Thursday 31 October 2013

Different ways to make Chocolate

The rich history of chocolate dates back to some 2000 years. It is considered as an aphrodisiac, stress buster, mood elevator, and known to be good for cardio-vascular health. There are so many techniques to make chocolates and we will talk about the traditional way to make chocolates.

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Chocolates
Traditional way to make chocolate
Chocolate is processed using cocoa beans. Let’s see how chocolate is made from the pods of tender cocoa which are picked by hand.

Step 1: The pods are first opened one after another and the seeds covered with pulp are extracted
Step 2: The cocoa seeds are fermented for many days to reduce its bitterness and then it is dried
Step 3: The sacks of the cocoa seeds are sold to the factories where the machines take over
Step 4: The dried seeds are cracked open at the nib and then grounded into chocolate liquor
Step 5: The thick liquid is then processed to make different kinds of chocolates

But nowadays different technologies have been infused but the chocolate making stages still continue to remain the same. The hard work and patience combined with the innovative chocolate making recipes produces great taste and an enchanting flavor which continues to be everyone's favorite.

Chocolate making techniques
The five stages of chocolate making infusing technologies include Roasting, Grinding, Refining, Conching and Tempering. Let’s learn about each of them in detail.
        
  Roasting: It is an important stage in creating the final flavor. The correct choice of roasting conditions and feature of the cocoa seeds depend on the quality of the prepared chocolate. There are two methods of roasting: pre-roasting and direct roasting.

  Grinding: During or after roasting the beans are shelled. The main feature is an upkeep of the quality and it is done in many stages: milling, sifting and winnowing. Shelling is done when there are few residual shells and grains are of regular size. After shelling, the resultant shelled beans are turned into smooth and fine chocolate.

  Refining: It converts the milled particles of cocoa into a liquid form. The cocoa butter in the mass holds the dry particles together.

Conching: The chocolate liquor is stirred in a controlled way in these machines which are popularly known as ‘conches’. It is an important stage of chocolate making techniques the milled and homogenized products cannot yet be called chocolate. Conching is done in two ways: dry conching and liquid conching.

  Tempering: It is the method of changing the liquid into a solid form. It’s a hard and tender process. In a specific temperature the chocolate is heated until the cocoa butter is melted properly and it is then cooled at a selected temperature.

    Hopefully you must have enjoyed read
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Thursday 24 October 2013

Bake Yummy Cake

A yummy cake is a delight to everyone, and the sight of it makes you feel good. And a visually appealing cake is a treat but baking a cake is not cakewalk for sure. Cake decoration is not at all about icing and colors but it takes an imaginative mind to create a beautiful cake.
So what are you waiting for? It’s not difficult to bake a yummy cake and deck it up. The first step to a stunning cake is to bake the base cake. The following will give you some insight in cake baking.


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Beautiful cake


Selecting a right baking pan

The first step in cake baking is to select an appropriate baking pan. A simple, single-wall aluminum pan with or without aluminum coating is best in the process. One can select other types of baking pans too by using right method to bake a cake in it.

Allowing ingredient to reach to room temperatures

Many recipes require butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. It allows butter to get mixed up with other ingredients properly and eggs can give a good volume to the cake. Make sure that you are not leaving eggs at room temperature for more than 30 minutes, or else it will dry down. Appropriate usage of eggs helps in decoration as well.

Preparing the pans and heating it

According to the recipe one needs to prepare their pans accordingly. Cakes which are baked in a hurry may lead to cracks so it is important to preheat the oven for at least 10 minutes which will give the good texture to the cake. Moreover a smooth surface of the cakes helps you design it in a way you want.

Mixing dry ingredients

A proportional mix is all what you need to make your cake really good. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl which includes baking powder or soda, salt and sometimes cocoa powder and spices.

Making a proper mixture

You have to mix all the other ingredients such as milk, eggs, water to create a batter.Then spread it in a pan and use an offset metal spatula to spread it uniformly in one direction. And lastly you should keep the pan in an oven for baking it.
So what are you waiting for? Get ready to delight your taste buds with this sumptuous delicacy.

Join bakingclasses in Mumbai to learn cake baking

Thursday 3 October 2013

Food and Cooking



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Fun in Food

It takes a lot for someone like me to leave the monotony of life and start writing about what I do for myself usually. I am a rather boring person to talk about so better talk about the world of flavors and aroma. I believe that food is a ploy in dealing with the stress of a very hectic schedule. But that’s what even science talks about! Food reaches our brain and Heart as oxygen which keeps us alive. Talking about oxygen brings me back to the food and the taste of life.

Cooking is the art which can help you win hearts and make others happy too. The art of cooking is not only about the food you make but it’s also about your personality, your life and about you. But do not let your, you, overpower the need of the hour, and believe that you are the greatest chef in the entire world when you find yourself cooking. Give it the best shot, even if you are trying out a new recipe.

Feeling like reading some self help routine talk. But this pep talk can take you to places in real world as well. One interesting incident about the foodaholic in me could explain it further. Once while trying out a new recipe I fell short of something which was meant to give it an interesting yet different taste. And since I was cooking for myself so was not very keen to get it from outside.

That evening when I sat down for dinner and found out what I had cooked, I could not forgive the cook in me. That preparation was a disaster and made me realize how I needed to refresh and work upon the art which I had ignored. Since then I have been part of many cooking classes in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and other places. But I have got lot more to learn about this skill which I think is more about giving than taking.


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