Crepes are a treat for an afternoon tea. There are endless variations for serving it: fruits, vla, ice cream, or just a simple dusting of icing sugar or a drizzle of honey. Or go for a flambe for that extra wow factor when entertaining. Watch Alton make it and catch the tips!

Then there's the savory kind, use your favorite fresh herbs and serve it with cottage cheese or creme fraiche.

Possibly the easiest yet most versatile offering.




Sweet Crepes:

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tbsp melted butter
2-1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp liqueur (optional)

Savory Crepes:

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tbsp melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped herbs


Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a blender, then pulse for 10 seconds.
2. Cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
By resting the batter, the bubbles subside and the crepes will be more stable and less likely to tear.
You can keep in the fridge for 48 hours.

3. Heat a small non-stick pan and lightly grease with butter to coat.
4. Pour a small ladle-ful of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly.
5. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds on this side.
6. Remove to the cooling rack or serve immediately.

When cooled you can stack them and store in zip lock bags in the fridge for few days or in the freezer for up to two months.

Get creative...

Loli or Koki, same great flatbread. This recipe is from my late Aunty Viveeta. It's one of the few she passed on to me before she passed away. I have fond memories of our Sunday sessions, sitting down next to her bed with scraps of paper and a pen. As she chatted with my Mom, she would intermittently turn to me and ask me what foods I missed, and would like to know how to cook. This was about that time when we just moved to Florida and the kids asked for some Sindhi food. Back then, most of these regional recipes couldn't be found online. So I was all ears and ever grateful for these sessions. Food, it seems, was our shared passion. And these recipes are a wonderful legacy from her.


After looking at the recipe a few times, I realized it actually looks like a pie crust. The recipe, I mean. Flour, bit of oil, then just enough water to barely hold it together. Also ... flaky, crusty and slightly crispy? Now you see ... it's just like a pie crust.


And so I tried to make it in the processor. And it worked! Less elbow grease only means I'm not put off by the tedious preparation. And as a result, the kids, who loved it immensely, can enjoy it more often knowing that the repetitive kneading won't make their Mom's carpal tunnel syndrome worse. Score!

Ingredients:
2 cup atta or wheat flour
1/2 cup spelt flour (Aunty's touch, just use more flour if you don't stock spelt flour)
1/2 cup oat flour (Aunty called it baby oats :)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked coriander seeds
1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
1/2 tsp anardana (you can use amchoor or sumac)
1/2 red onion or 3 shallots, to make roughly 1/2 cup, minced
3/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, packed, minced
1 serrano chili, minced

4 tbsp olive oil
Enough warm water to pull dough together
Bit of flour to roll out dough
Ghee or oil to panfry

Directions:
A. Elbow grease method:
1. In a large bowl, combine the flours with salt.
2. To that, add the rest of the ingredients, except the liquids, mixing it all together.
3. Drizzle in the olive oil, rub into the flour with the tip of your fingers.
4. Add warm water, a tablespoon at a time, pulling the dough together.

B. Alternatively, you can do all this in the food processor if you have a dough blade:
1. Place the onion, coriander leaves and the chili in the processor fitted with the cutting blade, and pulse until it looks finely minced.
2. Replace the sharp blade with the dough blade, then add the dry ingredients (negating the use of the flour bowl. Score!)
3. Drizzle in the olive oil, pulsing until it resembles pea sized crumbs.
4. Drizzle in the warm water, pulsing until the dough comes together.

Moving on ...
Do not knead or over mix. It will be slightly sticky, but that's fine because you'll dredge it in a bit of flour before rolling.
5. On a clean countertop, place 1/2 cup of flour in a corner and some on the rolling out zone.
6. Divide the dough into 8, shaping it into a small disc with slightly oiled palms.
7. Coat the disc in flour and roll it out into a circle 2-3mm in thickness.
8. Heat a non stick pan (or a tava if you have) and sprinkle some drops of oil or ghee, waiting for it to sizzle before introducing the loli.
I like to cover the pan, so the steam makes the loli moist, and therefore, softer.
9. When the edges begin to dry and the bottom is cooked, sprinkle a few drops of oil or ghee on the top side before flipping it over to cook completely.
10. Repeat with remaining dough.

Loli keeps up to a day without refrigeration. To reheat, place on the same pan with a few drops of water to moisten. I like to reheat it in the panini press ;)

Enjoy with yogurt, mango chutney and papad!

This be Tante Lily basic cake, a canvas to spice up, decorate, and layer into something better than the sum of its parts. I watched her make this for a Vruchtentaart she made for Mama's birthday, and it was so yummy, yummy, yummy!

I know what you're thinking ... 10 eggs!! Really?? Yes, for that it how most cakes are made back home, rich and hearty. Why you should take a look at recipes for Lapis Surabaya, a classic Indonesian cake, then realize than 10 eggs is rather restrained :D

Whether making vruchtentaart or a birthday cake to layer with chocolate frosting, this rich vanilla cake is sure to push the envelope and impress. You can thank Tante Lily in the comments :)

This recipe makes 3 22cm (9 inch) layers or 2 20cm (8 inch) square layers.

Ingredients:
10 eggs, room temperature, separated
2 tsp cream of tartar
50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
150 g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
250 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) butter, at room temperature
4 tsp vanilla extract
200 g (1-2/3 cup) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

Directions:
1. Butter and line 3 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper on the bottom.
2. Preheat the oven to 175C or 350F.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until it starts to froth.
4. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and continue whisking until soft peaks form.
5. At this stage, start adding the 50 g of sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until the egg whites come to stiff glossy peaks.
6. Transfer this meringue to another clean, large bowl.

7. Replace the whisk with a flat beater and give the bowl a good wipe, then beat together the butter and 150 g of sugar for about 10-15 minutes, till pale and fluffy.
8. While waiting, sift the flour with the baking powder into a medium bowl.

9. To the butter and sugar mixture, add the yolks, one at a time on a slower speed, followed with the vanilla extract.
10. On the slowest speed, add the flour in four additions, mixing just until no visible lumps remain.

11. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and with a wooden spoon or a large spatula, fold a third of the egg whites to the batter.
12. Gently fold the rest of the meringue in.
13. Divide the batter among the cake pans, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
I placed one on the top rack and two on the lower rack, swapping them after they have risen.
14. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting it on a cooling rack to cool completely.

A labor of love that is a family treasure. Oma's pudding is a grandchildren and great-grandchildren favorite, who now are so biased, that they are unable to enjoy any other pudding, save Oma's.

We made pudding twice and it came out pretty good. Next time we'll be sure to pack up more cocoa from home, but the vla was quite close!






Ingredients:
Pudding:
3 packs Swallow Agar plain
2 liters cold water
1-1/2 cups Van Houten cocoa (or any other Dutch processed cocoa)
2/3 cups sugar, or to taste

Vla:
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
5 cups milk
3 vanilla pods or 3 tsp vanilla essence
6 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup cold water


Directions:

Pudding:
1. Measure water into a large saucepan, open packets of agar and stir into the cold water.
2. Add the cocoa and sugar, stirring continuously to dissolve until it boils.
3. Turn off heat and stir until slightly cool, then pour into 2 pudding pans.

Vla:
1. In a mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy.
2. Add 2 cups of milk to the egg mixture. mixing on the lowest speed.
3. Pour this and the rest of the milk into a large saucepan, stirring to combine.

4. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with the cold water until it dissolves, then pour into saucepan.
5. Add vanilla pods or essence at this point.

6. When vla comes to a boil, turn off heat, then transfer saucepan to an ice-filled large pan or sink. Stir continuously until it cools. Remove pods, if used.
7. Pour into jugs and cool in the fridge.
8. Lace with rum if desired.

Note: Many a times vla has been burnt if left unattended, so keep stirring, on medium heat. Then even to cool, keep stirring, otherwise it may get 'lumpy'. That's precisely why this is a labor of love.

In an effort to cut down on the sinful stuff, of which we have partaken quite a few, I may add, the next quest would be to take the cheesecake, as we generally know it, to another dimension.

Japanese cheesecakes... satisfying, yet not overly decadent and moist, yet not creamy and rich. It is perfect for an afternoon treat with your tea. A cross between a sponge cake and a cheese cake. It is a light airy moist slice of goodness. Plain or graced with seasonal fresh fruit


Ingredients:
250g cream cheese
50g butter
100ml fresh milk


140g fine granulated sugar


Directions:
1. Grease and line an 8 inch round springform cake pan.
2. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Then cool the mixture in a larger pan of cold water.

3. In the meantime, sieve together the flours and salt in a small bowl.
4. Add the flours, (optional lemon zest), then egg yolks, lemon juice to the cream cheese mixture and mix well, using a hand or stand mixer.

5. In another bowl, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy.
6. Add the sugar to the egg whites and whisk until soft peaks form.

7. Gently fold in the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well.
8. Pour into the cake pan, set the pan in a bain marie or water bath.
9. Bake in a preheated 325F oven for 1 hour 10 minutes until set or top becomes golden brown.