Preserving recipes and memories
As the sesame seeds heat up, their delicate aroma dramatically changes into a dark, toasty fragrance that hovers above the pan. This simple transformation is delightful, but becomes even more special when, after mixed with ground cardamom and peanuts, sesame seeds hit a pan of melted sugar. At this point, it is a fragrance of such richness and opulence that I want to bottle it and wear it as perfume: dark caramel, spicy and nutty notes blend into a beautiful harmony. What I am making is til gul ladoo, a sesame cardamom candy popular in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
January 14th in India marks the transition of the Sun into Capricorn and the return of the sun to the Northern hemisphere and is celebrated by the Makar Sankranti festival (Makara refers to Capricorn.) Its celebrations range in terms of importance for different parts of India, but in the western states, it is a festival of particular significance. It is seen as the beginning of a new, very auspicious period, and an atmosphere of fun and festivity marks the delight with which this season is greeted.
In Gujarat, the sky bursts into bright colors, as the kite running begins. In the days leading up to the 14th, children and adults are busy fashioning their showpieces and gluing powdered glass on the strings to cut down other kites in a grand and fiercely competitive show. The sesame candy, til gul (til means sesame and gul means jaggery, palm sugar in Hindi and Marathi) is an integral part of the celebrations. As people visit their friends and family, they share til gul, saying, “Tilgul ghya, god god bola,” which means “Eat tilgul and speak sweet words,” forget past differences and start afresh.
It is impossible not to talk sweet words when eating this fragrant sesame candy, which belongs to the praline family, confections made from nuts and sugar syrup. Its rich sesame flavor makes it reminiscent of tahini halwah, although given the sugar-nuts ratio, til gul is not as sweet. A bright accent of cardamom lends it a very distinctive and memorable accent with a lingering citrusy aftertaste. Its texture is a cross between the melting decadence of halwah and the crunch of sesame brittle. All in all, quite irresistible!
Makes 10-12 round candies
There are many different recipes for til gul, and some variations include raisins, dried coconut and whole peanuts instead of ground. Some recipes call for rose water or nutmeg instead of cardamom. I am partial to the simple cardamom flavored version below, which I learned in India, but if you feel like experimenting, add 1 Tbsp peanuts and 1 Tbsp dried coconut flakes to the recipe below (insted of 2 Tbsp peanuts). Or use 2 tsp of rosewater or 1/8 tsp nutmeg instead of cardamom.
When made with unrefined sugar ( jaggery), its floral-caramel character is even more complex; although, I have made til gul with light brown sugar and ended up very pleased with the results. The recipe is not complicated, but it is important not to overcook the sugar or else shaping will be difficult. Please note that working with sugar syrup requires caution (I wear rubber gloves,) since the mixture needs to be hot for shaping. Therefore, if you are making the candies for the first time, try my very easy alternative shaping method. I will promise you though that whatever the shape, the taste of your candies will be delicious.
1 cup sesame seeds
2 Tbsp roasted ground peanuts
1/2 cup Jaggery (see note on substitutions)
2-3 Tbsp water
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter) (see note)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Roast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet till they turn a couple shades darker. It takes only 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool down. Grind half the sesame seeds and then mix with the remaining whole seeds and also the ground peanuts and ground cardamom.
Now the next stage happens very fast. Put on your rubber gloves if you are planning to shape the mixture by hand, and set everything close to the stove. In a heavy pan, melt the jaggery on low heat while constantly stirring. Once it melts, add water carefully. The mixture will bubble up vigorously; it will seize up and then melt again. The sugar will need to be cooked till soft ball stage. To test, take a cup of water and drop a little syrup in it. If it does not dissolve in the water, it is ready. If you have a candy thermometer, the sugar is ready at 235° F–240° F /118° C–120° C. Then add ghee, mix it in and turn off the heat. Immediately add the spice and sesame seed mixture and mix it in well. The mixture will not be of pourable consistency, but it will be sticky. Put a little ghee on your fingers and start rolling the candies. Since the mixture is workable only when it is warm, I spoon out little scoops of the mixture on a plate, given them a rough shape and then return to roll them into balls once all of the mixture is used up. If the mixture cools down too much and hardens, then add a spoonful of water and warm up on low heat.
Alternatively, spread the hot mixture on a buttered cookie sheet and cut right away into lozenges or little diamonds.
Let them cool completely and enjoy!
Ingredient Notes:
Jaggery—unrefined cane or palm sugar. It is less sweet per weight than white sugar and has a great complexity, ranging from orange blossom flavors to caramel. Light brown sugar or any other unrefined sugar can be used as a substitute.
Ghee–also known as clarified butter, is made by simmering butter on low heat until the milk solids have settled to the bottom and the water has evaporated. The resulting liquid is then strained. The browned milk solids are delicious used in mashed potatoes or in lentil soups. The golden butter fat lasts for a very long time even without refrigeration, provided that it has been clarified properly and all of the moisture is kept out. I usually make ghee in large batches and store it in the fridge. Its caramel flavor is addictive.
Photography © Bois de Jasmin.
Prep Time
25 minutes
Total Time
35 minutes
This is a no-nonsense chewy oatmeal cookie recipe. It’s not an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. There are no cranberries or chocolate chips, no pecans, peanut butter, coconut, or any other add-ins, either (not even dates)—nothing that could divert attention from the buttery comfort of this classic cookie.
Old-fashioned oats—not quick oats—give these favorite cookies just the right chewy texture, while vanilla extract and ground cinnamon lend them the warmth and spice that’ll keep you coming back to the cookie platter for more. Soften your butter to room temperature, and make sure your eggs are at room temperature, too, so that they blend easily into the cookie dough. Doing some last minute baking? Here’s how to soften butter quickly.
The best oatmeal cookies are evenly sized (so they bake evenly) and perfectly round, so it’s ideal to use a #70 sized cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into tablespoon-size balls. Place the dough balls at least 2 inches apart on parchment paper–lined cookie sheets since they’ll spread as they bake.
Editor's note: This recipe was originally published in the September 1999 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared online on August 20, 2004.
Makes 24 cookies
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a stand mixer or in large bowl with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add flour mixture and beat until just combined.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Makes 16
1½
1¼
¾
¾
1
¼
1
2
2
6
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.
Cook ½ cup (1 stick; 113 g) butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, swirling often and scraping bottom of pan with a heatproof rubber spatula, until butter foams, then browns, about 4 minutes. Transfer butter to a large heatproof bowl and let cool 1 minute. Cut remaining ¼ cup (½ stick; 56 g) butter into small pieces and add to brown butter (it should start to melt but not foam and sizzle, so test with one piece before adding the rest).
Once butter is melted, add both sugars and whisk, breaking up any clumps, until sugar is incorporated and no lumps remain. Add egg and egg yolks and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Whisk in vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold reserved dry ingredients into butter mixture just until no dry spots remain, then fold in chocolate (the dough will be soft but should hold its shape once scooped; if it slumps or oozes after being scooped, stir dough back together several times and let rest 5–10 minutes until scoops hold their shape as the flour hydrates).
Using a 1½-oz. scoop (3 Tbsp.), portion out 16 balls of dough and divide between 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake cookies, rotating sheets if cookies are browning very unevenly (otherwise, just leave them alone), until deep golden brown and firm around the edges, 8–10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
Do Ahead: Cookies can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
TIPS:
Chris, oh Chris: I’ve said this countless times but you are my Favorite at BA (sorry!). Master of flavors and technique: your instructions are always so simple, straightforward, and the final product, always Amazing. Make sure you brown the butter. It took me double the amount of time to brown. After adding the rest of the cut up butter, you have to let the batch of butter cool Completely which takes some time, meaning it can’t be warm! Use high quality baking chocolate and 9 mins in the oven, my cookies came out perfect. I didn’t chill my dough as it retained its shape. My only regret: halving the ingredients and not making the full batch of 16 cookies. I made exactly 8 perfectly sized cookies-highly recommended!
𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗜 𝗞𝗜 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗙𝗜
Preparation time 10-20 minutes + set time Cooking time 15-20 minutes Serves 2 𝗜𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 1 ¼ cups Gram flour, बेसन A pinch of salt, नमक ½ tbsp Ghee, घी Water, पानी 1 tbsp Saffron water, केसर का पानी 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 Oil for frying, तलने के लिए तेल 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝗿𝘂𝗽 2 cups Milk, दूध 1 ⅓ cups Sugar, चीनी ¼ tsp Cardamom powder, इलायची पाउडर 2 tbsp Rose water, गुलाब जल
Would you believe me if I say that my favorite recipe in The Artful Baker doesn’t have chocolate or caramel in it? It isn’t one of the many ice cream recipes either. I can almost hear you gasp. I know, I wasn’t expecting it either. Considering that there is a chocolate cake using over a pound of chocolate (the one on the cover), this is a big statement, but my favorite recipe in the book is the Sour Cherry and Almond Upside-Down Cake.
And it would still be a contender even without the sour cherries on top. It is that good.
It is also one of the easiest recipes in the book. For the cake, you put the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor one after another and press a button.
So what do you do when you develop a recipe like that? You simply test all the variations you can think of.
I certainly wasn’t disappointed with the walnut version which I topped with a banana and milk chocolate ganache or the pistachio version which I’m currently contemplating on transforming into a pound cake, but none of the variations came close to the original.
That is until I thought of a coconut version many years later.
There’s only two and a half months left before The Artful Baker is released (on October 17 to be exact) and I’ll make sure to share the original recipe then, but you don’t have to wait that long to get an idea. This pineapple and coconut version is just as good.
For the fruit layer of upside-down cakes, I prefer to cook the fruit before arranging them on the bottom. This enables me to fit in more fruit and prevent the bubbling juices from leeching into the cake.
In the case of this pineapple version, I cut the pineapple slices into small pieces and arranged them in concentric circles to maximize the amount of fruit. For an 8-inch round cake, seven slices of pineapple is a pretty good amount, don’t you think?
Not that you need yet another reason to run immediately into the kitchen, but the cake gets better with time, too.
PINEAPPLE & COCONUT UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE RECIPE
Serves 8
FRUIT LAYER
CAKE
SERVING
Storage: The cake will keep, wrapped airtight, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Here is another interesting version of the Gum Mastic Pudding recipe I posted earlier. This time with Earl Grey… Earl Grey tea leaves added an earthy flavor to the pudding. Next time, I will try with Lapsang Souchong.
EARL GREY PUDDING RECIPE
Ingredients
Method
This is a moist, dense and rich carrot cake, studded with toasted walnuts and sweet coconut.
It is so delicious on its own, I didn’t want to overshadow the perfectly balanced slices with the classic cream cheese frosting. A simple dusting of powdered sugar is what it only needs.
I’ve worked very hard for this carrot cake recipe. And so did the readers of my Turkish blog. I published this recipe four months ago and baked it three more times since then, based on the feedback I’ve got from readers. It was great at the beginning and now it’s phenomenal.
Plus, it is so simple to make. You don’t even need a mixer for this. Dry ingredients into one bowl, moist ingredients in the other. Mix them, pour the batter into your pan and that’s it. You are done.
My starting point was the carrot cake recipe from Shirley O. Corriher‘s amazing book Bakewise, which I can’t seem to put down since the day I bought it. I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the chemistry behind baking fascinates me. And this book is all about that – the hows and whys of successful baking.
As for the carrot cake, I must say I’ve made significant changes to her recipe. The thing is, it was too moist and too sweet for my readers’ taste. I didn’t notice at the beginning, but baking the same cake with half the oil and sugar with a couple of tweaks to the dry ingredients proved their point.
My addition of sweetened shredded coconut provides a tropical twist and blends in nicely with the rest of the spices. So don’t skip.
Hope you like it as much as I do.
MOIST AND GOLDEN CARROT CAKE RECIPE
Recipe adapted from “Bakewise” by Shirley Corriher.
Ingredients
Method
Variations (optional)
You can add the following combo to the bread pudding:
Apple & raisins or cranberries
Chopped chocolate & raisins
To plum up the raisins or cranberries, I cook them in orange juice until soft & cool
