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
 

chocolate cheesecake

This week has been an achievement, to say the least. I’ve successfully filled out my student visa application, inched closer toward finding an apartment in Chicago, cooked a vegan meal with my friend, started & finished Rupi Kaur’s Milk & Honey, and made progress on meditation durations (YAY!). 

My mum asked me to bake something for her dinner party and of course i did, but not without the usual ritual of drama that somehow always always makes its way when I’m baking for a special occasion. I decided to make my chocolate cheesecake (a slight variation from the Nutella cheesecake I made on Instagram story a few weeks ago) because it is quick and easy to make and everyone always loves it. But right after it finished cooking on the rack, I was carrying it to the fridge to put it in to set and it fell (!!) - literally slipped off my hands and shattered on the floor, crumbling into a disgusting chocolaty mess. 

Sigh. It happens. Eggs curdle, caramel burns, things that are supposed to emulsify don’t - i could go on. It always feels awful - every time! But the worst kitchen disasters are the ones when everything falls apart (in this case, literally) at the last moment. 

The good news though , is that I managed to make it all over again. I felt like a contestant on Masterchef, competing against the clock to get it done on time and it was delicious. Try making it, and brownie points (cheesecake points?) if you don’t drop it! 

Ingredients: 

200 g crushed oreo
50 g unsalted butter, cold and chopped
One jar Nutella (290 g)
120 g chocolate, finely chopped  
2 packets Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
300 ml cream
Pinch of sea salt

Process:

Line an 8 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 180 ˚ C. 

Remove the cream filling from all the oreo cookies and set the biscuit part aside. If it breaks in the process, don’t worry. You're going to crush it anyway. .

Next, blitz all the oreo cookies in a food processor or Vitamix. If you don’t have this, then you can simply crush the biscuits manually. Put them in a plastic ziplock bag and run a rolling pin over it a few times until completely crushed. You should have 200 g crushed oreo. 

Using clean hands, mix the crushed biscuit and the butter until fully combined and crumbly. 

Lay the buttery biscuit mix in the springform pan and press it down using a spatula or back of a spoon. It should form a tightly packed base. 

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180 ˚ C

When done, let it cool on the counter. 

Meanwhile, blitz the cream cheese (all of it) for about 1 minute in an electric mixer. It will be fluffy. 

Add the sugar and mix again. 

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix. 

Add the vanilla essence and then the Nutella. Mix until well combined. It will be a faint brownish colour. 

Melt the chocolate in a microwave and add the melted chocolate into the mixture.* Add sea salt. 

Lastly, add the cream and blitz until well combined. Be careful not to over-mix because it will incorporate too much air into the batter which will later create cracks on the surface of the cheesecake.* 

Fill the oven tray with water (upto 1/2 - 3/4th of the tray).  

Pour the cheesecake batter into the springform pan and wrap the pan tightly with aluminium foil.* 

Bake for about 60 minutes. When it’s done it will be only slightly wobbly on the top and should have small cracks on the sides of the surface. 

Let it cool on the counter for about an hour, then transfer to the fridge for it to set (about 4 - 5 hours or overnight) 

Decorate with hazelnuts, strawberries, pecans, cherries, whatever you want! 

Slice and eat! 

Notes: 

When melting chocolate in the microwave, melt in short spurts of 30s and stir well between each. If you leave the bowl of chocolate in the microwave to melt for a few minutes without stopping to stir, the chocolate at the bottom will burn. 

Mixing the cheesecake until it's just about well combined is important. If you over mix, the batter becomes over aerated. This air will try to escape during the baking process causing cracks on the surface of the cheesecake. 

This cheesecake bakes in a water bath in the oven. The steam from the water makes for an even, gentle cheesecake. But be careful to wrap the tin in foil tightly so that the water cannot seep in. 

Peppermint chocolate almond bark

Things are getting very very busy as I prep to leave for Uni in a couple of months, and so the newest development in my life is that I have started meditating in the mornings and running in the evenings, which might seem a little contradictory in nature but it actually functions like a very well balanced see saw of energy and calm. (Does that make sense ?) Meditation is everything it promises to be - peaceful, satisfying, humbling and remindful of the fact that no matter how much is on your (my) plate, there’s still some space for more. 

Speaking of satisfying feelings, there is something really soothing about tempering chocolate. If you haven’t done it before, it is a little bit tricky and demands precision but it’s also very quick to learn and fun to practice. This chocolate almond bark was (as always) a last minute, unplanned thing and came out of my sudden urge to up the fancy on another dessert. You can make it in under 15 minutes, then let it harden, break it in shards and use it an embellishment on a cake or any other dessert or an ice cream sundae, and so on; be creative! 

It also opens a window of options - i made my mine with sea salt and pralined almonds, but you could use hazelnuts, cranberries, coconut, or a whole bunch of other things. Imagine there are no rules, so use whatever is in your pantry and tastes good with chocolate! The only rule-ish advice is, use good (GREAT) quality cooking chocolate. Since chocolate is basically the entirely of what you’re making, use the best quality you can. I recommend Valrohna or Ghirardelli. For this particular recipe I used Ghirardelli 70% Chocolate - my favourite ! 

Ingredients:

200 g cooking chocolate
2 tsp peppermint oil
1 cup pralined almonds, slightly crushed
sea salt 

Process:

Line your oven pan with tightly with cling wrap and keep aside
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water
Use a wood spatula to mix and stir as it melts. 
Remove from heat when melted completely & add 2 tsp of peppermint oil and stir
Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with pralined almonds (or nuts of your choice) and sea salt
Refrigerate till hardened completely
Break into pieces and store in a cool dry place or in the fridge if you live in a warm climate like I do!