Archive for January, 2016

How to Make Cheap but Good Looking Gift Baskets

January 13th, 2016

Why do you want to make a gift basket for someone you love? Mostly, it is because you want to give the gift a personal touch and ensure that the receiver will be happy with a bundle of customized gift items rather than a single gift item. The bonus is that you might save a lot of money, and you can assemble budget-friendly items into a wonderful gift basket.

The secret behind a successful gift basket is that you can make it look like a million bucks without straining your finances. Here are some tips to make an inexpensive but high-quality gift basket.

  • Where to shop for gift basket supplies: First source is a Pound shops. Baskets are very affordable and so are filing material from these stores. While grocery shopping, toss some fruits into the basket and make great present of fruit baskets. Assembling a basket of fruit and combining it with packaging from such a store makes for a much loved and inexpensive present. Second source is a fabric retailer. You can find cheese cloth or tulle for packing as well as myriad options for ribbons. Third are craft stores; they are the cheapest source for attractive gift cards. Fourth are hardware stores. They have jars and containers of all sizes and shapes.
  • Shop for containers: Go for exotic and unusual containers, so you keep people guessing about their price. The fuller is the container, the more costly it appears. If you want to gift the same item for many persons, it is best to hit Pound shops, which have multiple versions of containers. But for varied types of containers, you have other options. Platters, bowls, trays, flower vases, wood boxes, plastic containers, flower pots, etc. will serve as excellent containers.
  • Making Shred: Shred is mostly used to tuck into spaces, which are empty in the gift display. This makes the gift basket look fuller and provide cushioning to gift items so they don’t bump into and rub against each other. Making shred is easy if you own a paper shredder or cut some with scissors. You can make use of tissue paper, glossy magazine paper, brown bags, coloured paper or newspaper, each giving its own special effect.
  • Choosing cellophane wrap: Transparent wrap or cellophane is the perfect wrap for gift baskets and one must not try to scrimp with inexpensive plastic cling wrap or waste plastic covers. Using the latter will give a cheap look, the opposite of what you are trying to achieve.  Ensure you get enough cellophane to cover your entire basket without causing the bag to rip. Many professionals will avoid cellophane bags and use transparent wrap from a roll, tucking the sides inside and taping them with clear tape to provide illusion of a bag.

Place the basket in the middle of the cellophane and start gathering sides. When you get the desired effect, use some strong string or curling ribbon to secure it. If there is any excess it can be folded under the basket and taped.

  • Ribbons, cards and bows: The bow, card and ribbons must keep with the theme of the gift basket. For instance, a baby shower basket can feature a rattle as an ornament. A high quality satin ribbon can transform your gift basket into a luxurious affair. Invest in a personally made gift card.

These are some of the aspects to keep in mind while assembling an inexpensive gift basket.

How to Make Home Made Dipped Chocolates

January 12th, 2016

Making chocolates at home is an exciting venture. You can view with great satisfaction how friends and family enjoy your chocolate creations.

 Making dipped chocolates at home provides stunning results. They are ideal for entertaining and gift giving. Using a few tips, you can create an assortment of sweets with a silky chocolate coating.

Creating chocolate bon bons starts with getting ready a creamy filling. Add a flavour of vanilla or liqueur and then roll filling into balls, which are prepared to be dipped in chocolate.

If you want to eat the chocolate balls right away, you may wish not to waste time tempering the chocolate. Here are a few tips for creating chocolate bon bons:

  • Mix together ingredients for filling: Take a 2–quart heavy saucepan and butter its sides. This way you prevent filling to rise and overflow the vessel. Combine water, corn syrup, sugar and light cream.
  • Making soft balls: Cook filling over medium to low heat and stir constantly using a spoon made of wood. This prevents mix from becoming granular by completely dissolving the sugar and takes about 5 to 6 minutes. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the vessel so it dips in mix. Cook with occasional stirring till thermo meter clocks 240 degrees F or soft ball stage. This should take 15 to 20 minutes.

Some tips are: While stirring the filling, gently stir so it doesn’t splash on sides of the vessel to prevent crystal formation.

  • Rolling away the filling: Without stirring, cool the filling till it is lukewarm, which might take 45 minutes. Add flavour to filling using liqueur like coffee or amaretto or even vanilla. Now, beat the mix smoothly till it is creamy and still. Using your hands, roll out filling into balls measuring 1 inch and allow it to rest at room temperature till 20 minutes for drying.
  • Making chocolate dips: To dip the filling balls, you may use confectioner’s coating, which is like chocolates and does not require tempering. You may also use your favourite chocolate. Taking great care drop the filling balls one by one into melted chocolate and turn them to coat.  Using a fork, lift each ball out of chocolate mix, wiping away any excess chocolate. Place each ball atop a baking sheet with wax paper lining. Let them rest on waxed paper till dry to touch. Keep them in a closed container and allow to rest in a dry, cool place.
  • Melting chocolate: Tempering is advised for dipped chocolates, which will help it hold shape and get a glossy shine. You can melt chocolates on stove top or using a microwave.
  • Ideas for dipping chocolate: You can use following ingredients- dried fruits like pears, apples, apricots with milk, white or dark chocolates. Pretzels, Caramels, Fresh strawberries, marsh mallows, caramels, whole nuts, truffles, cubed pieces of angel food cake may also be used.
  • Drizzle on top: You can even drizzle following ingredients atop chocolates. They are pieces of fresh fruit, cheese cakes and cakes, nuts, dried cherries, cookies, cranberries, blond brownies or peanut butter or almond bark or toffees.

After making chocolate dips at home, you can send chocolates by post to a loved one far away. The gesture to send chocolates will be well-appreciated.

Some Tips on Baking Eggless Cakes

January 11th, 2016

You may be a fan of cakes and cookies, but you may have to forego biting into a piece if you have special dietary requirements. This is the situation of some people, who cannot consume eggs for some reasons.

For these people, there are eggless cakes. These include vegans, vegetarians and those, who have allergy to dairy products. Such cakes are made with egg substitutes both natural as well as commercial.

To successfully replace eggs in a recipe in a baking recipe, one must basically understand its role in the recipe. The function of eggs in baking is to moisten batter or to act as binders or leavening agents.

  • Binders: If eggs are binders in the recipe, it can be replaced by Soy Lecithin, Arrow root, Flax seed mix, silken tofu, pureed vegetables or fruits and vegetarian Gelatine powder without flavour (Agar Agar). The measure is ¼ cup of substitute for every egg replaced. For binding, recipes generally call only for one egg. Most ingredients like softened tofu, pureed fruits and apple sauce might be used instead of eggs to bind the dry ingredients into dough. Lack of binding agents might cause baked goods to be crumbly and dry.
  • Leavening: If eggs function as leavening agents, yogurt, butter milk, commercial powders of egg replacers and baking soda can be used instead. You can swap eggs for 15 ml of baking soda mixed with 15 ml of warm water. Baking soda is a mix of cornstarch and baking powder, which creates bubbles of carbon dioxide when exposed to liquids. This effect cause baked goods to rise and become light and fluffy.
  •  Moistening: If eggs are intended for moisture, pureed fruit, fruit juice, water or milk can be used.

Common egg substitutes in baking are:

  • Commercial egg replacers
  • Flax seed meal
  • Silken tofu
  • Vinegar
  • Baking soda
  • Fruit puree
  • Condensed milk
  • Yogurt/ buttermilk
  • Lime juice/lemon

Eggs act as a binder for other ingredients. They also serve as leavening agents that infuse air into batter or dough to help them rise. Without eggs, baked goods are seldom light and fluffy. Eggless baking can yield wonderful results if you add the correct replacements for eggs.

A commonly used substitute for eggs is commercial egg substitute products. According to the manufacturer, ingredients of commercial substitutes can vary from each other. Most products contain egg by-products like egg whites and are usually used to reduce fats and calories in the recipe rather than function as a substitute for eggs. Hence, they are not suited for vegans and those with dairy allergies. For diary free replacements, one can go in for ingredients like xanthan gum, tapioca flour, potato starch etc.

Here are some tips for eggless baking:

  • Preheat oven and place cake pan in centre
  • Avoid over beating the batter without eggs lest cakes sink in middle
  • Allow cake to cool at least for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan and turn into wire rack.
  • Sour curd can be used for self raising flour for the baked cake to rise.
  • Agar is a good alternative to 1 or 2 egg whites in recipes. Whisk well and use.

These are some ways in which you can bake eggless cakes. If you are not confident about baking cakes yourself, go in for online cake ordering and wait for cake delivery. Reliable websites will make the process simple and efficient.

Alternatives for white flour in cakes!

January 9th, 2016

A lot of people these days prefer a gluten free cake, which is why several bakeries have started special gluten free baking and cake delivery all across. If you want to bake and get your cakes delivered to your loved ones without any white flour, then we have something just for you. White flour is said to have tons of calories in it, and if you consume it a lot, then there are chances you can gain a lot of weight. There are several other reasons why white flour is not the best for health. Occasionally, it is completely fine to add white flour or whole white flour to your desserts, but if you are someone, who eats cakes a lot, then you should ignore it.  Who says you have to avoid using flour? Here are some other flour options, which are incredible for health.

  1. Whole wheat flour – Wheat flour is used for several recipes and is said to healthy compared to white flour. Make sure you find whole wheat flour and not just wheat flour for the cake. It helps in baking the cake better than just plain wheat flour.
  2. Brown rice flour – Brown rice flour is said to be very healthy and it is great if you mix it a little in your cake with any other flour you use. It has a great nutty flavour, which will enhance the taste of the cake.
  3. Spelt flour – This flour is known for being low in calories and high in the protein content. This reason enough tells why you should replace your white flour and add spelt flour to your desserts from now on.
  4. Soy flour – We are sure by now we all know how healthy soy is for us. So run down to the store and get the high protein and nutritious soy flour for your cake. It can help in thickening the batter and also add a nice flavour to the cake.
  5. Corn starch – Corn starch is not exactly flour, but it is a very close substitute of flour. It is made basically from corn or wheat, and it is extremely good for the body. It is light weight flour, which does not gather fats in the body.
  6. Coconut flour – You must have hardly heard about coconut flour but guess what? It is quite a nutritious flour to use in cakes. It is high in protein, fibre and extremely low when it comes to carbs. If you use coconut flour in cakes the next time you bake, then make sure you add little sugar because it already has a sweet taste to it. Also, it can be a little tough to blend coconut flour because it absorbs water or liquid quickly so you might need to add some liquid ingredient a little extra. Make sure you find a right recipe which has coconut flour used to know what we are referring to.

We hope all these suggestions help you out the next time you are making a healthy and gluten free cake.

6 Top fruits that cure hair fall!

January 8th, 2016

Are you facing troubles with your hair? Is hair fall a pain for you recently? Well, if you enhance your eating habits and add few of these essentials to your fruit baskets, then you can fight hair loss in a natural way. Stop taking medicines or supplements to grow your hair out or to prevent hair loss. Just eat these fruits on a regular basis to see great results…

  • Oranges – Orange is a rich source of Vitamin C which is great for so many health problems. Not just health issues but Vitamin C can boost hair gain quickly. If you have oranges every day, then you will see changes in your hair in just 2 weeks. So start eating oranges today!
  • Grapes – We all know the miracles grape seed oil does and that enough tells us that grapes are helpful for curing hair fall. The antioxidants and minerals found in grapes can strengthen the hair and lessen hair loss in just 4 weeks. Go ahead and buy grapes right away from the market. Don’t forget to add it in your diet on a day to day basis.
  • Apples –We all know the famous saying, an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. Well, that is true! Apple has tons of vitamins, fibre and antioxidants, which help in preventing plus curing hair loss. If you have been struggling with hair fall since a while, then you must eat apples every day. If required, eat two apples for breakfast every morning along with the other fruits to help your hair from getting completely damaged.
  • Strawberries – This little red fruit can do wonders. It doesn’t just help in curing diseases, but it also helps in enhancing the hair. If you have frizzy, rough hair, then you must start eating strawberries right now. With regular consumption, your hair texture will improve over time and all the vitamins in this fruit will keep it from breaking.
  • Plums – Plums is a tiny fruit, but it is packed with the goodness of nutrients. If you have severe hair fall, then you make a hair pack using the pulp of plum fruit. Directly apply it to the hair and see the magic in just few weeks. You must also consume plums to quicken the hair gain process.
  • Guavas – Yes, Guava is yet another fruit that can help in hair growth and also cure hair fall. The fruit is a rich source of Vitamin A, which promotes hair growth and also enhances the functioning of the membranes. You can eat this fruit or use a hair mask for effective results. Just add a little lemon to the mixture and apply this on your hair. Make sure you crush the fruit well in a food processor.

We hope these ideas help you out and lessen your hair fall issue. In case, you are sending fruit basket delivery UK then make sure you add all the above listed fruits without fail. Also, don’t forget to incorporate this list of benefits of every fruit.