Chocolate Dipped Dates

Sponge cake pieces or cookies or fruits like strawberries, apple or cherries dipped in chocolate sauce are not only tasty but a quick dessert to prepare. For a change, Dates can be used instead. In this recipe, seedless dates have been stuffed with pistachios and then dipped in cholate sauce. Other nuts can also be used instead of pistas. This is an easy to make and light dessert and is good for the kids.

Ingredients	Quantity
De-seeded Dates	12
Pistachios	¼ cup
icing Sugar	1 tsp
Chocolate Chips	½ cup
Butter	1 tbsp
Water	as required

Method

1. Boil the pistas in water for three minutes in a pan and remove the skin and keep them aside.


2. Dry the pistas in the folds of a kitchen towel and remove the skin. Grind the pistas coarsely with icing sugar and keep it aside.


3. Take one date at a time and make a slit in the center to place the stuffing.


4. Stuff the dates with half a teaspoon of the pista mixture.


5. Take a microwave bowl and add the chocolate chips and butter and melt in the microwave for about 30seconds. Stir in between. If a microwave is not available, can the chocolate chips can be put in a glass or metal bowl and placed over boiling water to melt the chocolate. See that no water gets into the chocolate.


6. Remove the chocolate from the heat and dip each stuffed date into this chocolate sauce till three fourths and place them in a plate till the chocolate cools and solidifies.


7. These dates can be served immediately or kept in the fridge and served later.

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Assortment of Cup Cakes

There are a number of recipes for making cup cakes/muffins. Some of them use butter,some oil and some are egg less too.Here the recipe which is given has eggs and is made with butter.When the basic cake batter is made, ou can make an assortment of cakes like fruit muffins,chocolate muffins or banana muffins.If it is your kid's birthday party,you can put the initials of each child you have invited on the cupcakes with icing or jelly and it becomes fun when they choose their muffins with their respective initials. This recipe makes about forty eight small cup cakes. Try it!

Ingredients	Quantity
Plain Flour	4 ½ cups
Sugar	3 cups
Butter	12 tbps
Eggs	8 medium
Baking Powder	2 tsps
Salt	a pinch
Vanilla Essence	1 tsp

Note: To make chocolate cake, use half a cup of semisweet chocochips melted with a little milk in the microwave and a teaspoon of instant coffee powder.Cocoa powder can also be used.
To make fruit cake you can use differnt coloured candied friuts chopped into small pieces.Tutti fruiti can be used
To make banana cake, use mashed ripe banana and mix it in the batter jut before baking.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to about 250 degrees Centigrade.Sieve the flour with baking powder and salt atleast three times.


2. Take butter in a large vessel and beat it with a hand grinder or a wooden spoon till it is light and stands in peaks.


3. Add the sugar which is powdered and mix it with the butter till it is light.


4. Add the eggs one by one to the butter sugar mixture and vanilla essence and mix them lightly.


5. Add the flour mixture and mix very lightly so that the batter is mixed well.


6. Divide this batter into three portions.


7. In the first portion, add the fruit pieces to make the fruit cup cakes.In the second portion add the choclate mixture to make chocolate cakes. To the third portion add the mashed banana and mix to make banana cupcakes.


8. Take a muffin tray, and place the paper cups and add the required batter and bake it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.Check it if it is done by placing a sharp knife or butter knife into the cake and when taken out it should come out clean.The top of the cup cakes will also become slightly brown in colour.


9. Serve them on a plate.These can be had with tea or coffee too.

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Chocolate Biscuits - Be Great Chefs series for kids

Ingredients	Quantity
Marie or Glucose Biscuits	1 packet
Condensed Milk	2 or 3 tbsps
Cocoa Powder	2 or 3 rbsps
Milk	1 tbsp or less

Method

1. Take out the biscuits from the packet and powder them either by rolling a rolling pin over them or by pounding them. Place them in a bowl.


2. Add cocoa powder, condensed milk and mix them well.


3. Make small balls and shape them as you like and place them in a plate.


4. The delicious chocolate biscuits are ready to eat.

More in Be Great Chefs series for kids - Complete List of Recipes

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Chocolate Strawberry with Ice Cream

This is an easy and quick dessert to make when strawberries are in season in India.Children will love it! Strawberries can be dipped in the chocolate sauce and placed on a butter paper and kept in the fridge till required.

Ingredients	Quantity
Strawberries	10 to 12
Semisweet Chocolate Chips	1 cup
Cream	3 tbsps
Vanilla or Strawberry Ice Cream	5 to 6 scoops
Grated Chocolate	for decoration

Method

1. Wash the strawberries and dry them between the folds of a kitchen towel.


2. To make the chocolate sauce,take a microwave proof bowl and add the chocolate chips and cream. Place the bowl in the microwave for twenty seconds or till the chocolate melts.The chocolate chips can also be melted by placing the bowl over hot water if a microwave is not available.


3. Dip each strawberry in this sauce and place them on a butterpaper or a plate and keep them in the fridge till required.


4. To serve, take a scoop of your favourite ice cream in a small shallow bowl and place two chocolate coated strawberries and decorate it with a sliced strawberry and grated chocolate.

A splash of tasty colour on Holi - Wishing you all a very Happy and Colourful Holi!

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