Chocolate Bark!

If you like chocolate, you will love chocolate bark🍫 that is basically tempered ( melted ) chocolate!

The fun is you can choose whether, you want the base to be milk, white or dark chocolate. My preference is bitter sweet chocolate. Also you get to add toppings, like sweet or salty nuts, of your choice and create your own style of chocolate.

I like the toppings to be in  many colours, texture and sweet and salty. You can have fun making it your way and surprising your guests for a little chocolate treat after dinner or just indulge in some yourself:) after all its a chocolate, and who doesn't like some!!

Do try out this very simple but special treat.

Ingredients are very basic

8 ounces chocolate, bitter sweet chocolate

2 ounces of white chocolate

Toppings your choice 

1/4 cup salted peanuts, or your choice of nuts

1/4 cup M&Ms

1/4 tsp or less butter ( optional but I used some just for making sure the chocolate doesn't stick to bowl while tempering)

                                           

  

Ingredients

                                                                   

Melt chocolate 

                                                                           

Melting chocolate

Pour chocolate  on the template 

Add toppings 

Sprinkle white chocolate 

Chocolate Bark 

 Doesn't it look yum! so do try out the simple steps and make some.

Method:

1. Cut the slab of chocolate, into pieces, put into a microwaveable bowl and microwave at intervals of 20 seconds. .In the first batch, chop approximately 5 ounces of chocolate and temper (melt) in microwave. As it melts, don't over melt.

Add remaining 3 ounces, continue and melt.

2. With the help of a pencil and ruler, mark out a rectangular shape on the parchment paper. Turn the paper and pour the melted chocolate on the side that has no pencil marks.Using a spatula, spread out the melted chocolate in a way that it stays within the marked rectangular shape.

3.Start adding toppings of your choice, while the chocolate is still in melted stage. Lightly press with hands, making sure the toppings get embedded. Now refrigerate fo 2 to 3 hours.

4. Temper some white chocolate, in a bowl in microwave and sprinkle on top of ready cooled chocolate bark.

Cut out shapes using a knife or just by your hand. Enjoy with friends and family, or at parties.

Dudhee Halwa

Bottle gourd is a vegetable, you can prepare it like a vegetable or made a sweet dish from this vegetable, surprised, yes and it tastes delicious and retains the flavour of the vegetable, and is very cooling for your system,  so if some body has the complain of stomach acidity, this is the vegetable you should be eating often.

Bottle gourd is called Lauki , Dudhee in Hindi, and Lauki halwa , is a dessert that is absolutely mouth watering ,prepared by cooking  grated lauki (Bottle gourd) with milk, sugar, nuts and saffron and small cardamom, that gives it this delicious aroma.

 After savory dishes I decided to make this sweet dish, very much a favorite of my husband. 

                                                    

Boil  Milk and  Bottle gourd

Adding sugar 

Almost done !

Dudhee Halwa 

Ingredients
500 gm Bottle gourd, wash, peeled and shredded will give approximately 2 cups of shredded Bottle gourd
1/4 cup chopped nuts  almonds, walnuts, pistachio (all unsalted)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
2 tspn  powdered small cardamom
1 cup sugar, can add little more like 1/2 cup more for sweeter taste
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) available in Indian stores


Method
1.Wash and grate Bottle gourd, can keep the skin on.
Heat a medium non stick pot, add 2 tablespoon ghee, add in 1 tspn powdered cardamom, and all the grated bottle gourd, stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Next, add in milk and half n half, cover and allow to boil over medium heat, stirring from time to time , making sure it doesn't burn to the bottom of the cooking pot.
3. After the milk has evaporated and the bottle gourd seems softened and  cooked, remove lid and add in the powdered nuts, and saffron. Continue cooking, next add in sugar ,carefully keep stirring, mixture will be hot and may bubble, keep cooking till sugar gets well incorporated, and  once the ghee (clarified butter) begin's to appear on the sides of the cooking pot.Serve it  garnished with your favourite nuts and small cardamom.

Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a favorite of many of us and when they are home made they get even better.
This recipe is from the original basic recipe by Nestle for making chocolate chip cookies, with a slight variation, that we have omitted nuts and used semisweet chocolate morsels, that is the main ingredient of a chocolate chip cookie.
Another advantage of making these cookies at home is the whole house gets perfumed with the fragrance of chocolate and you know they are ready . My daughter makes the best Chocolate cakes and cookies, they are so good, that there aren't any left overs :)))
So dig in the recipe and make some of these for your self and for your loved ones and watch their smiles light up..

 Ingredients
2 cups All purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 sticks butter
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 tspn whole milk
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet chocolate morsels(I like to use Toll house Nestle brand)

Chocolate chip cookies 

Home baked cookies

Method.
Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F and grease and line with parchment paper the cookie sheet.
1. In a mixing bowl , cream the butter and sugars together , using a wooden spoon or electric  hand mixer until smooth. Next add in the eggs, one by one and continue to mix to incorporate the eggs.
2. Combine sieved flour , salt and baking powder and ad this to the creamed mixture gradually. Add in 1 tblsp warmed  milk and vanilla essence.
Next stir in the chocolate morsels. Using a spoonful drop little rounds of dough onto un greased cookie sheet, making sure to keep an inch of distance between them. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until they appear crisp on the edges and slight golden colour.
After they are done remove from oven and allow to cool on the wire rack or on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes. Chocolate chip cookies go great with milk or just by themselves.

Raspberry Jello and Fruit Custard pudding

Raspberry Jello  and Fruit Custard pudding

A very cooling dessert, colourful and flavorful with fresh fruits and layered with your favourite flavor of jello and vanilla pudding, not to forget the layer of vanilla cake too.
For making this pudding you can use a packet of store bought instant vanilla pudding mix or make fresh custard by boiling milk and adding custard powder and later cooling it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. This dessert can be planned and prepared a day before you entertain as it tastes perfect cold.


Ingredients.
500 ml cold milk use with 5 tbs custard powder or
2 packets of Vanilla Instant custard pudding(available in stores) with 3 cups cold milk to prepare custard pudding.
1 small box fresh strawberries,wash and slice thin.
1 tin mixed fruits in syrup
2 bananas,peel and slice thin 
2 apples,peeled and sliced thin.
1 cup grapes, wash and sliced thin
1 tin of pineapple rings sliced thin
1 packet Raspberry flavored Jello. Prepare Jello and refrigerate.
1 store bought plain vanilla sponge cake, or angle food cake Cut in thin slices.
1 bottle raspberry jam
 16 oz fresh cream or 1 small bottle Cool whip fresh cream

Raspberry & Fruit Custard Pudding 

Method:
1.Prepare the vanilla custard pudding  (based on instructions on the instant pudding box)  custard should be thick consistency and not runny. Allow custard to  cool for about an hour in refrigerator.
 If you are making custard using custard powder, first boil the milk, lower heat. Mix 1/4 milk in a bowl with 5 tbs custard powder and add gradually to the warm milk,cook for another 3 to 4 minute,mixing till custard appears thickened. Remove from heat and cool,refrigerator for an hour before using.
2.Prepare Jello, using raspberry or a flavor of your choice look at the instructions on the Jello box. Allow the jello to set in the refrigerator.
3.Cut the fruits .Strain the fruits from the fruit tin.
4.In a round serving bowl, begin layering the desert. First cut the cake into small slices. Place cake at the bottom of the bowl. Apply thin layer of raspberry jam  on to the cake slice's. Cover with a layer of fruits, next add alayer of custard pudding, next a layer of jello, followed by another layer of cake slices, again followed by fruits, next layer of custard, followed by layer of jello, keep repeating these layers till the top of the bowl.
5.On the top most layer add a layer of cool whip fresh cream , jello and fresh strawberries. Refrigerate before serving.