DOBOS TORTE

Dobos Torte was first introduced at the National General Exhibition of Budapest in 1885; Franz Joseph I and his Empress Elisabeth were among the first to taste it. The cake soon became popular throughout Europe as it was different from all others. It was simple but elegant, as opposed to the multi-storey, flaming cakes of the age. Its other secret was its use of fine buttercream, which was very little known at the time; cake fillings and frostings were usually made with cooked pastry cream or whipped cream. The chocolate buttercream and the batter of the cake were both invented by Jozsef C. Dobos.

It is a five-layer sponge cake, layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with thin caramel slices. The sides of the cake are sometimes coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts or almonds but the original cake is without coat, since it was a slice of a big cake. Dobos's aim was to make a cake that would last longer than other pastries, in an age when cooling techniques were limited. The caramel topping helps keep the cake from drying out. The cake is also often called 'Dobos-torta' or 'Dobostorta'. **Thanks to wiki

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Yes sure this is one time consuming project, but once you have planned everything it could just fall into place without any issues.
So lets get along with the recipe, you could use any variation you like in terms of flavour and the basic genoise as well, i choose a lemon genoise with lemon butter cream on the inside and chocolate butter cream ganache on the outside.
The Recipe that i used for the genoise is by Vegan YUm YUm
2 1/2 Cups All purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
r1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice and Zest of 1 whole Lemon
1 Cup Water
3/4 Milk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add butter, water, and lemon juice and beat well . Add the remaining ingredients and beat again. Pour the batter into the lined jelly roll pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the top is lightly browned.
Allow to cool in pan until just warm.
Remove the cake from the pan on a heat proof plastic sheet and roll a rolling pin lightly over the whole cake to make it a little more thin.
Once done let it cool and then cut the cake into 5 equal layers. Keep this aside and get your butter cream ready.

Lemon Butter Cream Frosting
2 ½ tablespoons softened butter
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 ½ cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice Cream the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy, add the lemon juice and lemon zest to it, combine well and keep aside.

Chocolate Butter Cream Ganache
2 cups dark chocolate, 1 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup sugar
Melt all the above ingredients in a pan on low flame. Mix well and let it cool.

Caramel topping
1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultra fine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grape seed, rice bran, sunflower)

Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel. Pour this over your layer and let it cool.

Assembling the Cake:
Divide your lemon butter cream into 5 equal parts, take one layer of your sponge and spread lemon butter cream evenly on it, sandwich it with the other layer of the sponge... repeat till all your 4 layers are sandwiched. Cover the cake with your Chocolate Butter Cream and decorate with the caramel layer. Refrigerate until cool. :)

Well never heard about it until this months DB's challenge. This awesome layered cake is heavenly. The rich butter cream makes it apt for calling it a celebration in it self.

Rava(semolina) Coconut Ladoo

Ladoo is a delectable Indian dessert made with variety of flours and nuts. Some time back i visited a friend's place and was complaining about my daughter not eating her meals well, and after some time she offered her Semolina coconut ladoo's, Unbelievably she ate all of it :) the very next thing i did after coming home was made those for my daughter.

I have never made any kind of ladoos before and this is my first attempt at making these.

Rava(semolina) Coconut Ladoo
Rava / Semolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 cup

Milk - 1/4th cup

Cardamom powder - a pinch
Raisins - a handful

Grated fresh coconut/Dry coconut - 1/2 cup

Pour ghee in a pan and raisins until till golden brown color and keep aside. Roast the semolina in the remaining ghee, Once u smell the semolina being cooked ( basically the raw smell should go)add the grated coconut also and saute for few minutes. Add sugar and the turn the heat off.

Cool it ( warm enough to mold) and make this mixture into small round balls it by pressing gently with your hand. Use milk spoon by spoon in case u cant form balls.
Keep in airtight dry container.

Milano Cookies

Milano Cookies, yes have seen them a lot in the imported food section but never tasted them as Eggs!! were mandatory. Gave it a shot for the Daring Bakers July challenge.

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Well .......... they are so simple to make and the same goes for the taste, very very delicate crispy,chewy and as you chew u get this awesome chocolate swirling along your mouth which is sandwiched between two crisp layers of cookies....mmm heavenly!! yes that's what i would call it. I could not attempt on the Marshmallow cookies because of the vegetarian factor. Also the vegan mallows have corn syrup which is not easily available.. but will give it a hand once i grab this syrup from some where.

I added a tinge of lemon rind as well as lemon juice just for a little zest. Ive tried chocolate and orange a lot of times now it was Mr lemons turn :) n ya lemons and chocolates go very well for sure. I almost used the recipe for Eggless Milano's from here except for a few changes.

Eggless Milano Cookies.

3/4th cup milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon rind

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all the dry ingredients and gradually add the wet ones while mixing the batter well. It should form a cake like batter. Whisk well for a few minutes and fill in a piping bag.Meanwhile Pre-heat your oven at 180 deg C and also prepare your baking tray with a parchment paper. Squeeze you piping bag to make desired shape's. Well the original shape of milanos is a Elongated Oval kind... but i was all in for hearts :) and small rounds which look like macaroons :)Its fun cause once you start piping shapes you want to do so much it.. so explore your creativity. :)

Bake them for about 20 min or until golden in colour. Baking them less will give them a cakey texture so be careful not to burn them or leave them undone.

While they bake Make your chocolate filling.

Chocolate Filling.

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 orange, zested ( i did not add)

In a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools). Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies

Whole Wheat Eggless Walnut Brownies

My hubby loves sizzling brownies, also had to think of a dessert for a lunch so gave a try to Wheat Brownies, yes they are egg less and awesome. They turned out to be pretty soft and chewy.

Every bite had crunchy walnut bumping in my mouth which made the taste more interesting.

I am slowly trying to adapt some of my recipes to make them healthier by using more of wheat flour, using less butter .. etc

And to motivate me Madhuram always has a ongoing event !! here is another one for you Madhuram for the Whole grain eggless baking event.

Whole Wheat Eggless walnut Brownies

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup water

1/3rd cup butter

21/2 Tbs coco powder

2cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

2tsp baking pwd

3/4th cup w walnuts

1/4th tsp salt.

Mix water with 1/3rd cup flour and heat in a nonstick n low heat until a smooth paste.

Let the mix cool. Along side mix butter with coco pwd and heat to a smooth paste on low low flame.

Add sugar to the cooled flour-water mix and add rest of the flour, vanilla essence , salt, baking powder,Mix it along with butter and coco mix. Blend all of in a blender until smooth.

Mix in your nuts and pour into a greased tin. Bake at 180deg for about 30 min.

You can make variations by adding almonds, choco-chips etc etc :)Server hot along with cold ice-cream!!

Eggless Wheat-Choco Muffins

Happy Birthday Maaaaaaaa :)Wish u all the love and luck in the world and Thanks a lot for everything! u all mean the word to me :)
This post is dedicated to my Maa :) i got late today to wish her :( sorry for that :) here's a small lil way we enjoyed your day!! With some Low fat Wheat-Choco Muffins!! Hope u had a great day today!!
I am also forwarding this post to Madhuram;s Event for this month!! Shes hosting this wonderful event to use Whole Grains as ur main ingredient! i m absolutely going to try hard and post as many recipes as i can :)
Here is the recipe for

Eggless Wheat Muffins.

1Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Sugar
1/4th cup Coco-pwd
1/4th cup Oil
1/2 cup water
1/4th cup Milk
1/2tbs Baking Pwd
1tbs Vanilla essence
2tbs Honey

Mix all the above ingredients and blend well until smooth. Pour in your muffin moulds and bake at 180 deg for about 30 min.
Garnish with M&Ms :) and loads of love!

Happy Birthday Nani! :) from Kaira and her friend Kishi :)!!!

Malpua/WHole wheat pancakes.

These sweet wheat pancakes are my favourite. I had not made or u can say had them in ages, So yesterday was one occasion i thought was perfect to make them on. It was Guru purnima, and had to make some prasad and the first thing in the morning when i woke up was MALPUA :) so it had to be it ! :)

I made a very instant version of it just mixing the batter and frying them. Its pretty instant so ya u don't have to wait too long to eat this yummy treat :) which u have to otherwise until u make ur sugar syrup. Traditionally they are deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup to sweeten them.

SO here's my instant recipe for :

Malpua's/Whole wheat pancakes.

1 cup whole wheat

½ cup sugar

1 tsp fennel crushed.

¼ cup curd

½ cup milk

Pinch of cardamon pwd.

Ghee

Nuts to garnish

Mix all the ingredients except the nuts and ghee, blend well in a blender or mix well until smooth. Let it stand for 10 min or more, In the mean time heat some ghee in a pan on medium low heat. Pour a tablespoon worth of batter in the pan and let it cook, Flip on the other side to cook evenly until golden brown. Remove on a kitchen paper and plate them, while garnishing with ur choice of nuts :)

Thats the pic of my daughter while her mouth is stuffed with malpua;s 2 at a time :)

The best option is to serve it with chilled RABDI :) (Indian sweet made with milk)

BakeWell Tarts

Well ive been wanting to live in London...the UK ... since i was a kid, and still dream to be settled there . :) But guess ive not done my research well enough, well i did it now :) The Bakewell tart is a traditional English baked cake native to the town of Bakwell. The tart consists of a shortcrust pastry shell, covered in jam and covered with a sponge style filling enriched with ground almonds. This is known as Frangipane. Traditionally the cakes are also covered with nuts such as almonds and peanuts. Normally eggs are a must have in this recipe but chucking them out from recipe's is my mission :) So here is another month of challenge from the Daring Bakers for me! BAKE WELL TARTS :)

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England

3 Major elements of a Bake well tart are- Tart, Jam & Frangipane.

Tart Crust(short crust pastry):
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed
To make the pastry: combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix with hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the middle of the pastry. Pour ice water into the well and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. .Press the dough into the pan so it fits tightly; press the edges into the sides of the pan. Shave off the excess hanging dough with a knife. Put the tart in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to relax. Preheat the oven to 180 C .Line the tart with aluminum foil and add pie weights or dried beans to keep the sides of the tart from buckling. Bake for 30 minutes, and then remove the foil and weights.Remember the tart will be cooked again with the filling.,so it should be baked until lightly golden. the second bake. Set aside to cool

For the Jam i used a store bought Strawberry Jam.

Frangipane: This vegetarian recipe is inspired from here.
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar (you could add more if u like it more sweet)
1 cup strawberry puree (just crush fresh strawberries in ur blender)
2 tbs Cornflour
1/2cup all purpose flour
1/4th cup almond flakes
Few drops of lemon juice
Few drops vanilla essence
Mix butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Mix in the strawberry puree and mix well, add rest of the ingredients except flour and almonds, and mix till smooth. Add the flour and blend till mixed well, lastly add the almond flakes and mix it gradually. Pour in the filling in your jam spread ed tart base and bake for about and hour in a pre-heated oven at 180deg.
This might feel like a little shaky even after baking for an hour. But will set after its cool. The best way to know is inserting a knife/toothpick and check if it comes out clean or not.

My Verdict to this months challenge is... shown in the pics below... my 2 yr old daughter 'Kaira' could not wait until the pics were being clicked... she literally had her mouth open as i was clicking... so if the pics dint turn out well.. its cuz she could not resist eating it :)

My next variation for Bakewell Tart is going to be with Nutella filling :0 Flaky pastry crust + Cream Nutellla chocolate +Crumbly soft cake like Fragipane . YUMMMMM!!

Cream Crackers

I love this low fat snack. Well surely its not low fat if you eat a whole pack of it, which i normally tend to. We get a good variety of black pepper, sesame, plain, veggie ..etc Cream crackers here. So i thought to give it a shot at home once and ya they are super duper easy and the best about baking them at home is keeping them as low in fat as you want.

I made a small batch this time as i was experimenting with my own recipe, next time its sure going to be a big ... big batch with all kinds of sprinklings on it :)

Also Madhuram has announced her Low fat Eggless baking Event. So this recipe goes to her. I am eagerly waiting for the round up, to try some awesome low cal, vegetarian recipes :)

I made basic sea salt-pepper (red and black) seasonings this time.
You can make them rich by adding a good scoop of butter or olive oil in it. I have skipped all the fat content in it. They were a little dry but well that made it taste more crisp. :)

So here;s the recipe for
Cream Crackers:
1cup All purpose flour
Salt to taste
1/2 cup milk
Few drops of oil (just to grease it while rolling)
Mix all the above ingredients to make a smooth dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for about 15 min.
In the mean time pre-heat your oven at 170 C
After your dough has rested roll them into sheets and using a pizza cutter cut them into squares or your desired shape. Sprinkle some sea salt/black pepper/red pepper or any seasoning of your choice.
I made small roses out of it. which looked adorable. Bake them on a parchment paper until they get a light golden glow on them, that would take about 15-20 min max.
Cool them on a wire rack and store in a air tight jar :)

Gyoza/Chinese dumplings/potstickers

Seeing this month;s got a big smile on my face. Living in Japan Ive seen abundance of these but to my bad luck never got a chance to eat enough of these. You hardly find vegetarian stuff here, Japanese don't find a reason to NOT eat Egg, Meat, Fish, Beef... etc... So unlike me who has millions reasons not to eat the above i loose onto a lot of things available here to eat. Gyoza, Is my new found love for Asian cuisine, We recently found a Chinese ramen restaurant who serves vege gyoza'a and they taste amazingly YUM!!
Gyoza is an Asian dumpling, originating in China before becoming a staple in Japanese cuisine. In the United States, gyoza is commonly sold as a "potsticker," or “potstickers.” Gyoza is made from a very thin dumpling skin, and is filled with meat and vegetables. A soy based dipping sauce typically accompanies gyoza.
I have made these before at home but always used the store bough wrappers. No doubt they easy to easy but there is a whole new sense of accomplishment when you roll the sheets at home. The recipe given of the dough is amazing to work with. So ya this was a easy challenge for me and had great fun making them, and my hubby had more fun relishing them! :) He says this is like a awesome Saturday night munch to go along with drinks!! :)

Dough:
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water flour for work surface
Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).
Make the dough, Method 2 : In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)
Few leaves of Coriander.
Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

For the filling:
2cups Chinese cabbage shredded
bunch Nira roughly chopped
1 large green onions chopped
1/2 cup Shitake mushrooms chopped
2 cloves garlic
l piece ginger grated
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbs soy sauce
Green Chilli (optuional)

Mix all the above ingredients in a pan n fry over medium heat until cooked. Cool the mix and grind it to a paste.

Your filling is ready to be crimped in between your gyoza sheets.

I luckily found this very inexpensive gyoza crimper in one of our local stores here... i must say this made my job sooooo easy. I did make a few with my hand but crimping them with the machine gave it a Pro look :) The pics will explain it better.

Cooking the Gyoza:

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.
To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes
To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve

AWESOME!! is the verdict for it! All i can say is.. i already have another batch of filling ready in my fridge to be crimped up pretty soon!!! :)

Happy Birthday!!

OK this post is due since months and months... i have been very lazy recently when it comes to sitting down to write.But well Better late than never :)

This post is for my 2 most imp ppl in my life, One is my Friend Rutuja whose birthday was on 17th may, and also goes a big Congratulations to you dear ...for your engagement :) Hope life brings you all the love and luck. Shes been waiting to see her Birthday cake since long.. M sorry for the delay. It was just a simple Choco-Banana cake... but well what made it special was It was For your Birthday :)

The other most imp and the sweetest Devil of my life... My Daughter :) she turned 2 on 26th April. Made a princess cake for her. Well this was the first time i made such a huge cake and a fancy one!! :) I was sooo nervous that would not get sleep for nights together but.... at the end... was all worth it. She loved it!! she kept saying OH WOW MAAA ....PRETTTYYY :)

No party celebration but just went out with our friends on her Birthday. It was a beautiful day out for Strawberry Picking, and then to a small Amusement park.

It was awesome picking awesome red Strawberries straight from the plants :) They had many variates of the, well i don't remember the names of them. But ya they tasted Sweet and tangy :)

Felt like the day was dedicated to Strawberries as her cake was a Strawberry mousse cake !!

Cheesy Green Onion Strudel

A pastry made with fruit or cheese rolled up in layers of thin sheets of dough and then baked.N not to forget with oooodllllesss of LOVE, STRUDEL!! it is....
A strudel is a type of sweet layered pastry with a filling inside, that became well known and gained popularity in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire .The most well known Strudel's are Apple strudel, Sour cherry.
But well cooking can never be restricted :) , The Daring Bakers can prove that with numerous variations of a strudel for u!! Yes u right,
The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.
Well, i choose my Strudel to be savoury, Cheese of course...
I most challenging thing was to roll the dough thin, well but i guess all of us have practised enough with the lasagna before :) so it was a little easier this time. I used the rolling pin to the max i could and then stretched it with my hand, i choose to leave it on the work surface and pull rather than taking it in my hand. I luckily dint have any tears, but well it really does not matter as the whole thing rolls up well:)
I love this recipe as it gave a beautiful dough to work with, was nice n smooth and no issues to roll with :)

Strudel dough
“Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyester;- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.
Both Courtney and Linda did a trial run on making the strudel. Below are our notes:
Courtney's notes- She couldn't get it to stretch to 2 feet by 3 feet, it turned out more like 2 feet by 2 feet. But the dough was tissue thin nevertheless;- She got some serious holes, but after rolling it wasn't noticeable;- She used a large cheese cloth which helped manipulate and stretch the dough more than a heavier cloth would have.
Linda's notes- I made the dough by hand, just mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Kneaded it for about 5 min like you would bread dough. This worked as well. Haven't tried using a stand mixer so I don't know how it compares.- Instead of cider vinegar I used red wine vinegar;- I used bread flour;- Picking up the dough to let it stretch didn't work well for me, holes appeared pretty much instantly. Instead I stretched the dough while it was lying on the tablecloth by putting my hands underneath and stretching it out further and further.

For the Cheese Onion filling:-
One cup finely chopped Green Onions
1/4Th cup Green Pepper
2 cups Mixed cheese
Salt
Black-pepper
Pinch of Red chili flakes.
Mix all the above ingredients and add the seasoning to taste.
Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.
Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Well i have already decided on lots of other variations that i would want to try with this strudel dough ~ :) Happy Baking!!

Candied Orange Zest!! I loved em! light bittery taste mingling so well with the sweet refreshing citrus flavour! :) I had tried making these for my cheese cake recipe. A quick and tasty flavouring for your desserts. While you cook these the aroma that spreads in your house is just to die for :)

So here's the recipe-

CANDIED ORANGE ZEST

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
Zest of 1 orange

In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add zest of 1 orange peeled into strips, simmer and let it cook until zest is tender. Drain, and transfer to a wire rack and sprinkle some sugar crystals or powdered sugar.