Coconut Cake Pic: Priya Q

I had dessicated coconut lying in freezer for sometime. Since non of us are too much in barfi kinda sweets; I didn’t know what to do with it till an idea flashed … we love cakes..so why not a coconut cake! and Voila was it delicious!? Nah, my 1 year old was not the only taster but many other friends who passed that verdict . Do try it!!

Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut – 1 and 1/2 cups
Unsalted Butter – 1 cup (softened)
All-Purpose Flour (Maida) - 2 cups
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp
Castor Sugar – 2 cups
Whole Milk – 1 cup
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Eggs – 3 nos

1. Preheat the oven to 185 degree C
2. Prepare the tin for baking (grease and flour method OR grease-butter paper-grease method). Keep aside
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt
4. Beat butter with mixer
5. Gradually beat in sugar on medium speed till creamy
6. Add vanilla essence to it, keep stirring
7. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time
8. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk in 3 batches over low speed
9. Raise the speed to medium and beat batter 1-1/2 minutes till soft
10. Now fold in coconut with a spatula
11. Tip in the mixture into the greased mould
12. Bake for about 40 minutes at the temp of 185 degree C and another 10 minutes at 200 degree C (till a toothpick comes out clean)
13. Cool cake on a rack
14. Dust it with dessicated coconut
15. Serve

*All ovens vary so use your judgment pertaining to temperature !

have fun cooking!

Carrot Cake Pic: Priya Q

Starting the first blog of 2012 on a sweet note… Oh well, I need not say anything about this cake except warn you – it is so damn yummy that you might finish it in one sitting especially if your friends and family is around.. Very simple and easy Carrot cake recipe just for you )

To get the best result, it is highly advisable to use baking measurements – cups, spoons, scale etc

Refined Flour (Maida) – 2 cups
Castor Sugar – 2 cups
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Cinnamon powder – 1 tbsp
Grated carrots – 3 cups
Eggs – 4 nos
Oil – 1 cup

1. Prepare the tin for baking (grease and flour method OR grease-butter paper-grease method). Keep aside
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Add carrots and oil and mix well with hands or a spatula
4. Add eggs and blend it using an electric mixer. Start at a low speed and when blended, turn to high speed for about 2 minutes
5. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C for 10 minutes
6. Tip in the cake dough into the prepared tin
7. Bake it for about 1 hour at 180 degree C
8. Remove on a wire rack and let it cool
9. Once cool, dust with icing sugar
10. Serve

*I use the grease-butter paper-grease method for cake tin
** If after 45 minutes you feel the cake is way away from done. Then increase the temperature to 200 degree C for the last 15 minutes. All ovens vary so use your judgment

*** add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of chopped walnuts and you have Walnut Carrot Cake

wishing you all  a sweet and delicious New year! Binge on!

Priya

Chocolate Banana Cake Pic: Priya Q

This one is for my friends Akhila and Adheeth….Akhila finally I get to posting the recipe! Adheeth…its quite a simple cake recipe you can use! I will be posting more in the time to come

Ripe Bananas – 3 nos

Castor Sugar – 3/4 cup

Refined Flour (Maida) – 185 gms

Baking Soda – 3/4 tsp

Baking Powder – 3/4 tsp

Eggs – 2 nos

Olive Oil – 3 Tbsp

Milk – 1/4 cup (roughly 60 ml)

Dark Chocolate – 100 gms

1. Lightly beat eggs and keep aside
2. Grate Chocolate and set aside in the fridge
3. Prepare the baking dish – Grease, line butter paper and re-grease
4. Sift the flour with baking soda and baking powder once
5. Mash bananas nicely and combine with sugar
6. To the sifter flour add eggs, olive oil and milk and gently mic with a wooden spatula/spoon
7. Preheat the oven at 180 degree C
8. Fold in the grated chocolate
9. Pour into the baking dish
10. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean
11. Cool the cake on a rack before slicing
12. Serve warm or cold

* I had punctured few holes in the prepared cake while cooling it off and poured some chocolate sauce over it to get a marbled effect

** you can add walnuts to it after adding chocolate for a walnut chocolate banana cake!

*** I have used both baking powder and soda since chocolate is being used for this cake recipe

Till next time….happy cooking!

Orange Peach Pudding

Orange Peach Pudding

What best to have on a rainy Sunday lazy afternoon post a heavy biriyani lunch with friends? Am a very much chocolate person; can’t think of a dessert with no chocolate in it, but Orange Peach Pudding is kinda nice change and my friends simply loved it…so here goes!

Eggs – 2 nos

Condensed Milk – 1 Tin

Fresh cream – 200 ml

Sugar – 3 Tbsp + 1Tsp

Gelatin – 1 and 1/2 Tbsp

Water – 1/4 cup + 1 Tsp

Peach conserve – 1/2 cup / Tinned peaches that needs to be chopped and stewed (peach conserve is readily available in the market)

Orange concentrate (squash / Tang) – 1 Tbsp

Tea cake / Sponge cake

Rum – 1/4 cup + 1.5 Tbsp (optional though it enhances the taste)

1. Separate the eggs
2. Add gelatin to 1/4 cup of water, mix and keep aside
3. Combine peach conserve and orange concentrate and set aside
4. Put in a sprayer 1tsp sugar, water and rum and mix well
5. Line the serving dish with cake slices up to 1 inch. Spray it generously with rum mixture
6. To the yolk add condensed milk and whisk well
7. Now add fresh cream and sugar. Whisk and cook on low flame till it forms a thick custard. Keep whisking while cooking to form a smooth custard
8. To the custard add the prepared gelatin mix. Whisk well and keep aside the custard to cool off completely
9. When the custard is cool add the peach mixture and 1 and 1/2 Tbsp rum. Whisk well. Take care that the custard should be cool
10. Beat the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks  and add it to the main mixture. Whisk well
11. Add the custard to the prepared serving dish (with cake) and leave it to set in a refrigerator. I generally put it in the freezer for about 1/2 hour before I do the icing
12. Mix whipped topping with a bit of orange color and decorate your pudding with the design of your choice. I used a piping bag to make feather icing.
13. Serve & enjoy

 Till next time…happy cooking!

Black Forest Cake Pic Credit: Priya Q

I made this cake for my husband’s birthday an year back and everybody had good good things to say

Chocolate sponge cake
Tinned canned cherries and syrup – ½ portion
Fresh whipped cream – 1 cup
Powdered sugar – 3 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp
Grated dark or plain chocolate

1. Beat the cream over a tray of ice cubes with a hand beater. Do not over beat. It should form soft peaks. Fold in the sugar and vanilla essence. Mix gently.
2. Put some icing in a icing cone leave the rest in the bowl. Refrigerate both
3. Slice the cake into two halves.
4. Fill cherry syrup in a sprayer and spray evenly on each half. Allow to soak for 10 minutes
5. Spread the cream icing on lower half and cover it nicely
6. Place the cherries on the cream and place the other half of the cake on top
7. Decorate your cake using icing cone
8. Decorate with cherries
9. Sprinkle chocolate flakes all over the cake

Sponge Cake used for Black Forest Pic credit: Priya Q

This is fatless version that can be used as a base for many cakes like black forest, white forest, logs, swiss rolls etc

Eggs – 4 nos
Refined flour (maida) – 85 gms
Baking powder – 1 and ½ tsp
Cornflour – 1 tbsp
Sugar powder – 160 gms
Vanilla essence – 1 and ½ tsp
Brandy – 1 tbsp

1. Sieve together – refined flour, baking powder and corn flour
2. Separate egg whites and yolks
3. Beat egg whites till stiff and dry (it should form firm peaks)
4. To the yolk add sugar powder, brandy and vanilla essence and 1 tsp of water. Beat till you get an off white mixture
5. To the yolk mixture add 1 tbsp each of egg white mixture and refined flour mixture and slowly and gently mix in cut and fold method. Keep repeating till everything has been incorporated
6. Pour this into a greased tray (greased, lined with butter paper and re greased)
7. Spread the mixture evenly
8. Bake it immediately in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 20 minutes*

*time varies from oven to oven. So check with a toothpick in about 15 minutes. If it comes out clean then your cake is done
* for a chocolate sponge cake add 20 gms of cocoa, ¾ tsp baking soda and ¾ tsp of baking powder to 65 gms maida

Apple and Oatmeal Muffins Pic credit - Priya Q

Tried this out yesterday after watching it made on one of the cookery show on TV albeit I made few changes of my own…. in the original recipe salt was added; however I though it wasn’t required since I was using salted butter. Also I added vanilla coz me thinks where there is egg add few drops of vanilla. I intentionally left out cinnamon powder since my husband kinda doesnt like it…hmmm whatelse did I change! Oh yeh I added ingredients going by my instinct not quite following the order that was suggested…. but the result was still good

All purpose flour (maida) – 160 gms
Butter  -125 gm
Sugar – 150 gms
Apples – 100 gms (peeled and diced)
Oatmeal – 40 gms
Eggs – 2 nos
Vanilla essence – 2-3 drops
Baking powder – 2 tsp

1. Dry toast on a pan oatmeal and keep aside
2. Sauté chopped apples in butter and keep it aside
3. Cream the butter and sugar using an electric beater
4. Add eggs and beat it again
5. Fold in the flour, baking powder, toasted oatmeal and blend
6. In the end add the apples and gently fold using a spatula
7. Line the muffin tray with muffin paper
8. Fill in muffin moulds with the batter
9. Bake at 170 C for about 30-35 minutes

*add cinnamon powder for enhanced flavor
* after baking I put my oven on broiler mode for about 10 minutes which gave me a nice crunchy crust

Easy Chocolate Cake Pic credit: Chitra Gupta

Thanks Chitra for the easy chocolate cake recipe

All purpose flour (Maida) – 1 cup (heaped)
Sugar – 3/4th cup
Refined Sunflower oil – 3/4th cup
Baking powder – ¾ tsp
Cocoa Powder – 1/4th cup
Vanilla essence- ½ tsp
Eggs – 4 nos

For Icing:  Chitra used the ready-made Pillsbury chocolate icing on this cake. To make your own home made icing you can use the following. Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, add fresh cream to it. Initially it will become a bit hard, but keep adding the cream and stir well, till pouring consistency is reached.

1. Whip the eggs and sugar together in a blender, till the sugar dissolves completely, and the consistency is slightly creamy
2. Then add the vanilla essence and refined oil to the egg sugar mixture, whip again thoroughly
3. In the meantime, sieve together the maida, cocoa powder, and baking powder
4. Grease a baking dish and lightly dust with maida
5. Gently add the whipped mixture to the flour mixture, stirring continuously, beating the mixture till air bubbles are visible on the top.
6. Gently pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake in pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.
7. Check with a knife to see if done, cool.
8. Cut the cake into two equal halves, (use a thread to get a clean cut)
9. Slather the icing onto both the halves, join them again
10. Cover the cake with the icing, place in the fridge to cool and the icing to set
11. Later you can dust the cake with icing sugar, using a sieve, (can use any stencil too, to create patterns)

*for a healthier version, replace all purpose flour with wheat flour. The cake will be browner but tastes equally good.

Chitra Gupta is a homemaker and a mother of two lovely kids. She believes in making food interesting and enticing through lots of experimenting. She ensures her family has healthy food through the week. However, some days she believes in some sinful indulgence too!

photo credit: little blue hen

As single even if you have a functional house;  one thing that is a must for you is a microwave and if it is with convection mode, even better! Check out these quick and tasty macaroons

Cardamom seeds (powdered) – 1/2 tsp

Almond Powder – 200gms

Castor Sugar – 200 gms

Egg whites – 2 nos

Rose Water

1. Beat Egg whites until stiff
2. Add rest of the ingredients slowly and keep beating till you get to a sticky mixture ball
3. Dab your hands with few drops of rose water and make small balls
4. Flatten them slightly with your palm and place it on a baking tray
5. Gently press in an almond in each of the macaroon
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degree C for 10-15 minutes
7. Cool it before storing or serving

Until next time…. happy cooking!

photo credit: avlxyz

Drive your Monday blues off with this unbelievably easy to make and yummy to taste Coconut pudding! Thanks Anna for the recipe!

Coconut -1 no
Milk-1litre
Gelatin -3tbsp (add to it 6 tbsp water)
Sugar 1 1/2 cup

1. Boil milk cool it
2. Extract coconut milk using the milk. (Don’t add water)
3. Add sugar
4. Dissolve gelatin (on double boiler)
5. Add to the coconut milk
6. Pour it into a wet pudding dish
7. Refrigerate

Anna an architect by profession is a beautiful mother of two equally beautiful kids. Besides cooking she works her magic into making stunning paintings!