Shot Glass Desserts

So what do you get when put someone who enjoys feeding others and someone who loves his bar?

A *read blog post title again*

Who says a dessert recipe needs to be long and intricately detailed? You can fix a quick dessert, won't make you have a tonne of dishes to wash up and is guilt-free.

Here are photos of two cute and quick desserts I whipped up for the hubby and myself in shot glasses I borrowed from his bar. 

                                                   

                                                   Shot Glass Dessert #1

Crushed digestive biscuit (not fine/powdered..keep it coarse) mixed with melted butter and spooned in to the shot glass and then left in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Layered with some fresh cream, chocolate pudding (brand used here 'Danette'), topped with fresh chopped strawberries. 

Shot Glass Dessert # 2

This was quite simple, I alternated between layers of yogurt and fresh cut Kiwis and honey as a natural sweetener.

I hope to add more Shot Glass Desserts to this post in this brand New Year 2017. Until then have a good one!

The Urban Dhaba, Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain (Our dinner at...)

Last night after running errands, we popped over Urban Dhaba in Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain. After months of drooling and browsing through this restaurant's Facebook page. We randomly decided to have a small dinner there. 

Urban Dhaba is a small, colorful and interesting little place located in Adliya behind Costa Coffee. The restaurant has closely placed seating, and the tables are rather interesting and can keep you and your gang quite busy. As we waited for our order, we played board games. The dice is placed in a small bowl placed inside a 'dafli' (tambourine)!

After we placed our order, the waitress brought us a plate of papads served with chutney. I really liked the chutney, which had the right amount of spice and salt.

For starters we ordered Gobi Manchurian. The two of us couldn't finish the generous portion of crunchy, indo-chinesy appetizer. There wasn't any excess oil to be found nor were the cauliflower florets soggy because of the sauce. they were just right.

(Veg Starter: Gobi Manchurian)

(Main Course: Bhuna Ghosht and Butter Naan)

For our Main course we ordered, Bhuna Ghosht (pan fried meat in spices) with naan. The essence of a Bhuna Ghosht is the blending and frying of the spices; this needs to be done really well, there is absolutely nothing more beautiful that slow-cooked meat in its own juices and aromatic spices. For me the single and most important criteria for any mutton dish would be how the meat melts in my mouth. Very few places give cooking meat the time it needs. Urban Dhaba's Bhuna Ghosht did not quite make the cut for me and Mr. D found the salt a bit low in this dish. 

I guess next time, we need to stick to their tandoori/ tikka items. We are defintely headed to Urban Dhaba for a second time-just to try out their tandoori/ tikka items and their lassi (the whole idea of serving it in a chota matka part fascinated me)

Since Mr. D was craving some sugar last night, he ordered the Gaajar Ka Halwa. The second the waitress placed it before us on our table, I could smell that majestic aroma of saffron. The halwa was warm and yum, it definitely put me in my happy place after a couple of spoons.

The bill for just the two of us came to BHD4.500. Apart from all the food, we ordered a small water bottle and a Coke.

(Dessert: Gaajar (Carrot) Ka Halwa)

Are we going there again?
YES. And this time eyes on the kababs, tikkas, tandoori items and lassi for sure!

We went there again!!…and here is my blog post detailing our second visit.

If you have visited this quirky new place, share your experience in the message area.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

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)

Dinner at Panasia Bahrain (Asian Cuisine)

Last week we celebrated my Dad's birthday by going for dinner to Panasia Restaurant and Tea Lounge.

Panasia is a aesthetically decorated Restaurant situated in Um Al Hassam, certainly away from the hustle bustle of the popular restaurant road in Um Al Hassam.  The restaurant offers a good range of Chinese, Thai and Indian delicacies.

Unfortunately I do not have snaps of the main course, but I do have photographs of the Starters that we ordered as well as of the Dessert.

It didn't take them long to bring our starters, but as we waited, they gave us two plates loaded with Spicy Pappadoms and Prawn Crackers with their special sauces (I call them the traffic signal sauces-you ask why?-well because of their colors). 

Here are photographs and descriptions of the Starters we chose,

Chicken Lollypops with Oriental Sauce....sorry about the blurry photo, can't help it when you have good food in front of you ;)

Chicken Siu Mai- minced chicken, water chestnut, mushrooms served with their '3 G dip/sauce'-which I found very YUM and for some odd reason reminded me of Beef Pickle that a Keralite friend had brought from her house to our hostel in Mangalore. That is one pickle I ate daily, religiously.

Once we were done with the starters, we were given some breathing time and more importantly time to get back to those yum PRAWN CRACKERS.

In a few minutes, our Main Course was laid before us on the table, and the waiter served us all. 

Like I mentioned earlier we had the Brocolli Beef (thinly sliced beef stir fried with brocolli in oyster sauce) and the Kung Pao Chicken, again, stir fried diced chicken pieces with scallions and cashew nuts as garnish.

Sorry no photos of our main.

Considering how much we ordered for the five of us and it being dinner time (light food time) and us having a three course meal..I expected us to have no room for dessert or being unable to walk to the car but the food was astonishingly light and we didnt' have to take a doggy-bag as there were no leftovers. NONE AT ALL!

Moving on to our dessert.....here is what he shared like a good family ;) 

PanAsia's Signature Dessert- two scoops of Vanilla ice-cream, deep-fried and the outcome, a warm crispy outer shell that hold cold vanilla flavored ice-cream inside it. PURE MAGIC!

(This is TMI, but I had to mention, while trying to sleep my sister and I YouTube-d the recipe for Fried Ice cream)

Warm Chocolate Brownie topped with a scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream, cashew nuts and Chocolate Fudge sauce on the side (this doubled as Dad's birthday cake)

I do not have the break down of the bill but the total as per my memory came to BD21.300 for 5pax.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

My Birthday Cake by Sparkles and Sprinkles

Last year, sometime around mid-November I featured my BFF's (Dee) business (those who don't know what I'm talking of, refer to this blog post business-feature-sparkles-n-sprinkles ) that she shares with her college buddy (Sini). 

I figured I'd set aside one blog post to show you a bit of Sini's creation- made for me on my birthday this year, and ordered by a close friend Boo (for those who don't know about Boo refer rainbow-birthday).

(The cake from all angles)

                                   (Super Moist Chocolate cake-yum yum yum)

                                  (what I kept staring at with fascination like a 3 year old)

            Can they get any more creative with cake?!

              Thank you *SnS*, Sini for the yum cake, God Bless your hands, and Thank you Boo                   for the thought.And thank you Alfie for the space in your refrigerator XD

                                                    

XOXO,
BpV

Coal Pieces | No bake | Christmas| Chewy Cookies

Who would believe that 3 INGREDIENTS and NO-BAKING, could lead to these amazingly amazing CHEWY COOKIES, perfect for Christmas and New Year. They look like pieces of coal hence the name.
I found this little recipe on Pinterest and I made these over New Year.

There won't be much text in this blog recipe only pictures...and my request for you to try these out- THEY ARE YUM AND YOU CANNOT MISS THESE.

Ingredients:

• 20-25 Marshmallows 
• 3 small cubes of butter
• 16-20 Oreos

Steps:

1. Empty the packet of Oreos and take off the cream, and just keep the cookies aside.
2. Reduce the cookies into a coarse crumb-like form. We do not want fine powder. Set aside.

 3.Take a microwave safe dish and dump all the marshmallows in it. Add the cubes of butter and microwave it for about 1 minute and 30 seconds, till the marshmallows get soft, bubbly and bloated.

4. Pour the oreo crumbs over the melted  marshmallows and combine the two ingredients well till you have a clump in the dish.

 5. Line a baking tray or any flat dish with aluminium foil, grease it a little by rubbing a little butter over it and pour the oreo and marshmallow mixture that we just prepared. Pat it down, so that it looks even.

6. Refrigerate for about an hour.

7. After an hour, take the tray out of the refrigerator and you'll have this rock like thing. I tried cutting it with a knife but to no avail. So I cracked the clump up using a 'pestle'...thats how I got uneven sized/ not-so-square shaped cookies.

They seem very tough to bite into but once you do get into this cookie ,I bet you'll come back for more, I speak out of experience. 

Enjoy!

-bPv

Business Feature: Sparkles N Sprinkles (Bahrain)

Two entrepreneurs, two friends and A shared passion.

Today’s post is a very special post featuring ‘Sparkles N Sprinkles’ a customized cake business and their co-owners, (my BFF) Diandra N & her college friend Sineeta A. 

They are the masterminds (and the artsy bakers) behind the ‘customized to perfection cakes and cupcakes’. Their business was founded in 2012 in Bahrain. The business has travelled overseas as well and now can be found in Toronto, Canada too.

A few of Sparkles N Sprinkles creations. 

Not only did I have the chance to interview these two special and fun entrepreneurs regarding their creative-cake-business, they've also been kind enough to share their ‘CAKE-in a mug recipe’ (with step by step pictures!). You don't find cake businesses sharing their recipes but when they do share- you need to start taking down notes!

1.     When did you start S&S and what sparked interest in you girls to begin this business?

Diandra: S&S commenced on 14th Feb 2012. Both of us had this creative energy that we felt was best demonstrated in cake decorating. Not only was this something fun for us to do together but was also a very lucrative business. We were aware of the many high end bakeries offering this same service so we decided to offer quality customised cakes at an affordable rate.

Sineeta: We shared a common passion for baking, and i would say that's what sparked the interest. Also, it brings us immense joy when our cakes bring a smile on peoples face.

2.     What is S&S's signature flavour for cakes?

Our most famous and personal favourite flavour is the moist chocolate cake base with chocolate fudge icing. 

3.     What has been the maximum number of cup-cakes you girls have been asked to bake?

Diandra: As far as we can remember, a customer ordered around 30 cupcakes for a baby shower. It was quite hectic as we were on standby, waiting anxiously for the baby to be born. The order had to be done on the very same day but turned out to be one of our best cupcake collections.

Sineeta: This February, SnS had the privilege to set up a stall in Marina mall and was required to bake about 50 cupcakes for the event. It was a definitely a tedious job as I was pressed with time. But I would say in the end it was all worthwhile.

4.     Do you girls have any special occasion cakes that you girls have baked apart from birthdays?

A large portion of our cakes have been ordered for birthdays but we have also catered for anniversaries, farewell parties, festivals and hopefully in the future weddings!

5.     On an average, how long does it take to prepare a one layer cake?

Preparing the cake takes around two hours. But that is the easiest part. The process of carving, icing and covering the cake is the most tedious part which takes a couple of hours. So you see the entire process is pretty much time consuming. This is why we request our customers to place an order as early as possible.

Baking a cake is said to be simple ONLY once you master the art of blending, measuring, and working with temperatures and timings. Crafting them and putting together little details to form a creative cake that pleases the eyes, palate and heart - doing that is never easy. But these two ladies managed to put smiles on people’s faces every single time they baked now that, is a marvellous job and I couldn't be more proud to have Diandra and Sineeta as my friends.

Below is a 'Cake in a Mug Recipe' shared especially with the blog readers of Bits & Pieces from Venus. Thank you ladies! 

What you will need:

• 5 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose)
• Four and a half tablespoon sugar
• A dash of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 
• Four and a half tablespoons of  water (you may need to add extra water to get the right consistency) 

Directions:

1. Line a microwave safe mug with non-stick cooking spray.
2.Mix the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and make three depressions in the dry ingredients mix. In the first pour vinegar, vanilla in the next and vegetable oil in the third.
3. Pour water over the top and mix the batter well with a fork.
4.Place in the microwave for approx 2 minutes. (Note: different microwaves have different heating times, so check the cake in intervals and be sure not to overcook it.)
5. Insert a toothpick into the cake, if it comes outs clean your cake is ready.
6. Top up with whipped cream or chocolate sauce, sprinkles or whatever you like

Tip: You can even add chocolate chips into the batter for a richer taste.
 

-bpV

Striped Jello bites (Red and White)

Hi all, I'm back with yet again another jello related recipe.
I some can't seem to get enough of this ama-jiggly-zing dessert (says the child in me).

What you will need for this recipe:

• Your choice of jelly (1 pack) I chose Strawberry and Banana
• One, 75gm envelope of unflavoured gelatin 
• 2 cups of hot water (boiled)
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp sugar

Steps:

1. Empty the flavoured gelatin mix in a bowl and pour in 1 cup of hot water and stir until the granules have dissolved. Next add 1 cup of cold water to the mix.

2. Stir well and pour half of it into a separate dish and allow the jello to set. Keep it in the freezer for 15 minutes.

3. Next take another bowl, add really hot water to it carefully, empty the unflavoured gelatin powder to the water and stir until the gelatin powder has dissolved well. You will get a golden colour semi thick liquid. Add the milk and sugar to this mix and stir well.

Unflavoured Gelatin dissolved.

4. By this time the 1st flavoured jelly may have set. Pour half of the milk gelatin mix to this set jelly, gently to avoid the jelly splitting. Allow this set. (keep in the freezer for about 15 minutes for it to set quick)

5. You will have two bowls left with you containing, half of the flavoured jelly and another bowl with half of the milk jelly mix. 

Bowls containing half of the mixes.

 6. Now add the next red layer and allow this to set for 15 minutes in the freezer.
 Once set pour in the milk layer carefully. And keep this in the fridge not freezer for 2 hours till the jelly is firm.

All SET to pour in the last layer.

7. After the two hours are up, boil some water in a kettle, pour it into a wide skillet. Place the dish which contains the jelly into it for about 15 seconds. This will help loosen the jelly from the dish and we can place flip it onto a plate.

                                                                   Demoulding process.


8. Once the jelly has been de-moulded onto a plate. Cut it into cubes and serve up immediately on a plate or cup cake tree/stand

There you have your 'striped jello bites' , makes the perfect dessert for adults and kids on Bahrain's National Day or For Christmas.

You could increase the number of layers or include colours/flavours of your choice.

You also could substitute the milk with whipping cream/low fat yogurt.

Serve up & Enjoy!

-bpV

Rainbow birthday

Hi everyone! Today is one of my realllllyyy close friend's birthday, he turns 24. I wanted to prepare something and give him, but I suck at baking and giving him a nice cake wouldn't be a good idea. After racking my brain over this, and gathering all the courage I had (along with quite a bit of searching), I decided to go ahead with this idea.

This is what I gave him on his birthday, during his office break,

 The cake box I stored the jello cream shots in.

A peek inside...


Yup 'Sober Jello And Cream' shots in the colours of the rainbow and fruits of all seasons !!

The shot glasses were meant to be distributed to colleagues and the one in the center with the umbrella, had all colours of jello layered up along. The top layer was  blue ( to represent a swimming pool) and I placed a few gummy bears on the blue layer (representing bears chilling in the pool) and the umbrella for shade. LOL. I know he turned 24 and all that and  that gummy bears and jello sound childish but who cares, 24 is the new 8.

Alright so how did I get this done,

I used a couple of jello packets more or less 85 gms each.

• Flavours I've used: Lemon, Green Lime, Peach, Mango, Mixed Berries, Orange, Strawberry.

• For the layered jello cup:

1. Decide the order of the colours you want to use.
2. Prepare the first jello of your choice by following the instructions on the packet. And take a big plastic glass resembling a big shot glass. Add a little of the first jello and let it. It will take about 20 minutes. 

1. Once its set, slant the glass to check if anything the jello is firm. 
2. Prepare the second jello and let it cool (room temperature). Take the desired quantity you want to add as a layer and slant your glass and pour the mixture gently (being hasty will only break the first jello).
3. Repeat the process for the rest of the jello flavours giving a 20 minute setting time for the jello. While the jello sets in the chiller, you can use your time and prepare the mixture for the next flavour.

• For the blue jello (I couldn't get packaged blue colour jello so I had to start from scratch)

Requirements:

Clear and unflavoured gelatin (10 grams sachet uses 100 ml of water so, 50 ml cold water and 50 ml hot water)

Blue food colour ----------2 drops (depends on the shade of blue you want to achieve)

Vanilla essence (since I couldn't find blueberry essence)------------3tsps

Process:

1. Boil some water and pour into a glass bowl.
2. Let it stand for about 3 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the gelatin granules over the water and using a fork stir briskly.
4. Stir for about four minutes until all the granules have dissolved.
5. Next, add the food colour stir.
6. Add the essence and stir.
7. To this add 1/2 a cup of cold water. Mix well and pour as the final layer of jelly in the big glass (if you are following the swimming pool and gummy bears idea.)
8. Let it set.
9. The shot glasses with a single flavour were topped with whipped cream.

Recipe Experiences:

• It took me about 3.5- 4 hours to get this done and set, as a result of working simultaneously preparing mixes and allowing jello to set in the big glass and the shot glasses.
• The recipe calls for patience, quite a bit of washing up of vessels and bowls and plenty of stirring.
• But the end result-variety of colours and flavours of jelly can bring a smile on anyone's face and then its all worth it.

As much as I enjoyed preparing this, I loved the fact that the birthday boy went WOW. 

Lotsa fun things to make jello, and I think so far this was the best I've made.

Until next time,

-bpV

Sober/Virgin Jello shots

The first time I tried doing something different with jello was when I was much younger, I just threw in a few diced apples in to my partially set jello. Don't ask how it turned out!After a good number of years, I attempted something different with plain old jello, and I was quite happy with the results. My dad's jaw dropped when he saw the finished product. Here is a snap,

For those who have never attempted this way of serving regular jello,

The steps to preparing this are very simple however,I will drop a few hints, so you can get it right just like I did.

1.Slice an orange into two halves and juice them. Once you have all the pulp out you can keep these slices aside.

2. Next, take your regular jello pack and prepare the jelly by following the instructions mentioned on the pack. That's quite simple,hence it shouldn't be a problem.

3. Once you've prepared the liquid mix, and it had cooled down a bit, pour the mix into the orange halves.

4. Keep these halves steady on a firm base and place them in the refrigerator to cool and set.

5. After the jello sets, depending on the temperature and time, you can cut the halves further into halves (basically you've made quarters)

And serve them up.

Tips:

1. If you intend on using oranges, make sure they are of the kind that can be juiced. You don't want to be stuck with stubborn oranges.

2. You could also use lime/lemon instead of oranges.

3. You need to follow the jello pack's instructions properly.

4. And don't keep opening the refrigerator's door to check on the jello, I'd suggest giving it  a good three hours to set.

5. I doubt, leaving the jello in the freezer to set would help, but then again, you never know. However, I'd suggest that you alternate between the freezer and the fridge. Keep the jello in the freezer for half an hour and then the rest of the time in the chiller.

Once ready, plate them up and plop them into you mouth, keeping the peels away.

Jello-appetite!

bpV