Baking on Arshad Siddiqui

Red Velvet Cake

Fri, 15 Sep 2017 13:25:00 +0100

Red Velvet Cake #

A classic, rich and vibrant cake layered with smooth cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients #

Cake:

Plain flour – 250g (sifted)
Salt – ½ tsp
Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp
Unsalted butter – 113g (room temperature)
Granulated white sugar – 300g
Eggs – 2 large
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Buttermilk – 240 ml (1 cup)
Red food colouring (liquid) – 2 tbsp
White distilled vinegar – 1 tsp
Baking soda – 1 tsp

Cream Cheese Frosting:
(Use 2/3 or ½ quantity for a lighter frosting layer)

Butterscotch Cake

Sat, 20 May 2017 17:04:00 +0100

Butterscotch Cake #

A rich, flavour-packed cake with layers of caramel icing and creamy frosting, topped with pecans.

Ingredients #

Cake #

Light brown sugar – 2 cups (about 240g)
Butter – 200g
Vanilla – 1 teaspoon
Eggs (medium size) – 2
Plain flour – 2 cups (about 300g)
Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
Baking soda – 1 teaspoon
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Buttermilk – 1 cup
(To make buttermilk: add 1 spoon white vinegar to warm milk and let sit for 5 minutes to curdle)

Caramel Icing #

Light brown sugar – 1½ cups (about 220g)
Plain flour – 1 tablespoon
Salted butter – 60g (divided in 2 parts)
Milk – ¼ cup
Vanilla – 1 teaspoon

Frosting #

Unsalted butter – 300g
Dark brown sugar – 2 cups (about 270g)
Heavy cream – 1 cup
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Cream cheese – 300g
Icing sugar – 2 cups (about 200g)

Garnish #

Pecans (crushed) – 2 cups

Method #

Cake #

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake tins.
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer on medium speed until fluffy.
Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, beating gently until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately into the batter, starting and ending with flour.
Pour the batter evenly into prepared tins and bake for 25–30 minutes.
Cool the cakes completely before icing.

Caramel Icing #

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients along with 30g of the butter.
Heat over medium, stirring frequently, and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat, add the remaining 30g butter and stir until melted.
Let the mixture cool, stirring occasionally, until it thickens but is still spreadable.
Spread a thin layer over the cooled cake. Allow to set completely before adding frosting.

Frosting #

Beat butter and dark brown sugar until creamy.
Add cream cheese, icing sugar, and salt. Beat until thickened.
Add heavy cream and whip until fluffy and spreadable.
Frost the cake generously.
Pipe additional frosting as desired.
Press chopped pecans onto the sides and garnish the top with pecan halves.

Home | Cake

Kashmiri Czot

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:29:00 +0100

Also called Kasher Czot, Kashmiri Czot, or Kandur Czot, this humble bread is a quiet pillar of Kashmiri life.

A Kashmiri’s day is incomplete without czot — the warm, lightly chewy flatbread that graces every breakfast table, often with a simple spread of butter or jam. This medium-sized everyday bread is crafted by the kandur, the local baker, who prepares it fresh each morning in a tandoor (hot clay oven). With swift skill, he presses finger impressions into each round of dough before gently placing it against the inner walls of the glowing oven.

Sheermal

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:11:00 +0100

Sheermal is a fragrant, slightly sweet saffron milk bread — rich, golden, and soft — traditionally enjoyed with a cup of kehwa or served alongside kebabs. Infused with kewra and saffron, it’s a royal treat from Mughal kitchens to Kashmiri bakeries.

Ingredients #

Plain flour – 500 g
Salt – 10 g
Butter – 65 g
Caster sugar – 25 g
Milk powder – 50 g
Egg – 1
Cream – 20 g
Kewra water – 20 g
Milk – 220 ml
Saffron – a few strands soaked in 2 tbsp lukewarm water
Yeast – 1 tsp

Method #

Use the Panasonic bread maker on Setting 22 to knead and rise the dough.
Shape and roll the dough to about 1 cm thickness.
Brush with milk or cream and bake until golden.
Enjoy warm with tea or as a festive side.

Cherry and Almond Cake

Sun, 11 Nov 2018 01:00:00 +0100

Cherry and Almond Cake is one of my all-time favourites — a dependable classic that never disappoints. It’s soft and moist on the inside, with a thin golden crust and a beautiful balance of sweet cherries and nutty almond flavour. Always a hit with family and friends!

Ingredients #

Butter, softened – 175g (or 200g for extra richness)
Golden caster sugar – 175g (or 200g if preferred sweeter)
Eggs – 4
Almond extract – ½ tsp
Self-raising flour – 175g
Baking powder – ½ tsp
Ground almonds – 125g
Milk – 100ml
Glacé cherries – 300g
Flaked almonds – 2 tbsp

Recipe #

Preheat oven to 140°C fan (160°C conventional).
Line the base of a 20cm deep round cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
Rinse the glacé cherries thoroughly, pat dry, halve them, and toss them in a little flour to prevent sinking.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
Add almond extract.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed until just incorporated.
Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, and ground almonds.
Add half of the cherries to the batter at this stage (optional), and stir in the milk to loosen the mixture.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Arrange the remaining cherries on top, then scatter over the flaked almonds.
Bake for 45 minutes, checking after 30–35 minutes. If needed, bake an additional 5–10 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with tea or coffee — or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream!