Sourdough Multigrain Sandwich Bread

This is light and fluffy multigrain sandwich bread with seeds. Perfect for any sandwich or just toasted with your favourite jam. Multi bread is any type of bread made with more than one type of grain. Wheat is one type of grain; others include rye, spelt, barley and millet. 

The delicious flavour from the grains, seeds and sourdough starter makes thus bread stand out!

Ingredients:

• 325g plain flour
• 100g whole wheat four
• 75g rye flour
• 325g water
• 100g sourdough starter
• 50g olive oil
• 25g honey
• 10g salt
• 25g quinoa
• 25g flax seeds
• 25g sunflower seeds
• 25g pumpkin seeds
• 2 cups of hot water

Method:

Start the night before by mixing the quinoa, flax seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds with hot water and letting them soak overnight.

The next day combine the water and starter in a bowl, mixing the ingredients until the starter dissolves in the water. Add the rye flour, the whole wheat flour and the plain flour. Mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Cover with a towel and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes. In the meantime drain all the seeds that you left soaked overnight.

After 30 minutes, add the olive oil, honey and salt, knead with your hands in the bowl, then add all the seeds and keep kneading in your bowl for about 2 minutes until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Cover with a towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes start a series of stretch and folds. Make sure that you stretch the dough well each time, cover with a towel and wait for another 30 minutes, repeat the same process 2 more times, waiting 30 minutes in between stretch and folds.

Get a dough scraper and start shaping your dough into a cylinder shape, stretching it well as you keep shaping it. Then transfer it seam side down to a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover it with a greased clingfilm. It is important to grease your clingfilm before covering your dough so the clingfilm doesn't stick to the dough. Let your dough proof in a warm place. 

Once the dough is double in size it is ready to bake. Brush it with some water and add some oats or any other seeds on top.

Place it in a pre-heated oven at 220ºC/200ºC for fan assist oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Wait at least 10 minutes before taking the bread out of the pan and let it cool at least 30 more minutes before slicing.

You can also watch a video by https://www.akneadtobake.com/post/sourdough-multigrain-sandwich-bread if you prefer to watch how to make this bread.

 

Easy Pilau Rice

 An excellent side dish that is perfect for serving with a curry. With only a handful of ingredients, you can make this restaurant-style Indian Pilau at home!

Fragrant fluffy, aromatic basmati rice, packed with flavour and all cooked on the stove, this yellow rice is so much better than take-away and so easy to make at home.

Pilau which also know as pilaf, is rice that has been cooked in broth or stock with other delicious herbs and spices added. It is usually fluffy and packed with flavour. Many countries and regions have their own version of pilau.

The bright yellow rice that we all love gets its colour from turmeric. This earthy ground spice stains the rice that vibrant colour. It also adds depth to the flavour.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of basmati rice
• 7 cups boiling water
• ½ tbsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 cloves
• 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 2 inch cinnamon stick

For the onions:

• 2 small onions
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ tsp black mustard seeds

Method:

Rinse the rice in cols water a couple of times to remove any excess starch.

Place the rice in a bowl and cover with cold water, let it soak for 30 minutes to an hour.

Peel and slice the onions into thin half-moons. Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large frying pan. Cook the onions over low heat until they have softened and are starting to caramelize. Add in the mustard seeds and stir gently.

While the onions are cooking, pour the water into a large pan and bring back to the boil. Add the salt, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. Stir to dissolve the salt.

Add the rice to the water and stir gently. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-12 minutes until the rice is soft. Note that there will be lots of water left in the pan.

Drain the rice, remove the whole spices, and set it to one side until the onions are cooked. Add the drained rice into the onions mixture and gently stir to combine. check the seasoning and add more salt if required.

Aubergine Bhaji

 Also know as brinjal!

The dish is filled with chunks of aubergine that's been baked with aromatic Indian spices, topped with fresh coriander and chilli.

This aubergine bhaji is actually also a vegan dish. The combination of the creamy , roasted aubergines and classic Indian spices is a satisfying one!

Aubergine bhaji or brinjal bhaji is a classic Indian side dish that pairs the rich, creaminess of aubergines with classic spices like garam masala and cumin. This recipe will serve 2 as a main or 4 as a side.

Ingredients:

• 2 aubergines, about 600g, chopped in half lengthways 
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 6 tbsp water
• handful of c=fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp cooking oil, or ghee if preferred 

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC for fan assist oven.

Cut the aubergines in half, brush oil on the skins. Lay with the flesh side down in an oven roasting tray. Roast the aubergines in the oven for 30 minutes, until the insides soften.

Remove the aubergines from the oven and once they are cool enough to handle, chop them into rough chunks, about 1 inch in size.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, then add the onion until it starts to soften and turn translucent. Add the garlic, spices and tomato puree and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant.

Stir in the roasted aubergine and water, stir well, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally.

Season to taste and stir in the coriander. 

Serve up with naan bread or chapatis alongside your favourite curry!

Chocolate Explosion Cake

This cake is so easy to put together. All you need is a chocolate cake, some chocolate frosting and a whole load of chocolate bars!

I baked the cake & make the frosting myself. However, if you don't have the time or didn't want to make a thing ....it will just be a complete assembly job, thanks to store-bought chocolate cakes, frosting and chocolate bars. 

If you plan to bake your own cake, there are few chocolate cake recipes & also chocolate frosting on my blog. 

What you need to make this cake:

• 8" chocolate cake-bake yourself or shop bought. Make sure you have about 4" to 5" for the height
• 1 can shop bought chocolate frosting, or make your own
• KitKat bars, about 12-14 fingers
• about 40 Maltesers, 2-3 regular bags
• 40 Cadbury Chocolate Buttons, 3-4 treat size bags
• Kinder Egg
• M&M's
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Kinder Bueno, 2 bars
• Cardbury Dairy Milk, 2 bars
• Cardbury Flake, 2 bars
• Milky Bar, 2 bars

Ultimately you can use whatever chocolate bars/candy bars that you like! You can also use just 2-3 types or like me go nuts and use ALL the choclate!

Zinnia Flower Cake

Simple piping, stunning results ! This is an easy technique using buttercream called petal effect. it is extremely easy and the results are very impressive. The Petal Technique uses a round tip on your piping bag and a small spatula or small teaspoon to create the effect. It's simple process, just very time consuming. 

What you need:

• A cake, round looks the best for this technique but square or rectangle is ok
• Buttercream icing
• Food colouring
• piping bags, depends on how many shades you prefer
• A small spatula
• 4 plain tips, if you prefer can use the piping bag too
• Turning cake decorating table, very helpful but not a must

I found The Hungry Housewife blog is very helpful as she posted a tutorial on her blog that demonstrate both the omber and petal effect to decorate a cake. I am not going to include my step by step how I decorated the cake. I am going to let you read what she wrote. You can complete the cake as she did but I like to decorate mine with fresh flower and finished the base with fresh flowers too. Try to get the similar colour tone for the flower. Have a go, it is not that hard.

http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/2012/04/blue-ombre-petal-cake-tutorial.html