Orange Cake

Sunshine on my window and winter is ready to bid adieu from Kolkata.

Before the winters are gone wanted to bake some cakes with oranges. Oranges are an universal fave during winters. Throughout the winters, me and daughter have been snacking on oranges. I don't like orange juice. I love to take the small bite size pieces in my mouth. The sweet natural juice that oozes out from each piece is pure heaven.

This winter we made and orange chocolate cake and today I baked a simple orange loaf cake.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

All purpose flour: 1 and a half cups

Sugar: 1 cup

White oil: 1/4th cup

Vanilla essence: 1/2 tsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/2 tsp

Eggs: 2

Oranges: 2 big ones

Chilled milk: 1 cup

Process:

1. First peel the oranges and take the pieces out. Discard the seeds and the white fibres.

2. Just squeeze the pieces with your hands to make a pulp. Mixer not required. Gather all the ingredients.

3. Mix the orange pulp, sugar and eggs. Mix well. Now add the milk, vanilla essence and oil.

4. In a bowl add the flour and baking soda + baking powder. In case you want to make a chocolate orange cake, add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

5. Add the flour to the wet mixture in batches. Mix well to make a lump-free batter.

6. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.

7. Grease a baking pan. Pour the batter in the pan.

8. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees C.

9. Take out of oven. Cool till cake is warm to touch.

10. Slice the cake and enjoy.

The No-Fail Raisin Cake Recipe

This week I am posting a no-fail raisin cake recipe that I have made several times over. This recipe is extremely forgiving...you just cant go wrong with it. Just follow the measures as given in the recipe and you will get a yummy, moist cake that your family will love.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 1/2 cup

All purpose flour: 1 cup

Sugar: 1 cup

Eggs: 2

Vanilla essence: 1 teaspoon

Baking powder: 1 teaspoon

Baking soda: 1/2 teaspoon

Cocoa powder: 3 tablespoon

White oil: 1/2 cup

Milk: 1/4th cup

Raisins (chopped): 1/4th cup

Process:

1. Beat the eggs well. Add sugar and mix well. Now add oil, milk, and vanilla essence.
2. In a deep-bottom bowl, add the whole wheat flour, APF, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Now add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in two batches. Mix well till you get a thick, lump-free batter.
4. Fold in the chopped raisins.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes. Pour the batter in a greased cake pan. Make sure that batter fills up only half the baking pan.
6. Tie a wet towel strip around the pan to prevent cracking of the top surface of the cake.
7. Sprinkle a few chopped raisins on the top surface of the cake.
8. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes.
9. Remove the cake from the oven. Set aside to cool.
10. After ten minutes, de-mold the cake. Slice the cake and serve with love.
    

Coconut Cake: Comfort Food on a Cold Wintry Night

(Adapted from 1234 Coconut Cake: Simple Indian Recipes)

Lots going on at my end...so I have been missing in action all this while. Fist my Dad was hospitalized on the 31st of Dec. Next my little one fell ill. To top it all, I had crazy work pressure at the office.

Today life seemed a little bit normal than ever so decided to get back to my first love...baking. Baked this real easy-peasy and wonderful coconut cake. The hubby man had got some packaged grated coconut from the market so decided to bake this one.

Here is the original recipe. You can find it here.

This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour(Maida) - 2.5 cups of maida and 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
Butter - 1 cup (at room temperature)
Sugar - 2 cups
Eggs - 4 (yellow and whites seperated)
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Milk/Coconut Milk - 1 cup 

Process:

1 Beat the butter till it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix well.

2. Now beat the egg white till stiff peaks form. Add to the butter mixture.

3. Now add the egg yolks, milk, and vanilla extract.

4. In a separate vessel, add the APF, salt and baking soda. Mix well and slowly add to the wet mixture.

5. Once the mixture is uniformly mixed, grease a baking pan and pour the batter till the pan is half-filled.

6. Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees C. Place the cake pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.

7. Take the cake out of the oven, prick with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is made.

8. Garnish with some castor sugar and shredded coconut on top.

9. Enjoy with a hot cuppa!

Christmas Fruitcake

(Adapted from Light Fruitcake: Joy of Baking)

Christmas day also happens to be my father-in-law's birthday. This year he stepped into his 80th year.

An ex-Army man, he has a never-say-die spirit. After surviving a paralyzing stroke 10 years back, he has been confined mostly to his room. But on his birthday every year, it is his demand that his children should be there with him on his special day and his birthday cake should be baked by me. One year, we got cake from outside and he was really sulking all day!!! So, however busy or tired I am, I always forward to baking for this lion-heart man who does not let illness or old-age dampen his birthday spirits.

This year I had planned to make the authentic Christmas Fruitcake for him. This cake is full of candied fruits and nuts. It is really a spicy cake because you will get the whiff of cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Here are the lovely cakes.

This recipe also calls for use of almond powder, meaning the dry powder of almonds. Since, almond powder is not available near my place, I chopped dry almonds and ground it dry in my food processor. This cake takes some preparation time, so plan well ahead.

I got this wonderful recipe from the Joy of Baking website. You can find the original recipe here.

I tweaked it a little bit to suit my requirements. So, here we go...

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (120 grams) candied mixed peel (I used a mix of tutti fruiti and chopped cashew nuts)

1/2 cup (100 grams) candied red or green cherries (cut into quarters)

1/3 cup (40 grams) dark raisins

1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla essence

1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract ( I skipped this ingredient!)

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (50 grams) ground almonds (almond meal/flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoons salt

Zest of one small lemon (outer skin)

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk (whole or reduced fat)

Process:

1. The first step is to chop the almonds and the cashew nuts if you use it.

2. Next, dry grind the chopped almonds in a coffee grinder/mixer. While grinding the almonds, I also added half a teaspoon each of cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves for a wonderful spicy aroma.

3. Take two tablespoons of sugar in a pan. Add one teaspoon of butter and heat the pan. Once the sugar starts browning, add 1/4 cup water and 1/3rd cup tutti-fruit (and cashew nuts). Once the syrup becomes thick and coats the fruit pieces, take off the flame and keep aside to cool.

4. Next, take the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a deep bottom dish. Add all the remaining fruits and nuts to this dry mixture and mix well. All fruit pieces should be coated with the flour.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar till creamy. Add eggs one by one and beat well. Now add half the dry mixture with milk and mix.

6. Add the remaining flour and mix the batter. Add the candied fruits with the sugar syrup and vanilla essence.
7. Mix the batter well. Don't worry if the batter is thick. If batter is too thick and you cannot move your spatula in it, add two tablespoons of milk.

8. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C for 10 minutes. Grease a baking tin of your choice and line with butter paper. This aids the de-molding of the cake. If you dont have butter papaer, simply grease the tin.

9. Pour the batter in the tin and place in the middle rack of the oven. If you are making one big loaf cake with this batter, you need to bake at 180 degree C for 60 minutes. I baked two small cakes that were done in 45 minutes.

10. If the top crust is browning fast, cover with foil.

11. After the cake is baked, remove from oven. A toothpick inserted in the cake should come out clean. Cool on a wire rack till you can touch the cake.

12. De-mold and cut the cake. You can eat this cake on the same day. This cake stores very well for a week and you can freeze it for a month.

Enjoyyyy!

I am sending this recipe for the ongoing event on Kolkata food Bloggers, "Christmas Recipes".

A Road Trip and Lemon Flavoured Pound Cake

(Adapted from Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake: Recipe Junction)

This weekend we went for a road trip to my cousin's wedding in a nearby town. It's really been ages since we went on a road trip. Hubby generally stocks up on lots of fruit, biscuits, and juice when we take up a trip. But this time, he requested me for a cake. As if I need an excuse to bake something!!!

I baked a light and airy Lemon flavoured Pound Cake from my blogger friend Indrani's blog. Indrani is one person who I esteem not only as a talented food blogger but also as a wonderful human being. A loving wife and doting mom to her three fabulous children, she is a bundle of positive energy and good cheer. Once when she wanted to bake bread, she no qualms about picking up the phone and asking me for tips...though we have never met in person. That's Indrani...direct, straight-forward, and down-to-earth. This time too, when I was having jitters about which recipe to pick, she asked to make whichever my children would like. I feel very close to her. Be sure to visit her blog for a wide variety of recipes.

You can view Indrani's recipe here.

The Pound Cake is basically an English/British recipe where a "pound" (nearly 250 grams) of each ingredients is required. So that would be a pound of eggs, a pound of flour, and a pound of butter. However, you can go by the measures given in this recipe. You will get a golden-brown beauty of a cake.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

APF(all-purpose flour) : 3 and 1/2 cups

Butter : 1 and 1/2 cups (softened, in room temperature)

White sugar : 2 and 1/2 cups(powdered)

Eggs : 4

Salt : 1/2 tsp.

Baking Soda : 1/2 tsp.

Buttermilk : 1 cup (mix 1/3 cup curd with 2/3 cup water)

Lemon Juice : 1 tblsp.

Lemon zest : 1 tblsp.

Process:

1. First, beat the butter and sugar till the mixture is soft and fluffy. You can use a electric mixer to do this. I did it using my hands.

2.Next, add the eggs one by one. You should add one egg, beat some more and then add the next egg.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Now add half of this dry mixture to the butter-sugar mix. Add half cup of buttermilk.

4. Now add the rest of the flour and half cup of buttermilk. Mix this till the mixture is even and there are no lumps. If the batter appears thicker than a normal cake batter, dont worry. Pound cake batter is thick!!

5. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. I also added half teaspoon of lemon extract (optional).

6. Pour this batter into a cake tin of your choice. Make sure you grease the cake tin. I used a aluminum loaf tin that I lined with butter paper and greased with oil,

7. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees C for ten minutes. Now bake this cake for 50 minutes at this temperature.

8. Take the cake out of the oven. Let it cool to ten minutes.

9. Slice and enjoy with a hot cup of tea.

I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event on KFB "Know Your Blogger: Week 4".

Tutti Fruti Cake - A Melt in the Mouth Wonder!

The Durga Puja is over. The days are hot and humid but at night there is a nip in the air. The festive air is still very much on with the countdown for Diwali and Bhai Phonta/ Bhai Dooj. In Kolkata, and for all Bengalis everywhere, Diwali is synonymous with Kali Puja. On this auspicious day, we worship Goddess Kali and festivities abound.

I am already excited about the onset of winter and winter of course means lots of baked goodies. This weekend, I baked a tutti fruiti vanilla cake. I had some tutti fruiti in the fridge that was begging to be used. So...voila!

This is a super simple recipe. Here it is:

Ingredients:

APF/ Maida: 1 and a half cups

Sugar: 1 cup

Eggs: 2

Milk/water: 1 cup

Oil/butter: 1/4th cup

Baking powder: 1 and a half teaspoon (level)

Salt: a pinch

Vanilla essence: 1 teaspoon

Tutti fruiti: a handful (for decoration)

Process:

1. This is a basic cake so all you need to do is to mix all the ingredients together. However, keep in mind the measures of all the ingredients are same as given. If you alter the measures, the cake may not turn out as expected.

2. First separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the whites till foamy and then add sugar. Gently mix the sugar in the egg whites. Now add the egg yolks and milk and beat well.

3. Sift the maida with baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture gradually to the wet mixture and mix gently.

4. Do not mix vigorously or over-beat if using a hand/stand mixer. I prefer to mix lightly by hand till the mixture is lump free. Add vanilla essence. The cake batter will be thick but flowy. You should be able to say "1-2-3" before the batter drops completely from the spoon. If the batter appears too thick and not flowy add 2 tablespoons of milk or water to get the consistency right.

5. You can add the tutti fruiti in the cake batter. However, I do not add in the batter because the tutti fruit tends to sediment at the bottom of the cake.

If baking in the oven (OTG);

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes. Place a steel bowl of water in the oven while pre-heating.

2. Pour the cake batter in a greased cake pan. I used a square brownie pan that is 8 inches in diameter.

3. Wrap a piece of wet towel strip around the cake pan and secure with a safety pin or Velcro fastener. This step is optional and I use this technique to prevent crack formation on the surface of the cake.

4. Bake at 180 degrees C for 40-45 minutes. After the cake is baked use a toothpick to prick the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is baked well. If not, bake for ten more minutes.

5. I generally do not grill the top surface of this cake because I want a soft crust.

If baking in the microwave:

1. Pour the batter in a microwave-safe mould or pan.

2. Place inside the microwave and bake for 5-6 minutes on 100% (HIGH) power.

3. Allow 5 minutes standing time before removing the cake from the oven.

Now your cake is ready. Let it cool down till it warm to touch. De-mold the cake. Decorate the surface with tutti-fruiti or with chopped nuts and raisins.

Enjoy the warm cake with your family and friends. I am sending this cake for the ongoing event on Kolkata Food Bloggers, "Deepavali, Festival of Lights with Sweets and Savouries".

Have a beautiful, shining Diwali everyone!

Eggless Chocolate Cake

(Adapted from Eggless Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe (No Butter): Edible Garden )    

Chocolate cake is the ultimate comfort for all of us. I have made it loads of times but this recipe has become my "go-to" savior in times of crisis.

Not only is this recipe eggless but it yields a plump cake that is moist, yummy, and "melt-in-the-mouth" chocolaty!

On principle, I avoid eggless baking because I love the light and airy texture that eggs provide. However, when I tried this one, I loved it! The texture was exactly like a chocolate brownie! And the best part is that you don't need to add curd or yoghurt to the batter. Instead we need to add vinegar...yes you heard me right! Vinegar. Any kind of vinegar that you use at home.

The lovely slices

I am forever indebted to Edible Garden for this yummy and easy recipe. You can find the original recipe here.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients: 

APF/Maida: 1 and a half cup

Sugar: 1 cup

Vinegar (Apple cider vinegar/ any type of vinegar you use/ lemon juice): 1 tablespoon

Cold milk/ water: 1 cup

Oil: 1/4th cup

Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1 tsp

Cocoa powder: 3 tablespoons

A pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. Add cold milk, vanilla extract, vinegar, sugar and oil. Remember to use cold milk. If you use warm milk, the milk will curdle. Cold water works fine for this recipe. 

2. Next add all the dry ingredients.

3. Now start adding the dry mixture to the wet one gradually. Mix using the "cut-and-fold" method. Do not overbeat.

4. Mix till there are no lumps  in the batter.

5. Grease a cake tin and pour the batter into it. I added some chopped nuts and raisins as well.

6. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C for ten minutes. (My cake surface tends to crack at this temp so I pre-heat at 176 degrees C.) Also place a small steel bowl of water in the oven. This will ensure that your cake remains moist.

7. Place the cake tin in the pre-heated oven and bake for 45 minutes at the same temperature.

8. Insert a toothpick or skewer in the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done.

9. Now take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down for some time,



10. De-mold the cake and have it with chocolate sauce or vanilla ice-cream. I don't like any kind of toppings on this cake. Yummy....ummmmm!

Eggless Zebra Cake

(Recipe inspired from Eggless Chocolate Cake: Edible Garden)

I just baked a cake quickly in the morning today. It was so easy that I decided to blog about it. This cake looks as good as it tastes. This cake is known as a zebra cake. Don't be turned off by the name. No zebras were harmed in the making of this one! The name is derived from the stripes on this cake.  Similar to the stripes on the body of a zebra.

My little daughter has named this a "tiger" cake. According to her, the stripes are yellow and dark brown, just like a tiger's body. :)

It is essentially a very simple cake. I used the eggless chocolate cake recipe from Edible Garden. You can find the recipe here.You just need to make two batters: chocolate and vanilla.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the chocolate batter:

1 and a 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
3 tbsp of cocoa powder
1/4 cup of neutral oil
1 cup of cold milk/water
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of white vineger / apple cider vinegar / lemon juice
A pinch of salt


For the vanilla batter:

1 and a 1/2 cups + 3 tbsp. of all-purpose flour
1 cup of sugar  
1/4 cup of neutral oil
1 cup of cold milk/water
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp orange essence (optional) 
1 tbsp of white vineger / apple cider vinegar / lemon juice
A pinch of salt

Process:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the vanilla batter. Keep it aside. Next mix all the ingredients for a chocolate batter.

chocolate and vanilla batters

 

2. Now grease the cake tin and line it with butter paper (optional).

3. Pour a spoonful of batter in the center of the tin.

4. Now pour a spoonful of chocolate batter in the very center of the vanilla batter.

5. Repeat the same process. Place vanilla and chocolate batter alternatively.

6. Pour the batter alternatively till your batter is used up.

7. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes. Place the cake tin in the warm oven. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees C.

8. Take the cake out of the oven. Let it cool down. De-mold when you are able to touch it.

9. Slice and enjoy with chocolate sauce.


 

Healthy Eggless Wholewheat Cupcakes in the Microwave

(Adapted from Amuthi's Kitchen - South Indian Recipes)

Have been missing in action for some time. Sometimes life gets so hectic, that I just don't seem to find time to do the things I love.

Anyway, managed to squeeze out some time for this post. This time I decided to post an eggless recipe. My dad is allergic to eggs. Also my dad-in-law cant eat eggs because of some health-related issues. So, whenever there is any celebration in the house, I am called upon to whip up an eggless cake so that both my dads can also enjoy sampling a piece of cake.

While hunting around for a healthier version of the basic vanilla cake on the internet, I came upon this recipe here. Just loved the simplicity of this recipe. The recipe uses a minimum of ingredients that we usually have at home and it uses 100% whole wheat (Atta).
If made with Sugarfree Natura powder, this recipe will be safe for diabetics as well.

As a rule I mostly bake in my oven. But for these cup-cakes, I decided to try baking in a microwave (without the convection mode).

One word of caution though, this cake is a bit dense. It will not be as fluffy and airy as a cake made with Maida. But for all that it is real soft and spongy. My little daughter loved it!

Today is also my Dad's birthday, so I am posting his favorite cake recipe.

This is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour (Atta) - 1 and 1/2 cup (I used Pillsbury Chakki Fresh Atta.)

Sugar (or Sugarfree Natura powder) - 3/4 cup

Baking powder - 2 heaped teaspoons

Vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon

Oil - 6 tablespoons

Water - 1 cup + 2 tablespoons

 

For decoration:

Pink edible color (optional)

Chopped cashew nuts - 3 to 4

 

Procedure:

1. Sift whole wheat flour and baking powder together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Now mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.

3. Add sugar to the dry whole wheat mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Beat the mixture well till all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly. I added a few drops of edible pink color that is completely optional. If you feel that the batter is too thick add 2 tablespoon of water additionally. The batter will be thick but free-flowing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Pre-heat the microwave for 30 seconds on 100% (High) power.

6. Pour the batter in cupcake molds. (I use my microwave-safe silicone molds.) Remember to fill 3/4th of the molds so that the cakes will get space to expand. Add a sliver of chopped cashew nut on top of each cupcake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Now bake in the microwave for 3 minutes on 100% (High). Let the cupcakes remain within the microwave for 5 minutes more (standing time) with the microwave turned off. Now take the cupcakes out of the microwave. The cupcakes will be soft but springy to touch. In case you feel that the cupcakes are not done yet bake for an additional 30 seconds on High power.

 

8. Cool the cupcakes and de-mold them. Serve with love.

 

 

Delightfully Crusty Banana Cake

(Adapted from Edible Garden: The Best Banana Cake Recipe Ever!)

My little S, the husband man, and I are fruit lovers. Bananas are a staple in our house; to be had with cereal or as a quick snack. However, often this is what happens to them:

This is the time we generally chuck them into the dustbin. Recently I came across a wonderful recipe for using over-ripe bananas on Edible Garden. I simply loved this recipe. To use these bananas and make a crusty, dense sweet treat seemed like an excellent idea. I just altered the recipe slightly to suit my requirements. Here is the recipe:

 

How I made it:

Ingredients

Maida (All purpose flour) - 1 and a half cups

Sugar - 1 cup

Banana - 1

Baking powder - 2 level teaspoon

Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon

Vanilla essence - 1 full teaspoon

Buttermilk or curd - 1/2 cup

Eggs - 2

Oil/ Butter - 1/4th cup

For decoration:

Icing sugar - 2 tablespoon

Procedure

1. First peel the banana and mash the banana in the electric mixer. I used only one banana. (If you use two bananas, use only 3/4 cup sugar.)

Although you can mash these by hand but it is better to use the mixer to avoid mess.

2. Add 2 eggs to this mixture and whisk well in the electric mixer.


Add eggs

3. Now add sugar and mix well.

4. This is what the mixture looks like:

5. Add oil or butter. Though I have used oil, but butter is more suitable for this cake.

6. Add half cup of curd to this mixture.

7. Add vanilla essence to the mixture.

8. Now add baking powder.

9. Next comes the baking soda.

10. Start adding the Maida gradually to the mix.

11. Once you get a thick batter without any lumps, your mix is ready.

12. I added a few drops of blue food color to the batter. This step is purely optional.

13. Grease the baking pan. I used a square brownie pan.

14. Pour the batter into the greased pan.

15. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the cake pan in the middle rack. Bake for 40 minutes.

16. After 40 minutes, I removed the cake from the oven. But on inserting the toothpick in the cake, it was still a bit dense. So I covered the cake pan with aluminum foil and baked for another 10 minutes.

(For those baking in a pressure cooker, follow the same instructions. Place the cake pan containing batter in the pre-heated pressure cooker with a bed of salt. Attach the lid of the pressure cooker minus the weight and keep on low flame for about 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry. This cake is a bit dense.)

17. On removing the cake from the oven. this is what the cake looked like:

18. Cool and de-mold the cake from the tin.

For decorating:

Take some icing sugar in a tea-strainer and sprinkle lightly on the cake.

I intended to decorate using chocolate chips, but we just could not resist this spongy and aromatic cake anymore. The cake disappeared in minutes!

Have a slice!