Orange Ambrosia

 

At the dawn of New Year 2013, I made a resolution that I will only eat healthy food. It was at this time that I started searching for healthy dessert options and stumbled upon this recipe of Orange   Ambrosia. It was shared by my gym instructor, but I made some variations in it to make it more delightful. Ambrosia is a variation on the traditional fruit salad.  In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is the food or drink of the Greek gods, often depicted as conferring immortality upon whoever consumed it. I can’t promise you immortality with this recipe but I can give you my word that it does taste heavenly :-)

Although the name references the food of Greek gods, Ambrosia is widely believed to be an American dish originated in the early 19th century. Even though I gave in to the temptation of Pizza and Cake after one month of following the healthy food diet, nevertheless, Orange Ambrosia became a staple at my home.

To make Orange Ambrosia you will need:-

Ingredients :

• Brown Sugar – 2 tbsp (you can use regular sugar as well)
• Oranges- 2 medium Sized
• Sponge Cake – 4 slices( One slice per serving)
• Orange Marmalade – 4 tbsp
• Vanilla flavored Yogurt – 1 cup (You can use any flavor or even plain)
• Orange Juice – 1 cup
• Banana- 2 medium sized banana, sliced
• Honey – 1 tbsp
• Strawberry – for garnish
• (Serves 4)

Steps:

1. Peel the oranges and cut them into sections. Make sure you remove all the white pith from the orange. That pith is bitter and you don’t want it in your sweet Ambrosia.
2. The next step is to make caramelized oranges. For this you have to heat some brown sugar in a pan and caramelize it. You can also use regular sugar in this recipe.
   
3. Make sure that the heat is not too high. Melt the sugar stirring continuously so that the sugar does not burn. The caramel will turn bitter if the sugar burns. You can add some orange juice (approx 2 tbsp) if you feel that the caramel is too thick and sticking at the bottom.
   
4. Now add the peeled orange sections into the caramelized sugar and coat it on all sides. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
   
5. Now take a sponge cake slice (you can even use store bought fruit cake slice) and cut it into 2 equal sections. Spread Orange Marmalade on both the slices.
   
6. Now in your serving glass (or bowl) first place one of the orange marmalade covered cake slice.
   
7. Add honey to your flavored yogurt and mix well.
   
8. Add the honey –yogurt mixture on the sponge cake slices.
   
9. Now add a layer of caramelized oranges.
   
10. Add some banana slices.
    
11. Now add the other slice of Marmalade covered sponge cake
    
12. Pour some orange juice and top it with honey yogurt mixture
    
13. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, garnish with strawberry and serve.
    

This is a recipe that would be loved by adults and kids alike. It is also a light dessert which can be served after a heavy meal.

Orange Ambrosia is easy to make as a snack as well as elegant enough to be served as a dessert.  

How do you try to incorporate healthy dessert's in your life?

Stay Cheerful..Stay Flavorful !!

Oreo Chocolate Truffles

Truffles are a delightful sin.  I usually make the easier version with Oreo cookies. I recently made them for the sweet couple which moved in next door. Since I did not know my new neighbors well, I did not have a clue what would be a good welcome gift for them. I thought who doesn't like chocolates, but I also wanted to give them something homemade so decided to make these heavenly Oreo Chocolate Truffles.  They are so easy to make and only need 3 major ingredients. The best thing is that you can use different types of Oreo cookies to make different varieties of truffles

I don’t know why but chocolate truffles make me feel like its holiday time. These Oreo Chocolate truffles will instigate my Holiday season a little early but I am not complaining.

Half of these Oreo Chocolate Truffles were gone just 15 minutes after they were ready. I woke up early next day to bake a fresh batch of Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies as there weren't many Oreo Chocolate Truffles left to welcome our new neighbors.

To make Oreo Chocolate Truffles you will need :-

Ingredients :

• Oreo Cookies – 1 packet (around 40 cookies would make approx 35 truffles)
• Cream cheese – 1 packet (8 oz)
• Melted Chocolate (Regular milk chocolate and white chips) – 1 cup each

Steps:

1. Finely crush the cookies in a food processor (mixer grinder) or place them in a Ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency using a rolling pin.
   
   
2. Add the cream cheese and knead it to form a dough like this.
   
   
3. Roll the mixture into approximately 1” balls and place them over a wax paper covered cookie tray and keep in refrigerator to set for about 40 mins.
   
4. Melt the chocolate using a double boiler(boil water in a pan and keep the bowl with chocolate chips over this pot of boiling water stirring continuously) or in microwave for 2 mins or until completely melt  stirring the chocolate  every 30 secs.
   
   
5. Now dip the Oreo balls one by one in the chocolate and make sure it is covered by chocolates all around. You can use two forks to roll them in chocolate or use a skewer  to dip and roll the Oreo ball in melted chocolate.
   
6. Place them back on the cookie sheet and refrigerate until it sets ( 15-20 mins). 
   
7. For toppings, add some cookie crumbs or sprinkles on the cookie balls.  You can also sprinkle chopped nuts. Whatever you wish to sprinkle, do it at this stage before the chocolate sets. Refrigerate to set.
   
8. Now melt the white chocolate and pour it into a piping bag and decorate the truffles. You will have to work while the white chocolate is still warm and liquid.
   
   

This Oreo Chocolate Truffle recipe is Simple, Easy and of course worth every  bite, you have my word.

The soft and velvety center wrapped in a hardened chocolate shell, with beautiful piping on top, is not only elegant to look at, but even more scrumptious to taste.

Stay flavorful !!