Restaurant Review- Cinnabon and Aunty Anne's

If you are looking at indulging in some amazing cinnamon rolls and pretzels, head straight to Cinnabon, because no one does the cinnamon rolls better than them.

I was recently invited for a review to two of their outlets at DLF Mall of India, Noida and DLF Palace, Saket respectively. Cinnabon and Aunty Anne’s, these co-branded outlets operate together under the umbrella brand of Stellar Foods.

Chocolate Chip Mousse Bites

Ohh.. this is one of the best ways I use my leftover whipped cream and chocolate ganache( Sometimes, you just whip a little extra, and make some extra ganache too) or there are times when I need to purposely make these..as my son is just too fond of them.. they simply get vanished in a matter of few minutes.. I am sure you all will enjoy making and eating them as much as I do..and its really simple and easy to make..

Ingredients:
200ml whipping cream
200 ml chocolate ganache
1 table spoon gelatin
2 tea spoons cold water
2 tea spoons hot water
a few chocolate chips, both dark and white
Cookie cutters

Blackcurrant Swiss Roll

As compared to the common myth, swiss rolls are actually quite simple to make, and I bet you will enjoy the process and be very glad with the outcome, I remember when I made it for the first time and it turned out super cool, it seemed like an achievement, and left me exhilarated..so lets get started..

Ingredients:

4 eggs

125 gms castor sugar and a couple of spoons more for dusting on the surface

2 tablespoons warm water

125 gms refined flour

2 drops of purple food colouring

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Blueberry Cake with a Blackcurrant Twist...

Ingredients for the cake:

15 heaped spoons flour

2/3 cup oil

1 1/3 cup castor sugar

3 eggs

1 spoon baking powder

A pinch of baking soda

1/2 cup milk

3 spoons curd

1 spoon vanilla essence

Chocolate Or Nothing- A simple pure chocolaty delight

Blueberry Cake Bites

Well Well... this is an amazingly simple recipe and great to taste..for this recipe, you may bake a fresh vanilla cake or use a left over cake (which sometimes turn a little dry), I have used a left over cake, which did have a whipped cream icing on it.

Fresh Pineapple Cake

Well.. when I bake pineapple cake, I like using fresh pineapple in stead of the canned ones available in the market, though they may be softer and sweeter, but I like my pineapples in the natural way..the sweet and tangy taste of it..gives a fresh and refreshing feel to the cake.. you may opt for the canned ones if you like so.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Centre Filling( Butterscotch , Kiwi and Strawberry) Topped with Whipped Cream

Ingredients for the Cup Cakes:

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/2 cup castor sugar

1/4 cup oil

3 table spoons curd

1 spoon baking powder

a pinch of baking soda

1 spoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

2-3 drops of green food colour

Directions
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda.Set aside.In a large bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar until its light and fluffy. Add the oil,  and then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with curd and beat well. Add drops of food colour and give the mixture a stir. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.


Ingredients for the Filling
3 table spoons butterscotch sauce
3 table spoons strawberry crush
3 table spoons kiwi crush
  
Ingredients for the Frosting
125 Ml Whipping Cream
100 Gms Icing Sugar
2-3 drops yellow food colour
Coloured Sprinklers for Garnishing


Directions
Take the whipping cream in a bowl and using an electric mixer, whip till soft peaks are formed. Add icing sugar and whip agan till firm peaks are formed. Add colour and mix very gently, for a light lemon yellow colour.
Now scoop out a little cake from the centre of your cupcakes using a cookie cutter, but be careful to not reach the bottom of the cake. Now take your fillings and fill the scooped out portion, 4-5 cupcakes each with butterscotch and strawberry fillings respectively. Now fill up your piping bag with shipped cream and make swirls of icing on top of the cupcakes covering the filling portion as well.
Use sprinklers to garnish and decorate the cupcakes.. and ta daahhh.. yummy cupcakes and ready for savouring..

Cake Pops

Ingredients :
6 vanilla cupcakes( I used left over cupcakes, which feel a little dry after a couple of days, or you may refer to vanilla cupcakes recipe in older posts)
3 table spoons of strawberry crush
200 gms milk chocolate
100 gms desiccated coconut( grated)

Directions :
Crush the vanilla cupcakes with hands, and then put them in a mixer to get a fine blend. Add the strawberry crush and knead a little with your hands. Make a roll and keep aside for sometime or put in the fridge for 10 minutes to let it firm up a bit.
Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or microwave for a minute.
Make small round balls of the cake mix, and again refrigerate them for 5 minutes.
Insert a toothpick in these cake pops and dip them in the melted chocolate, then roll these pops in grated coconut and let them set in the refrigerator, and voila..you await yourself a yummy sweet surprise..!!

Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Ice-cream topped with Black Currant Crush and Raisins

Ingredients for the cake:

12 heaped spoons flour
60 gms salted butter
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs
1 spoon baking powder
A pinch of baking soda
3 spoons curd
1 spoon vanilla essence

Directions
Sieve together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, add sugar and butter and mix them well. Now add the dry ingredients to this wet mixture, put curd and vanilla essence, mix nicely. Add the eggs one by one to the mixture. Grease the cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 170 degrees C or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
After the cake is done, let it cool for sometime, then remove and let it completely cool on a wire rack.

Other Ingredients 

3 tablespoons black currant crush

2 scoops vanilla ice-cream

handful of raisins

some coloured beads(edible)

Plating

Cut a slice of cake, put 2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream, with just a bit of it drooling on the top of the cake. Now take the black currant crush and drop dollops of it over the cake and the ice-cream. Sprinkle the raisins and some coloured beads and a finger licking good dessert is ready to serve.

Fish Shaped Cake with Strawberry Filling

Ingredients for the cake:
12 heaped spoons flour
1/2 cup oil
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs
1 spoon baking powder
A pinch of baking soda
3 spoons curd
1 spoon vanilla essence

Directions
Sieve together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, add sugar and eggs and beat them lightly. Add oil to this mixture. Now add the dry ingredients to this wet mixture, put curd and vanilla essence, mix nicely. Grease the cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 170 degrees C or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
After the cake is done, let it cool for sometime, then remove and let it completely cool on a wire rack.

Ingredients for the Icing:
1 1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup strawberry crush
100 gms icing sugar
2-3 drops of blue gel colour
1 drop red gel colour

Directions
In a large bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks are formed. Add icing sugar and whip some more. Add 2 drops of blue gel colour Use the cream to do the base coating of the cake, for piping bag add another drop of colour in the raining cream to give it a little darker shade.

Arranging
Transfer the cooled cake to a turn table, cut a triangular piece to be used as a tail of the fish, and giving the cut a look of open fish mouth. Then cut the cake pieces in half from the centre. Moist the cake by sprinkling some water on it. Gently spread the strawberry crush over it and then spread the blue coloured whipped cream icing Cover the cake with the top piece and repeat the process. To decorate the cake fill in the piping bag with whipping cream of a slightly darker shade of blue and make wave patters on the fish cake. Position the tail piece carefully and place it next to the main cake. For the open mouth, take some red colour in your hand and softly dab it on the cream, to give it a red mouth feel. Sprinkle some coloured balls and its good to go.

Blueberry Cheese Cake

Ingredients:
1 Packet cracker biscuits
30 gms Butter
80 gms Cream cheese
1 spoon Gelatin powder
1 cup Whipped cream 
1/2 cup Icing sugar
1 cup Blueberry crush

Directions
In a blender, blend the cracker biscuits till you get a fine crumb. Add melted butter to the crumbs. Line a ring base with this crumb mixture and refrigerate it for half an hour.
Till the time the biscuits get set, in a bowl take the whipping cream and whip for 5 minutes. To this whipping cream add softened cream cheese and icing sugar and beat a little more. In a small bowl, dissolve gelatine powder with hot water and add to the cream. Whip till firm peaks are formed.
Spread this cream on top of your biscuit mixture and let it set in fridge for 4-5 hours. After 5 hours, spread blueberry crush on top of the cream and refrigerate again for 4-5 hours, overnight works best.
After it sets, remove the ring and serve your yummy blueberry cheese cake.

Blueberry Cream Cake

Ingredients for the cake:
10 heaped spoons flour
1/2 cup oil
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs
1 spoon baking powder
A pinch of baking soda
3 spoons curd
1 spoon vanilla essence

Directions
Sieve together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, add sugar and eggs and beat them lightly. Add oil to this mixture. Now add the dry ingredients to this wet mixture, put curd and vanilla essence, mix nicely. Grease the cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 170 degrees C or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
After the cake is done, let it cool for sometime, then remove and let it completely cool on a wire rack.

Ingredients for the Icing:
1 1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup blueberry crush
100 gms icing sugar

Directions
In a large bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks are formed. Add icing sugar and whip some more. Then add the blueberry crush and whip till firm peaks are formed.

Arranging
Transfer the cooled cake to a turn table, cut it in half from the centre. Moist the cake with sprinkling some water on it. Gently spread the blueberry icing over it and cover the cake with top piece. Spread the remaining cream on the top of the cake and fully cover it. Add some cream to a piping bag and decorate your cake as desired.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

Ingredients for the Cup Cakes:

    1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 

    1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

    2 teaspoons baking powder 

    3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

    1/8 teaspoon salt 

    3 tablespoons butter, softened 

    1 1/2 cups white sugar 

    
2 eggs 

    
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

    
1 cup milk 

Directions
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.
Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until its light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating it will and then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with milk and beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Ingredients for Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup unsalted softened butter

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 spoon vanilla essence

4-5 spoons milk

Directions

In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy, add icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla essence. Add milk slowly and keep beating until desired consistency is achieved.

Add this icing in piping bag and decorate your cupcakes as desired.

Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients
 250 gms dark chocolate
 1/2 cup cream

Direction
Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it on a double boiler and let it cool a little. In a separate pan, add the cream and bring it to a boil.
Add the cream to melted chocolate and fold nicely, till it is completely absorbed in the chocolate.
Let it cool and then refrigerate it for an hour or two, till the mixture is firm enough.
Take small scoop of the mixture in hand and roll it into small balls. After you place the balls on a tray, let them refrigerate again for about half an hour.
Take out the cooled balls from fridge and roll these balls in your choice of topping, you may use chocolate sprinklers, coloured balls, cocoa powder etc.

Chocolate Cup Cakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients for the Cup Cakes:

    1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

    1/4 teaspoon baking soda

    2 teaspoons baking powder

    3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

    1/8 teaspoon salt

    3 tablespoons butter, softened

    1 1/2 cups white sugar

    
2 eggs

    
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

    
1 cup milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.
Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until its light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating it will and then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with milk and beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  
Ingredients for the Frosting
125 Ml Whipping Cream
100 Gms Icing Sugar


Directions
Take the whipping cream in a bowl and using an electric mixer, whip till soft peaks are formed. Add icing sugar and whip agan till firm peaks are formed. Fill in the piping bag with the nozzle of your choice and frost the cupcakes.


Some Chocolate Sprinklers for Decoration