Sweet Devil .... ^__^

One of my daughter's request, chocolate cake !! Since, my husband doesn't like chocolate cake, it's mean only me and my daughter enjoy the cake ... yihaaaa...

Devil’s Food Cake with Mocha Butter cream Frosting

4 ounces 100% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate Baking Bar
1 1/2 cups Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa
2 cups flour
1 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoons salt (optional)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 2/3 cups butter, softened
4 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons granulated instant coffee
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cups milk

Directions Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottoms of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans, and line with waxed paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, ground chocolate, granulated sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Add 1 cup of the buttermilk and 1 cup of butter. Beat on medium for 2 minutes.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of buttermilk, the eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake 30 to 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the cake’s center. Cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove cakes from the pans, discard the waxed paper, and transfer them to the wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

Melt the chocolate (broken into 1-inch pieces) in a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is smooth.

Dissolve the instant coffee granules in the boiling water. Stir the coffee mixture into the chocolate, remove from the heat, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the remaining 2/3 cup butter until fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and mix until well combined. Frost the cake.

Sholeh Zard

For Bee & Jai, this is my entry for event CLICK September 2009 : "HEIRLOOM"

Rice pudding is an ancient dish enjoyed by people of many cultures and cuisines. The history of rice is a long and complicated story. Food historians generally agree that rice came to Europe by way of India

"Shola...the name given to a number of dishes all over the Middle East, Iran, and Afghanistan in which short-grain rice is cooked until soft and thick, with other ingredients chose according to whether the shola is be be savoury or sweet...sholleh was brought to Perisa by the Mongolians in the 13th century...Shola-e-zard is a sweet saffron and rosewater (or orange flower water) flavoured rice dish...It has a religious significance, being made on the 10th day or Muharram (the Muslim month of mourning)...also made as a nazr, which is a custom of thanksgiving or pledge practiced in Iran and Afghanistan. The shola is cooked and then distributed to the poor and to neighbors and relatives."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 720)--

Eid Mubarak

May Eid bring its happiness to you

Es Cendol // Indonesian Cold Dessert

Es Cendol (pronounced 'chen-doll') is an Indonesian drink made from rice flour served with coconut milk, sugar palm and ice cubes or shaved ice. And the word "es" is Indonesian for "ice". Cendol vendors are a common sight in Indonesian cities.

And also Es cendol is common beverage during Ramadan's month, very refreshing after fast for almost 12-14 hours :-)

Es Cendol Ketan Hitam

Ingredients :
5 pieces of jack fruit, diced into 1-cm pieces

Tape Ketan Hitam *see Note*

Ice cubes

Cendol:

50 grams rice flour

100 grams mung bean flour (Indonesian Version called : HUNKWE)

160 cc water

salt to taste

2 teaspoons green coloring food

Pandan Leaves

Brown Sugar Sauce, boil until thick and sieve :

500 grams dark brown sugar (my version was : Javanese Brown Sugar)

100 grams granulate white sugar

200 ml water

Pandan leaves

Coconut Milk Sauce, boil into low heat :

1500 ml coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

Pandan Leaves

Preparations:

Cendol: mix all the ingredients in the medium pot, cooked for 5 - 10 minute, until mix together and boil until thick and done

Put cendol dough through Cendol sieve, pressing to produce individual pieces. Put in basin containing cooked water and add ice cubes. After the individual pieces of dough have hardened, drain and set aside. (or you can use meat grinder too)

To Serve: pour brown sugar syrup into a glass or bowl. Add cendol, jack fruit pieces, Tape Ketan ,coconut milk and ice cubes

Tape Ketan :
Tape ketan is prepared by cooking glutinous rice with water, cooling and inoculating the cooled rice with crushed ragi yeast cake.

The amount of ragi added is about 1 yeast cake per 1 to 3 cups of uncooked rice. The crushed ragi powder is stirred in the cooled rice-mix, and then the ingredients are placed in a covered bowl and fermented at room temperature [about 85°F] for 1 - 3 days.

Traditionally, the rice is usually coloured green with green plant extract, but today, artificial food colouring has taken the place of natural plant extracts. Although there is a non-coloured variety of tape made from white glutinous rice.

There is also Tape ketan-hitam, prepared with black glutinous rice. The preparation is the same as for tape ketan, substituting white glutinous-rice with black glutinous rice, ketan-hitam (hitam means black in Indonesian)

What for Iftar ?

We need to bring energy back after fasts from dawn to sunset, during Ramadan. Ramadan is time for me to introduce Indonesians Traditional snack to my husband. I tell you, it's not always easy to introduce those kind of snack to him sometime he loves , sometime he say NO, Thanks ! especially if the snack to sticky or to sweet, well.. we have a different meaning of sweet if you wonder why . Sweet but not too sweet, that what he want. But me ?? gosh..!!! if you talk sweet comes from chocolate .. well..well. probably I won't share with you LOL .

Yesterday I made one of Indonesians Snack, 'Getuk Lindri' ala me. Mean is the shape is not same as my mom made, but the ingredients is always same. Did He like ? Yes, He did.. yaaaay... so another day, I made something special for him comes from his country, Iran. See, everybody happy !

And I dedicated this post to my fellow blogger, Lubna for her 2nd event Joy From Fasting to Feasting. and if you like to participate too, please don't hesitate to klik LINK HERE it's fun to tell about your fasting experience and share your special dish with us.

Getuk Lindri (Ground Steamed Cassava)

Ingredients:

• 100 grams brown sugar sugar

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 500 grams cassava, peeled

• 1 tablespoon butter

• ½ half-mature coconut, skinned, grated and steamed for 10 minutes

Preparations:

• Boil sugar, water and vanilla until thick. Set aside until cool

• Steam cassava until soft. Pound while hot, adding sugar and butter well-mixed

• Make a ball shape and serve with grated coconut

And here is another Persian Snack, "Saffron Rice Pudding" I made for my husband for Iftar too, and you can find the recipes HERE

Ramadhan Mubarak

Come, Come again!

Whatever you are…

Whether you are disbeliever, idolater or fireworshipper.

You have broken your vows of repentance a hundred times

this is not the gate of despair,

this is the gate of hope.

Come, come again…

--Rumi--

“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you,

that you may (learn) self-restraint.”

– Qur’an 2: 183-