Tuesday, February 12, 2013

It's a Sweet Life! Kid Approved : Cheesecake Burritos.

REMINDER
I am hosting an event and a giveaway (for bloggers in the USA and in India) and it is open till February 14th. Have you sent in your entry? e-mail me your entry at pallavykulkarni [at]yahoo[dot] com. I will post the round up in the following week( so if your entry is a bit late, it is okay) and announce the winners. 

Now on to today's post. If you are a 70's something child born in India, what I have to narrate will have you nodding in agreement. More so, if you are from Maharashtra ( not that if you come from any other part of the country or world it is very different. Just with slight variations).

Raise your hand if you have smeared your fulka/ poli/ chapati with ghee and sprinkled sugar or crumbled jaggery  on top, rolled it and enjoyed  the treat! 
My parents worked. My Mom would  make lunch by 10:00 a m and we would all eat and go to office or school. On several occasions, I'd turn up my nose at what was made ( read, the usual fare of poli-bhaji, amti-bhaat)  and demand something 'different'. 
Mom had to finish everything around the house, clean up, pack lunch boxes and catch her local train to reach office in time, in all that, she had to make something 'different'.
I now wonder how she did it all. I am a stay at home Mom and still complain ( bitterly) about how tired I get. 
On those days, when I turned up my nose at what was made, she would substitute  the vegetables with ghee and jaggery, roll it up in the fulka and I'd eat up, no fuss! Gul-tup-poli was  the solution as was tup-sakhar-poli. 
Peanut butter and jelly was unknown. Bread with a smear of butter (Amul Butter) and Jam was common, but when there was fresh, off the  skillet fulka, why eat bread? 
This was also a mid-day snack or a lunch box and the easiest thing to make when I came home from school, hungry as a hunter. 
I still remember those days, I would come home, throw my backpack, shake off the shoes and I'd rush to the kitchen, rinse my hands at the sink and grab anything I could. When I  wanted to eat the fulka with jaggery, I'd climb on the chair  and reach for the 'gualcha dabba' and climb down and proceed to crumble a very generous amount of jaggery on a fulka smeared with equally generous amount of ghee. 
My son likes 'gull-roti' too, just like I do, with lots of ghee and not so much jaggery and occasionally 'sugar-roti'. 

As time passes, our options increase, knowledge of new ingredients and of course curiosity to try something new fuels experiments in the kitchen.
To add to all the above, a plethora of recipes ranging from simple to complex to exotic and some with  about 50 ingredients that leave you fogged as to what the ultimate concoction might be.
And then the websites, blogs and then there is Pinterest, to bring it all together! sigh!

When I first got on the Pinterest bandwagon, I was totally obsessed with it. I loved it and spent a good deal of time exploring and pinning. Gradually, the fever subsided and I got realistic, there were just too many beautiful things to look and try out, but  I have my limitations to come to terms with. I am not a crafty person, neither am I one to try out something totally 'different'. I like to play safe, with ingredients that I know and some I do not. Something reasonable and doable is my motto.
And so I chanced on this recipe and I loved the idea.  I made it with minor changes. 
The little one approved! 

I guesstimated the ingredients, which is not too difficult, considering that there is a limited amount of cream cheese. I also had some tortillas left over from the time I made this Mexican Pizza

You need:
Flour Tortillas  (I used the small sized, 6 inch Tortillas)
Cream Cheese  ( Smallest tub, reduced fat)
Strawberries and Blueberries
5+ Tbsp sugar ( more, to suit your taste) divided
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Oil to shallow fry
Toothpicks to secure the edges
2 Tbsp Powdered sugar, to dust
Chocolate syrup, to drizzle

Wash and cut the *strawberries (I planned on making just 3-4 burritos, so I used about 6-7 strawberries). Add about 2  heaping table spoons of sugar and keep aside.

Divide the cream cheese into two parts. To one half,add some finely chopped strawberries,  1 heaping Tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Mix well and set aside.

To the remaining cream cheese, add the blue berries, sugar and vanilla extract and set aside

Taste the cream cheese to see if it is sweet enough for you, if not add sugar to suit your level.

Line a plate with tissues and set aside

When you are all set, set a deep fry pan on medium heat and pour oil into it. I used just enough to cover the bottom of an 8 inch fry pan.

While the oil is heating, microwave the tortillas for about 10-12 seconds to make them soft and pliable

Take a tortilla, spoon  some cream cheese mix in the middle and roll it like a burrito. Secure the seams with a toothpick.
Repeat the process with the remaining tortillas and cream cheese.

Gently place one burrito toothpick side down in the hot oil and shallow fry till golden brown , carefully  turn it on the other side and let it  turn golden brown, gently lift and place it on the tissue paper lined plate to drain any excess oil.
Repeat with the remaining burritos.

To serve, remove the toothpick,  place one burrito on a plate, dust with powdered sugar and place the *strawberries ( macerated earlier) on top. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and serve.

The little one liked both strawberry and blueberry burrito, my preference was more towards the blueberry cream cheese filling.
Next time, I will drizzle / pipe the burrito with Nutella! uuummmm!


When I last shared the picture of the flowers I made at my cake decoration class, I also mentioned I'd be using them as a cake topper for a special friend. Here is the cake I made.


Clearly, my frosting skills are pathetic and I do need a lot of practice, but I am wary of too much icing. It is way too sweet for my liking and as it is I do not eat it, having to wade thru a thick layer of butter cream icing full of sugar to get to the cake is a waste, so I am miserly when spread it on. though it seemed like a good idea then, the pictures speak differently. Point noted!  Also, pictures taken in the evening are not a true depiction of the real thing.


For those interested, I have used butter cream icing. The flowers are made of gum paste, these are supposedly edible, but I have never tried them.
The flowers on the sides are fondant cut outs  and the little balls  used for border are also made out of fondant, tinted with edible food color.
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15 comments:

Unknown said...

Awesome preparation...lovely clicks dear...

shilpa said...

That is such a beautiful cake Pallavi. Fantastic work. I hate the icing too, so I fear using too much on the cakes!.

divya said...

Mouthwatering here, looks gorgeous..

Unknown said...

The burrito cum Crepe is a stealer, cannot imagine how divine it must be tasting just off the pan. and I would also go for blueberries than strawberries. The cake looks so good and well made, the special friend must be fighting hard to cut it and eat it. The swirl pattern looks so professional and wonder when will I get such amazing cake from you...I am so J of your friend now more than ever. Umeed pe duniya tiki hain, so mera bhi din ayega.
Love Ash.

Unknown said...

Awesome job n nice clicks too:)

Manasi said...

Thank you!

Manasi said...

Thank you, Shilpa.
I have to bring my icing skills on par, it spoils the look of the cake otherwise:( , I am planing on switching to whipped cream icing now.

Manasi said...

Thanks Divya!

Manasi said...

Ash, I am toying with the crepe idea for awhile now, just not sure if i can manage such delicate work. So in the mean time, had to make these :)
I hope one day u an d I will make b'day cakes for each other.

Manasi said...

Thank you, Sireesha!

Vaishali said...

Pathetic? Your frosting skills? Oh my god, Manasi, how can you be so modest? This cake looks absolutely, mindblowingly beautiful. I wish I could come up with something half as good.
And what a fun and delicious idea for a sweet burrito!
A happy Valentine's Day to you.

Sharmi said...

very beautiful looking cake! cheese cake clicks are stunning:)

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

thats a beautiful cake Manasi. Buttercream icings are really so rich but love the decorations you did on it. lovely colou and that burrito looks delish too.

Unknown said...

Outsnding write up.Itmade me to think,how I complain about my food to mom ( Whih I regret now) .Amazing burrito.

CJ - Food Stories said...

Wow ~ Loved your food photos in this post, especially the cake ~ If you ever want to submit any to the Food Stories Monthly Photo Contest, just let me know ~ I'd love to put them up for everyone to see :-)

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