Kaju Ladoo / Cashew Ladoo

These cashew ladoos were a happy accident during my Diwali trials! This is so simple to make, I am surprised I never considered it before! We use the intrinsic fat in the cashews as the essential binding agent for these ladoos. It literally takes a few minutes,  and a good Indian mixie / food processor to make this delicious treat.

Shrikhand

Shrikhand is one of the easiest Indian desserts possible, not to mention relatively healthy! It is prepared with creamy yogurt, sweetened to your liking, flavored with any fruit pulp/syrupy flavoring, and spices such as cardamom and saffron. 

I made two kinds of Shrikhand this time - one is mango flavored, and the other is rose flavored.

Almond Crumb Cake

An East-Coast favorite, the simple crumb cake graces almost every coffee house. Mildly sweet, spongy and crunchy at the same time, the crumb cake doesn't overwhelm the palate. In this version, I added almonds and almond extract to make the cake extra crunchy and subtly aromatic.

Berry Cake with Cardamom

I love desserts with the berries, especially crumbles. Since I'd not tried making a mixed berry cake before, I set out to rectify the oversight with this simple berry cake, flavored with cardamom and some crunchy turbinado sugar sprinkled on top.

Espresso Cake

For a while now, I have been trying to experiment with a coffee-flavored cake. Most coffee/espresso flavored cakes usually have the bulk of the flavor coming from the coffee-flavored tiramisu-eque frosting. But what if some coffee is added to the cake itself? Does the flavor transfer over? Intensify?

The answer is - when coffee is added to the cake batter its flavor is bright and great on the palate. However, upon baking, the coffee flavor turns very mild and smoky, and thus hard to discern. So, you do need some form of frosting to impart the coffee flavor. (I tried drizzling some coffee to the freshly baked cake and let it soak in the flavors, but it ruined the texture and consistency of the cake). I'm not sure if adding more coffee to the cake is the solution, or if there is some secret ingredient that will help the coffee retain its composition and flavor while baking. Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions!

The cake by itself has a warm and smoky flavor (especially if brown sugar, molasses or honey is added). So, it's definitely worth a try for something different!