via Milano

It was our second anniversary and despite all the elaborate plans of how we wanted to spend the day, we ended up working. We knew we’d lose the day if we did not move out before lunch. It was past 2 PM, giving us lesser options of good places to dine. We chose Via Milano, guaranteed of good food and an extra half hour as they close by 4pm.

Being a weekend, finding a place of our choice to sit was not difficult. The ambience is sober yet very classy with a lot of greys, blacks and whites. Large pillars across the place give you enough privacy if you’re on a date or just struggling with the variety of oils kept at the table, not knowing which ones to use.

The menu offers a variety of Italian must-haves and can also give you a  crash course in Italian if you have the time. With little time on our hands we did not take time to decide on what we wanted to have. And while we waited for our food, we played around with the DIY bruschetta kit that was on our table. We tried various combinations and realized we ate too much of it even before our actual food arrived. Fun, nonetheless!

First on order were Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini with mustard dressing. Crispy, mild spiced and grilled whole, the shrimps were a good break from the regular chicken starters we can’t resist. The quantity, given the place was not bad either. The mustard dressing though was not dominant on the shrimps or the zucchini but on the salad that rested alongside.

Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini

 

Do-it-yourself bruschetta

 

The salads on the menu looked inviting and we picked the Chicken and Crispy Pork Bacon salad that was topped with poached egg and garlic croutons. The chicken was smoked but the bacon was too little to enjoy. Though high on taste, more bacon would have made me a happier person.

 

Chicken and Crispy Pork Bacon salad
 

The celebration called for some cocktails. We shared a Rude Cosmopolitan  (Tequila Gold, Cointreau, cranberry and lemon juice) and an Apple Raisin Mojito (white rum, triple sec, fresh apple, raisin, fresh mint and soda). Absolutely loved the mojito! One of the best cocktails I have tasted.

Rude Cosmopolitan

Rude Cosmopolitan

Apple Raisin Mojito

For main course, my choice was a Filler of red snapper in potato crust in a lime and ginger sauce with vegetables. This dish looked awesome and tasted even better. I usually avoid ordering fish but this time I was so glad I did. The quantity was good and the sauce did all the magic. The dish was crispy, soft, tangy..all at the same time.

Filler of red snapper

Roast Chicken with musroom and thyme sauce

Vinod did not want to miss chicken over main course and ordered a Roast Chicken with musroom and thyme sauce which came with veggies and mashed potatoes. This dish was good though quite ordinary like the ones served in other restaurants. And when I asked Vinod, if there was any particular reason he picked this, the child in him said, it was not the chicken but the mash. So, Fair enough!

 

It was dessert time, and a Chocolate Lasagne it was. Chocolate Mousse resting on Vanilla Mousse/ icecream, this one tasted as good as it looked.

 

Chocolate Lasagne

This was one lovely anniversary meal – something I would remember for a long time. I would definitely recommend this place whenever you are out to have a quiet dinner with your special someone. Keep your fingers crossed about people throwing their project parties. We were lucky that one big group stepped out while we entered the place. The place though on a slightly higher side, is worth it.

Pay by : Cash and cards

Restroom : Very clean

Average meal for two : Rs 2300 (with cocktails)

Mel’s overall rating : 4 out of 5

Location: # 612, 3^rd Floor, 80 Feet Peripheral Road, 4^th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore- 560 034. Ph No. 080 41309997/4

 

 

 

Bistro Claytopia

There’s no dearth of good places to eat in Bangalore. Bistro Claytopia is my new favourite. With their successful hangout at Indiranagar, they have now started a place closer home in Koramangala. And for long we were looking for a place where we could sit for hours and not be disturbed and Claytopia seemed like the answer.

We headed there for a weekend dinner. The place was not crowded considering it had opened about 10 days ago. As I entered the place, everything reminded me of Goa. They have a part indoor and part outdoor seating. Set in the front yard of a house, this place looks like any Goan restaurant with trees lit up and bences to sit on. What’s more they even played Goan Konkani music for a while.

The name Claytopia comes from the fact that guests here can paint items made of clay. You can pick (read buy) the item of your choice and paint it, the team will then process this and call you when its ready to be picked up, which generally is about 7 days.

We were meeting our friends Neha and Abhi after long and chose not to ‘clay’ around. We went straight for the food. The menu is that of a coffee shop with no specific dinner options. But if you’re not fussy about what to eat for lunch or dinner, this is just the place. Mark, one of the persons incharge here was sweet and very considerate about our needs.

The milkshakes looked extremely tempting and we had to order them that very minute. So the Creamy Oreo shake and Brownie shake it was! Both of them were extremely thick and were generous on the oreo and brownie. Guys, good job done…but I hope you retain the same quality each time unlike other places that are inconsistent. We even ordered  another Crazy Nutty Hazelnut which was espresso with cream, double scoop ice cream, torani hazel nut topped with whipped cream and nuts. Sounds exciting na? Well they forgot to serve us this and we too forgot about it until I returned home and checked the bill where we were charged for a coffee we never had. Well, we should have been more careful.

The Creamy Oreo Milkshake

Brownie shake

Irish Coffee

 First on order were the Barbecues Chicken wings followed by Spicy Chicken Strips and Cheesy Jalapeno Poppers. The wings were soft with the bbq sauce while the strips were tangy and flavourful. The cheesy poppers are anyway an all-time favourite and had to be good. For more reasons that one this place reminded me Jamie’s Place in Goa which is still my ‘favouritest’ restaurant in the ‘world’. Phew! That reminds me of school!

Chicken Wings

Spicy Chicken Strips

For the main course, all of us picked burgers with no prior planning. Neha enjoyed her Double Delight Chicken Burger combo which was a delicious combo of crispy chicken, minced chicken and chicken salami with egg, mushhrooms and cheese. Vinod went in for The Ultimate Sausage which was a chicken mortadella (cold cut sausage)  and a chicken patty with cheese, mushrooms, egg and gherkins. Both these were combos and were to come with fries and coke. Well, they forgot the coke. I remembered it while I was writing this review. We were too busy chit chatting that day. Well, a sure shot lesson learnt now.

Cheesy Jalapeno Poppers

Double Delight Chicken Burger

Bbq Chicken Burger

The Ultimate Sausage

Abhi chose a simple Barbecued chicken burger while I took a Street Side Cheesy Double Dog. The menu read that this dish had sausage with minced chicken, jalapeno, olive and cheese. But mine had barbecues chicken cocktail sausage with grilled onions, olive and cheese, which means they swapped my order with another.  Claytopia has another dish called The Lick-a-licious Dog which has the same ingredients. And how did I know this? I brought home a take-away menu and read through the descriptions.

Supposedly The Street Side Cheesy Double Dog

Double Chocolate Mousse

All the burgers were good, though I would not say they were extraordinary. For dessert we coaxed ourselves to a Double chocolate mousse (I hope I got the name right) which was very good and didn’t seem less though shared by four.

Despite all the goof-ups I think the ambience and company did it for me. I still would go back there, only to be careful the next time around.

Pay by : Cash and cards (the line will be up shortly)

Restroom : Very neat with potted plants

Average meal for two : Rs 800

Mel's overal rating : 3 out of 5 (I could have rated this place better had i not realized the numerous goof-ups)

Location : Next to SBI, Diagonally opposite to Koramangala Wipro Park, Koramangala I Block, Bangalore 560095. Phone No. 080 64350526