DAY 43: HMMMMMMMMM BREAD

There is nothing more satisfying to me than baking bread, i love the whole process of the flour , mixing with the yeast and sugar and water and just like that ,like magic , it all emulsifies together and grows into this wonderful wholesome and fresh mound of loveliness...

I make a lot of bread at home in fact i find it very therapeutic, a few days ago Zeke my little 6 yr old made lovely bread following all the instructions i gave him, i couldn't believe that little boy of mine...felt so proud of him....the way he mixed it all together and pounded it , he had a blast and we all looked at him like he is "wonder boy"...
We'll i don't know about anyone else but to me, he is my wonder boy... we'll after he kneaded it all together and even added the olive oil and salt,he had finished his bit , he was also tired with the kneading and so he looked at me and said, "mama , it's ready now...." my little Zeke with his little apron and flour on his hands , gosh he looked pleased as the cat who got the cream, gave him a smashing hug and a tight kiss, and he in true boy style rubbed the kiss off with his floury hands....
we'll the dough was ready to prove...

I then sauteed some garlic, onion kept it aside to completely cool , i then pulled out some fresh basil from my little terrace garden , washed it and tore it into bits, hmmmmmm i love fresh basil and mostly try and use it as much as i can...

250 gm flour
15 gm fresh yeast
125-150 ml water (but i mostly use an approximate amount, depending on how its going)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
2 small onions sauteed
15 garlic cloves also sauteed
red chili flakes

Like i said , frankly you can go to town with bread and add what you like in it and own that little wholesome wonderness...
So after the dough proved or after it doubled in size , i slowly added all the garlic, onions , chili flakes and basil very very gently , you may also have to keep adding a little flour into the dough as it does tend to get a bit sticky, and then shape it into a loaf tin and leave it to prove again, it takes approximately 40 minutes or slightly more , depending on the weather ...
I then baked it for 40-45 minutes at 220 degrees...
Oh before you put the dough into the oven , give it a milk wash and sprinkle it with water , i keep forgetting this part and most of the time I put it in and then remember as I'm shutting the oven , and then go for it like "speed Gonzalez" ha ha ha ...
I also sprinkle a little dried rosemary on it, because i love the crunch once it is baked...
Post 40 minutes ,there is that beautiful fresh bread aroma wafting in your kitchen, pull it out, slather the crust with butter if you do not like a hard crust, leave it to cool for a bit , taking it out of the loaf tin , or it will sweat in it and ....
We'll i love to bite into fresh hot scrumptious bread with a little dollop of butter....that's me...
Fresh hot "hmmmmm bread" only from "Maria's Kitchen".....made for the very 1st time by my little Zeke Zidaan Warsi"

DAY 35: ZOFF WENT OFF FOR A TOSS

And so i started off by making a zoff that i learned in baking college, but somewhere down the line i got greedy and wanted to add more ingredients, i met my friend Ruchi at little Sairah's birthday , and she was telling me that she looooveees zucchini bread with carrot....

And so mid way while i was making my zoff,i ransacked my fridge and found carrot and pumpkin ,so i very finely grated some carrot and yellow pumpkin and a small portion of cheese , and while i followed the same recipe as my loaf of bread, after it first rises , i beat it down and added my grated vegetables and cheese, i had to add more flour to the dough as it became very sticky with the added water content in the vegetables....

I then tried to shape it into my zoff...which of course did not happen , but i never give up until i do my best, so after many a wasted effort, i just rounded it up and laid it on my ready tray for a second proving....

It looked beautiful in a bit and quiet double in size, so into the oven it went at 200 degrees and 35 minutes....
Frankly just could not wait to bite into it, so as soon as it came out, i slathered some butter on the crust and waited for 10 minutes and cut a piece.....

On the inside it has an ever so slight tinge of the pumpkin orange and it was just yummy....

I have realised that if you experiment , you always come up with something different and yummy, so go on give it a try get out of your safe zone and take a chance...

The same in life i say, if you obey all the rules you miss all the fun....So as long as you not hurting anyone else ..walk a path less travelled...

As for me. i love bread fresh and hot out of the oven, and my kitchen has this awesome aroma of fresh bread wafting through, hmmmmm.....
Absolutely comforting and wholesome and hot ...hot...hot only from "Maria's Kitchen"

Day 29: ABRA-KADABRA BREAD AND SPEEDY CARROT CAKE

Got into baking class finally on Wednesday, it felt so good to go back to Sophia's, the buzz is all the same , but i feel so different , also this time I'm learning on a different floor...
I still remember sitting in designing class doing my work , when suddenly we would be accosted by wafts of the freshest aroma of bread just out of the oven , or chocolate rum balls or then cake...
Oh! God, that time was so much fun and stress, homework, exams and then attendance that i was always bad with... because i was also dancing and modelling, because yup the extra money i got , funded my designing extras...and I'm very proud of that, still remember standing in line for the bus and getting squashed in the train, but it was fun every bit of it..also once studied for a paper that i did not have...yup done all kind of crazy things....
This time around , I'm learning to bake only because i love it , i do not have to search for a job or make a career , so no pressure to do anything ...
My teacher is Sashi ma'am, who is soft spoken , has beautiful hands and is very very helpful , and on friday, in no uncertain terms , she told us , that if we do not wash what we use, we are going to have to scrub the entire kitchen in and out, we'll i always clean up after i finish working , and in all probability , all the rest of us will too...
I made bread in my first class, lovely wholesome , beautiful big fluffy loaf of bread, but under Shashi mam's guidance, and Zeke completely loved it , according to him , i can do anything he points out to from my numerous cook books , and that's the reason i really want to learn it all ,so today I'm on my own in my kitchen and am going to attempt making bread, its the most wonderful feeling in the world, so basic and yet so satisfying....
Carbs sweet satisfying carbs , here i come...

Flour - 250 gm
grain sugar - 5 gm
Yeast -5 gm
Margarine - 5 gm
Salt -5 gm
Water-150 ml

baking temp-200c
Baking time- 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes

Mix yeast in a little water along with sugar, and keep aside.
sieve flour and make a little well in the centre
Pour in the yeast mix and start mixing the dough , add as much water as in necessary to make the dough soft.
Mix margarine and salt together and rub into the dough kneading until smooth and pliable

Did all of the above and my dough rose beautifully, yeah yeah yeah its a wonderful Saturday, I'm actually making bread, then i beat it around a bit , folded the dough into a roll like i was taught in class and put it into my spanking new bread tin and left it to rise again.......

And in the mean time i made a carrot cake that i have been wanting to do for the longest time

2 eggs separated
225 g brown sugar
175 g melted amul butter
150g whole wheat flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice
25g chopped walnuts
25 g dried raisins
175 g grated carrot

Topping
1 cup full fat milk
3 tbsp flour
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup margarine
orange edible glitter

And so while i was waiting for my bread dough to rise , i creamed together the egg yolks, sugar and melted butter.
stir in 2 tbsp warm water.
place the remaining cake ingredients in a bowl and make a well in the center , add the egg mixture and beat thoroughly
Whisk the egg whites until standing in soft peaks, fold carefully into the cake mixture.
Spoon the mixture into a 20 cm cake tin and bake for 50 minutes in an oven that has been pre-heated to 190 degrees.

It really is easy and comes out beautiful and brown and then just cool it for a bit , it has the most amazing inviting aroma, so i was trying to resist biting into it, because frankly in my opinion , there is nothing better than biting into cake that has just come out of the oven , its heaven in a bite....anyway way now for the frosting , which i learnt from u-tube from a bakery called magnolia...

But now my bread dough has risen so i brushed it with some milk and into the oven at 220 degrees for 40 minutes

Back to the cake frosting , i put the milk in a non stick pan over a medium flame and whisked in the 3 tbsp of flour , kept whisking it so that it does not get lumpy, and becomes a slightly thick and cooked consistency..
Take it off the fire and keep whisking till it is cool , then add the butter and beat the mix with an electric mixi add the sugar a tsp at a time so that its nice and fluffy, and voila you're done...

My bread is also done and has come out of the oven looking so good , gee I'm so so so happy , its like you put in this dough in and "abra-kadabdra-kazaaam " beautiful fluffy fresh bread out of the oven, i toppled it out on to my counter, brushed it with butter and left it to cool....now back to my cake...Zeke is waiting to have it with butter, and so am i ...

After my cake is cooled , i added the frosting very very generously over it and left it rough and unfinished...and then added my new edible orange glitter that my sis juliet and my riend Kichie sent me...i love glitter...

Cut it into slices and bit into my "Saturday comfort slice of carrot cake " yummy , very very sinful only from "Maria's Kitchen"...
P.S. there is nothing more satisfying that actually baking bread from scratch and eating it with amul butter melting on it, sweet basic moments...