Apple Pie Cake (with a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping)

Apple pie is one of those American Desserts that makes you go 'yes please!'. I have always loved apple pie with the flaky crust and the gooey apple cinnamon filling. Well, I had no patience to make the pie crust and I wanted to have an apple pie. What is the next best thing to do? Yes, you try and make a cake that tastes like the apple pie.
While I was looking for pie crust recipes - I had stumbled upon this cake recipe. Something that had been on my mind but never got to the oven. I took inspiration from this recipe at 'Pinch of Yum'
I tweaked the recipe a bit in terms of the sugar I used (used a little less than mentioned) and the amount of apples I used too (used a bit more - just because I did not want to munch on raw apples). I also had an orange sitting on my table, so used the zest and the juice. Was not my intention to change the recipe......... lets just say.....it happened.
We loved the cake. It tasted good warm and cold. And we had it with a side of vanilla ice-cream on one occasion too.

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

2 cups chopped apples

1 teaspoon allspice powder

1 teaspoon orange zest

4 tablespoons orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 325 F and grease a 9X13 pan. 

Cut the apples into small pieces and add the orange juice to it (this will prevent it from browning). Sieve the flour, allspice powder, baking powder and baking soda together and keep aside. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, oil, buttermilk and egg. No need to beat the mixture. To this add the vanilla extract and the orange zest and mix well. To this add the dry flour mixture and incorporate the mixture well. Add the chopped apples and incorporate everything well. I used a spatula to do this. Pour the batter into the 9X13 pan and spread it evenly using the spatula. 

Mix together the butter, cinnamon powder and sugar. Using your fingers spread this mixture on top of the batter very evenly. Pop it into the oven.

The recipe said bake for 45 minutes. Insert a toothpick and check for doneness. If it comes out clean, your cake is baked, if not, you need to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. 

At 45 minutes my cake was still very raw. So, I had to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven and cool a bit. Slice and serve warm with vanilla ice-cream or just like that. 

Chocolate Marble Cake (Hot Milk Cake Method)

Mr. A turned a year older and wiser this Tuesday. As always - his birthday cake is always a new trial. Thankfully it has always been a hit and never a miss. Imagine your birthday cake going bad with no backup. This year Lil Miss A insisted on a chocolate cake - she only wants everything in chocolate flavor. Well, our birthdays are just another day for her to get excited and so we obliged. I had told her that it will not be a full chocolate cake, but will have some vanilla (white) cake too She was excited as long as I promised the frosting was going to be chocolate. Well, this girl sure knows what she wants.
So the search for something new started. I always wanted to bake this old method of baking cake. It was a cake during the depression era - it uses the most basic ingredients - and as described, it is so sweet and soft on its own, that it feels like a rich dessert. I stumbled upon this recipe on pinterest with only a picture of the written recipe (no source) - but, this is such an old recipe that the origin is not known and its simple and common. You will find so many blogs and sites with the same recipe. 

There is something about old recipes that has an old world charm and they are simple and you feel like a part of history. Also, a great tasting dish makes them all the more special.

The cake is a vanilla cake - but, since Lil Miss A wanted it to be a chocolate cake - that is what she got with the addition of the chocolate syrup in half the batter.

Ingredients

For the cake

4 eggs at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup chocolate syrup (I used Hershey's syrup)

For the frosting (ganache)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil/butter

Method

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and keep aside. In a saucepan, warm the milk and the butter till the butter melts and there are bubbles formed on the side of the milk.
In a big mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and the eggs until they become nice and fluffy. This should take about 10 minutes. It should look like its doubled in size. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Add the milk and butter mixture and mix well till all is incorporated. Add the flour mixture 1/3 at a time and fold it in. Do not over mix but fold in to get a smooth batter. This batter will be a little more thin than other cake batters.
Grease a bundt pan and add half of the vanilla batter into it. In the other half, add the chocolate syrup and mix well till all is incorporated. Pour this mixture over the vanilla mixture.
Bake it in the preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour. After 50 minutes check to see if a toothpick inserted comes out clean - if yes, the cake is done - else let it bake for another 5 minutes before checking.
Once done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the mold onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting (ganache)

In a bowl add the semi sweet chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons milk and microwave for 30 seconds - stir it well and microwave for another 30 seconds. Add 2/3rd part of the coconut oil and mix well till smooth. Let it cool a bit. In the same manner get the white chocolate ganache made.
Added them both to two ziploc bags and sealed it shut by removing all air. Make a small opening in the tip. Spread the ganache - one at a time on the completely cooled cake. Cut the cake and serve with coffee or tea or just like that.

Orange Bundt Cake

I had these 3 huge Oranges staring at me through my fridge drawer. My child only eats clementines and I like them too as they are the closest thing to the oranges we get back home. What do I do with these oranges was the question. And then I saw the tub of sour cream in my fridge too. I do not use sour cream much - I had this tub from the day we had made tacos. It was used as a garnish - so, the tub was still too full.
A fresh and citrusy orange pound cake is what came to mind. So, the zesting of the oranges started with the juicing of the same. Then came the big bowl to mix along with the electric mixer and the eggs and the other few things.
Lil Miss A was super excited to be helping mommy bake a cake. Her contribution or rather critique........... why is the cake batter not orange if its an orange cake? So, thats the only artificial thing that I added. But, the cake turned out just like any pound cake - moist and citrusy and very fresh. Added the sugar glaze to please Lil Miss A.


Ingredients

For Cake

1/2 cup butter (room temperature) or oil
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons orange zest
3 eggs (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups All Purpose Flour (APF)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Glaze

2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest

Method

For Cake

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sieve the flour and baking powder through a mesh into a bowl and keep aside.
Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and beat it to get a nice soft creamy mixture. I use and electric mixer - but, a good old whisk and your hands can do the trick too. To this add the eggs and beat till you get a nice frothy mixture. Now add the sour cream, orange zest and salt and mix till it is a well incorporated mixture.
To this mixture add the flour in three batches and fold it in with a spatula - in intervals. Do not overmix. Just fold the flour into the wet mixture and get a nice flowing batter.
Grease and dust a bundt pan and add the prepared batter to it. Tap it on the kitchen counter 3 to 4 times to let any air bubbles to escape.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before getting it out of the mold and cooling on a wire rack.

For Glaze

Mix all the ingredients together from the 'For Glaze' section when the cake is baking. When the cake is completely cooled - pour it over the top of the cake very evenly. Let it set for about half and hour and then slice the cake.

Banana Bread/Cake with Coconut and Rum

Bananas are something that generally end up getting brown at our home. I still wonder why I get bananas from the store. But, then Lil Miss A will ask for a banana once in a while. If you remember from my earlier posts...... I get barely 4 to 5 bananas when I go to the store and that too once in 2 weeks. And every 2 weeks we end up having banana bread in some way.

This time I tried to make it a fun banana bread for Mr. A and myself. The kid does not like the cake/bread version unless its made with chocolate.
I made use of the coconut rum that was sitting in our small bar. I had got this rum when I had made the Puerto Rican Coconut Rum Cake for last years New Years Eve Party. I will update the recipe here soon.
I think this is our favorite banana bread so far - ofcorse it has rum...... but, you can completely not use it and still make this and enjoy a simple coconut banana bread.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup coconut rum (totally optional)
3 bananas
1 and 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour/Maida
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut shreds

Method

In a big mixing bowl add the oil and sugar and mix it well. Now add the eggs and beat it well for about 5 minutes. To this add the coconut rum and the mashed bananas and mix well. To this add the All Purpose Flour, baking soda, salt and coconut shreds and just fold everything together. You do not want to mix this batter too much or the cake will turn flat.
I baked this cake in a bundt pan (just because I love how the bundt pan shapes the cake). You can bake it in a 9X5 loaf pan too. Bake it in a preheated oven at 350 Fahrenheit for about 50 minutes to an hour. A toothpick inserted should come out clean and your cake is ready. Let it cool before cutting it.

Notes

• The rum will actually cook through and you will not taste it except for the coconut flavor. If you want it to be a boozy cake - use a toothpick and make holes in the cake about 1 inch apart and then add 2 tablespoons on rum all through the cake. This will make it taste and smell of rum too
• If you do not wish to add rum - then add 1/4 cup of milk and 1 tsp of coconut extract or vanilla extract. The cake should still taste great.                          

Mango & Cardamom Cake (using ready made mango pulp)

Mango - the king of fruits. And if its the Alphonso mango............ well, then you know you have hit the jackpot.

Mango season in India is like a festival. These mangoes are expensive in Bombay and other citis and in those beautiful coastal villages where my ancestors hailed from - mangoes grow in abundance. Alphonso mango is grown in Ratnagiri and the surrounding areas.
Mango season is a family event - and every family makes it special in their own way. My mother used to make fresh mango pulp by grinding the pulp and adding sugar to it and then bringing it to a boil and preserving it in glass bottles which were frozen in the freezer. This way we enjpyed Alphanso mangoes all year through.

Nine years ago I moved to the United States with my husband. I have not tasted an Alphonso mango or any Indian mango for that period of time. I have eaten those Mexican mangoes - but, they are not like the Alphonso or the Kesari that we get back home. I remember the other varieties too. In our native village it was the most amazing ishad mango and then my aunt had a mango tree in her yard which grew the most sweetest mangoes called 'got'.

Well - thats the mango saga from back home in India. Here we do get mango slices at the Indian store. They are the frozen ones and are good for making mango milkshakes, mango lassis and even mango shrikhand (amrakhand).

I always have a can of mango pulp at home. At times I do not get those fresh mango slices and that's when this comes in handy. It is loaded with sugar I know - but, having one handy always helps. Below are the two pulps that I have in my pantry.
Both images were sourced from the net (I just did a google image search for mango pulp cans) 

I had opened one can and had some of the unused pulp inside

my fridge. Had to use it up before it got bad. So, finally gave in and made the mango cake. I have not been a fan of fruit cakes ever (except the banana bread) as these cakes turn a bit dense. But, I was pleasantly surprised at how this cake came out spongy and moist and had the right amount of spring to it. The addition of cardamom took it to a whole different level. The beautiful golden hue on the cake is what spring and summer are made of............. yes, we need that here. These below freezing temperatures are kinda getting annoying now.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
3 eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup mango pulp
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp cardamom powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a cake pan - I used a bundt pan. But, you could use a 9X13 (inch) baking pan. Or you could even get 20 to 24 cupcakes out of it.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder and salt and keep it aside.
In a mixing bowl - beat the eggs till they are nice and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix well till it gets dissolved. Add the melted butter (make sure it is not hot) and milk and mix well for about 5 minutes. Now add the mango pulp and fold the mixture lightly till everything is integrated.
Add the flour mixture and fold it in using a ladle. Mix it well till no lumps can be seen. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour it into the pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. After 30 minutes check to see the doneness using a toothpick. Insert the toothpick in the middle of the cake and remove - if its clean, its done - else let it bake for another 5 minutes before checking.
For cupcakes the baking time will be in between 8 to 12 minutes.
Remove onto a cooling rack and cut after its cooled down.

Tutti Frutti Cake

 I had got about 4 huge packets of tutti frutti from the Indian grocery store during Christmas. I used only 2 of those packets to make the Christmas Cake. 1 packet was given to a friend. So, I had 1 whole packet lying in my freezer. I had to make use of it before next Christmas. So, made this tutti frutti cake when a friend came visiting for some chai (tea) and cake.

What is Tutti Frutti??? I got a nice explanation from Wikipedia (Tutti Frutti)

"Tutti frutti (from Italian "all fruits", also hyphenated tutti-frutti) is a colorful confection containing various chopped and usually candied fruits, or an artificially created flavouring simulating the combined flavour of many different fruits. It is often used for making a tutti frutti ice cream flavor.

Fruits used for tutti-frutti ice cream include cherries, raisins, and pineapple, often augmented with nuts.[1] In the Netherlands, tutti-frutti (also "tutti frutti," "tuttifrutti") is a compote of dried fruits, served as a dessert[2][3] or a side dish to a meat course.[4][5] In Belgium, tutti-frutti is often seen as a dessert.[6] Typically, it contains a combination of raisins, currants, apricots, prunes, dates, and figs.

In the United States, tutti-frutti can also refer to fruits soaked in brandy or other spirits, or even to fruit fermented in a liquid containing sugar and yeast.[7]

In India, tutti-frutti refers to candied raw papaya. These are always small cubical pieces often brightly colored. The most common color being red, tutti-frutti are also available in rich green and yellow colors. These are used in various bakery products including cakes, milk-breads, cookies, dilkhush and buns. Tutti-frutti is also used in cold deserts as toppings for the ice-creams and sundaes. They are also used in sweet paans and sangeet (paper-masala)"

Ingredients

3 eggs at room temperature

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups All Purpose Flour (APF)

1 cup sugar

1 cup tutti frutti (dust it with 1 TBS APF)

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 tsp salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a cake pan - I used a bundt pan. But, you could use a 9X13 (inch) baking pan. Or you could even get 20 to 24 cupcakes out of it.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and keep it aside.
In a mixing bowl - beat the eggs till they are nice and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix well till it gets dissolved. Add the melted butter (make sure it is not hot) and milk and vanilla essence and mix well for about 5 minutes.
Add the flour mixture and fold it in using a ladle. Mix it well till no lumps can be seen. Be careful not to overmix. Fold in the tutti frutti.
Pour it into the pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. After 30 minutes check to see the doneness using a toothpick. Insert the toothpick in the middle of the cake and remove - if its clean, its done - else let it bake for another 5 minutes before checking.
For cupcakes the baking time will be in between 8 to 12 minutes.
Remove onto a cooling rack and cut after its cooled down.

Semolina Banana Bread (Eggless)

have been experimenting baking banana bread with semolina flour. Finally got the recipe right and loved the outcome.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fine semolina (rawa)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil.ghee/butter
3 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar (you can make it 3/4 cup to make it a little less sweet - I did that)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
1/2 cup coconut flakes/coarse powder (optional)

Method

Warm the milk a little  and add the semolina to it and mix well. Let this mixture sit for about 2 hours. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas well and add the sugar and the oil/ghee/butter and mix. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and mix well till everything is formed into an incorporated mixture. Now fold in the semolina and milk mixture and form a cake batter. Do not overmix.
Pour batter into a greased baking dish (9X5 loaf pan) and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes. The toothpick test to see doneness - inset a toothpick int he middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, your cake is done.
Cool it on a wire rack and enjoy for breakfast or snack or as a dessert.

Strawberry & Banana Cake with semolina (rawa)

Baking is fun - Baking is passion - Baking is everything nice - Baking is indulgence - Baking............. well, you know I love baking. The oven, the heat, the batter, the dough, the process, the aroma and ofcorse not to forget the yummy goodies once out of the oven.
I have been baking banana bread with Semolina flour and All Purpose flour for sometime. Have been experimenting only with semolina - and I must say, the results are good and I am loving it.
I have tried a banana bread too with just semolina flour - shall update the recipe soon.
Here - I tired the famous smoothie combo - Banana & Strawberry in a cake form. My family liked it. 

Ingredients

1 ripe banana

7 to 8 strawberries

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fine semolina (rawa)

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter/oil/ghee

1/4 cup milk or 1 egg

Pit the strawberries and puree it with the peeled banana in a blender - do not add water. Mix the 1/2 cup milk, the 1 cup semolina and the strawberry banana puree and let it sit for about an hour.
In a mixing bowl, take 1/2 cup oil/butter/ghee and add 3/4 cup sugar and mix well. Now add the milk or egg and baking powder and mix everything well. Add the semolina mixture and fold everything in together very well. Do not overmix once you add the semolina mixture.
Add the batter into a greased baking pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 to 40 minutes. To check doneness, just insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Cool on a wire rack and enjoy.
Makes a loaf in 9X5 loaf pan or a flat bundt cake in a bundt pan (as I made mine)

Banana Bread - with All Purpose Flour, Semolina & Coconut

I buy only 6 bananas every week - just because I need to give it to my kiddo as they are good and healthy. However, she ends up eating only 3 to 4 of them in the entire week and I have about 2 of them always left out there and they look so spotty that nobody wants to eat them.
I end up making banana fritters, banana appes, sometimes even sheera, tried them pancakes too and ofcorse the ever faithful banana bread.
I was kinda bored of the normal banana bread I bake almost always - so, decided to make it different today. Well, added some semolina to give it a bite and some coconut for added flavor and also substituted the vanilla for to allspice powder. Well, it turned out decent and we liked it.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour - you could use whole wheat flour too or make it 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 APF

1/2 cup semolina

1 cup packed sugar - you could even use brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut powder/flakes (unsweetened)

2 ripe bananas

1/3 cup butter/ghee/vegetable oil

1 teaspoon allspice powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

Mix the flour, semolina, coconut powder/flakes, baking powder, salt and allspice powder and mix well. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas and then add the butter/ghee/oil along with the sugar and mix well. Now add the dry ingredients and fold them all together. Pour this well incorporated mixture into a greased baking dish/loaf pan (I used a 9X5 loaf pan) and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
You could also make also make cupcakes - they would bake in about 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 12 of them.
This cake is a little denser compared to a banana bread that is all made with APF.

My Mom's Yummy Vanilla Cake

MY mom used to bake this awesome cake at home almost once every month. The whole house used to smell so yummy with vanilla flavors floating in the air. Our neighbors knew instantly that a few slices of cake would be coming their way for their evening cup of tea. She still bakes the cake just this way and it is still one of the yummiest cakes I have ever eaten.

I love baking breads and cakes. I have experimented baking a lot of different types of cakes and lots of different types of breads too. But, her recipe is still the closest to my heart - and when it comes to baking a simple vanilla cake or a chocolate cake - I just run to this no fail recipe. The spongy and yummy cake is a favorite even at my home now. Thanks Mom for this yummy treat and the most awesome cake recipe. 

Sharing her recipe here for all the friends who have asked for this recipe over and over again. The picture here is of a chocolate cake I baked using this recipe for my Daughter's Christmas Party at school. Pardon me for the unflattering image as I just clicked it using my phone before heading for the party. Will bake this cake again and share new photos soon.

Ingredients

1 cup oil/ghee/butter (for best results always use butter)

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

4 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (this is optional - but, mom always added a bit)

Method

In a big mixing bowl - mix together the butter and sugar till all the sugar is melted. Then add the eggs and beat well till all is mixed well. Then add milk and maida little by little and keep mixing to avoid lumps. Add salt, baking powder, lemon juice and essence and mix well. 

Take a baking pan and dust it well - add the cake mixture to fill the pan to 1/2 to 3/4 capacity. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake it till the center of the cake when pierced with a toothpick comes out clean.

I generally bake this in my bundt pan - which is bigger than the usual 8X8 square pan. 

Variations

• To make chocolate cake - mix 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the mixture and mix well.
• To make layers - divide the batter into 2 parts - leave one as is and in the other one add 1/4 cup of coca powder and layer in the baking pan. 
• I make strawberry cake - by substituting the vanilla essence with strawberry essence and 2 drops of red coloring - and to add some effect I add diced fresh or dried strawberries.
• You can add dry fruits or tutti fruity to make a fruit cake - just dust them with all purpose flour and add to the cake batter before pouring it into the baking pan.
• You can add two tablespoons of lemon zest and increase the lemon juice to 1 tablespoon to get a nice yummy lemon cake.
• I have baked these into cupcakes too and they come out amazing.

Nutella Brownies (just 3 ingredients)

I had seen this 3 ingredient brownie on pinterest a while ago and always wanted to try them. Super quick and super easy with just 3 ingredients, one bowl and a cupcake mould or a square brownie mould. Yummy brownies in no time and just one bowl to clean after. Who would not like that.

Ingredients

1 cup nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
10 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs
Chopped nuts (optional)

Method

Mix the nutella, eggs and the flour well and make a brownie mixture. You can spread this batter into a square brownie tray or add 2 tablespoons of batter to a cupcake mould lined with paper cups. Add chopped nuts on top of the batter. Bake it at 350 degrees farhenhite till done. Cupcakes would take about 10 to 15 minutes - the square brownie tray would take about 25 to 30 minutes. Check if its done by inserting a toothpick into the brownie - if it comes clean its done.

Torta De Cielo (Mexican Almond Cake)

Baking is a passion. Cakes, cookies, bread - you name it and I will jump to have it done. Every year for my husband's birthday I bake a different cake. We have made the humble vanilla cake, chocolate cake, fresh strawberry cake, his favorite pear and ginger cake, date and walnut cake (my mum had baked that one).

This year was no different. I started looking at what I could bake to make his special day extra special. Well,  I found the almond meal packet in my freezer (I had got this to make the french macron - well, never got to make em) and decided to bake an almond cake. 

I had picked up this simple baking book from homegoods and found this cake (torte) recipe that I loved and thought of making it.

Torta De Cielo is a Mexican Almond cake and generally is made by using whole almonds with or without skin which is coarsely powdered in a food processor. Since I already had the almond meal ready, I used that.

This cake is generally bakes in a round baking dish - just like a torte. Well, since half of my stuff is in storage due to our future move, I baked this cake in a bundt pan.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 cup almond meal (you can use whole almonds too)
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 tablespoons all purpose flour
pinch of salt

Method

Lightly grease an 8" round cake pan OR as I have used, you can use a bundt pan too. If you are using whole almonds, then place them in a food processor and process to form a mealy mixture.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar untill smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, almond extract and vanilla extract to this mixture and mix for about 3 to 5 minutes till its a nice fluffy mixture. Add the almond meal/almond mix and salt to this mixture and mix well. Now add the flour and fold it into this mixture till everything is incorporated. Do not over mix at this stage, just fold everything in.
Pour the batter into the greased pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for about 40 to 45 minutes, or untill a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let it stand to cool. You can dust it with powdered sugar and decorate with toasted almond slivers.

oats and cardamom cake

I take my 2.5 year old daughter to a mommy and me spin and stretch class in our community. She loves it there and goes about doing all the stretching exercises along with the instructor.

It has been a good 10 weeks and the class is coming to an end now. We mommies along with the instructor decided to have a small party (potluck) for the kiddos and also us adults. We wanted it to be a pizza party - but, the instructor seems to be very good at maintaining her diet and avoids sweets, all purpose flour, cheese etc etc. It was hence decided to be a fruits and popcorn party.

I was the chosen to bring bite sized pineapples.
However, the instructor had said if I could bake something healthy, she would love that too. Hence, I started to explore healthy baking options.
Well, this is a trial recipe - which turned out good int eh first go itself. I love the taste of cardamom and the bite from the oats. 

I hope they all like it tomorrow at the party too.

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 and 1/2 cups Quaker oats (quick oats)
1/2 cup all purpose flour OR wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 tablespoon milk masala (optional)

Method

powder the oats in a grinder till its fine. In a mixing bowl add the oats powder, flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom powder and milk masala and mix well.
In another mixing bowl, add the brown sugar, vegetable oil and eggs and mix/whisk well till the sugar dissolve. Now add the milk and mix well till its an integrated mixture.
Now add the dry ingredients and mix everything well till it becomes a nice and smooth cake batter.
Pour it into a greased cake container and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted inside comes clean.
You can even bake muffins out of this. They would take about 15 to 20 minutes to bake.

Christmas Fruit Cake

I have been wanting to bake this Christmas cake since forever - but, somehow was always scared to cook with rum and was really not sure if I had the patience in me to wait for the cooking time of almost 4 to 5 hours. 

This year - I got over all those fears and decided to bake a Christmas Fruit cake - also called the 'boozy' cake. even before I could look at recipes, we got the darkest rum available in the wine shop and then got some raisins, sultana, dried cherries, tutti fruti and dried cranberries. Mixed them all with the rum and saved it in an airtight container and let it stay there for over 3 months.

Then started looking for recipes. There are a lot of them over there and google threw a wonderful array of amazing recipes for me to look at. I read and read and read and got confused every-time  Finally i stumbled upon the recipe at deliaonline - how to bake a Christmas cake - one of the oldest and the most sought after recipes. So, decided to go ahead and make this one. It was a tad bit tough as the recipe has measurements in grams and ounces - I personally find it easier if the measurements are in cups and spoons - so, started to fist get the conversion of the measurements - then made a few changes, as the fruits were already soaking and were not as mentioned in the recipe - moreover, used rum instead of brandy - used allspice powder instead of the traditional nutmeg and cinnamon powders - did not used blanched almonds, but used slivered almonds inside the cake batter itself. But, overall, we were very very happy with the outcome. It did not feel that 'boozy' - because we baked this cake 2 days before Christmas and it was fed rum for just two days - he he he.
I hope to make this cake for next Christmas atleast a month in advance and feed it with rum for about 15 days atleast.

Ingredients

1 cup raisins
1 cup sultanas
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup tutti fruti (fruit peels)
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dark rum
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon allspice powder
1 cup unsalted butter
1¼ cups packed brown sugar
4 large eggs, beaten to mix
1 tbsp honey
juice of half lemon
additional rum for 'feeding'

Method

Take the raisins, sultanas, dried cherries, dried cranberries, tutti fruit in a large bowl and mix it with rum. Cover and allow to soak overnight at room temperature - Or as we did, keep it in an airtight container and let it soak for over 3 months.
Line an 9 inch spring-form pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 275°F (140°C). Sift the flour, salt and spice together in a large bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together until blended well and the mixture looks light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and mix well till its a nice and fluffy mixture.
Stir in the dry ingredients (flour, spice and salt) and mix well till everything is blended together - take care not to over mix or over beat the mixture. Mix in the rum soaked fruits, slivered almonds, honey and the lemon juice and fold everything together.
Spoon the cake mixture into the spring-foam pan and level the surface. Cover the top of the cake with a double square of parchment paper with a 50 cents-size hole in the center (this gives extra protection during the long slow cooking). Place the spring-foam on a cookie sheet and bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4½-5 hours. Delia says that sometimes it can take up to ½-¾ hour longer than this, but in any case don't look till at least 4 hours have passed.
Cool the cake in the tin, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling. Make small holes in the top and base of the cake with a cocktail stick or small skewer, then spoon over a few teaspoons of rum and cover it fully and let it rest.You can now feed it a few teaspoons of rum everyday until you need to ice it or eat it.

Pear & Ginger Cake

The other day I was reading a recipe book I had picked up from Home Goods - it was all about baking. One of the titles caught my eye - 'Pear & Ginger Cake' - Loved the flavor combo and thought of making it. I just added some cardamom and some nutmeg to add my touch to the flavors (I love nutmeg). It was a wonderful way to get back to baking. How I had missed my bowl mixer and my cake pans and my oven too :). The cake turned out nice and was over within no time :)

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/4 cup maida/refined flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 eggs (at room temperature)
2 pears (peeled, cored and thinly sliced) - brush them with lemon juice to avoid them from getting dark
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cardamom pods (peeled and finely crushed)
pinch of crushed nutmeg

Method

Lightly grease a deep 8 inch cake pan with butter and then dust it all over with flour and keep it aside.
Mix together the butter and sugar and eggs and beat well till its smooth and fluffy. Then add the flour little by little and mix till its a smooth consistency. Then add the ground ginger, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and baking powder and mix well till all is incorporated.
Spoon this cake mixture into the prepared cake pan and level the surface with a spatula very lightly. Arrange the pear slices over the batter and grease it with some butter and sprinkle the brown sugar.
Bake in a preheated over (350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius) for 35 to 40 minutes untill the cake top is golden and it is springy to touch.
Cool on a cooling rack.
Can be eaten slightly warm with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream or just like that :)