Kids Archives - Dees Platter

Cake Pops

Cake pops are tiny bite-size cake balls prepared with cake and frosting, and they are the centre of attraction for kid’s during birthday celebrations.

You can even call them Cake Lollipops!!

The best part about making cake pops is that we don’t need special moulds. Homemade cake, homemade icing, sprinklers, chocolate and lollipop sticks… that’s all you need!

Preparing cake pops is a lot of fun and we can involve kids in the whole process.

Kids have vivid imagination and we can let them use their favorite sprinklers, crushed cookies, colors for theme based birthday parties and with colourful royal icing they can draw their favorite cartoon characters on cake pops.

You don’t really have to bake a cake for preparing cake pops – you can use left over cake from the fridge. Usually, for cake pops butter cake is better, but if it is not butter cake then also we can use it along with buttercream frosting or chocolate ganache (truffles consistency). Dark Chocolate Ganache

Preparing Cake Pops is not a difficult task but there are a few points that you need to keep in mind.

Points to Remember:

Cake dough should be chilled while rolling cake pops. Cold dough is helpful in keeping the pop’s shape perfect.
Use measuring spoon to get same sized cake pops.
Before inserting stick in the cake pop, dip the stick in melted chocolate first. It will help cake pop to get glued to the stick.
You can use melted white or dark chocolate or white or dark chocolate ganache to coat cake pops.
Use oil based colours to add colors in white chocolate. Chocolate will seize if you will use water based colours.
After some time melted chocolate will start becoming thick, so heat it again for a few seconds in the microwave.
After rolling cake pops, keep them in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
If you have a big batch of cake pops to prepare, then let the half batch remain in the fridge. It is very important that while dipping pops in melted chocolate they are chilled.
If you want to add two colours in one cake pop, then first dip in one colour, let it dry completely and then dip into another colour.
How and where to keep cake pops? I will give you a very simple solution. Don’t throw away the thermocol sheets within various packets that you get during shopping (online or otherwise). Thick thermocol sheet will hold your pop sticks nicely. If you are preparing cake pops for some celebration, then you can decorate these thermocol sheets too.
If you don’t have thermocol sheet, use your cup cake liners and the job is done!

Ingredients:

Butter cake, Buttercream or Chocolate Ganache (truffles consistency), Sprinklers, white or dark chocolate, oil colours (optional), lollipop sticks, thermocol sheets or cupcake liners.

Process :

Crumble the cake in a bowl.

Add butter cream or chocolate ganache and mix it nicely with cake crumbs.

Cover the bowl with cling wrap and keep it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. Later, take out the bowl from the fridge and with the help of measuring spoon take a little quantity of the cake dough and prepare round shaped pops.

Keep these pops in a bowl covered with cling wrap back in the fridge till they are nicely chilled.

To melt chocolate, use microwave or double boiler method. Keep sprinklers ready in different bowls. Take out cake pops from the fridge.

First dip the lollipop stick 1/2 inch in the melted chocolate.

Now insert cake pop in this stick and dip it in bowl of melted chocolate. Let the chocolate drip off a little over the bowl.

If you feel that chocolate coating is very thin, you can do second coating also. Remember that cake pops are chilled, so melted chocolate settles down very fast. Before it becomes dry, coat cake pops with sprinklers of your choice and stick them upright on the thermocol sheet or place them on cupcake liners. Finish all your cake pops in the same way.

Aren’t they glorious and gorgeous!!!

You must be having leftover cake in the fridge from Christmas celebrations. Try these colourful cake pops and welcome 2020!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year !!!

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019

Deeksha Pathak93 Comments

Sweet milk brioche buns

Sweet milk brioche buns are kid’s delight, though in my house I never bought sweet buns. We are more inclined towards plain or savoury buns. My daughter Apoorva also prefers savoury ones more but when she tasted home-baked sweet milk brioche buns with milk, she too liked them! That’s the magic of home-baked fresh stuff!!

These brioche buns are enriched with lots of butter, sugar and milk. Very light, buttery, fluffy and balanced delicious sweetness; you just can’t stop with one!!

You can bake sweet buns for your little one’s birthday party by adding tutti frutti in them and pack them in return gift basket.

Brioche buns can be done with wheat flour also – the only change would be to increase the quantity of milk as wheat flour absorbs more liquid.

Get few more tips on bread/ buns baking in a seprate post from the blogWheat flour buns with pizza spices (2) (basic tips to follow if following a bread /buns recipe)

Ingredients:

Maida (all purpose flour) 2 cups
Milk powder 1 tbsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Sugar 3 tbsp
Instant active yeast 3/4 tsp (if using dry active yeast the quantity would be 1 +1/4 tsp and you will have to bloom it before using)
Milk 1 cup minus 6tbsp (slightly warmer than lukewarm)
Butter 3 tbsp

(All ingredients except milk should be at room temperature)

Process :

Combine all dry ingredients in a big vessel.

Start adding milk and collect all ingredients in shape of a dough and knead it for 12-15 minutes. It will be wet dough but slowly by kneading it will become smooth. Keep adding butter while kneading and mix it nicely into the dough.

Keep this dough in a big oil/butter greased bowl for first proofing. Brush up top of the dough with melted butter. Cover the bowl with cling film or wet clean kitchen towel, keep it in a warm place so that the dough rises till it is double in volume. This process might take 60 to 90 minutes depending on the cold or hot temperature of your kitchen.

After first proofing, take out the dough on clean oil greased kitchen counter and gently punch it.

Knead it again to make it smooth and cut equal size buns from the dough.

Keep greasing your palms with oil/butter to roll these buns smoothly like a ball between your palms and keep them in an oil greased baking tray, keeping some distance in between because they are going to puff up nicely. Apply some melted butter on them to avoid drying, cover them and keep them for second proofing.

Second proofing gets over in 20 to 30 minutes. Pre heat oven at 190 degrees ten minutes before second proofing ends.

Brush up buns with milk and bake them at 180-185 degree for 20-25 minutes till they are nicely brown on the top and bounce back when pressed.

Take out golden brown buns and brush them with butter when they are hot.

Buns will be shiny with the touch of butter and will remain soft longer. Transfer the buns on a cooling rack if serving later.

November 21, 2018November 1, 2021

Deeksha Pathak13 Comments

Tea time Wheat Flour Buns with pizza spices (1)

Buns are everyone’s favorite. We can have salty buns in breakfast or with evening tea, plain buns with bhaji and your meal is ready, prepare them as burger for kid’s birthday parties or sweet buns with cream and so on…….

My daughter apoorva is always ready to have pizza any time of the day, but I am kind of always lazy to prepare pizzas😑. I am very comfortable with bread and buns.. but pizza…. I always feel lazy to do so much preparation of chopping veggies, preparing pizza sauce and baking base… too much work!!!!☹️ Once in a while it’s ok, but not frequently, though I bake with wheat flour.

So, today I thought of preparing wheat flour salty buns flavored with pizza spices…..!! Believe me, while baking, your house will be filled with wonderful aroma of spices and butter . Neighbors might feel as if they are staying near a bakery!😋😋

In the evening when apoorva tasted them, her response was, “ma, these are bomb”

That’s how teens react nowadays!!!!🤔

Ingredients :

Ashirwad wheat flour 2+1/2cup

Milk powder 1/8 cup

Salt 1tsp

Sugar 1tbsp

Oil 2tsp

Groripan instant yeast 1/2 tsp

Mixed pizza spices 2+1/2 tsp

Butter 2tbsp

Water +milk mix (temperature should be slightly more than lukewarm) 1+1/2cup +2tbsp

Process :

Take a big flat vessel with edges, so that you can knead the dough comfortably. Measure and keep flour,milk powder , salt, sugar, half quantity of mixed spices and yeast in the vessel and mix everything.

Prepare water and milk mixture and keep it ready.

Start kneading the dough with water+ milk mix. Don’t add whole quantity of liquid in the beginning. Slowly keep on pouring and keep on kneading the dough.

(Always prepare liquid more than written in the recipe, because soaking quality of flour might not be the same,some flours might absorb more liquid and some might take less.) Once everything comes together, start kneading it.

Here dough looks dry because wheat absorbes more moisture than maida, so add some more liquid and keep on kneading. It will be messy in the beginning, but we need little wet dough here, consistency should be softer than chapati dough.

I did the kneading for 20 minutes. After ten minutes add one tsp of oil and keep on kneading. Oil will make kneading easy. Slowly dough will be very smooth and easy handle. Add one more tsp oil, knead little bit more and you will get soft and shiny dough.

Keep this dough in a oil greased pan. Apply some oil on the dough also to avoid it drying and cling wrap the vessel.

Keep the vessel at a warm place for first proofing . My favorite place is my microwave. I kept the vessel in microwave (switched off) and it took almost 1hour for the dough to be double in size.

Apply some oil on clean kitchen counter and take out the dough from the vessel and punch it.

Again knead the dough, prepare a log and cut it with the knife into same size to prepare buns.

Apply some oil on your palm and roll all of them nicely without cracks. If cracks are there, pinch them and seal them, roll again and you rounded bun will be ready.

Grease your baking tray with oil /butter and place all buns in it with some space to each other.

Apply some oil on all buns to avoid them drying , cover them and keep again for second proofing. Second proofing takes 20 minutes to half an hour maximum. Don’t let them become completely double in size, that will happen during baking. So when they are slightly bigger in size, second proofing is done. I kept again in the microwave(switched off) for second proofing and covered them with the vessel I used to knead the dough.

Heat butter in pan and add the rest of the pizza mix spices and apply this butter generously when buns are proofed.

Always remember to preheat oven 10 minutes before buns are ready to be baked.

This was the first time I baked in OTG, so I preheated at 175 /for 10 minutes and baked also at 175 / for 25 minutes with both rods on along with fan on medium rack. But if you want to bake in microwave, preheat at 185/and bake at 180/ for 15 – 20 minutes. Buns might look slightly dry once they are completely baked.

But don’t worry, use remaining butter and apply on all buns. Buns will be shiny and butter will keep them soft. Transfer buns on a cooling rack or enjoy them warm with tea or coffee!!!

November 17, 2017August 3, 2019

Deeksha Pathak19 Comments

Dry fruits kheer

Dry fruits’ kheer is one of those desserts which you can have in breakfast. After only three or four spoons of kheer tummy will be full but you will keep on craving for more. So have one full bowl of kheer in morning breakfast and satisfy your taste buds. If your kids have sweet tooth, it is ideal and delicious breakfast for them. Dry fruits kheer can be prepared during fasting also. Every year I prepare this kheer as prasad during Janamashtami and Shivratri festivals.

There are other varieties of kheer recipes also in the blog, can take a look:

Kheer with white rice (chaawal ki kheer)

Carrot kheer

Ingredients:

Low fat milk 1 litre
Granulated sugar 1/2 cup ( less or more,depending on individual’s taste)
Mix of dry fruits: 1/2 cup
cashew, dry dates, almonds, makhana(fox nut) , chiroji, kishmish (raisins) , magaz (musk melon seeds)

(can take makhana little more in quantity than other nuts because they help in getting milk thicker)

Except magaz, chiroji and kishmish, chop other dry fruits in medium size pieces. Soak dry dates in water for half an hour and then chop.

Cardamom powder for garnish
Grated dry coconut for garnish
Pista (grated) for garnish

Process :
In a thick bottomed vessel boil milk.

The moment milk starts boiling, add all dry fruits and turn the heat on sim. Keep on stirring for the next 10 minutes – until dry fruits start boiling along with the milk.

Keep the flame on sim and in between keep on stirring and scraping the sides of the vessel. The process of thickening milk takes time, so don’t loose patience. Slowly, the process of thickening, milk will start and you will notice that from white milk is turning to pale yellow.

Now add sugar and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Consistency of kheer is again thin because of sugar, so let it boil for 5/10 minutes more or until it becomes thick again. Switch off gas. Add cardamom powder, grated coconut powder and pista for garnishing.
Let it cool down completely, and if you like can keep in the fridge for two hours and then relish it.

August 28, 2017November 2, 2021

Deeksha PathakLeave a comment