Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

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Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee

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Since its February and love is in the air, I am sharing a recipe that is insanely delicious and perfect for Valentine’s day. It’s a Creme Brulee, a timeless classic consisting of a rich custard base topped with contrasting layer of hard caramel. The custard in this dessert has the advantage of being made ahead, then right before serving the top is caramelized using a kitchen blow torch (or alternately under broiler). It’s a perfect dessert for any special occasion, especially a romantic evening at home.

Happy Indulging!

Khatta Meetha Teekha Kaddu/ Sweet, Sour & Spicy Squash

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Every time I go back to India in the winters I load up on vegetables as much as I can. Breakfast, Lunch, dinner and snack will all have some amount of vegetable. The reason is because a wide variety of vegetables are available in the winter and they are the freshest and tastiest. After coming from India my body was still going through intense vegetable cravings. So, I cooked the best known winter squash, butternut in Indian style. It is one of my favorite and very simple to prepare. In India it is made with a different squash which is not available here but any sweet and firm flesh squash works for this recipe. This dish has a nice balance of tart, sweet and spicy that will engage all of your senses. It goes really well with roti (Indian flatbread), poories (fried puffed bread) and as a side with lentil and rice alike.

Aval Ladoo / Red Rice Flakes Balls

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Diwali is not far away and I hope my Indian friends are all geared up for the festival. It is the festival of lights. Both Hindus and Sikhs celebrate it with pomp and style, from decorating the house to lighting traditional lamps, to bursting fire crackers and to gorging on yummy sweets.

So, during Diwali, many different snacks and sweets are prepared in nearly every house-hold, to be enjoyed and distributed to friends and family. I wanted to make all sweets as healthy as possible this year with no sugar or with healthy alternative options. So after the success of my sugar free coconut burfi I made aval ladoo.

Caramelized Apples with Pistachio Yogurt Cream

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Although I hate to see summer’s gone away, I enjoy the crisp mornings followed by the warm afternoon and cooler nights. It is the season, when apples and other late harvest fruits are ready to be mixed with warming spices then transformed into pretty desserts.

Since my daughter have really started to prefer healthier desserts to those laden with sugar and calories, so I am kinda trying to give healthy twist to traditional recipes. I caramelized apples for our Friday night dessert and served with pistachio yogurt cream. Not only did it taste delicious but baking the apples made the house smell lovely.

Chocolate Sparkle Cookies

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Everything I love about a chocolate cookie is in this recipe. Crisp and sugary on the outside, and soft and fudgy in the center.

I had these cookies for the first time a couple years ago in a Christmas cookie exchange and I have to say I immediately fell in love! I thought it would be fun to make a batch of these cookies myself. So I sent a quick message to Sally (my cookie exchange partner) if she could share her recipe with me, and within minutes she sent me the link to that recipe. It was a Thomas Haas recipe. If you always wanted to try his world famous chocolate sparkle cookies, I’m going to share the recipe with you today.

Nutella Cake Pops

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Last year I received more than a few requests from my lovely readers for posting more kid loving recipes and I was happy to oblige. So, I asked my friend’s kids what they love to eat the most. What I figured from their answers was that they would enjoy anything that is small, easy to hold, can be dipped and popped into their mouths. The very first thing that came to mind was cake pops. Don’t we all love cake pops? I am not sure why it took me so long to post this, but I am glad I am finally doing this. Cake pops are the cutest bite sized treats with big on taste. Not only are they fun to eat, they are fun to make as well and a great way to use up leftover cake.

Rose Syrup

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This my dear friends is an exotic and fragrant syrup that I enjoyed since my childhood days. It is highly versatile. You’ll find its use as a flavoring in many traditional Indian, Persian and middle eastern cooking much the way Westerners use vanilla. You can drizzle over crepes, kulfi (indian ice-cream) or add it to milk and desserts or use it in baking or in cocktails for a subtle rose flavoring. If you have never tried your hand at homemade rose syrup , you won’t believe how easy it is to make. I made a small batch in end of June when my rose bushes were in full bloom.