Beignets, also known as 'French doughnuts' are fried square-shaped pieces of dough covered in powdered sugar. Whenever I think of beignets, as any other Disney-obsessed individual, I'm reminded of the delicious animated beignets in 'Princess and the Frog' — I can't tell you how many hours I've spent drooling over those sugary delights. Using Binging with Babish's recipe, I made a quick yeasted dough. I always prefer using yeast in my doughs because it makes them so airy — the fermentation of the yeast causes the dough to puff up due to the formation of carbon dioxide. When you fry the beignets ..read more

I made these cookies a few days ago! Here is the recipe I used — they turned out extremely delicious. Some tips I have for cookie making: Use a glass to help round the cookies right after you take them out of the oven. Fit the rim of the glass over the cookie. Move the glass around in circles till the cookie is rounded. Stick more chocolate chunks/Oreos on top of the cookies before baking. Don't be worried if your cookies look slightly undercooked before taking them out of the oven. They continue to "bake" on the tray! Don't risk baking them for more time than the recipe has mentioned. Store ..read more

I love this time of the year — the snuggling in warm blankets and drinking hot chocolate, all while the Glee version of all my favourite Christmas songs play in the background. I made these cookies and hot chocolate to go with the Christmas spirit. My dad and I ate the warm food while watching Jeopardy! and it made my heart happy. I made a classic chocolate chip cookie as a treat. Here's the recipe (it's inspired by all the recipes I've seen on the internet — it's nothing new) Ingredients (about ten cookies) 3/4 cup of brown sugar 1/4 cup of powdered sugar 1/2 cup of browned butter, softened ..read more

It would be this dessert! Recently, I've been trying to explore and make desserts out of my comfort zone. Tiramisu is one dessert that I have not yet mastered — even though I have made quite a few variations over the years. However, I didn't want to make a classic tiramisu, so I switched it up a bit. Instead of making a tiramisu base, I made a chocotorta "base" using equal amounts of dulce de leche and mascarpone cheese. If you're interested, here's an easy video guide to making chocotortas. Also, instead of using ladyfingers, I used coffee crackers. Otherwise, I made no changes to the method ..read more

I love the idea of making desserts other than cake for important events. So, I made pie. I used John Kanell's chocolate pie recipe, and the pie came out absolutely delicious. It's been a while since I made anything this finger-licking! Speaking of pie, I was recently going through one of my old essays on the topic "as easy as pie." I thought it would be fun to attach a few screenshots for a giggle! I think my writing style and my baking have improved tenfold since then, so it was interesting to go to the essay, to say the least. I hope it makes you chuckle :D ..read more

For the longest time, I thought caramelised onions were caramel sauce with onions. I was proven wrong at the ripe age of 12. How I went that long without realising this is a mystery to me. The caramelisation of onions is non-enzymatic browning because we use heat to make the onions brown — not oxygen. This is an example of my favourite kitchen reaction, the Maillard reaction! If you notice, caramelised onions are much smaller than regular onions. I used half a kilo of onions (about three cups) and after caramelisation, I was left with only about a cup of onions. This is because onions are appr ..read more

If you're having a bad day, my number one tip is to get up and eat a filling breakfast that makes you feel warm inside. Enjoy it while watching an episode (or five) of your favourite TV show, and the Shukla guarantee* is that you'll feel 10% better than when you started. I pushed myself to get out of bed and make waffles today, and I am so glad I did! I made about ten waffles — don't worry, I froze half of them — using the Preppy Kitchen waffle recipe. I baked them for five minutes at 180 degrees C to get them even crispier, topped them with whipped cream and cookie butter, and scarfed them d ..read more

Although we're not Sikh, we celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti (the birth of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak). My mom loves his teachings and proverbs and regularly shares them with us. On the occasion of his birth, I decided to distribute 25 cupcakes to the guard bhaiyas and didis around my apartment complex. A few other people were distributing food, and, although cliché, it made me happy to see everyone unite despite their religious backgrounds. Also, if you're interested, I used this vanilla cupcake recipe. It is absolutely perfect! Make sure to bake in the second-from-top rack in the oven for ..read more

This cinnamon babka recipe has my heart. I've always thought making babka was a complicated process, but it is just making bread and braiding it — a little underwhelming, honestly. This babka had a similar process to a cinnamon roll. I never quite got it when people called cinnamon roll bread, but I guess I do now! I lathered this in cream cheese frosting as soon as I got the picture. It was a little tough to chew, though. I find it best to eat when it's at room temperature or warm ..read more

Happy Diwali, y'all! For some, Diwali means finally getting together and catching up with their families. For others, it symbolises an occasion to get in touch with their religious side. For me, it's just an excuse to stuff my face with kaju katlis. Originally, I had no plan to make anything today, but as soon as I saw this video, I got up and started to make kaju katlis. We already had a box of store-bought kaju katlis, but oh well. You can never have too many, right? These literally came together in less than an hour — from start to finish — and were a delight to eat. The only note I have f ..read more