Peach Ice Cream (Eggless Recipe)

Blogging Marathon#65: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes 

Dish: Peach Ice Cream

I didn't know that peach ice cream existed until I had it at a dairy farm last summer. It tasted so fresh and full of peach flavor. I was looking for an opportunity to make it and when I saw peaches on sale in our local grocery I bought and made this yummy ice cream.

When buying peaches, look for fruit that smell like what you want them to taste like. One good thing about peaches is that they ripen even after they have been picked. So you can buy them slightly ripe and finish ripening at home. But make sure to buy peaches that are heavy for their size but are not too hard (these will never ripen).

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Rajasthani Mawa Malpua

Malpuas are one of the popular dessert in the North Indian states. There are quite a few different ways of making malpuas. These Rajasthani malpuas have mawa/ khoya in them and that makes them even more rich and delicious.

Malpuas are nothing but pancakes that are dipped in sugar syrup. They taste absolutely amazing when served with the instant rabri and they are sure to be an awesome treat for any sweet lover.

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Aam Doi (Bengali Mango-Yogurt Dessert)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 1: A for Aam Doi - Bengali Mango-Yogurt Dessert
It's April 1st and it's time to start another edition of Mega marathon which means that the blogging marathon group is going to blog everyday (well almost, except for Sundays) in April. Our theme this time around is 'Journey through the Cuisines'. We will be posting recipes in alphabetical order from the cuisine/s we picked.

I am going to post recipes from 4 states (1 state/ week) and the first state is 'West Bengal'. Bengali cuisine is so vast and elaborate. I think of Bengalis as true foodies because food is part of their culture and their identity. Here's a lovely post by Ishitaunplugged about Bengali's passion for food.

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Easy Coconut Laddoo (using condensed milk)

Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes

Dish: Easy Coconut Laddoo (using condensed milk)

We are starting the last week of this month's blogging marathon and my theme for this week is 'Bookmarked recipes'. First up is an easy to make coconut laddoo recipe from Jyothi Rajesh's Curry Trail blog.

I bookmarked Jyothi's recipe the minute I saw it on FB. Her clicks were just amazing and adding rose syrup to coconut laddoo sounded so exotic. I made these cute little laddoos to bring to a friend's house.

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Eggless Fruit & Nut Cake

Bake-a-thon 2015: Day 6
Bake of the Day: Fruit & Nut Cake without Eggs
We are just 12 short days away from Christmas and I'm sure everyone is in full gear with holiday decorating, shopping and baking. We just put our Christmas tree up yesterday and the decoration is still work-in-progress. My 3 year old is very excited about Christmas and has been actively helping me in decorating the house :-)

This fruit & nut cake reminds me of Britannia snack cake with little specks of tutti fruity in it. I have made this cake about half a dozen times already and it has been quite a hit every time I make it. Recipe is from Nisha Madhulika's site. Recipe needs just a few basic baking ingredients and a few minutes of stirring, voila you have a delicious cake in less than an hour.

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Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream (3 Ingredient Recipe and No Ice Cream Maker required)

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: 3 Ingredient Recipes

Dish: Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream

For the final day of this week's marathon, I made this amazing 3-ingredient Roasted Strawberry Ice cream that needs no ice cream maker. I did a happy dance when I found this recipe while looking for 3 ingredient dishes. I had all the ingredients on hand and it just sounded too good not to try right away.

I already have 2 strawberry ice cream recipes on the blog -- one with strawberry puree and the other with condensed milk, orange liquer etc. If you click on the links and see, you'll notice that the first one looks a little icy whereas the second one is quite creamy. The second recipe is very easy to make -- just mix all the ingredients and then churn in the ice cream maker.

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Mofo gasy or Madagascar Yeasted Pancakes for #Food of the World

We are visiting Madagascar this month for #Food of the World event. Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The Malagasy cuisine is influenced by Southeast Asian, Indian, Chinese and European migrants who have settled on the island. Rice is the staple food and is eaten at almost all of the meals.

It was quite a challenge to find authentic vegetarian recipes from this Island country. There were quite a few versions of coconut rice that I could have tried but didn't feel like making just rice :-)

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Noodley Pudding (Siwayan/ Semya Custard pudding) for Blog Anniversary

Month of May flew by really, really fast. It was quite a busy month jam packed with a lot of fun and food -- celebrated my birthday, Mother's day, met some blog buddies, took a painting class along with couple of friends, planted a raised bed garden and caught up with family and friends. I wish all months are this way -- even though it went fast, a lot of things have happened and most of the time is accounted for unlike some months were absolutely nothing happens in the whole entire month.

Along with the other happy incidents, my blog completed 9 years and entered into it's 10th year of blogging. I don't think I even knew what I was doing or what I wanted to do with the blog 9 years ago when I started it. This space was my way of documenting my recipes, never thought I would last this long. Being a stay at home mom for the last 3 years, the blog has become my main hobby -- it gives me something else to think about other than the mundane everyday chores.

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Eggless Vanilla Cake with Condensed Milk

BM# 51 -- Baking Marathon: Day 20
Bake of the Day: Celebration Cakes -- Eggless Vanilla Cake with Condensed Milk

As I was organizing the recipes to post for this week, I was surprised to see that I was missing my daughter's birthday cake. Then I realized that I made an extremely small (6") cake and it was all gone by the end of the night. I only had one good picture of the cake. So I made it again recently.

It is a very basic eggless vanilla cake with condensed milk. Using cake flour makes the cake soft and gives it a great texture. It is not a very moist cake, but is not totally dry either.

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Eggless Dulche de Leche Cake

BM# 51 -- Baking Marathon: Day 18

Bake of the Day: Celebration Cakes -- Eggless Dulche de Leche Cake

After yesterday's giant chocolate chip cookie, I made this Dulche de leche cake for my son's birthday that weekend. My husband travels on business to Argentina frequently and gets this amazing local dulche de leche from there which I use in all kinds of different desserts, like this creme caramel and this yummy cake. You can make your own dulche de leche at home or you can buy the canned variety or you can use just regular condensed milk (it will taste different but it will still be good).

This is an eggless cake and is sweetened with just the dulche de leche. I always tell myself not to experiment a new recipe for a party. But I always do that -- I'm too bad that planning ahead of time. 

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Oman -- Khabeesa (Cream of Wheat Pudding)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: O for Oman

Dish: Khabeesa (Cream of Wheat Pudding)
We are moving on to Oman today. This is the only country that I know of that starts with an O, so I'm pretty sure what most of my fellow BMers have picked today :-)
Oman is an Arab state in Southwest Asia. Oman is an absolute monarchy in which the Sultan of Oman exercises ultimate authority, but its parliament has some legislative and oversight powers.
Omani cuisine is very similar to most of the Middle eastern cuisines. Dishes are based around chicken, fish, lamb as well as the staple of rice. Most Omani dishes contain a rich mixture of spices, herbs and marinades.

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Malai Sandesh and a blog Anniversary

Blogging Marathon# 40: Week 3/ Day 3
Theme: Unused BM# 39 posts
Dish: Malai Sandesh

For the final day of this week's marathon, I made a simple, yet decadent dessert from West Bengal. When I jotting down dishes for Bengal, I was only thinking about sweets/ desserts since it was going to be the last day of the mega marathon and also Bengali dessert are to die for. I had about 4~5 desserts that I really wanted to try. After making Lobong Lathika and this Malai Sandesh, I still have couple more that I really really want to make some time soon.

Another reason for posting a sweet today is Cook's Hideout completed 8 years of blogging this month. After becoming a stay-at-home-mom, blogging and my blog buddies have become my real friends. Blogging gives me something to think about other than household chores and my virtual friends are always there to listen to anything. Big thanks to them for inspiring, motivating and encouraging me to keep blogging. Also thanks to my family for their complete support without which Cook's hideout would not even be possible.

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Sweet Pea Kheer

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 3/ Day 3
Theme: Desserts with Vegetables
Dish: Sweet Pea Kheer

So for the final day of this week's BM# 34, I decided to make something different for 'Desserts with Vegetables'. I saw this sweet pea kheer on a Telugu cooking show and remember thinking to myself 'why would anyone use sweet peas to make kheer!!!!' But of course when Valli announced the themes, I knew I had to experiment with a vegetable that I have never used in desserts before, so here it is a kheer with sweet peas.

On the cooking show the kheer had a beautiful minty green color, but mine didn't turn out that color. I guess I didn't grind the sweet peas into a smooth enough paste to get that color.

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Sheer Qurma/ Khorma/ Korma (Hyderabadi Kheer with Vermicelli & Dates)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter S
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Sheer Qurma/ Khorma/ Korma (Hyderabadi Kheer with Vermicelli & Dates)

Today we are starting the final week of our month long A-Z themed blogging marathon. It has been quite an experience cooking and posting Andhra dishes for the past 18 days. As a group, we have been planning the event for almost 4 months and so most of my dishes were thought out, cooked, clicked and scheduled to post well in advance except for the last week. I only made 2 dishes for the last week and the posts are still pending :-(

September has been the busiest month so far. 2 birthday parties planned and executed, sending a first grader back to school, family from India visiting, entertaining my 1 year old and my 3 year old niece during the day.. phew.. a lot has been going on and the last of week BM suddenly had to be put on the back burner. Added to that some of the letters for this week were also quite challenging (hello U,V,W,X,Y & Z-- thank you). But I'm sure I'll figure everything out and complete the marathon, thanks to my mom for all the help :-)

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Vanilla Ice Cream (Eggless Recipe, No Ice cream maker needed)

This is my go-to recipe for Vanilla Ice cream. Recipe is from Eagle Brand site. It is super simple to make with just 4 ingredients. All that is needed is to mix all the ingredients and then churn in the ice cream maker. If you don't have ice cream maker, don't fret I've included the procedure to make it without the ice cream maker too.

Original recipe uses 4 cups of light cream or half-and-half, but I always have heavy cream and whole milk in the fridge, so that is what I used to make this ice cream. If you don't have ice cream maker, then use only Heavy Cream to get a creamy, smooth ice cream. Using light cream or half-n-half will make the ice cream too icy.

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Eggless Pineapple Cool Cake

Blogging Marathon# 27: Week 1/ Day 8
Theme: Occasions/  Birthday
Dish: Pineapple Cool Cake

For the last day under "occasions" theme, I made this simple Pineapple cool cake. Cool cakes are basically moist cakes that are chilled and are very common in India. I made this cake for my daughter's 7th month birthday. Time seems to fly by and before I know it will be time to plan her 1 year birthday. But thankfully my blogging buddies have posted everything one needs to have a party. So don't forget to check them out here for tons of party ideas and delicious recipes.

Cool cake is something I wanted to bake for quite some time now and finally got to try it now. I used the eggless pineapple cream cake recipe from Divine taste.

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Strawberry Ice Cream (Eggless)

Even though it's not technically winter yet in our neck of woods, temperatures have been hovering around freezing for the past few days. I have started to think about summer already and to remind me of the hot weather I'm posting my Strawberry ice cream recipe. This post has been in my drafts since summer but I haven't had a chance to post it, I thought it's better late than never. Also it's probably summer in some part of the world and I'm sure they have strawberries in season.

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Microwave Doodh Peda (Indian Milk Fudge)

This is my 601st post, it took me more than 6 years to get here. Valli & Blogging marathon are the biggest reasons for my regular posts, so big thanks to Valli for conceptualizing BM and coming up with interesting themes every month that keep me motivated with my blogging.

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Gajar Halwa (Carrot Halwa)

For Day 6 of BM, I made the most widely made and liked dessert in India, Gajar Halwa aka Carrot Halwa. I read somewhere that carrot halwa is generally made in winters because the sweet carrots or gajar is widely available in winters. My MIL makes the best Carrot halwa and she makes hers with khoya, but I took the short cut and made mine with condensed milk. 

For best results, this dessert has to be cooked low and slow, on a low flame stirring occasionally in the beginning and more frequently at the end when the halwa is coming together. 

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Bengali Aam Kheer (Mango Kheer)

For the last day of blogging marathon#5 I wanted to make a Bengali dessert/ sweet. My dad worked in Burdwan, West Bengal for a year or two and when he visited us he would bring back containers filled with Rasagullas for us to enjoy. Those were the best rasagullas I’ve ever tasted and I don’t think any of the canned or the restaurant ones come even close. I wanted to make rasagullas for the marathon, but didn’t have the time to make them.

Many of the Bengali desserts are made with chenna or sweetened paneer, but with the limited time I had I decided to make this equally delicious and decadent Aam Kheer (Mango Kheer) . Why didn't I ever think of adding mango puree to sweetened and thickened milk to make this divine dessert. So simple, yet so sophisticated and the taste is just out of this world.

Recipe adapted from Sandeepa's Bong Cookbook. I've to thank Sandeepa for all the Bengali dishes on her blog and we had a great time making and eating these delicious dishes. I changed the original recipe a little bit to use up the leftover evaporated and condensed milk I had after making this. I only had 2% milk on hand, but I don't think that affected the taste or consistency of the end product.

Ingredients:

Milk - 2 cups (I used 2%)

Evaporated milk - 1 cup

Condensed milk - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup (optional)

Saffron - few strands

Ground Elaichi (Cardamom) - 1/2 tsp

Ripe mango - 2 medium

Method:

• Heat 2% milk with evaporated milk in a heavy bottom sauce pan and bring to a boil.
• Add condensed milk and sugar (if using) and continue to simmer on medium flame stirring continuously until the milk thickens and reduces to about half of the original volume, takes about 50 minutes - 1 hour.
• Add saffron and elaichi to the milk mixture in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat and cool completely.
• Chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.
• When ready to serve, puree 1 mango and mix with the kheer. Chop the other mango and garnish the serving dishes with cubed mango for a double dose of mango goodness.

This was probably one of the best desserts I've ever made with mango. The kheer had a thick, almost dulce de leche consistency and taste and the sweet mango complements the kheer in a great way. This is a must try for all Mango lovers.

Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up today:
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala