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DATE BARK

Date barks are all the rage right now. It first made an appearance in a viral tiktok video (I think?) and soon started making its rounds on every food platform known to humankind. I saw it and instantly knew I had to try it. Some recipes are like that; you just know they’re going to… Read more »

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BLUEBERRY & CHIA FILLED CHOCOLATES

I can count with one hand the number of times I’ve made a baked dessert this year. I don’t particularly enjoy tasks that involve precise measurements and temps (I find it counterintuitive to go down this path when I use cooking as a de-stress mechanism). Bunging things into a pan is my jam. This recipe… Read more »

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MAPLE-ROASTED FIGS + CINNAMON YOGURT + CANDIED WALNUTS

I’ve had great luck with figs this year. Every single fruit that I’ve bought has been plump, pink, and yielding to the bite. Of course I’m one to open up pre-packaged boxes and switch up those mottled specimens for perfectly squishy ones, but still. We eat them as is for the most part, but considering… Read more »

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LIGHTER ETON MESS

Eton mess – the quintessential summer dessert. (Not in Chennai though; strawberries usually make an appearance here in Jan.) Either way, it’s almost the end of season now and I wanted to quickly pop by and show you this easy way to gorge on them whilst they’re still around. Having said that, I’ve preemptively devised… Read more »

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BAKED FIGS WITH PISTACHIOS AND DATES

I admit this is not the prettiest dish. But aesthetics go completely out the window when you’re stuffing a squidgy brown paste into something. Trust me, I tried. But one bite of this and you’ll realize that its visual appearance completely belies its taste. I’m not a big fan of nuts. I don’t hate them… Read more »

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(LOW-SUGAR) JAMMY STRAWBERRY CAKE

Two punnets of strawberries for a 9” cake might sound a bit mad, but trust me, there’s a reason for this: 1) as they cook, they shrivel up, so what looks like an excessive amount is actually just right to get nice big wodges of tart strawberry in each bite. 2) this cake takes slightly… Read more »

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PLUM TORTE

This is a plum torte. The plum torte. Not my claim (actually now mine also), but here’s the backstory to its considerable fame. This recipe was originally submitted to the New York Times by Marion Burros in 1983. Every year since then—due to popular demand—the paper re-published the recipe in September during plum season. Not… Read more »

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ROASTED PEARS WITH BLUE CHEESE, WALNUTS & HONEY

Blue cheese, pears, walnuts and honey are a match made in heaven – that’s no revelation. But most recipes that combine these ingredients have other components alongside: lettuce or arugula in a salad, baked into a tart, sprinkled over pizzas, mounded atop crackers. They all taste great, I mean give me this combo in any… Read more »

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MAPLE GRILLED NECTARINES & ALMOND-OAT CRUMB

The stone fruit season might be long gone, but the last of these exotic (for Chennai at least!) nectarines still linger in the markets, so I’ve been making the most of them while I can. Although Chennai is not the first place you’d think of for stone fruits, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find them—even… Read more »

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CHERRY CRISP WITH CRÈME ANGLAISE (GLUTEN-FREE)

  I think I may have done my fair bit of preaching about using ground almonds in desserts to replace flour. Not just from the health point of view, no, but for the texture and nuttiness that you get from the ground up nuts. I buy them in bulk, make big batches of this crisp… Read more »

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LEMON CURD CAKE

The lip-puckering tartness of lemon curd never fails to excite me. Be it in a tart, dolloped over pavlova, or in a parfait like this one I made a while ago, if there’s a dessert with it on the menu, that’s invariably what I’d end up ordering. Some like their curd more sweet than tart,… Read more »

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3-INGREDIENT MANGO FROZEN YOGURT

This recipe has been a long time coming. Ever since the mango season began this year, I haven’t been able to stop buying these luscious beauties. Deceptively so, most of them however. Vibrant, voluptuous, and yielding, they are seldom as sweet and flavourful as you think they would be. Freezing and adding them to smoothies… Read more »

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COCONUT CHIA SEED PUDDING WITH APRICOT COMPOTE

  Pudding for breakfast? Best case scenario. This might be the healthiest ‘dessert’ that I’ve ever eaten. Seriously, there isn’t one ingredient in here that isn’t good for you – the sweetness is derived from honey, richness from coconut milk, and the subtle heat and flavourings from the spices and dried apricots. No sugar, butter… Read more »

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STRAWBERRY AND ALMOND CRUMBLE (GLUTEN-FREE)

  Have you ever wondered what would happen if you switched up your good ol’ crumble recipe for one that uses ground almonds instead? Delicious things, that’s what. I made this cake with ground almonds instead of flour, and it tasted so good that I made a mental note to do the flour-ground almond switch… Read more »

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ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE

I recently came across a video of Nigella Lawson making a clementine cake. The first step involved boiling the fruit for two hours and then blending it to make a purée; skin and all. It just made sense. I’ve made an orange cake before using just the zest, and so good though as it is,… Read more »