Peach cobbler

Summer in delhi feels like one of two things: Either you’re baking inside an oven or melting in the humidity. There are also exactly only 2 good things about summer.

Vacations. Lucky for me, I got to get out of hot , hot delhi and spend a week in Simla and then Thailand. New things I’ve eaten this month: Mango sticky rice, Rambutan, eggplant gyozas and a tiramisu magnum bar. You might have seen lots of this on instagram, in addition to pictures of me drinking beer (a rarity!!) and kicking sand around on the beach.

Coming back home to delhi would’ve been a huge downer if it wasn’t for Ben overreacting to my homecoming. Close second to seeing ben is the only other great part about summer in Delhi - the ripe juicy summer stone fruit. My fridge is stocked with the juiciest alphonso mangoes, himalayan cherries, peaches, apricots, litchis and watermelon. p o s s i b i l i t i e s.

Here is a summer dessert wishlist of sorts: Vanilla ice cream with frozen litchis. Mango Ice cream. Cherry muffins. Watermelon popsicles. Apricot jam. Cherry pie. Peaches and cream. 

Last year, I made a peach cobbler for Better Home and Gardens Magazine (july 2016 print issue). Delicious, fuzzy, juicy peaches, baked with a crumble on top and eaten warm with ice cream of choice of course (I’d recommend ginger Ice cream)!  

Here is the recipe, guys!

For the peach filling:

450 g sliced peaches
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cointreu
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the crust:

1/2 cup flour
60 g butter
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder 3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp almond meal

1 pint Ginger Ice cream

Process:

Place the sliced peaches in a saucepan over low-medium heat. 
Add the lemon juice, sugar, cointreau and vanilla extract.
Stir constantly and cook until the peaches are soft.
Pour the peach mixture into a baking dish and set aside
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Stir well.
Mix in the flour, baking power and almond meal and combine with a spoon, until a sticky dough is formed.
slowly add in the milk and mix until fully combined.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter on top of the peaches in the baking dish.
Continue until the peaches are covered with the batter.
Don’t worry if there are any gaps. 
Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.
When done, remove from oven and let it cool
 Serve with a scoop of ginger ice cream
 

Peppermint brownies

Is there anything more universal than chocolate brownies? Is there a person in the world who doesn’t love the crackly, slightly crunchy crust, chewy edges and squidgy, chocolaty, almost molten centre? It’s a good thing. Brownies are supposed to be intense, rich and overpowering. There’s nothing subtle about them, and decadence is the trademark of a brownie. Not to mention, brownies come with a side of nostalgia - who hasn’t tried making brownies as a child and almost burnt down the house? (that would be me..).

So last weekend, in a spontaneous brownie baking moment (if you know, you know) I decided to add one of my favourite ingredients to my brownie batter - peppermint! I love peppermint and dark chocolate together - it is a refreshing variation to a popular classic. PLUS - the best part is, you can use leftover brownie crumbs/chunks to make peppermint brownie vanilla ice cream - summer bonus, and a very appropriate dessert for this weather.

They taste like the brownie equivalent of after-eight and they don’t look any different than regular brownies so it comes as a pleasant surprise to someone who bites into one. They’re a crowd pleaser and up your popularity quotient if you take them to work the next day (LOL)

Ingredients:

• 500 g chocolate

• 250 g butter

• 4 eggs

• 1 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 cup flour + 1 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 tsp peppermint extract

• Crushed peppermint (optional)

Process

• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until smoothly combined. Let cool.

• cream the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.

• Add the cooled chocolate and butter mixture and add peppermint extract & combine well.

• Add the flour mix one spoon at a time and mix well, but do not overmix.

• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes or until the top forms a flaky/crusty layer. The centre should not be wobbly.

• When done, take it out of the oven and let the brownies cool for about a half hour.

• Slice into squares, sprinkle with crushed peppermint and eat!

Chocolate chip banana bread

Greetings from the jungle!!!! This is super exciting - I’m currently sitting in a jungle resort as I write this post. It’s exactly how you’d imagine, except with a spa next door and a moody wi-fi. I am at my millennial worst, checking emails between Safaris and taking pictures of my meals during lunch (the food here is incredible!). 

Besides this, the trip featured bumpy jeep rides, trips to the jungle spa (which is like a regular spa), drinking bloody marys with my dad in the evenings, an airport that’s the size of my dining room (tiny!) and of course heaps of wildlife creatures that are simultaneously cute and scary. 

Before this i haven’t been on a wildlife holiday (or anything remotely adventurous) in 10 YEARS which is both sad but also super exciting at the same time. The forests make me feel 3 things. Curious, because of this incredibly mysterious ecosystem that we (I) know too little about. Fascinated. And Nostalgic. It reminds me of the many, many wildlife parks I went to as a child and also of all my favourite disney movies, Jungle Book, Tarzan and Lion King  (I was more of a disney jungle person than a disney princess person). As much as I love travelling to new places, I also love revisiting something I haven’t done in a long time. 

But I’m easily nostalgic so I don’t know. I’m as nostalgic about Jungles as I am about banana bread ever since I used to being it in my school tiffin. This Banana Bread is something I’ve been baking for a lonnnnnggg time but I’ve modified the recipe a little bit. It’s even more delicious, has a soft crumb and boasts of comforting, un-fussy flavours. Hope you’ll love it as much as I do. Here’s the recipe: 

Ingredients: 

100 g butter
180 g sugar
190 g flour
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salf
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Process:

Preheat your oven to 180 ˚ C. 
Line a 8 inch loaf pan with greased parchment paper. 
Mash 3 of the bananas with a fork and set aside.  
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla & milk. Stir in the banana. 
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully combined
Be careful not to over beat. Stir in the chocolate chips. 
Pour the batter into the pan. Slice the last banana lengthwise down the centre and place on top. Sprinkle the top with granulated sugar. 
Bake in the centre of the oven for about 45 - 60 minutes, until a toothpick pierced into the middle comes out clean. 
Let it cool and take out onto the rack. 
Slice & Eat once cool! Yummy!