Cupcake Party for Littles

I've been so blessed that despite moving to this new state less than a year ago, I've made a wonderful group of friends. I can count on them for wonderful company, making me laugh, listening to all my stories, and best of all - for countless playdates that entertain me and my children. Score! In fact, we've fallen into a routine of meeting at each others' places weekly. I had a fun idea to host a cupcake decorating playdate and so this party came along. The littles had so much fun decorating their cupcakes and even more fun eating all the sweet treats meant for decorating!

We had such a blast with this cupcake party, I'm sure you will too. Here's how I pulled together this super sweet cupcake decorating party.

Cake Mix Hacks and the Best Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting!

It's been a sort of a dessert month over at Best of Wardah. With my berry trifles and rose meringue cookies posts out, we've been having a solid sweet streak going on. Not that I'm complaining of course, and none of you have either. So I'm going to take that as a good sign and run with it.

Rose Meringue Cookies

Rose meringue cookies are a gorgeous spin off of the traditional meringue cookies - with a little bit of food coloring, a piping bag and tip, you can transform a traditional meringue kiss into a delicate and airy rose. These cookies would make a delightful addition to any tea party, or a light dessert after a heavy meal.

If you haven't had a meringue cookie before, the flavor is similar to a marshmallow. The cookie is dry and airy and becomes sticky and sweet as you chew it. They're best served with tea or coffee. You can bet I'll be making these cookies the next time I have a tea party planned. If you are going to attempt this recipe, make sure you read carefully through all of my tips below and read the recipe a few times. Though the recipe has minimal steps and is fairly easy, meringues can be finicky cookies and you wouldn't want to be disappointed.

Individual Angel Berry Trifles

Though "afternoon tea" is not a very integral part of American culture, it is in many other parts of the world. Where my parents are from, Pakistan, it is routine to have afternoon tea every day with a variety of traditional sweet and savory snacks. It is also very common to have guests drop by, often times unannounced, to share tea with you and enjoyable conversation (read as gossip). Today I'm sharing a not-so-traditional sweet item that is perfect for occasions when guests drop by with as little as an hour or two notice (granted, I'm not including a trip to the grocery store).

Tikka Masala: 3 Ways

Happy New Years!

It's the fifth day of the new year and I already sense a change in the air. For me, 2016 was a year of many milestones and new experiences. I published my first recipe video and one of my food videos - Farhana's Traditional Biryani - went viral. I met new people through blogging and learned of new opportunities. Traveling to Maui was by far the highlight of my year. Spending time with my loved ones, experiencing exciting adventures, and viewing incredible sceneries was exactly as incredible as it sounds. 

For the new year, 2017, I want to dream big. I want to dream big and follow through with my dreams with hard work and persistence. So to any of you out there who have big dreams - you CAN do it! I believe in you. Let's do it together. 

A Delicious Chocolate Malt Cake and Happy Holidays!

Hello all and happy holidays!

These past few months of mine have been filled with busy schedules, exciting milestones, fun, new experiences, and not so much blogging. To remedy that, I have a lot of new posts planned for the new year, but before that, I'm going to squeeze in a final post for 2016!

It's that time of the year - the holidays! So much fun, joy, family, and holiday cheer to go around. It's also true that many, MANY weddings happen in December. My husband and I just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on December 16th a few weekends back.

Fruit Platters - How To

Today, I'm excited to share the newest video addition to my blog. I shared this iftar dinner party a few months back and a few of you requested a how-to for the pretty fruit platters I made for the event. Since I learned how to make them from my younger sister, Hajerah, I decided it was best for her to show you how to make them herself. Keep reading for a guest post on these scrumptious and eye-catching from the woman herself, my talented baby sis!

Hey all!

  

It's Hajerah, Wardah's younger sister. Today, I'll be sharing my method of cutting/arranging fruits with you all. Growing up, my older sisters were always the ones in charge of making beautiful and delicious baked goods for family gatherings. That left me with the one task they knew I wouldn't mess up (lol), which was cutting. Whether it was prepping the veggies for a dinner item, or cutting fruit to serve with dessert, it was always my job. 

And it was something I enjoyed. I'm really meticulous and somewhat of a perfectionist by nature (my closet is organized by style AND color), so I found satisfaction in slicing fruits to equal widths and chopping up veggies in uniform cubes. I also realized I could line them up on the serving plate and they wouldn't look half bad. Over the years, I got better at making fruit platters, and a lot faster at it, too. Now, even though I've learned how to bake a cake or two, most of our family and friends still know me as the cutting expert. 

Which brings me to today's post. When Wardah was visiting CA a month ago, she convinced me to let her film the process of making a few platters. Let's just say, it was an agonizing hour of sitting on the kitchen floor right in front of our backyard doors (for better lighting, apparently) and working really slowly (so she could capture what I was doing, change angles, etc). Wardah actually did the most work though, including filming, putting up with my complaining, and then going home to edit and create this wonderful video. 

I hope you all enjoyed the video and are motivated to create a fruit platter of your own. Your guests will ooh and aah at your elaborate presentation while you'll smile inside, knowing it wasn't hard at all. And who knows, maybe you're like me and will find the process to be therapeutic!

'Til next time, folks (maybe I'll teach you how to organize scarves, another one of my specialties haha).

Watch the video here.

Bloggers Do Burgers at Famous Hamburger - Dearborn, MI

Last week, a group of Michigan bloggers and I had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner together at Famous Hamburger - a local, halal restaurant in Dearborn, MI. Though the restaurant was kind enough to host us that night, all opinions on the food and service are my own. Many of my readers and I follow a specific, religious dietary restriction of eating only "halal" food. Let's not go into all the details, but "halal" food pertains to meat and certain animal byproducts that Muslims cannot consume unless prepared a certain way. Believe me when I say that there is a severe lack of halal food in the food service industry! But then, once in a while, a gem of a restaurant pops up and all is right in the world (for the duration of your meal ;D ).

The owner of the restaurant, Moe, gave us a little history of the restaurant. It was established 35 years ago by his grandfather and is now 3 restaurants strong with more on the way. There was nice ambience and snazzy decor.

The restaurant has a fully halal menu with variety of items, including vegetarian and gluten-free options. We were seated by our very helpful and courteous waitress and didn't have to wait much for anything at all. Now I'm sure you're anxious to know more about the food!

We decided to order some appetizers as a group - ultimate beef nachos, veggie nachos, and "mac 'n' chzzz" bites. Despite the somewhat ridiculous name, the mac and cheese bites were definitely the crowd favorite - deep fried mac and cheese bites.

The nachos were topped with a delicious cheese sauce that was spot on!

A bunch of us ordered milkshakes to go with our dinner. Here is my Oreo chocolate milkshake next to vanilla bean milkshake with caramel. I ordered an additional Oreo topping which I thought would just be on the top, but was actually layered throughout the drink. I didn't really like the texture of the soggy cookies mixed into my shake so next time I'll get the shake without the cookies.

Our burgers arrived next and my oh my, the sight of us bloggers photographing each others food was probably the silliest thing any of the other diners had seen that day. But those burgers were glorious looking too. I can't really stomach too much red meat (or any meat for that matter) in one sitting so I opted to go for a vegetarian burger. I was hoping to try the falafel burger but they didn't have any so I ordered the black bean veggie burger. My burger was so delicious, the perfect blend of spices and veggies in a bean mixture. Even my meat loving husband approved of it!

Let's talk about these sweet potato waffle fries for a minute. Sweet and crispy with the perfect amount of spice. I ate mine with ranch - a match made in heaven.

Overall, I really had a great experience at Famous Hamburger. I was impressed by the cleanliness and open layout of the restaurant, the great, friendly service, and the wonderful menu and great tasting dishes. Thank you, Aly, for organizing such a wonderful event! I'm looking forward to our next meet up.

Now, excuse me while I go and plan next trip to Famous. Writing this post really has me drooling. (Hope I can try the falafel burger this time!)

Creamy Mango Crepe Cake

An (early) Eid Mubarak to all of my lovely readers, new and old! If you've been following me for a few years, you may remember Eid Eats 2014 - a virtual Eid party hosted by My Ninja Naan, Flour & Spice, and Chocolate & Chillies. Well, Eid-ul-Fitr 2016 is almost here and it is once again time to join an awesome virtual Eid party full of delicious food items and eye-catching desserts. If you know me, I love to bring a dessert to any gathering. In fact, it is pretty much a tradition for me to bring a dessert every time I visit my in laws. So of course, it was a given that I would bring dessert to this party.

Today, I am sharing the recipe for this dreamy creamy mango crepe cake. Actually, there is a story behind this beautiful, 30 plus layer cake. It's mango season, and chances are, if you're Desi and celebrating Ramadan, you have a huge box full of mangoes sitting in your pantry. With only two adults in the house, and both of us fasting, that meant a surplus of mangoes leftover and not enough mouths to finish them. As the mangoes started to reach their peak ripeness, I really needed to figure out what to do with them, and making them into a dessert seemed like the best option.

Luckily, I was invited to an iftar a few days later so I had the opportunity to give a mango dessert a try and share it with some friends as well. The only problem was that this cake did not fold out exactly as I had planned. The creamy mango filling never set and it turned into a little bit of a lopsided cake when I added whole pieces of mango fruit in the center. The top half of the cake slid right off the bottom half! Nonetheless, the flavor of the crepes and mango cream really was a great combination. While the cake recipe needs to be tweaked a little, I would recommend the filling recipe to anyone. A huge thank you to all my family and friends who support my baking endeavors and are such good sports with my successes and not-so-successful desserts.

I also took a batch of my popular kulfi, on request, and coincidentally, that is the recipe I shared for Eid Eats 2014! Here it is if you would like to take a gander, here is the link: kulfi (Indian ice cream). Without further ado, we revisit this same dish 2 years later for a mango crepe cake.

Here is a crepe cake I have made in the past that turned out beautifully - complete with recipe and steps for assembly. :)

Enjoy and good luck in the kitchen!

Mango Crepes

Make a batch of my classic sweet crepe recipe here

Mango filling:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2 cups heavy cream, chilled

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 cup fresh mango puree (blended and strained flesh of 2 mangoes)

2 mangoes, diced

1/4 cup mango puree

To make the filling: mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure that everything is combined. Add in the heavy cream and whip on high speed until medium peaks form. Add in the mango puree and whip till stiff peaks form.

To serve, fill a crepe with a few tablespoons of mango filling and top with mango pieces. Drizzle mango puree on top of the crepe and serve.

Crescent and Star Shaped Rice Crispy Treats

Ramadan Kareem to all of my readers! We've almost reached the halfway mark of Ramadan, which always creates a bittersweet feeling for me. The end of Ramadan means no more huge amounts of reward for every little thing you do and no more bonding over iftar and suhoor. At the same time it means no more hunger pains in the middle of the day and no more crazy schedules. Even more, it means that my favorite holiday, Eid, is coming up. So it's a very sad feeling with a hint of excitement.

Mini Mushroom and Beef Sliders

The season of burgers, picnics, and outdoor activities is here! I'm joined once again by my mother to present to you the latest video on my channel - Mini Mushroom and Beef Sliders. This dish is simple but the flavors are perfect. The 2 to 1 ratio of beef to mushrooms makes this burger patty incredibly moist. Serve the patty up with your fave toppings and you'll have the perfect burger for this summer's festivities. Give it a try and I know you won't be disappointed. 
Mini Mushroom and Beef Sliders (makes 6-8 patties)
2 tbsp olive oil 8 oz mushrooms, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg white
burger toppings: (optional)  swiss cheese mini slider buns lettuce tomatoes pickles mayonnaise ketchup
Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pan. Then sauté garlic until aromatic. Saute the onions till they are soft and translucent. 
Add the mushrooms and sauté them on medium heat until they are wilted; then cook them on high heat just until the juices dry up. A pinch of salt at this stage will speed up the process.
In a large bowl, combine all of the burger patty ingredients with clean hands. Once the mixture has cooled down, form 6-8 patties. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. 
Cook them on a stove top pan on medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until browned. When there is only a minute left till they are completely done, add the cheese on top and cover the pan. 
Serve in mini slider buns with all your favorite toppings. Enjoy!

Ramadan and Apple Rose Pastries

It was almost a year ago when Lubna at Yummy Food asked me to write a guest blogpost for her special Ramadan series "Joy from Fasting and Feasting."

Ramadan is an auspicious month for Muslims all over the world. Muslims join together to fast and increase spirituality, love, camaraderie, and unity during this special month. From dawn, fasters abstain from eating or drinking till the cry of the athan (call to prayer) at dusk reaches their ears, either from a mosque or from our preset phone alarms. The meal that we eat when breaking our fast is called "iftar." Joy from Fasting and Feasting is a clever and well suited title to celebrate the special food traditions at iftar time of Muslims all over the world.

Farhana's Traditional Chicken Biryani

Every Desi household has their own biryani recipe, but for us cooking amateurs, having a tried and tested video recipe on hand is really useful. Thanks, Mom, for filming this video with me. That's 1000 phone calls you just saved yourself from every time I attempt to cook biryani!

Enjoy this video that we put together of a classic chicken biryani - flavorful, aromatic, and with just the right amount of spice. Good luck in the kitchen and we hope you can try it out.

High Protein Diet Meal Prep Week 2

One of the biggest lessons I've learned on the road to eating healthy is that preparation is key. If you're working early in the morning or late into the evening, you often don't have the energy to prepare meals when you get a breather. You'd rather relax and kick up your feet for a few moments. Even if you manage to cook once or twice a week, having fresh, homemade, healthy meals every day for every meal is pretty difficult for your average American. Even being a SAHM (stay at home mom), I find it difficult to prepare healthy meals for all three of my family members for every meal.

Photo Shoot with Wawa-Wee Syrups!

I recently heard of an amazing product - Wawa-Wee Organic Fruit Syrups - which contains no artificial additives or high fructose corn syrup. As a health conscious mom, I'm always on the lookout for healthy alternatives to most processed items found in the supermarket and this one takes the cake. When I read the founder, Nadia Khan's, story of how she started Wawa-Wee it seemed surprisingly similar to what I was going through (and I'm sure many other moms as well!). Just like her son, my son refused to drink regular cow's milk after he stopped nursing. Believe me when I say that I tried just about every trick on planet earth to get him to drink milk. And now, if I add a little bit of Wawa-Wee strawberry syrup into his milk, he might even finish half a glass!

Foodie Gift Guide - Homemade Caramel Corn

Welcome to a new series on my blog - the Foodie Gift Guide! The Foodie Gift Guide is where I will be sharing recipes and/or wrapping techniques for the most irresistible food gifts. I guarantee that the food lover in your life will be ecstatic upon receiving one of the treats from this series!

High Protein Diet Meal Prep Week 1

My husband recently started a new high protein diet regimen. At first, I was very dubious because all he spoke about was "protein" and lots of it. Having taken a basic nutrition class in college, I was concerned about the lack of the fruits and veggies - the most important part of any diet. But, he insisted I look it up so that I could be on board with his routine.

Cinnamon Roll Wreath

I don't think I've mentioned to you all before that I'm a cat person. But I am. 

From taking care of the stray kittens born in my backyard as a child, to adopting two sweet toms when I grew older, I was always surrounded by cats. But when I moved to the Midwest, I had to give up my pet cats. Ever since then, I'd been waiting for the right time to get another feline companion, but the time never came. So recently I tried fostering a cat. Fostering meant that we only keep the cat, Swish, for a short time while she became ready for adoption. Swish was so adorable and Baby was even cuter with her. He stalked the cat around the house all the time. Swish was so patient with him, she never ran away or tried to scratch him.

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Medical Theme!

Hello fellow bakers!

This is Mehwish, Wardah's sister. I'd like to share a recent successful baking experiment. Last week, I finally had an excuse to bake. I wanted to do something nice for the providers and staff at an ER where I was rotating for PA school. What better way to show appreciation than treats, am I right?

Cake Pop 101

I'm not sure why, but I've been on a baking spree for the past few weeks (although I can't say that anyone has been complaining, haha). I guess I decided that becoming the next Mrs. Van De Kamp and having homemade baked goods around the house 24/7 was a good idea. However, there was nothing like the growing tube around my belly to put a damper on my baking adventures.