Gluten-Free S'more Bars

Ingredients

5 gluten-free graham cracker sheets, broken
3.38 ounces gluten-free flour (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 (4-ounce) bars semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Line an 8-inch square metal baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing foil to extend over edge of pan.

3. Place graham crackers in a food processor; process until finely ground. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour and sugar to crumbs; pulse until combined. Add butter; pulse 15 times or until blended. Add egg; process until moist. Press crumb mixture into bottom of prepared pan.

4. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

5. Cook cream in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add chocolate, stirring until smooth. Fold in marshmallows. Spread chocolate mixture over cooled crust. Cover and chill 2 hours and 30 minutes or until firm. Holding edges of foil, lift mixture from pan, and carefully peel off foil. Place on a cutting board. Cut into bars.

Kids Can Help: My kids love pressing the crumb mixture into the pan, and then melting the chocolate and stirring in the marshmallows.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Ingredients

10 tablespoon (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup Reese's Pieces
15 miniature peanut butter cups, cut in half

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan and line bottom with parchment. Butter parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, both sugars and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in vanilla and eggs until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing just until a thick dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips, Reese's Pieces and peanut butter cups. Press dough into prepared pan.

3. Bake until brown on top but still soft in center, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around edges of pan; transfer cake to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving.

Peanut butter brownies

Ingredients

225g crunchy peanut butter
200g bar dark chocolate, broken into pieces
280g soft light brown sugar
3 medium eggs
100g self-raising flour

Method

• Set aside 50g each of the peanut butter and chocolate. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 20cm square baking tin with baking parchment. Gently melt remaining peanut butter, chocolate and all the sugar in a pan, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has just about melted. Turn off heat and use a wooden spoon to beat in the eggs one by one. Stir in the flour and scrape into the tin.
• Melt reserved peanut butter in the microwave on High for 45 secs, or in a pan, until runny, then drizzle over the brownie. Bake for 30-35 mins until it has a crust, but the middle still seems slightly uncooked.
• Melt reserved chocolate, drizzle over the brownie, then cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

Best-ever chocolate raspberry brownies

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
100g milk chocolate, broken into chunks
250g pack salted butter
400g soft light brown sugar
4 large egg
140g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
200g raspberry

Method

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 20 x 30cm baking tray tin with baking parchment. Put the chocolate, butter and sugar in a pan and gently melt, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat.
• Stir the eggs, one by one, into the melted chocolate mixture. Sieve over the flour and cocoa, and stir in. Stir in half the raspberries, scrape into the tray, then scatter over the remaining raspberries. Bake on the middle shelf for 30 mins or, if you prefer a firmer texture, for 5 mins more. Cool before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

All-Purpose Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 scant tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, preferably European style
• 1 cup whole milk

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• PREPARATION
• 1.  Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Cut butter into pats and add to flour, then pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture resembles rough crumbs. (Alternatively, cut butter into flour in the mixing bowl using a fork or a pastry cutter.) Return dough to bowl, add milk and stir with a fork until it forms a rough ball.
• 2.  Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat it down into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently pat it down again. Repeat. Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
• 3.  Gently pat out the dough some more, so that the rectangle is roughly 10 inches by 6 inches. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured glass or biscuit cutter. Do not twist cutter when cutting; this crimps the edges of the biscuit and impedes its rise.
• 4.  Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Chocolate Dump-It Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups Nestle's semisweet-chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups sour cream, at room temperature
•  

• 
  
• PREPARATION

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack to catch any drips as the cake bakes on the middle rack. In a 2- to 3 quart pot, mix together the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter and 1 cup of water. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly
• Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan (Tip: Be meticulous, and really work the butter and flour into the crevices of the pan. This is a moist cake, so it really needs a well-prepared pan to keep it from sticking).
• When the chocolate in the pot has cooled a bit, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions, and without overmixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice to blend. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack. (This can be tricky -- if someone is around to help, enlist him.) Let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, then let cool to room temperature. Stir in the sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth.
• When the cake is cool, you may frost it as is or cut it in half so that you have 2 layers. There will be extra icing whether you have 1 or 2 layers. My mother always uses it to make flowers on top. She makes a small rosette, or button, then uses toasted slices of almond as the petals, pushing them in around the base of the rosette.

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Rasagolla

Ingredients
Milk 1 gallon
Lemon Juice 1 cup
Sugar 1 cup

Preparation
· Bring one gallon of milk to a boil. When boiling add one cup of either whiter
vinegar or lemon juice. Turn the stove off. Milk should separate into whey
and curd.
· Pour into colander, leaving only the panir/curd. Leave curd in strainer until
cold and dry. This will take at least an hour (you can leave it overnight).
· Place curd in food processor and process for one minute. It should be soft
but not sticky.
· Form small balls from the curd. Using vinegar usually results in about 80 to
100 rasagollas.
· Bring one cup sugar and 3 cups water to a boil in a pressure cooker. Place
20-25 rasagollas in syrup. Turn off the heat to place the cover on the
pressure cooker. Turn heat on high. When cooker begins to whistle wait for
a couple of minutes, then turn it off.
· When pressure cooker depressurizes, remove cover and re- peat previous
step with the rest of the rasagollas. Do not use the same sugar syrup more
than once.

Ras Malai

Ingredients
Ricotta Cheese 2 lb.
Half and Half 2 qts.
Sugar 2 cups
Cardamom pods 5
Bay leaf 1
Vanilla 1 tsp.
Rose Water To taste (opt.)

Preparation
· Mix 1.5 cups of sugar with the Ricotta cheese and bake it in a 400o F oven
for about 1hr and 15 minutes in a flat dish covered with aluminium foil. The
cheese should have hardened and turned a pale brown.
· Thicken the Half and Half by simmering over low heat for a long time. This is
best done in a microwave; if a microwave is not available, do it over low
heat and stir frequently. Thicken until the volume drops to around half of
the original volume.
· Add the remaining 0.5 cup sugar, cardamom pods, bay leaf, vanilla and rose
water (and any other flavouring that you may want) to the Half and Half.
Heat for a few minutes.
· After the cheese has been baked, cut it into 1 inch squares and add to the
hot thickened half and half. Cool for a few hours in the fridge.

Gajar Halva

Gajar Halva

Ingredients

Carrots 1 lb.

Half and Half 1 pint

Sugar 1_2cup

Cardamom 3-4

Raisins handful

Cashew nuts handful

Preparation

· Add a little butter to a frying pan and heat to coat the pan. Roast cashew

nuts until golden brown and add the raisins to the pan for a few seconds.

Remove the cashews and raisins and keep aside.

· Grate the carrots and add to the pan. Add Half and Half, and heat for about

an hour, starting with high heat stirring, and lowering the heat after the

mixture starts boiling. Heat until almost dry.

· Add sugar, mix, and continue to cook until damp/dry.

· Remove from stove and add cashews and raisins and cardamoms.