Danish Pastries

I love danish pastries. During my stay in Copenhagen; I had loadssssss of them.Well...I dont eat stuffed pastries often..but I do eat the freshly baked croissants...I just love them. During college practicals; we use to make these from scratch but now life has become much more easier as it is easier to get the frozen puff pastries. I did exactly the same this time and made few shapes. Hang on...I will share the basic Puff pastry recipe from scratch very soon. Right now lets get back to different shapes of danish pastries.

It requires 3 Ingredients: - Frozen Puff Pastry sheets, Jam ( i used Home-made Blueberry Jam), and Cream cheese ( I flavored it with little sugar and Lemon zest)

                               

There is nothing much to say about how we go about making these. The pictures that I will post; will speak for themselves. Just 2-3 things to be kept in mind are:- 

1. Take out the pastry sheets and thaw( leave them outside at room temperature separated on dusted surface to avoid sticking) them till they come to the room temperature.

2. Before you start making shapes, Pre-heat the oven at 200 o c for 10 mins.

3. Once the pastries are ready bake them for 15-20 mins. / till they turn golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool them completely on cool rack.

so here are the pictures:-

1. Braided Danish

2. Windmill

3. Pinwheels 

4. Vol-au-vent

Strawberry CheeseCake

This is what I made some time back for my Anniversary. It's a no-bake cheesecake, very easy to prepare and extremely yummy and delicious. This needs little bit of preparation and planning. You will need time on hand to prepare this as it takes about 6-7 hours to set the cake. Read further for the recipe.

250 gm strawberries 

200 gm Digestive Biscuits ( Mcvities biscuits work fine)

3 tbsp melted butter 

1 tin Milkmaid ( sweetened condensed milk)
1 cup hung curd
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp granular gelatin / 4-5 gelatine sheets soaked in water
4 tbsp water

Chocolate vermicelli for garnishing (optional)

2 tbsp. Strawberry Crush for Garnishing (optional)
6-8 fresh strawberries - for garnishing

1. Grind the biscuits and mix in the melted butter with it. 

2. Line the base of the cake tin evenly and smoothly with the biscuit mixture. Put in the freezer to set for 15-20 mins / in the refrigerator for 1 hr.

3. If you are using granular gelatine/ gelatine sheets; it is necessary to soak them for 10 mins. before using.
4. Puree the strawberries in a mixie.

5. Beat the hung curd and condensed milk together in a different bowl.

6. Whip the cream in another bowl and blend well into the previous mixture of curd and condensed milk, also mix in the strawberry puree to make a smooth mixture. 

7. Melt the gelatine over double boiler/ in the microwave. When hot gelatine is added into the mixture, there will be some lumps that will form, to avoid this when gelatine is melted; add 2 tbsp. water to make it thin. 

8. Then pour the gelatin slowly into the strawberry mixture. Keep stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. It is very important that all the ingredients are at room temperature; not hot/cold.
9. Take out the frozen biscuit base from the refrigerator and pour the strawberry mixture onto the set biscuit base. Put in the refrigerator to set overnight/ at least for 6-7 hours .

10. Once set Decorate the cake with Chocolate Vermicelli, thinly sliced strawberries, and strawberry crush. Serve chilled. 

 

Dum Aloo

Dum Aloo belongs to North Indian or more specifically Kashmiri cuisine. The potatoes, usually smaller ones, are first deep fried, then cooked slowly on low flame in a curd based gravy with Indian spices. The recipe that I am posting here has a little change in the original recipe. Read further.......

Baby potatoes 8-10 

Oil to shallow fry  + 1 tbsp. 

Onion , roughly chopped 1 small  

Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp

Ginger-Garlic paste 2 tsp. 

Red chilli powder 1 tsp. 

Coriander powder 1 tbsp.

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp.

Cashew nuts handful of them 

Tomato puree 1/2 cup  

Yogurt, whisked 1/4 cup  

Salt to taste 

Honey To taste

Dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) 1 tsp.

Fresh cream  3-4 tbsp

1. Peel, wash potatoes. Par-boil them till they are half or 3/4 done. Remove them from water and pat dry them.

2. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai to shallow fry the potatoes and  fry the potatoes till lightly browned. Drain onto an absorbent paper and keep aside. 

3. Boil onion and cashew nuts with very little water for two to three minutes. Grind into a fine paste. 

4. Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a pan. Add boiled onion - cashew paste. Cook till fat starts to separate. 

5. Add ginger paste and garlic paste. Stir for some time. Add the tomato puree and stir fry again for 2-3 mins.

6. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and yogurt. Mix well. 

7. Add deep-fried potatoes. Add approximately two of water and salt. Let it simmer for some time. Finish with kasoori methi, fresh cream and honey. Serve hot.