Litchi Cinnamon Custard Bar and Awards!

Social networking sites/social media - tell me who is not addicted? This is something that has caught up with youngsters and elders alike. While at work, never did I have a chance to indulge in such activities,now that I have all the time in the world I got lured into it too. Just a couple days back in Facebook, a friend of mine tagged me for something called – 25 things you have to say about yourself and keep passing the baton. It was funny, yet intriguing. Once done, I decided to do something similar in our very own blogging world ,at least this would give us an opportunity to know our fellow bloggers better other than their culinary expertise. Instead of 25 things, I thought 5 to 7 was good enough to kick start.Coincidentally,Varsha proposed something similar too and tagged me. “Great minds think alike”,don’t they? Let me not bore you much,I am just writing seven of them,will leave the rest to your imagination :-D

1.Kitchen is my exclusive paradise, an area where I pursue my culinary endeavors , no one gets to cook..It’s MY SPACE!

2.I am a cleanliness freak, particularly Kitchen & Bathroom. Utensils lying in the sink is a good enough reason for me to lose my temper.P bares the brunt most times.

3.I drink gallons of water,so I use the loo a lot:-P My friends always take a dig at me for this!

4. I believe,am not only good in making friends but keeping them too,still in touch with folks I’ve known since I was 5yrs old. Touchwood!

5.As a kid I’ve been told” books are like god”,if your feet happens to touch it,take it immediately and hold it close to your eyes (actually its like saying sorry god).Just for fun,my Dad and bro torture me by actually taking a newspaper,touch it to my feet,hide it & make me run around the entire house,I would be relieved only when I find it. Its quite funny but I still believe in this.

6.I don’t claim to be a Master neither a geek,but certainly good at excel and numbers, after all that’s been my bread & butter for long.

7. I drool over Death by Chocolate & Tiramisu,the latter being my fav one.Am crazy to the extent of naming P’s number on my mobile phone as “Tiramisu”

I would be happy to see your responses too, however I leave the choice to you.I am tagging seven of them – Asha,Mahimaa,Supershef,Vidhya,Alka,Hema,Malar

This is also going to be my last post before a long vacation to India.Whenever I get time,I will surely try and check all your blogs.If not,I will catch up with all your posts once am back.I thought to wind up with a sweet dish using any fruit and the soft gui gui Litchi is the fruit that came into my mind first.Its also spelt as “Lychee” and called “Litchu” or “Laichi”.The original recipe was called “Pear Custard Bar” from the book “Taste of Home Desserts”.Instead of Pear, I used Litchi and also tweaked the recipe a li’l and made this gorgeous looking dessert. So here it is….


Ingredients:

Sugar – 1/3 cup
All Purpose Flour – 3/4cup
Vanilla extract/essence – 1 tsp
Pecans – ½ cup
Cashewnuts – ½ cup
Macadamia nuts – ¼ cup(optional)- Ididn’t add this

For the topping:

Cream cheese – 1 package (8 ounces),softened
Sugar – ¼ cup
Vanilla extract/essence – 1 tsp
Litchi – 1 can (this had about 18 pieces),drained
Sugar - ½ tsp
Ground Cinnamon – ½ tsp

Method:

1.Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Add Vanilla extract,gradually add flour to the creamed mixture.Mix well and stir in the nuts.
2.Press into a greased 8-in square baking pan.Bake at 350F for about 20min or until lightly brown.Cool it.
3.In a small mixing bowl,beat cream cheese until smooth.Beat in sugar(1/2 cup),egg and vanilla.Pour over the crust.
4.Cut the litchi into half,arrange in a single layer over filling.Combine sugar(1/2tsp) and cinnamon;sprinkle over the litchi.Bake at 375F for 30min.Cool on a wire rack for an hour.


5.Cover and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hrs before cutting.


Once its done,the centre will be soft set and will become firmer upon cooling.Store in the refrigerator.

Its time for Awards - Superchef and Malar has passed on these awards to me....thanks so much.

.Also Jaishree has passed on the above mentioned award and the Yumblog award.Thanks so much.


I want to take time,appreciate and thank each of the bloggers,you truly make a difference to the blogging world.Hence,am passing on all these awards to-Varsha,Asha,Mahimaa,Vidhya,Trupti,Alka,Hema,Rajeshwari,Malar,

Jaishree,Priya,Paru,Harini,Usha,Mangala,DeepaHari,

Rekha,Superchef,Dershana,Daily Meals,Ujwal,Preety,

Pavithra,Vani,Redchillies,Cham,Madhu,Madhumitha,

Priya,Lubna,Uma,Lavanya,AnuSriram,Sia,

Navita,Shama,Aparna,Madhuram,Chitra,Ashwini,Vibaas,

Jayasree,Indhu,Akal's SaapaduLG,Maya,

Veggiebelly and Sowmya.

Have fun blogging:)