Valentine Treats!

A lot is said about Valentine's day. It means different things to different people, all related in some shape or form to love and caring. Yes, you do not need a day set out to celebrate love but it couldn't hurt to take one day of your lives in a year to make an extra effort to express how you feel, go out of your way to show how much you care. When it comes to love and caring, it is always about the two most favorite people in my life, my little princess and hubs. One of the little ways in which I express myself is cooking something for them, and that 'something' almost always involves chocolate. Here I have put together a list of few of my favorites from some of my recent work - and you will notice most of them involve chocolate! Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
Click on the links below to go to the recipe.

Molten Dark chocolate cake
Nutella filled baked donuts
Best chocolate cake ever
Pink lemonade bars
Rose srikhand
Homemade Ferroro Rocher
Cherry peach cobbler
Choco hotpots


For more treats look here.

Nutella Latte

Featured on : The Kitchn

This is so completely absolutely delicious. Nutella just makes anything and everything taste better. Go make up a cup and see for yourselves. Make a cup either to wake you right up in the morning and get you ready for the day or a quick hot cup in the evening to take the weariness of the day away. Mocha and hazelnut - a match made in culinary heaven. This version uses instant coffee but if you wouldn't have it without fresh brewed espresso, feel free.The smell of hot coffee seems perfect in this season but if you are the type that always prefers the frappe kind, I do have a similar cold coffee recipe here.
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15 Minute Donuts!

What's not to like about fried dough. These are delicious little treats, soft spongy fried dough balls ready in under 15 minutes to feed your sweet tooth instantly when you so desire. Hot out of the fryer, as you hold one between your fingers, you feel the crispy outer shell but you can almost feel the soft spongy insides ready to be devoured. You blow on them a little (yes its okay to blow on your food in private) till they cool down just enough and then chomp away (yes you can close your eyes too).
Isn't it a delightfully scary thought that now there's nothing standing between you and a bowl of hot fresh donuts?!

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Nutella Brownie Cheesecake Bites!

Now this recipe earned me some serious bragging rights. The best comment I got was from hubs when he tried it and after pillaging through five or six of them said "they are so good they ought to have a name by themselves" and "a perfect fusion of the Indian mithai and the brownie". I didn't care much for the names he went on to suggest (shhh..) but I was definitely flattered.
I tried them after and these little bites definitely have something to be said about them. While the first bite starts to tell your taste buds that you just bit into a moist and chocolaty brownie, the smooth texture of the cream cheese swirls quickly convinces them into believing it is indeed no ordinary brownie but a whole other dish unto itself.
If all the above makes you think this will be one tricky recipe, you are in for a surprise. This recipe is really easy to put together and a very forgiving one at that. And yes any baking with chocolate does deserve a dash of Nutella, goes without saying.

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No Bake Nutella Cheesecake!

  Yup! back with yet another Nutella recipe. US Masala and Nutella have gone to such lengths that even Google recognizes my love for the decacent chocolate spread by giving me my own type-ahead - you see Nutella as an option as you start typing "US Masala" in the search box. If you are looking for a dessert that is decadent, looks like a million bucks and is rather quick to put together, this one is surely for you. It will get you rave reviews from anyone you serve it to and impressive as if you spend all day in the kitchen making it.
I have made a few fundamental changes to the recipe this is inspired from. Things like using regular soft fudge cookies instead of the recommended Oreo cookies (believe it or not, no one in my household cares much for Oreo, not even the kid), bumped up the Nutella (*smirk*) than was suggested and cut down on the whipped topping quite a bit and oh yes before I forget, completely skipped the butter. 
As you push your spoon through the garnish and then the top layer, you feel the thick lusciousness of the creamy layer underneath which all the more urges you to pick up the spoon and satisfy your senses. Make sure you find a lone corner so you don't have to share. lol.

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Dark Chocolate Caramel Nutella Twix Bar

realize the nutella freak in me has been going crazy with these nutella based desserts/recipes lately and believe me I was totally and deliberately trying not to post anything remotely related to the yummy goodness. Then I saw this saw this recipe and I knew I had to give in. For the longest time I thought those chocolate bars were only possible by specialized machines in the factories and needed time and work to make but was pleasantly surprised with this recipe. It is so easy and equally delectable. The same great chocolate bar taste with the added touch of nutella and sea salt to give it a gourmet feel is now all homemade. This one's a winner!

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Nutella filled baked donut Muffins

Featured on: The Kitchn, Huffington Post, Parenting.com, DDG Daily

ow many times have you picked up a donut and set it down? Did I touch a nerve there? If I did, then read-on. I don't claim these to be the healthiest things around but they are perfect when you have a serious craving for those fried beauties. You get the same donut taste without all the frying. Being smaller they also give you portion control, be cautioned though that you will be tempted to pick up a few. These are delicious little treats, baked scrummy soft fluffy doughnut muffins coated with cinnamon sugar and filled with Nutella, how can you argue with that! Hot out of the oven, you blow on them till they cool down just enough and then chomp away... yes you can close your eyes too when you eat, it adds to the pleasure. We shamelessly finished the batch and don't even have any regrets.

They are very quick and ridiculously easy to put together. They also make for a great breakfast muffin and your kids will just love them.

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4 Ingredient Nutella Brownie

rownies are not disliked by very many. People may pass on a cookie when offered one but you will definitely see them stop and give it a thought if you offered them a brownie. They may not take it sometimes for whatever their reason but I can promise you they definitely wanted to. So how do you one-up a brownie - simple - add Nutella to it. As soon as I saw this recipe there was no stopping me, especially unless you noticed already, it is really simple and straight-forward - heck even the title said there were only four ingredients. The proof was in the pudding as they say. Took me literally two minutes to mix it up and another ten to bake it - ready in under fifteen. And perfect they were - teeny bite-sized brownie with the classic crust and the ever familiar gooey chewy texture. For kicks I used my little tart pans but of course you can use your regular muffin tray.

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Spiced-up Nutella Hot Chocolate

inter is around the corner. Yay! It is getting cooler by the day. Well its sixty degrees so some of you might not think it to be much of 'winter' but that is how us south Floridians see onset of winter. lol and I totally love it. Talking about what else I love - Fridays - the best day of the week, well who doesn't huh. Waiting for five long days and nights for Friday evening is not easy. I get to go out and have lots of fun. Be it movies, catching up with friends, eating out, shopping etc. Can watch TV late into the night no school, no office, can sleep in till late the following morning and have two full more days to relax. lol.

The only other thing that can top a cool cozy winter friday evening is curling up on the couch with my two sweethearts (daughter and  hubs) with a hot cups of cocoa (you knew chocolate was coming, didn't you)... aaah... Sipping this blissful heavenly hot cocoa and watching an old Hindi movie with cheesy dialogues but soulful songs.
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Nutella Cold Coffee

old coffee is a popular drink. I knew that. But only when I published this Cold Coffee drink riding on Nutella (think: cold coffee on steroids) way back in July of 2010, I realized just how powerful a simple drink can be. The instant response and acceptance it received then and has received ever since is just overwhelming and even more humbling. So much so that ever since I posted this original recipe, I have seen it copied over several times by different folks on their websites, some have been nice enough to extend courtesy, some haven't. So feel free to reproduce and publish the recipe, just do remember to keep the spirit of sharing by linking back to the original post.
I just had to do it again. So dear friends here it is again - the USMasala ever popular Nutella Cold Coffee, repackaged for your viewing and drinking pleasure.
I have not changed the original post from July, 2010 which went as below -
One sunday evening after a heavy brunch and a relaxing nap me and hubby both were craving for some cold coffee (I wanted it with chocolate:) ) and didn't want to drive to starbucks.. so I raided my pantry and refrigerator and came up with this recipe with whatever I could lay my hands on and he went WOW! Now it is regular in our household, also have wowed guests by serving this who always ask for the recipe and don't believe how simple it is to make. Perfect for summer evenings and even as a dessert drink after dinner.Both of us like our coffee with chocolate so I used some Nutella (I did not have any chocolate ice-cream). The chocolate hazelnut flavor of Nutella mixed with coffee is just wonderful and refreshing. You will not believe drinking something so elegant and decadent was made in a matter of minutes.

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US Masala turns One! Celebrating with Nutella Donuts and a Giveaway

inally the day is here. US Masala is One today. Since the day I started my blog an year ago I have wondered if I would be able to nurture it so it stands the test of time. One year is not too long but it sure does give me immense confidence to go on.
I like to think of my work as a child that I have seen be born, grow up and mature - through different templates, colors, picture sizes, fonts, gadgets - all within the past three hundred and sixty five days. Besides the obvious benefit of keeping me busy, giving me a chance to experiment and learn new recipes, US Masala has given me the unmistakable opportunity of knowing a large number of wonderful people throughout the world - yes all of you my readers. I am totally and completely amazed at the response US Masala gets from its readers. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy with all your encouragement, so a big Thank You to you all. My stats tell me how immensely loved my site is. It is very humbling and makes me more passionate about what I love doing.
It would not be unreasonable to say that food blogging has changed my life in ways I never imagined. It has taught me is to follow my passion and to admire and enjoy the simple things in life - a food-photo that comes out well, an experiment that succeeds, a thoughtful comment left on a post. The creativity, thinking, writing, history, everything. To all my readers - Thank you for being a part of my life and letting me and US Masala be a tiny part of yours. Love you all!

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Crêpe with Strawberry compote and Pistachios

hen hubby introduced me to crêpes a couple of years ago, he called them the 'American Dosa'! These were the times when it had only been a short few weeks after I had arrived to the US after getting married and hubby was getting me acquainted with the local cuisine. There was this crêpe place near work that made the most amazing savory mushroom crêpes, he claimed. I totally loved them too. The sauteed mushrooms in a thick creamy gravy wrapped in a crispy yet soft crêpe. We went there several times. This was what seems like an age ago. Since then the place closed down and the exotic taste of the mushroom crêpe became a distant memory. Until one evening recently we drove down to a mall that is kinda far but we've always wanted to go there. We spotted a crêpe store in one of those food courts. This rekindled the memories of all the sweet and savory goodness of this great French dish.  We enjoyed all different kinds and now that I was a food blogger, I decided to make it for myself :)

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Chocolate cupcakes with nutella frosting ( wholewheat and eggless)

omorrow, February the 5th is named as the 'World Nutella Day'. Needless to say I felt the urge to make something to pay my tribute to this fabulous on-of-a-kind spread. Since I discovered Nutella some time back, I have been totally hooked. For a while I thought I was one of very few who was totally crazy about it. Little did I know that practically anyone that likes chocolate and has had a taste of Nutella is a fan. This became more obvious from all the feedback I got from my Nutella based recipes. Here's another one in the line. Also, as a tribute here's links to some of my other Nutella based recipes.
Nutella brownies, Nutella cold coffee, Mini chocolate bundt cake with nutella ganache, Dark chocolate nutella Truffles, Molten Chocolate Nutella Cake :)

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Mini Chocolate Mocha Bundt Cake wiith Nutella Ganache

I love mini version of things and find them utterly cute. When I saw these little bundt cake pans the other day in the store I knew I will love baking cute little bundts in these. Cakes in miniature form can make a person feel special. It's like you're getting a whole cake to yourself :) These chocolate filled beauties are a simple but indulgent treat. The combination of the moist decadent chocolate coffee cake with a to-die-for dark nutella chocolate ganache topping is a delight. By the way did I mention they are ridiculously easy to make.

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Molten chocolate nutella cake

am a self proclaimed chocoholic...loooooooooooove chocolates in any form. My most fav is chocolate molten cake..Ahhhhhh!! Molten chocolate cake I think is every chocolate lover's delight, the warm ooey-gooey chocolaty goodness is just irresistible.. and when combined with nutella and coffee it goes to the level where it turns soooooooooo decadent and sinful that no words can express :-) My love for nutella is the inspiration behind this creation... hope you like it.

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Nutella Cold Coffee

One sunday evening after a heavy brunch and a relaxing nap me and hubby both were craving for some cold coffee (I wanted it with chocolate:) ) and didn't want to drive to starbucks.. so I raided my pantry and refrigerator and came up with this recipe with whatever I could lay my hands on and he went WOW! Now it is regular in our household, also have wowed guests by serving this who always ask for the recipe and don't believe how simple it is to make. Perfect for summer evenings and even as a dessert drink after dinner.Both of us like our coffee with chocolate so I used some Nutella (I did not have any chocolate ice-cream). The chocolate hazelnut flavor of Nutella mixed with coffee is just wonderful and refreshing. You will not believe drinking something so elegant and decadent was made in a matter of minutes.

Read more »