#Kitchen #Recipe and #HealthyFood

गुरुवार, 11 फ़रवरी 2021

Pink Velvet Cake

This rich decadent Pink Velvet Cake is going to be a quick favorite. It’s absolutely perfect for Valentine’s Day, baby showers or any other special occasions.

Pink velvet is a fun twist to my Red Velvet Cake. I also love these cupcakes and brownies, both with a rich cream cheese frosting for Valentine’s Day.

Pink fluffy velvet cake with white frosting and pink swirls on a plate with a fork.

Pink Velvet Cake Recipe

This Pink Velvet cake is just as fun to eat as it is to make. It’s pretty pink insides are moist and fluffy. It’s light and bouncy and absolutely delicious. The vanilla and almond pair perfectly together creating a unique flavor, it’s scrumptious. The delicate decorations are optional, but they add to the visual appeal of this pink cake. The frosting is so good, it just the right texture, not to dense and not too sweet. You are going to love it!

Pink Velvet is such a fantastic choice to serve for so many different events. Whether it’s a baby shower, gender reveal party, brunch, Valentine’s Day, birthdays or just because, this cake will be a show stopper. Even though it sounds complicated, making this velvet cake is quite easy. It just takes time. Every bit of time it takes will be so worth it. This is going to be one of the BEST cakes ever!

Ingredients for Decadent Pink Velvet Cake

Egg Whites: This calls for 4 egg whites, save the yolks to make custards, tarts or carbonara.
Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness
Unsalted Butter: Creates richness and a moist crumb.
Oil: For extra moisture
Pure Vanilla Extract: Flavor enhancer
Pure Almond Extract: This is so good in the cake.
Red Food Color: Just enough to make it pink.
Flour: All purpose flour.
Baking Powder: This is the raising agent.
Salt: Creates balance in the cake.
Milk: Provides the velveteen texture.

Pink Frosting Ingredients

Unsalted Butter: Frosting wouldn’t be creamy without the butter.
Powdered Sugar: Sift before adding to avoid lumps.
Heavy Whipping Cream: Adds richness.
Pure Vanilla Extract: Creates the best flavor.
Salt: Just a pinch.
Red Food Color: optional

Making Dreamy Pink Velvet Cake

Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line the bottom of two 8″ cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the top of the parchment paper and the side of he cake pans. Sprinkle flour on the side of the cake pan and tap out the excess. Set aside.
Meringue: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg white and half of the sugar. Beat on medium speed until the meringue is formed. It should be shiny white with stiff peaks. Transfer the meringue into a different bowl and set aside.
Cream: In the same stand mixer bowl, without washing, cream the softened butter and sugar together. Then add oil, the extracts and red food color. Beat until incorporated.
Sift: In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Stir in the salt, and mix with a whisk to distribute evenly.
Combine: Add the flour mixture to the butter and oil mixture in 3 increments alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the bottom and side of the bowl to ensure thorough mixing. Then with a light hand, fold in the meringue.
Divide: Divide the cake batter among the two prepared cake pans. Bake in the middle oven rack for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
Cool: Remove from the oven and allow to cool to the touch, remove cakes from the pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Folding i n the meringue with the cake batter.

Make the Frosting

Mix: Add all ingredients except the food color to a stand mixer bowl. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients, then increase the mixer speed gradually to high and beat until the frosting is white and fluffy.
Optional: Use red food color to dye part of the frosting pink for the decorations if desired. See steps below.

Assemble the Cake

Layer: Place the first layer of cake on a cake stand or plate, add 1 cup of frosting on top and level out with an offset spatula. Place the second layer of cake on top and add another cup of frosting on top, level it out. Add another cup of frosting to the side of the cake.
Dye: At the this point dye the remaining frosting with a few drops of red food color to get a light pink color to use for the decoration. Fill a pastry bag fitted with your favorite decorating tip and pipe decoration on top of the cake. Add swirls to cover the base of the cake.
Serve: Serve right away or refrigerate until ready to serve. Allow the cake to come to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving if refrigerated.

Pink and white frosting ready to frost.

What’s the Difference Between Red and Pink Velvet Cakes

There is actually quite a bit that’s different between these two cakes besides being a different shade of red. That being said, both are insanely delicious and fun to make and eat!

Red Velvet: This divine cakes original color comes from a chemical reaction that occurs when the cocoa, buttermilk and vinegar combine. It creates a deep brownish red. Today’s red velvet cakes have added coloring to increase the intensity of the red color. The cocoa, vinegar and buttermilk are a unique combination that gives it incredible flavor and texture, thus it’s unique name as well. Cream cheese frosting is a staple for red velvet and combines with it superbly.
Pink Velvet: Despite its name, pink velvet cake doesn’t share much with red velvet. The meringue creates it’s light fluffy velvet texture. It does not have cocoa but instead has a winning combination of vanilla and almond flavorings. The creamy sweet frosting, is not cream cheese but a lighter creamy frosting that doesn’t overpower the delicate flavors of the cake.

Pink velvet cake with white frosting and pink flowers.

Tips and Variations for Pink Cake

No one wants to go through all the effort of making a cake and it coming out all wrong. Follow these tips and variations for perfect cake every time.

Frosting: Use just enough red food color to tint the batter a light pink. Increase if you want a more neon pink. If you don’t want to decorate the cake with pink frosting, you can just use white frosting. Or if you don’t want to decorate the cake at all, just use the remaining frosting on the side and top of the cake for a thicker layer of frosting.
Decorations: Feel free to use different decorations as you desire. Top with sprinkles, candies, or other toppings as you desire.
Room Temperature: For easier mixing and better combining of ingredients make sure your eggs and other ingredients are at room temperature.
Measure properly: Many times a cake can come out wrong if you “eyeball” the ingredients. Be sure to measure carefully.
Cool Completely: Don’t even think about cutting or frosting your cake until they are completely cool. If needed you can stick the cakes in the fridge before frosting. This helps the crumb tighten up.
Don’t Over or Under Cook: Be sure your cake still has a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick, but make sure it’s not gooey. Check it often and carefully, you don’t a dry cake or one that falls.
Don’t Over Mix: Be Careful to not over-mix your cake batter, especially when folding in the meringue .
Store: Frosted cake will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week when covered tightly. You can freeze cake that’s tightly wrapped for up to 3 months.

The inside of the pink velvet cake with white frosting and pink frosting flowers.

More Cake Recipes to Indulge in

A famous queen once said “Let them eat cake!” I think that’s reason enough to eat cake as much as possible. It can be rich and dense or light and fluffy. It can take all day to make or in just an hour. Cake comes in just about every flavor imaginable and it’s perfect for every occasion. And I mean any occasion, whether it’s a celebration of grand proportion or the fact you made it through the day. I think all of it’s a great reason to eat cake!

Pink Velvet Cake

This rich decadent Pink Velvet Cake is going to be a quick favorite.It's absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day, baby showers or any other special occasions.

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword pink cake, pink velvet cake, velvet cake

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings Slices

Calories 713kcal

Author Alyssa Rivers

Ingredients

Pink cake

4 large egg whites
1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar divided
4 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
10 - 12 drops of liquid red food color
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup milk room temperature

Frosting

16 ounces unsalted butter
2 cup powdered sugar
½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
A big pinch of salt
A few drop of red food color optional

Instructions

Make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease and line the bottom of two 8” cake pans with parchment paper, grease the top of the parchment paper and the side of the cake pans. Sprinkle flour on the side of the cake pan and tap out the excess. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg white and half of the sugar. Beat on medium speed until the meringue is formed. It should be shiny white with stiff peaks. Transfer the meringue into a different bowl and set aside.
In the same stand mixer bowl, without washing, cream the softened butter and sugar together. Then add oil, the extracts and red food color. Beat until incorporated.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Stir in the salt, and mix with a whisk to distribute evenly.
Add the flour mixture to the butter and oil mixture in 3 increments alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the bottom and side of the bowl to ensure thorough mixing. Then with a light hand, fold in the meringue.
Divide the cake batter among the two prepared cake pans. Bake in the middle oven rack for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to the touch, remove cakes from the pans and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the frosting

Add all ingredients except the food color to a stand mixer bowl. Stir to incorporate all of the ingredients, then increase the mixer speed gradually to high and beat until the frosting is white and fluffy.
Optional: use red food color to dye part of the frosting pink for the decorations if desired. See steps below.
Assemble the cake
Place the first layer of cake on a cake stand or plate, add 1 cup of frosting on top and level out with an offset spatula. Place the second layer of cake on top and add another cup of frosting on top, level it out. Add another cup of frosting to the side of the cake.
At this point, dye the remaining frosting with a few drops of red food color to get a light pink color to use for the decoration. Fill a pastry bag fitted with your favorite decorating tip and pipe decoration on top of the cake. Add swirls to cover the base of the cake.
Serve right away or refrigerate until ready to serve. Allow the cake to come to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving if refrigerated.

Notes

Use just enough red food color to tint the batter a light pink. Increase if you want a more neon pink.
If you don’t want to decorate the cake with pink frosting, you can just use white frosting. Or if you don’t want to decorate the cake at all, just use the remaining frosting on the side and top of the cake for a thicker layer of frosting.

Nutrition

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बुधवार, 10 फ़रवरी 2021

Tapioca Pudding

Homemade Tapioca Pudding is easy to make and a wonderfully textured, classic dessert! It’s naturally gluten-free and looks elegant presented in individual dessert cups with a little fruit on top!

Puddings are such a sweet, simple dessert that should be enjoyed more often! We also really love Banana, Rice , and Chia puddings for a homey, creamy treat as well!

Individual servings of chilled tapioca pudding.

Old-Fashioned Tapioca Pudding

Tapioca is always such a fun treat! It’s got a vintage vibe with timeless, classic flavors that never go out of style. The recipe I’m sharing today is 1,000x better than the boring pudding cup versions you pick up at the store. My tapioca pudding recipe is made with small pearl tapioca and has a wonderful balance of sweetness from the milk, cream, and sugar with a hint of vanilla and the soft tapioca beads that are so fun to squish around in your mouth!

Our favorite way of enjoying tapioca is in small dessert cups with a strawberry fanned out on top. It’s so simple and unassuming, but it’s also excellent to make ahead for parties and unique enough to surprise and delight guests.

What is Tapioca?

Tapioca comes from the root of the cassava plant, which grows in Brazil. They are starchy little balls that are also often used for thickening pies and other desserts.

A fanned strawberry on top of homemade tapioca pudding.

Ingredients in Homemade Tapioca Pudding

Don’t be fooled by the simple list of unassuming ingredients. They come together to make a truly uniquely textured and flavored dessert that tapioca-lovers will be wild for!

Small Pearl Tapioca: This ingredient gives tapioca pudding both its name and its signature texture. Look for small pearl tapioca instead of the “instant” or “minute” kind.
Milk: Whole milk gives the best results, although we have even made this with skim milk and it turns out tasty.
Cream: A little heavy cream adds to the richness and complexity of flavors.
Sugar: The amount of sugar gives just the right degree of sweetness to this tapioca pudding without making it overly sweet. Remember that slowly cooked milk develops a sweetness all it’s own, so that’s factoring in here as well.
Eggs: These are added at the end to help thicken and enrich the tapioca pudding.
Vanilla Extract: The vanilla, sugar, and cream notes in this tapioca pudding are heavenly! We recommend high quality vanilla extract instead of imitation vanilla.

Let’s Get Cooking!

Making classic tapioca pudding is a bit of a labor of love that takes about an hour, but it’s worth it! As the pearls soften and thicken the cooking liquid, the natural sugars in the milk take on a sweet, toasty flavor.

Soften the tapioca: Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the liquid comes to a simmer, stir in the tapioca pearls and reduce the heat all the way to low. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 45 to 60 minutes until the tapioca pearls turn translucent and the liquid starts to thicken.
Temper the eggs: Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl, then add ½ cup of the hot tapioca mixture. Stir together, then add another ½ cup of the hot liquid and stir again. This helps to gently bring up the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them.
Cook until thickened: Add the tempered eggs to tapioca mixture and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until you reach your desired thickness. For us, that’s only about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Divide between serving cups: Fill each cup as much as you like, then serve warm or cover with plastic wrap directly touching the top of the tapioca and chill to serve cold. It’s delicious both ways!

A step-by-step collage showing how to make tapioca pudding.

Tips for Making Tapioca Pearls

Don’t forget to stir! I have gotten distracted a time or two before and had the pearls congeal at the bottom of my pot. It can usually be salvaged with some vigorous elbow grease and a strong wooden spoon stirring and breaking the tapioca apart, but it’s much easier to just give the mixture a quick stir every five minutes or so.
Serve warm or cold: This dish is really fantastic both ways, so it’s really up to you how you want to serve it and personal preference.
Check the brand of tapioca you buys for specific instructions: Some brands might require you to soak the tapioca in water first, then drain it. We like Bob’s Red Mill’s small pearl tapioca, which doesn’t require any soaking time.
Using “quick” or “minute” tapioca: This is the same thing as small tapioca pearls, just cut down smaller for quicker cooking. You can follow this same recipe and just decrease the cooking time to around 20 minutes. It’s faster, but the smaller pieces aren’t as nice as the bigger pearls, in our opinion.

Variations

Chocolate version: Add 3 ounces of chopped semisweet or dark chocolate at the end along with the eggs, stirring until the chocolate has melted for a decadent chocolate version.
Add fruit: Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and even mango are all delicious served with this pudding.
Swap out the extract: You can substitute ½ teaspoon of almond or coconut extract in place of the vanilla extract.

Three glass jars of tapioca pudding next to sliced strawberries.

More Simple Dessert Recipes You’ll Enjoy

Each of these creamy, cool dessert recipes are guaranteed to bring smiles to your family’s faces!

Cheesecake Dessert Cups
Easy English Trifle
Pineapple Cheesecake Dessert Bars
No-Bake Cookie Dough Chocolate Cups
Easy Creme Brûlée
Print

Tapioca

Homemade Tapioca Pudding is easy to make and a wonderfully textured, classic dessert! It's naturally gluten-free and looks elegant presented in individual dessert cups with a little fruit on top!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword tapioca, tapioca pudding

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 205kcal

Author Amy Nash
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Whisk milk, cream, sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid barely comes to a simmer.

Stir in the tapioca pearls and immediately reduce the heat all the way to the lowest setting. Continue to cook and stir for 45 to 60 minutes until the tapioca pearls are translucent and soft and the mixture has begun to thicken. Please note that different types and brands of tapioca may require shorter cooking times.

Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl. Add ½ cup of the hot tapioca mixture, stirring well. Add another ½ cup of the hot liquid, stirring again, before combining the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the tapioca and milk mixture.

Continue to cook 1 to 10 minutes, until thickened to your liking. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Cool for at least 20 minutes before pouring into individual serving cups. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap directly in contact with the top of the tapioca to prevent it from forming a skin and chill to serve cold.
Nutrition

Calories: 205kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 104mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 451IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 1mg

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मंगलवार, 9 फ़रवरी 2021

Homemade Italian Seasoning

Super easy and better than store bought, Italian Seasoning is a MUST have in your pantry! One of the best seasonings there is, this Italian Seasoning is used on most everything!

Making your own seasoning is cheap, easy and just smart! You will know exactly what is and isn’t in your spice rack. Try my homemade ranch, taco and fajita seasonings for more homemade goodness, with optimal flavor!

Homemade Italian seasoning in a white croc.

Italian Seasoning Recipe

Making your own seasonings just make sense. It’s easy and you know exactly what’s in them. Italian seasoning is one I reach for over and over again. It has the perfect balance of earthy, sweet, and savory flavors. It blends beautifully with so many dishes from potatoes, chicken, beef, fish, vegetables and even bread.

Italian seasoning is one of the best of the seasoning blends out there. Having a good blend on hand speeds up your cooking. You don’t have to measure out multiple seasonings. It’s all together in a nice little package. It also takes all the guesswork out of how much spice to add to a dish to make it balanced. The Italian Seasoning blend is already balanced for you. You are going to love having this staple in your pantry! If you’re a fan of Italian seasoning you’ll notice this is the classic herb only version. Often you’ll see it with garlic and onion powder and even red pepper flakes added. Which is delicious, but I wanted to be able to control the amount of those ingredients more depending on the recipe.

What is in Italian Seasoning

If you have a grocery store that carries bulk spices, buy them there. You can also get bulk spices sometimes at restaurant supply stores. As you make your Italians seasoning again and again, you can play with the amounts and add in more or less according to your tastes.

Basil: This is spice has a balance between sweet and savory, with hints of mint, anise, and pepper.
Oregano: This is a strongly aromatic herb.
Rosemary: It has a sage-like, peppery flavor
Marjoram: milder flavor than oregano and tastes similar to thyme.
Thyme: It has a sharp, almost minty flavor. It is earthy with floral hints and is a little bit sweet and a little bit peppery.

How to Make Italian Seasoning at Home

This homemade Italian seasoning comes together in minutes, but keeps for a long time. Whip some up to use in your favorite dishes. In a small bowl combine the basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram and thyme. Use as needed.

All the different spices that make up homemade Italian seasoning.

How to Use Italian Seasoning Mix

Italian seasoning is one of those blends that goes with so many things. When you’re making a dish and it just needs a touch of something. Reach for the Italian seasoning. It’s quite perfect for just about anything.

Add: Italian seasoning is a fantastic addition to any recipe using chicken, beef or fish. When a recipe just needs a little bit of something extra, try Italian seasoning.
Sprinkle: Enhance your popcorn, vegetables and potatoes by sprinkling some over the top, or mixing it with melted butter and topping them.
Mix: Create a delicious bread by melting butter and brush on bread sticks, French Bread, or Focaccia.
Add: Mix it in butter on the outside of toasted cheese sandwiches.
Use: Add to pastas, potatoes, and soups.
Dressing: Combine the seasoning with oil and vinegar for your own homemade Italian dressing. YUM!
Marinade: Italian seasoning makes incredible marinades. Try it in this world famous steak marinade!
Don’t forget: Italian seasoning is obviously perfect for your Italian favorites from lasagna, pizza, pasta salads, to classic soups and spaghetti. It seriously goes on everything!

Storing Homemade Italian Seasoning

This mix is quick and easy to make, so you’ll want to store it properly so it lasts a long time, and stays fresh. The beauty of dried herbs is that as long as they are in a tightly sealed jar or tin, they can keep for a really long time. Even up to 2-3 years sometimes. They don’t mold or spoil like fresh herbs can. You will know they are no longer good when they are no longer aromatic.

To ensure the longest and freshest herbs store away from heat and light which will cause them to lose their flavor and smell faster. If you keep spices in a spice rack on your counter keep far enough away from the stove to prevent heat damage. For this Italian seasoning simply add the seasoning to a sealed jar or container. This seasoning will last 6 months or more in a sealed jar stored in a dry, cool area away from direct sunlight. Italian seasoning does not need to be refrigerated.

Italian seasoning in a glass jar with a teaspoon full beside it.

More Italian Recipe to Try!

I love Italian food. It’s comfort food. Full of rich spices, savory sauces and decadent desserts, you can’t go wrong with an Italian dish. The list is long on favorites and absolutely crazy delicious Italian recipes. Start with these and then search up some more. Have Italian for every meal!

Homemade Italian Seasoning

Super easy and better than store bought, Italian Seasoning is a MUST have in your pantry! One of the best seasonings there is, this Italian Seasoning is used on most everything!

Course Seasoning

Cuisine American

Keyword homemade italian seasoning, italian seasoning

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Calories 38kcal

Author Alyssa Rivers