By: Sarah Khanna Ingredients: 1 cup of semolina 1/4 cup of ghee 3 cups of water 1 cup of sugar 3 cardamom pods,

peeled and crushed 10 almonds, peeled and thinly sliced 6 pistachios, finely chopped A small palmful of raisins Over moderate heat, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar entirely. Allow it to boil once then reduce the heat to low. Cover your syrup with a tight-fitting lid and let it simmer. Directions: On low heat and in a pot, melt the ghee. Add the semolina and stir in the ghee for about 15 minutes. Fry until it reaches a golden color and becomes aromatic. Add the almonds and pistachios to the semolina after about 5 minutes of frying. Turn up the heat under the syrup and add the raisins and cardamom. Bring to a boil. Raise the heat under the semolina and stir continuously for 1 minute. Take the semolina off the heat and carefully pour the syrup into the semolina, stirring always. At first, it might splatter but will quickly absorb the liquid and stop. Bring the semolina-syrup mixture back to the stove on very low heat and stir steadily until the semolina has absorbed the syrup completely. The halwa will now start to look slightly like pudding and will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cover and cook for 5 minutes over the lowest flame possible. Remove from the heat and allow it to steam for 5 minutes before serving. Halwa can be served for breakfast with a side of fried puri bread or as a rich dessert. Always serve hot.

Cocoa Cinnamon Brownies

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By: Sarah Khanna (Originally Alice Medrich's, I couldn't resist messing about. I've made the original before and it is just as amazing.) Ingredients: 140 grams of unsalted butter 1 1/4 cups of sugar 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon salt (I used salted butter and eliminated this) 1.5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 2 large eggs, cold (I used 3 small eggs, because that's what I had.) 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cup of walnuts Directions: Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. I actually skipped this step and microwaved it all, stirred vigorously, then combined the cinnamon. I was stuck on time and it worked perfectly. I've tried the original method before, which produced almost the same result with a 10-15% smoother brownie at the end. I highly recommend the proper way if you have the time. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously (there we go again) after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer then beat for 40 strokes. Stir in the nuts. Spread evenly in your lined pan. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Take them out. Let them cool for a while then pop them in the freezer, as they are, for a good 20 minutes. Take them out and slice. Nice. :)

Upside-Down Caramelized Mango Cake

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By: Lara Ariss PREPARATION TIME 30 MINUTES BAKE TIME 50-60 MINUTES SERVES 8-10 LEVEL EASY INGREDIENTS For the topping 100 grams granulated sugar 1 large mango, not completely ripe For the sponge 175 grams unsalted butter, softened at room temperature, plus extra for greasing 175 grams granulated sugar 3 eggs, beaten 225 grams all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 75 ml milk, full fat or low fat To serve vanilla ice cream METHOD Preheat oven to 200C.

 Lightly grease 20cm round cake tin with butter and line base with parchment paper. For the topping: Put the sugar in a saucepan and gently heat till the sugar turns a brownish color, swirl the pan from time to time to allow for a consistent caramelize and to avoid burning. Tip the caramel into the greased cake tin base. Tilt the tin slightly to allow for an even coating. Allow to cool aside. In the meantime, peel and slice the mango. Arrange the slices on top of the caramel. At this point the caramel should have hardened. For the sponge: Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy and pale in color. Contin ue to beat while adding the eggs a little at a time. Fold in the flour and baking powder and spoon in the milk. Continue to beat until you have a smooth consistency. Gently pour the batter over the caramel and mango slices. Leave to rest a few minutes to ensure the batter is levelled inside the tin. Bake for 60 minutes but check at 50 minutes, by inserting a cocktail stick or toothpick in the center of the sponge, which should come out clean. Once complete remove from oven and allow to rest in tin for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Muffins

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Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups fresh strawberries 1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp.1 of vanilla 3 eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon Directions: 1. Heat oven to 225 C. Grease bottoms of 24 muffin cups or line with paper cups. 2. Slightly smash strawberries in large bowl. 3. Stir in sugar, oil and eggs until mixed. Add vanilla. Stir in other ingredients just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups. 4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or toothpick clean test. *If you do not have fresh strawberries, you can use frozen strawberries that you have thawed and drained. Or any berry for that matter.