Oranges and Lemons

Oranges and lemons, sold for a penny,

Oh, those school girls are so many!

The grass is green and the rose is red,

Remember me when I am dead-dead-dead-dead-dead!

Most of us have grown up singing/playing this rhyme and the game. Everyone holds hands in a circle, sings it and everyone falls down at the end of it. A simple, mindless game that has been an integral part of our childhood. But why am I mentioning it here you might ask?

That's because I have been on a cookie decorating spree lately and as always, I have to share my creations with you guys :) I found inspiration for these online, thanks to Google images, so I can't take credit for the idea, just for the inspiration and execution. Regardless, I'm glad that they turned out so well.. The oranges immediately reminded me of this rhyme and took me back to school days, playing with my friends in school :) Sigh!...

I made the baby feeding bottle cookies for a friend who is expecting and I'm mighty pleased with the results. Not too bad for a first time effort I would say, at the risk of blowing my own horn :p Jokes aside, currently, I feel there really isn't a greater joy than baking for loved ones and seeing their joy on receiving them. I packed a few goodie bags with these treats among others and hearing the gasps of joy made my day :) For all my guinea pigs out there, oops, I mean friends :p, many more goodie bags to follow. I've got a baking itch that just won't go away.

Do give me your feedback on them and also share any other ideas that you would like me to execute on a cookie.

As always, I have used a simple sugar cookie recipe (added orange and lime zest for the fruit cookies to give them that added flavour) and designed them using tinted Royal Icing. For the feeding bottle cookie, there's no tutorial as such, as it is self-explanatory. I made them without any fancy cookie cutter, it was completely freehand. The oranges and limes take a bit of know-how, so if you are interested in replicating them, do contact me if you have any queries, I'll be glad to help. I can make a step-by-step tutorial like I have done earlier and post that too if I get enough queries for the same. 

If these have inspired you, like I say always,  Get, Set Bake.

Rum and Raisin skewers

Boozy Chocolate Raisins

I loved Cadbury's Fruit & Nut as a child, still do in fact. I would always hunt for the squares with the most raisins in them and give the other pieces to mom :) There's something about the chewy bite of the raisin against rich chocolate that gets me drooling. Of course, now, its the adult version of it - Rum and Raisin chocolates that get me going... hic :p
There's a little story behind these rum and raisin skewers, one that I would love to share with you readers. I recently went to lunch with a few members of a Foodie group that I am part of. A restaurant was chosen and off we went, to meet fellow foodies. We got along like a house on fire and no one could say all the ladies were meeting each other for the first time. After three fabulous courses, we were stuffed like little Ballotines, almost to a point of no return, thanks to the amazing food at Chianti (a must visit if you are in and around Koramangala, Bangalore or even if you aren't as it's worth the drive). We barely managed to finish our dessert and out came a platter of drool-worthy Rum and Raisin skewers. It's safe to say that at the risk of having to lie down there thanks to over-eating, we managed to polish off the skewers as they were so delicious. I came home and days went by, but I couldn't get the skewers off my mind, among the other yum creations at the place. 
Thus, my second, third and many other trips to Chianti took place as I tried to sample all my favourites from the menu. The cherry on the cake were the skewers. But sadly, after my second visit there, the skewers disappeared. I still couldn't get them off my mind and so, I decided to try and make them myself. Seemed relatively simple and so much so, that making them was a breeze. And the taste? An empty plate in less than two minutes vouches for their yum quotient. Best of all, you don't need to bake them or spend hours on them and they are the perfect after dinner bites.
Here's how you can make your own Rum and Raisin skewers.

Rum-soaked raisins skewered onto toothpicks

Covered in a blanket of chocolate

Ingredients: 

• Dark chocolate
• Raisins
• Some rum 
• A teaspoon of water or so (I diluted mine with a wee bit of water as I didn't want them too strong, but you can do away with it for a skewer that packs a punch)
• Toothpicks

Method:

• Soak the raisins in the rum for about an hour or two.
• Pierce them into your toothpicks, about three on each, and place them on a tray covered with foil.
• Melt your chocolate and pour over the skewers
• Wait till they set or pop them in the fridge for 15 minutes if you are impatient like me.
• Gobble away.

Alternatively, you could just arrange the soaked raisins in small piles on the foil and pour the melted chocolate over them, making mini mounds of chocolate-covered boozy raisins.