Kitchen Corner-Try It

Chocolate Crepes Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends and readers! Today's recipe is a simple but cute breakfast treat for Valentine's Day. It is for those of you who want to put together something special and to feel fancy, but not elaborate cooking :) Crepes are simple and super easy to make.Crepes are thin, soft and buttery pancakes made with milk,flour and eggs. These thin pancakes are so versatile, you can roll or fold them with any filling of your choice.The classic French crepes is made with buckwheat flour and can be made sweet or savory. I make crepes almost weekly and my filling are usually sweet coconut, ripe plantains and nuts. My kid loves bananas and nutella filling for his crepes.But this simple and quick snack can be converted into an elegant breakfast or dessert.What richer and more delicious taste can you think of than chocolate,cream and fresh fruits. This is your basic go to crepe recipe but you are adding cocoa powder. To make it spe...

Egg Salad Egg salad is a simple and yummy appetizer. It can also be used as a filling for sandwich. This recipe is inspired from French and German Jew style egg salad which uses raw salted onions. You can also mash the eggs to attain a chunky texture. There are also a variety of ingredients that you can use for this salad like sauteed shallots, sauteed mushrooms, bell pepper, chopped nuts etc. Ingredients Hard boiled eggs- 3 Tomato-1 Salad Cucumber- 1 small Shallots- 4-5 Ground black pepper- 1/3 tsp Paprika-a pinch salt to taste Oil - 2 tsp Fresh parsley or dill- 1to 2 tsp Lemon juice- a few drops Lettuce and black olives for garnish  In a pan saute shallots till golden brown. Add parsely, ground black pepper and a pinch of salt and mix well. Slice boiled eggs and arrange on a bed of cucumber and tomatoes. Layer the caramelized onions and sprinkle black pepper, paprika and salt. Drizzle lemon juice and garnish with olives and lettuce. If you want a chunk...

 Opera Cake Baking partners challenge for July is the yummy and famous  French pasty Opera cake. This months recipe was suggested by Savitha of Savitha's Kitchen . Swathi also shared one recipe with me. You can find the recipe here . If you take a look at the  recipe you will notice that  there are different stages to make this cake before the final assembly. This cake has a rich almond coffee flavor. It consists of almond sponge cake with layers of  French coffee butter cream, chocolate butter cream and chocolate ganache on top. Thanks Savitha and Swathi for this recipe. Ingredients For the almond sponge Cake flour-3 tbs Egg- 2 large  Almond flour - 1 cup Confectionery Sugar- 1/2 cup Egg whites-2 Cream of tartar- 1/8 tsp Salt- 1/8 tsp Granulated sugar- 1tbs Butter unsalted- 2 tbs For the coffee Syrup Espresso powder- 1 tsp Water- 1/2 cup Sugar- 2 tsp Coffee Butter Cream Granulated sugar-  1/2 cup Egg yolk-2 Butter- 1...

This months baking partners challenge recipe is Brioche. It is a rich and unique French bread. It is a kind of tender pastry bread with eggs and butter. It is often used as a base for many desserts too.This bread is flavored with orange blossom water. This recipe suggested by Swathi is adapted from Dominique Ansel's book  The Secret Recipes . I have never tried baking the Brioche bread and was little intimidated in the beginning. I am glad I tried this recipe. Thanks Swathi. Ingredients Bread flour- 2 cups Salt- 1/2 tsp Sugar- 1/4 cup Yeast- 2 1/4 tsp Eggs-4 Whole milk- 1 tbs Unsalted cold butter- 8-10 tbs Orange blossom water- 1 tsp Orange extract- a few drops Flour for dusting  In a bowl combine, bread flour, salt, sugar,yeast and eggs and mix well. Mix until everything is combined and knead for 10 minutes in low speed so that it forms gluten. The dough at this stage will leave the sides of the bowl and when pulling gently will stre...

French Chocolate Gateau This cake is for all those passionate chocolate lovers out there. There is a general enthusiasm for chocolates treats and it is an integral part of every happy occasion.Can you imagine any happy occasion without chocolate? I am an ardent chocolate fan and so is my kid. We both share the same passionate fondness for chocolates. Rich and luscious chocolate cake like Gateau, will definitely top the list as the most favored chocolate desserts. What richer and more delicious taste can you think of than a rich and gooey chocolate cake.This French classic is impressive and surprisingly easy to make cake.The moist interior of this chocolaty cake is due to the generous quantity of chocolate and butter. I am so glad I tried this French chocolate gateau/Gateau au chocolat and the texture was wonderful..gooey,moist and tender cake..absolutely divine chocolaty goodness. This cake is flour less, double chocolate cake and is definitely worth a try. It is ideal as...

Chocolate Eclairs~ Baking Partners Challenge#11 This month baking partner’s challenge is Pate a choux pastry, a French pastry. This pastry recipe is very versatile and can be used to make sweet and savory items. I selected the French chocolate eclairs which my family loves. Making choux pastry and chocolate eclairs from the scratch was a great learning experience. Thanks Swathi for sharing this wonderful recipe. Adapted from Alton Brown show Courtesy Gale Gand, “Butter Sugar Flour Eggs” by Gale Gand, Rick Tramonto, Julia Moskin, Clarkson N. Potter Publishers, 1999 Ingredients Filling: Whole milk- 1 1/2cup Vanilla essence- 1 tsp Egg yolks- 3 Sugar- 1/2 cup Corn starch - 2tbs Unsalted butter- 1 tbs Éclair’s Pastry: Water- 1 cup 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter Salt- 1/2 tsp Sugar- 1 1/2 tsp All purpose flour- 1 cup Egg-3 Chocolate Glaze: Heavy cream- 1/2 cup Dark chocolate- 4 ounce To make the filling In a medium saucepan, bring milk to a...

French Macarons Today's post is Baking partners challenge#7 and it is one of the finest cookies that you can ever taste- French Macarons . When Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen suggested doing macarons for this months challenge,I could not make up my mind .I would have immediately said yes, if it was coconut macaroon,but Swathi wanted nothing short of the classic French Macaron. Macarons are beautiful sandwich cookies that you find in a wide range of colors. It can be called a confectionery,cookie or a pastry.The chief ingredients are egg whites and almond flour and the cookie has an unbelievable crispy- chewy texture. The filling can be anything from jam,chocolate ganache,caramel or butter cream. This recipe sounds simple with very few ingredients but sometimes making it may be frustrating experience, especially with an uncooperative meringue which can be due to over mixing or under mixing of the batter. This can leads to cracks on the shell, no feet or flat coo...

Strawberry Crepes Crepes are classic French thin pancake that needs no introduction. It can be served as a dessert or as a special breakfast. Crepes are simple to make with basic ingredients like eggs and flour. Do you like crepes for breakfast or as a dessert?  Today's recipe is my kid's favorite is fresh cream and strawberry. My favorite is sweetened coconut and caramelized banana. What is your favorite filling? Crepes have always been a fun breakfast option at home, and I have been ceremoniously making these on Sundays as a special treat for my family. Crepes are thin and light pancakes and there is a variety of filling, either sweet or savory. There are endless options when it comes to filling both sweet and savory. Try the savory crepes as a quick dinner option. You can use eggs, cheese, meat filling or mushroom to make a tasty savory crepe. Crepes are easy to make and you can whip it up in minutes. I found the easiest way to make crepes is to put all in a blende...