The coronavirus lockdown got you running to your kitchens? Well, you are certainly not alone. As the world finds a little solace in all the artsy focaccias and banana breads being baked right now, there’s perhaps an easy explanation for the phenomenon- a search for some comfort among the present-day uncertainties. After all, comfort food has always been a thing, right? Didn’t we get over the worst of our breakups with a big jar of cookie crumble in one hand and a sinful pastry in the other?
Well, all we gotta say here is that we can all do with a little comfort right now and therefore go ahead, seize the kitchen, and bake to your heart’s content. And while you are at it, why not try your hands on some desserts, the mother of all comfort foods out there? Onboard the baking trains? Here are some easy dessert recipes that you can try at home:
Mehak Wadhwani’s Toasted Almond Nougat Cake
Think of the most decadent chocolate cake ever, multiply it by ten, and you might get slightly close to Mehak Wadhwani‘s toasted nougat cake ‘coz, we kid you not, it is that epic!!! Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
- Butter 1/2 cup
- Sugar (powdered) 1 cup
- Eggs 2
- Flour 3/4 cup
- Salt Baking Powder 1/2 cup
- Vanilla Essence 2 tsp
- Milk 1 cup
- For Almond Nougat
- Almonds (roasted and cut) 3/4 cups
- Butter 2 tbsp
- Brown Sugar 2 tbsp
Method
-Beat the butter and sugar together.
-Add the eggs one by one and beat well.
-Add the flour, salt, vanilla essence, and mix.
-Now add the milk to the batter.
-In the end, add baking powder and beat together.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes.
-Allow cooling on a wire rack.
For the almond nougat
-Heat the butter and brown sugar in a pan. Then add roasted almonds and mix well.
-While it’s hot pour over the cake. And you’d be all set for the tea!
You can follow the following video for an easy understanding:
Richa Gupta’s Mango Cheesecake Ice Cream
Mangoes legit have to be the only good thing about this lockdown summer and thus quite naturally, we are just not missing any chance to have some. Now, a mango ice cream has to be the MVP of all the mango recipes that we are trying right now and this innovative albeit super easy recipe by Richa Gupta will keep you nicely covered:
Ingredients
- Heavy Cream 150 grams
- Mango Puree 1.5 cups
- Cream Cheese 250 creams (You can use either Philadelphia Cream Cheese or the Britannia one)
- Caster Sugar 1/4 cup
- Vanilla Extract 1 tsp
Method
-Transfer cream to a bowl and with a hand mixer, whip the cream till soft peaks form.
-Now, add mango puree, cream cheese, caster sugar, and vanilla extract. Whip till everything gets combined and the mixture turns light and fluffy.
-After whipping, pour into a freezer-friendly container and let it freeze overnight.
-Before serving, let the mango cheesecake ice cream sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
Shivesh Bhatia’s Easy Churros
For us Indians, nothing spells comfort food better than a deep-fried dessert, and instead of our regular gulab jamuns and jalebis, we thought why not give churros a try. Shivesh Bhatia‘s churro recipe came to our easy rescue, turned out quite well and that’s why we recommend you give it a go too.
Ingredients
- Water 1 cup
- Butter 1/4 cup
- Caster sugar 3 tbsp
- Flour 3/4 cup
- Egg 1
- Vanilla (optional) 1 tsp
- Oil (for frying)
- Caster sugar (for coating) 1/2 cup
- Cinnamon powder 3 tbsp
Method
-Pour water into a saucepan and add butter.
-Add caster sugar to the mixture and then bring it to a boil. Keeping mixing in intervals to make sure that the sugar gets dissolved.
-After the mixture comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add all the flour in one go.
-Keeping mixing until the mixture turns into a ball. Let it cool at room temperature.
-Once the dough has cooled down, add egg and mix it well until everything comes together.
-Finally, add vanilla and give it one last mix.
-Then add oil in a saucepan and allow it to heat up. Meanwhile, the churros dough needs to be transferred into a piping bag with a large tip.
-Once the oil is warmed up sufficiently, pipe equal lines of churros directly into the saucepan.
-Fry till they achieve a golden-brown color colour.
-Use a tissue to soak take excess oil and then directly put it into the combined mixture of caster sugar and cinnamon.
-Serve with Nutella, Whipped Cream, or Chocolate sauce.
Mili Kennedy’s Mangalore Style Maalpuris
While we try our hands on some desserts, there is no concluding it sans any desi sweetness, right? Mili Kennedy’s Mangalore style Maalpuris should do the task for you. Here’s what you need to do:
Ingredients
- Maida 1cup
- Sugar 1 cup
- Water 2 cups
- Cardamom Powder 1 tbsp
- Salt 1 pinch
- Yellow color 1 pinch
- Oil (For frying)
Method
-Using sugar, water, cardamom, and a pinch of yellow color make a sugar syrup.
-Once cold, mix the syrup with the flour. Add a pinch of salt and make a batter of moderate consistency. It shouldn’t be too thin or too thick. Let it rent for 20 minutes.
-Heat oil in a pan heat oil. Once hot, pour the batter in the oil (about 1/4 cup) and fry in low to medium flame.
So folks, all set to satisfy your sweet tooth?
Featured Image: Instagram