So, in order to make duffins, I decided to invert the two and use the cream cheese as a filling in the middle.

The result was delicious- well, eventually. I made one batch and had a few friends taste test for me and give me some critical analysis. My daughter is the most honest taste tester I have- she has no qualms about telling me when things are not right. She told me the duffins didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor and the filling tasted too much like cream cheese and not like a frosting. She was right- I had forgotten to add vanilla extract in the cream cheese mixture.

The second batch included more spiced including cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It also included the missing vanilla extract. The result was delicious.

Make these for halloween…

• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup extra light olive oil
• ¾ cup 1% milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

Filling

• 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Keep aside.

Topping

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• ½ cup fine raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well.
Add a quarter cup batter in each cup. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese on top. Top each cup with the rest of the batter to cover the filling.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into another small bowl.

Once the muffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.

Regardless of  where you live in India or what tradition you follow, it is a day to eat sweets and spend time with your family and friends.

We usually get together with family and eat lots of delicious food. As I just mentioned, one of the traditions is to eat something sweet.

I had this sweet rice recipe which I thought would be perfect to eat on such an occasion. Actually it is ideal for breakfast with a steaming cup of coffee.

I grew up eating this delicious rice flavored with jaggery, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and cumin seeds. It has an amazing nutty flavor. In this recipe I have used brown sugar instead- just to make it more accessible. I love eating this rice hot with a dollop of low fat tangy yogurt- it is delicious.

Try this one- it has an amazing flavor…

• 1 cup rice, soaked in water for half an hour
• 1¼ cups brown sugar (tightly packed)
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
• 2 to 3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 black cardamom, crushed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Heat a medium saucepan and add the oil. Add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and cumin seeds. Saute on medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the water and bring to boil. Add the rice and bring to a boil. Cook on high till bubbles form on the surface. Lower the heat and cook with lid on- half way. Once the water has evaporated, put the lid on all the way and cook for 15 minutes- just shy of being done all the way. Take the lid off and add the brown sugar. Mix well and cook for ten minutes on high heat with the lid on. Take lid off and check quickly to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom. Put the lid back on and turn the heat off. Let it sit for 20 minutes.

• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup crushed pistachios

Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve hot or room temperature.

Honey cake came to mind- I researched the internet and looked for something suitable. As I came up with this recipe, I realized this cake would be very appropriate for Rosh Hashanah. It is soaked with a honey orange syrup and the cake itself has orange zest and walnuts. The cake is made with healthy ingredients including white whole wheat flour, raw sugar and extra light olive oil.

The cake was delicious- everyone loved it. It was light yet very moist due to the honey orange syrup.

Try it for the upcoming holiday…

• 1 ¼ cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and orange zest in a medium bowl. Whisk to aerate. Keep aside.

• ¾ cup raw sugar
• 1/3 cup extra light olive oil
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup 1% milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup toasted chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a 9 inch round cake pan.

Beat the sugar and olive oil in an electric mixture for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the milk and mix for 30 seconds and add the walnuts. Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix well and pour into the round cake pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the done. Let cool and take out of pan onto a flat platter.

Honey Orange Syrup

• 1 cup honey
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup fresh orange juice

In a small saucepan, combine the honey, water and orange juice. Bring to a boil and cook on simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn heat off and slowly drizzle the honey syrup on to the hot cake. Repeat till all of the syrup is absorbed.

Let the cake cool before serving.

The Royal wedding is tomorrow and a friend suggested I repost this old scone recipe for the occasion. I love eating scones but certainly don’t like all the calories… This is my healthy version. You can slather a huge amount of clotted cream and not feel too guilty. Enjoy these with a cup of English tea and enjoy the wedding. Speaking of the wedding, will you be up early morning or will you dvr it??

When it comes to eating out- one of my all time favorite things to do is- afternoon tea. I love the tradition and of course the food! I love the idea of sitting in a very adult and pleasant place; drinking tea and eating all the finger sandwiches and scones. When we were in London and Scotland, I made sure to go a few times for high tea. I usually get the darjeeling tea; all the sandwiches I can eat and of course – my favorite – currant scones. The subtle flavor is just enough to enjoy them with lots of jam and clotted cream. Oh- how I love the clotted cream- if it wasn’t so bad for me- I would eat it all the time. There is a place in Chester, NJ that serves great afternoon tea- I have not been in a very long time- now that I am writing this piece- I will be going very soon!

Typically scones are made with all purpose flour and lots of butter. The texture is crumbly and a bit dry- perfect combination for jam and cream. I do have a recipe I have been meaning to try for a long time- it is for traditional English scones given by my English Aunt. For whatever reason- I have never made them at home. Recently, I had a friend ask me if I could post a scone recipe on the blog. I remembered the one I have from my Aunt and thought about using the recipe- but I realized it has a lot of butter … and somehow it didn’t appeal to me. I started looking for other recipes but nothing stood out. Then, one day I had an overripe banana and I didn’t want to make my usual banana bread – so I thought- maybe I can bake some scones with it. Bananas are sweet and I wanted to pair a tangy ingredient to make the scones eatable without jam or cream- more like a snack- actually I was trying to save myself the clotted cream calories!- so I came up with dried apricots. I switched the all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour and decided to cut back on the butter a bit- this recipe does not have that much at all. I also decided to add some white chocolate chips- somehow using apricots made me think of white chocolate- they added a nice burst of sweetness to the scones.

Overall the scones were good- moist and not overly sweet- the bananas helped with the soft texture. I think next time I bake them- I might add an egg glaze on top with some extra sugar. They would be a bit more aesthetically pleasing. In terms of taste, they were delicious- Sia loved them and I gave them to my husband for breakfast- which he loved!

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter, cold, cut into small pieces
• ¼ cup half and half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 banana, diced
• 1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
• ¼ cup white chocolate chips, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces and press into the flour mixture with a fork.
Add the vanilla into the half and half. Pour it into the flour mixture and stir until it starts to come together. Add the banana, apricots and white chocolate, mix well.
Pat the dough into a disk about 1 inch thick. Cut into eight sections, like a pizza. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, till golden brown.
Cool and serve.

I bought a carton of egg whites and decided to pair some up with a regular egg. The trick to keeping full is a lot of healthy protein and fiber. The crackers provide the fiber and the eggs are an excellent source of protein.

I sauteed up some veggies as well. My fridge is full of pepper, mushroom, spinach, zucchini, and sprouts. I decided to use some mushrooms, peppers and spinach. I cooked them with a tiny bit of oil. I used the non-stick pan so it doesn’t take too much fat to cook the vegetables. I mixed up the egg whites and egg with salt and added it to the non-stick pan.

It is a delicious breakfast with a very large cup of coffee- perfect way to start the day…

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 cups baby spinach
• ½ cup yellow or red pepper, sliced
• 3 to 4 cremini mushrooms, sliced
• ¼ cup low fat, shredded cheese
• 1 teaspoon extra light olive oil

Beat the egg and egg white in a small bowl. Add the salt and cheese and mix well. In the meantime, heat a non-stick frying pan and add the oil. Add the spinach, peppers and mushrooms. Saute on medium heat till the mushrooms have cooked down- about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and add the egg mixture. Mix well and turn the heat off as soon as the mixture begins to set. Serve immediately.