Devnaa Sugar and Spice: Volume 1

Happy New Year all! I know it's a bit late but the Devnaa team started 2012 busily planning lots of new and exciting products that we'll be developing and introducing to you throughout the course of the year - we're so excited!

First up we have our new year's gift to to you all - Sugar and Spice Volume 1 - a collection of 6 Indian inspired dessert recipes that we have created and put together in this free booklet for everyone to enjoy. From recipes like Chocolate and Rose Cake with Cardamom Cream to Chocolate and Cardamom Mousse Pots these 6 unique desserts are easy to prepare and provide great new ideas for sweet recipes.

We had so much fun putting this booklet together that not only will we be releasing volume 2 very soon, we'll also be releasing the official Devnaa Recipe Book later this year so watch this space!

Here's a link to our first recipe booklet, if you try the recipes let us know how it goes! We'd love to hear from you.

http://issuu.com/devnaa/docs/devnaa_sugarandspice_volume1?mode=window&backgroundColor#222222

Christmas 2011 - Limited Edition Honey Cardamom Fudge

Hello Everyone - we've been a bit quiet on the blog the last few weeks as we've been busy carefully creating a brand new product especially for Christmas - presenting Devnaa's Honey & Cardamom Fudge!

A beautifully creamy white chocolate fudge enriched with distinct notes of honey and the heady aroma of freshly ground cardamom, enrobed in silky smooth dark chocolate.

Cardamom, sometimes referred to as the Queen of Spices, is one of the most favoured spices used throughout Indian cuisine - in savoury dishes as well as sweet ones. Honey is also considered to be a luxury ingredient and in Hindu culture is said to be one of the five 'elixirs of immortality' (panchamrita') alongside ghee, milk, sugar and yoghurt.

This year we have exclusively produced 100 boxes of this regal fudge especially for the Christmas season. Each 16 piece box comes with a unique tag stating it's ID number so you know just how authentic it really is! Presented in a special purple edition of our award nominated 'tiffin' style packaging this fudge makes a unique Christmas gift that has it all.

We hope those of you that get a chance to taste our honey and cardamom fudge enjoy it as much as we have loved every second of creating it - from carefully developing the exciting flavour to lovingly wrapping it up in our tiffin boxes to present to you! :) xx

Recipe: Fragrant & Chocolatey Mousse Desserts!

Hello Everyone! I'd like to start today by wishing everybody a very happy Diwali & Eid  - you guys kept us rushed off our feet during the festive period and we were really honoured by how many of you chose to include Devnaa as part of your gifts and celebrations - we hope that our sweets and chocolates added the perfect sweet touch to your festivities!

On with today's blog - having consumed endless amounts of delicious sweets and desserts over the last few weeks I have been inspired! The latest invention in our kitchen is this gorgeous chocolate, pistachio, cardamom and rose flavoured mousse cake which makes a stunning dessert, perfect for impressive dinner parties and is relatively really easy to make! For this recipe we're using a chocolate sponge which can be easily made or purchased with or without eggs but for a variation packed with more pistachio flavour, try making a pistachio sponge or joconde and using that instead.

Ingredients:
100g Shelled Pistachio Nuts
1 x 9" Square Chocolate Sponge Cake
600ml Double Cream
150g Caster Sugar
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom
60ml Rose Water

You will need 6 x 2.5" Mousse Rings or Dariole Moulds

Method:

• Place the pistachio nuts in a frying pan and dry roast over a medium heat, tossing occasionally until green and fragrant (about 5 minutes)
• Leave aside until cool and then grind into a fine powder
• Carefully slice the chocolate sponge cake into 4 thin layers
• Cut 2 of the layers into 18 circles the same size as your moulds
• Cut the remaining 2 layers into 3" x 8" strips
• Press 6 of the sponge discs into the bottoms of the moulds and line the sides of each mould with the strips of sponge, trim to fit perfectly
• Sprinkle about half of the rose water over the sponge in the moulds
• Whisk the sugar and cream together until just past the soft peak consistency
• fold in the pistachio powder and cardamom
• Set aside 6 heaped tablespoons of the cream mixture
• Divide half of the remaining mixture between the sponge lined moulds and tap to level
• Place another disc of sponge on top of the cream in the mould and drizzle with half of the remaining rose water
• Divide the rest of the cream between the moulds, level and top with the last discs of sponge and drizzle with the rose water
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours
• To demould - run a palette knife around each cake and carefully remove from the mould
• Use dessert spoons to make 6 'quenelles' of the reserved cream and place on top of each dessert (or just decoratively arrange the cream on top!)
• Garnish with rose petals and pistachio nuts and serve chilled.
• Pictures to follow soon - the layers look amazing when cut into! :)

Now Available at Heathrow T4!!!!!!

Hello everyone! It's been a couple of weeks since our last entry and we're back with some fantastic news!!!! Devnaa Signature Chocolate Tiffins, Chocolate Bars and Drinking Chocolate are now available at the Simply Chocolate shop in Heathrow Terminal 4 Duty Free, just in time for those of you who are travelling abroad for the festive season - Diwali in 3 weeks, eeek!!!
Not only will the chocolates be available to purchase but during the month of October there will be a tasting booth at the front of the shop allowing you to sample some of the goodies and if you're travelling via first or business class you'll also be treated to some samples in the lounges!

If you are passing through that way please stop by and take a look and don't forget to tell a friend to tell a friend to do the same! Lol! In all seriousness - thank you all for your support, hopefully we can continue to grow Devnaa together and make it much more widely available! :) xx

Rainbow Cupcakes!!! A Bright End To Cupcake Week :)

Ok, so we cheated a little but what's cheating if it means you get extra cake? LOL! I'm going to excuse myself with the fact that it's Friday, it's fun and it's the last day of cupcake week! After all the hard baking work the Devnaa team have been doing I thought they deserved a treat (plus my inner child has been dying to make these for aaaaaages!), so Rainbow Cupcakes it is!

They are in fact just a batch of basic vanilla cupcakes, divided by 7 (I have been singing the 'Rainbow Song' to myself all day!), each bowl of batter was coloured and then a spoonful of each colour per cupcake case - simples! The flavour is not so much Indian but again - excuse at the ready(!) - the vibrant colours are so representative of Indian culture it just naturally fit!

Use whatever vanilla cake recipe you like with whichever colours please you, these are by far the happiest cupcakes I have ever baked, putting a smile on everyone's faces! :)

Cupcake Week Day 5 - Chocolate, Coconut & Cardamom Cupcakes

Hello All! For the last blog of cupcake week the Devnaa team thought that we'd quite like to base a cupcake on one of our signature chocolates - chai masala has been done before (by us and many others!), pisatchio and saffron.... Well, we did the pistachio thing on day 1 and so - Coconut & Cardamom it was! Yes we've used coconut icing on our gingerbread cupcakes (day 2) but this is a full on, chocolate cupcake with coconut filling (baked inside, not poured in after!) and coconut and cardamom icing, topped of course with a Devnaa Coconut & Cardamom Signature Caramel. We hope you like it as much as we do :)

Chocolate, Coconut & Cardamom Cupcakes (makes 12)

Ingredients for Filling:
100g Cream Cheese
25g Fine Desiccated Coconut
25g Caster Sugar

Method

• Simply beat the cream cheese until smooth, beat in the desiccated coconut and sugar until well mixed and leave aside until needed

Ingredients for Chocolate Sponge:
200g Butter
200g Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
150g Self Raising Flour
50g Cocoa Poder
100ml Soured Cream

Method:

• Pre heat oven to gas mark 4/180C/350F and linbe a cupcake tin with cases
• Cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy
• Beat in the vanilla extract
• Scrape down the sides of your bowl and beat in the eggs one by one until you have a smooth mixture
• Sift together the flour and cocoa powder and then slowly beat into the creamed mixture a little at atime, adding the soured cream as and when you need it until you have used all the dry ingredients and the batter is of a smooth and creamy dropping consistency
• Divide half of the batter between all 12 cupcake cases
• Now, using a teaspoon, divide the coconut filling between all 12 cupcakes, carefully placing it in the center of each cake
• Top the filling in each cake with the remaining chocolate batter and then bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
• Cool completely on a wire rack.

Ingredients for Coconut & Cardamom Buttercream:
200g Butter
350g Icing Sugar
4 tblsp Coconut Powder
1/2 tsp Coconut Extract (if you have it otherwise add more coconut powder until the taste is right for you)
1/4 tsp Powdered Cardamom (grind it up as fine as you can - nobody wants to bite on a stony chunk, it can be really bitter!)

Method:

• Beat the butter until soft and creamy and then beat in the cardamom and extract (if using)
• Sift together the icing sugar and coconut powder and gradually beat into the butter, ensuring your icing remains smooth and creamy
• Add a little more coconut powder if required and then swirl onto each cupcake
• Top with a Devnaa Coconut and Cardamom truffle if you wish!
• Enjoy :)

Cupcake Week Day 4 - Mint Chocolate Mango Cupcakes

Ok, so we know we're starting to deviate a lot now from the Indian inspiration but after 3 days without it, we were craving chocolate sponge!!! Plus we had a little mango left over from yesterday and we thought why not be different and go with mint? Although it is quite surprisingly not used much in Indian cuisine, mint is used in India as more of a medicinal herb and is often brewed alongside black tea to produce a stomach relaxing brew.

Mint and mango are sometimes paired to make a savoury dressing or condiment but today, we at Devnaa quite liked the sound of this mint chocolate mango cupcake and it has turned out to be our favourite so far this week! Chocolate and mint are of course a classic combination and the mango comes through right at the end providing a delicate tang that fits in perfectly.

Mint Chocolate Mango Cupcakes (makes 12)

Ingredients for Chocolate Sponge:
200g Butter
200g Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
150g Self Raising Flour
50g Cocoa Powder
100ml Soured Cream

Method:

• Pre heat oven to gas mark 4/180C/350F and line a cupcake tin with cases
• Cream the butter and sugar together until white and fluffy
• Beat in the vanilla extract followed by the eggs, one at a time
• Scrape down the sides of your bowl and beat well until smooth
• Sift together the flour and cocoa powder then slowly beat into the creamed mixture, adding the soured cream as needed until you have used up all of the dry ingredients and have reached a smooth creamy, dropping consistency batter
• Divide batter between the cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
• Cool completely on a wire rack

Ingredients for Mango Filling:
2 tblsp Dulce de Leche (only if you have it)
2 tblsp Mango Puree
2 tblsp Cream Cheese (4 tblsp if not using Dulce de Leche)
1 tblsp Sugar (only if not using Dulce de Leche)

Method:

• Mix together the dulce de leche (if using) and mango pulp until smooth
• Beat the cream cheese until smooth and then beat in the mango mixture
• Sweeten with sugar if using and keep refrigerated for about 30 minutes

Ingredients for Mint Buttercream:
200g Butter
350g Icing Sugar
1 tsp Peppermint Extract
Green Food Colouring (optional)

Method:

• Beat the cream until smooth and then beat in the peppermint extract
• Sift the icing sugar and gradually into the butter, a little at a time, making sugar it is completely incorporated and you have a smooth icing
• Mix in a little green food colouring if you like, just enough to get a light green peppermint shade.

Assembly:

• create a hole in the top of each cupcake using your finger to push the surface about half way down the cake
• Fill each hole with the mango filling until oozing generously over the top
• Allow to set in a cool place for 10 minutes
• Pipe or spoon your mint buttercream on top and sprinkle with a little grated or finely chopped dark chocolate
• Enjoy! :)