Guest Post: Baked Creamy Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Earlier on when I had just begun to document recipes, my friend by the name Ekta P shared her recipe Guest Post-Rajma and Potato curry  which received 144 views all thanks to her. As a new blogger a three digit view meant a lot. 

Well, she is back with a Guest Post, sharing her tried and 'tasted' recipe for 

Baked Creamy Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms. 

Creamy Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

1. Fresh Whole Baby Portabello Mushrooms (used here 1 dozen)

     2. Cream Cheese, Softened (brand used here Philadelphia, approx.3/4th of a 250gram block)
3. Pack Of Baby Spinach  (brand used here Supafresh 200 grams)

     4. Grated Parmesan Cheese (I've used Millel; you can use any brand)
5. Salt- to taste
6. Black Pepper- to taste
7. Bread Crumbs
8. A few Tablespoons of Butter Or Olive Oil
9. 2 Teaspoon Of Garlic Paste
10. ¾ Hot Green Chilies   

    Directions

Wash the mushrooms and pat dry. Next detach the stems gently from mushroom caps & chop (as shown in the pic).  

Mushroom stems detached from the Caps.

Chopped Mushroom stems (to be used as filling)

Take a saucepan, pour a few tablespoons butter or olive oil once the oil is slightly hot add garlic paste, then let the garlic paste cook until slightly golden brown then add in chopped mushroom stem. Let this cook for few minutes.

Add Salt & pepper & chopped green chilies as per your taste let this cook for few minutes. 

Add in baby spinach (do not chop spinach as chopped spinach releases more water). Stir this mix until spinach is completely cooked.

Now add in the last ingredient the crème cheese & mix this well into a nice paste. You can also add Parmesan cheese in this mix but it’s completely optional you can skip this step.

Now let this mix cool down (suggestion keep the mix in the fridge for at least 30min). meanwhile preheat the oven to oven to 180 degrees.

Time to get the mushrooms caps ready take large baking tray place a baking sheet on the tray. Line up the mushroom caps on the baking tray.

Add a teaspoon of the spinach crème cheese paste into mushroom caps, mounding slightly. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese & bread crumb mixture over filled mushroom caps.

Finally bake 30 minutes or until you can see the cheese melt and brown. Serve hot and fresh.

Do give it a try when you feel like having some earthy and healthy food (as mentioned earlier , the cheese and creme are totally optional) and leave a comment/feedback. She will definitely be watching this page. 

White Chocolate Ganache and Sliced Peaches for a Vanilla Cake.

I baked the Vanilla Cake using Betty Crocker’s Vanilla cake mix. Follow the instructions to the ‘T’. I would also advise you to not just brush/spray your baking tray with butter but to also dust some flour on the base of the baking tray and on the sides; this aids in getting the cake out of the baking dish smoothly once cooled.

Once the cake is baked and cooled. I prepared the ‘White Chocolate Ganache’, which I used to slather over the cake. I avoid baking but sometimes, this weird sense of confidence pushes you forward and you just go ahead and bake. This white chocolate ganache recipe was not googled; it took quite some time and effort of looking at products at the supermarket aisle, to figure out how we could possibly use white chocolate to the cake. All credit to Mr. D of coming up with the idea of using cream and white chocolate for the ganache (who btw has a Bachelor’s degree in Hunger Management). I just did the baking, slathering and yeah I did choose to put peach slices instead of mixed fruits on the cake.

So here is OUR recipe to making this simple and very easy to whip up White Chocolate Ganache.

6 bars of Nestle’s Milky Bar (each one weighs 25 grams) (I will update this measurement soon)

1 small tin of cream (I used Al Marai Cream 170gms)

Any brand of canned and sliced peaches

Steps:

1          1. Break the milky bars into small pieces and place them into a bowl.

2. Microwave the chocolate for a few seconds. (They just need to soften using a little heat, not necessary to use the microwave to melt it completely)

3. Give it a few stirs, by now it would have gone from solid to a thick liquid state.

4. Next, pour in the cream and stir well.

5. Now apply this using a spatula or a butter knife onto the cake, make sure you apply only a thin layer. Allow this to sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

6. Next, slather some more of the ganache on to the cake and allow it to sit in the fridge for 1 or 2 hours.

7. While you wait, open a can of sliced peaches and drain the liquid. Place the peaches on a plate and ensure there is not syrup left, refrigerate this too.

     8. Once you are ready to serve the cake, place the peaches in whatever way you like           over the cake. 

And Voila! You have a yum tasting and gorgeous looking Vanilla Cake topped with White Chocolate Ganache and Sliced Peaches.

For a beginner baker, I can vouch for the rustic way of applying frosting on a cake, wherein you put generous portions of frosting/icing/ganache on the cake and roughly slather it on the sides of the cake and on top of the cake. Prior to this step, it is advisable to apply a thin layer of icing/frosting/ganache first to keep the seal the crumbs.

May be the for next cake, I will try frosting using the icing bag/ piping bag/pastry bag (whatever you like to call it), and the assortment of nozzles that came with it and that was gifted by Mr D.

(Using the cake batter and the ganache I baked two cupcakes for my sister)