Rainy season and cupcakes- Egg free Apple cinnamon cupcakes

Its raining, its pouring....and we are baking cupcakes!!

Occasionally it rains sooo much that you need to bake something....anything.

Okay, that's probably my excuse for baking these cupcakes...but they are good and my little one is relishing these little beauties.

Cinnamon apple cupcakes

Ingredients (adapted from Divinetaste)
Apple (green)- peeled, cored and chopped
Sugar- 3/4 cups
Baking soda- 1tsp
Butter- 100 gm
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Whole wheat flour- 3/4 cup
White flour- 1/2 cup
Cinnamon powder- 1/2 heaped tsp
Vanilla essence- 2tsp

Method

1. Pour 3 tsp water in a pan and add the chopped apples..cook till soft.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 150 degree centigrade.
3. Mix well the baking powder, cinnamon powder, wheat flour and white flour, sieve them together.
4. Cream the butter and sugar.
5. Blend the cooked apples and mix baking soda in it.
6. Now add the apple puree to the butter and sugar mix.
7. Add all the dry ingredients to this mixture. Add vanilla essence.
8. You will get a thick batter, do not overbeat.
9. Spoon the batter into cupcake liners.
10. Bake for 25 min or till the skewer comes clean.
11. Enjoy warm. You can refrigerate it and re-heat it, but it taste best when its fresh.

I have not used any icing here, but a small amount of glace icing with lemon should taste good.

Coconut Cookies (eggless) / Nariyal ke biscuit

Sometimes you want nothing chocolate-y, sometimes you just want wholesome goodness, sometimes you need to have coconut cookies...
So I baked a batch of whole wheat coconut cookies, which turned out pretty neat.

The recipe is very simple and can be found at more places than one...I really cant remember where I jotted it from.

Ingredients

1. Whole Wheat flour- 1 cup
2. Softened butter - 100gm (1/2cup)
3. Grated coconut- 1 cup + 1Tbsp for topping
4. Icing sugar- 3/4 cup
5. Baking powder-1tsp
6. Coconut Extract- 1/2 tsp (optional)
7. Milk- 1-2 Tbsp

 Method

• Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees centigrade.
• Cream the sugar and butter. Add the extract.
• Mix the baking powder with the flour thoroughly. 
• Add the flour to the creamed sugar and butter. Mix well.
• Add grated coconut and make soft dough. Add milk if the dough seems to be too dry.
• Prepare the baking sheet by brushing it with a little butter.
• Take extra grated coconut in a flat bowl.
• Make small rounded balls, press them on the coconut flakes/grated coconut so some if them stick to it.
• Place on the sheet leaving room for the cookies to expand.
• Put the tray in the oven for 12-15 min. Keep your eyes on it. they should not burn.
• When slightly browned at the edges and just about to set, take them out let it cool in the tray for a minute or so.
• Remove and store in an air-tight container.
• Bake the rest in a similar manner.

Enjoy!!

Pineapple crumble

An experiment with dessert.


I took a risk when we had guests over for dinner.


But, hey life is about taking risks…even foolish ones…:p


 (psst... I had a backup plan, a tin of Rasgullas..;)


Thankfully, this Tarla Dalal recipe did not disappoint.


You need:
1. 1&1/2 cups chopped freash pineapple
2. 2tbsp sugar
3. 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4. 1/2 cup rolled oats
5. 3/4 tsp  cinnamon powder
6. 3/4 tsp nutmeg powder
7. 2 Tbsp butter+ butter for greasing the baking tray
8. 1 Tbsp chopped mixed nuts (optional)


How to make:
1. Combine the chopped pineapple with 1Tbsp of sugar and mix well. Keep the pan on fire and cook on slow fire till the fruit becomes soft.
2. Combine the flour, oats, butter ,cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and remaining sugar and mix well using your fingers till the mix resembles bread crumbs.
3. Spread the pineapple in the greased oven proof tray. Sprinkle  the dry mixture evenly over this. Top with nuts.
4. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degree centigrade for 20-25 min. Till the topping is golden brown and serve hot.

Birthday and Fruit cake

I get excited about baking birthday cakes..... because you can be very elaborate with them. I take my time searching, bookmarking recipes, improvising, procuring stuff from the market, finding ways to dress it up....my whipping cream decorations are a far cry from perfection.

So, when I was thinking of making a devil's food cake with layers of creamy richness for my hubby's b'day....he threw a surprise at me....'no creamy stuff, no chocolate'

WHAT!

Did I hear well? no chocolate!!?? OMG . But all my bookmarked recipes have chocolate.

A quick survey of my fav blogs led me to this Orange cake by Soma of Ecurry.
Saved the day...:)

I've used a variety which is termed as "mausmi" in India...not the orange we generally use. I was not very sure of the results, but it came out a winner...yipeee

SERVES 10–12

INGREDIENTS

For cake 

1. 3 Mausmi
2. 2⅓ cups sugar
3. Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
4. 2½ cups flour, plus more for pan
5. 2 tsp. baking powder
6. 1 tsp. baking soda
7. 1 tsp. orange extract
8. 3 eggs
9. 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

For glaze

1. ¼ cup fresh orange juice (I used packed juice)
2. ¼ cup confectioners' sugar

For garnish

1. 2 oranges, sliced in thin strips
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

For cake 

1. Trim about ½" from the tops and bottoms of oranges; quarter oranges lengthwise. Bring 6 cups water to a boil and add oranges. Bring water back to a boil; drain. 

2. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. 

3. Put oranges, 1 cup sugar, and 4 cups water into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. 

4. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.

 5.Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9' round cake pan with butter and dust with flour; line pan bottom with parchment paper cut to fit. Set pan aside.

6. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

7. Remove orange quarters from syrup, remove and discard any seeds, and put oranges into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until oranges form a chunky purée, 10 to 12 pulses.

8. Add sugar, reserved flour mixture, orange extract, and eggs and process until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
9. Add olive oil; process until combined. 

10. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. 

For glaze

In a small bowl, whisk orange juice and confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a cake stand or plate. Using a pastry brush, brush orange glaze over top and sides of cake; let cool completely. 

For garnishing

Bring 3-4 cups water to a boil; add orange slices. Bring water back to a boil; drain. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 cup water in the pan and add the orange slices to the pan. Simmer at low to medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the the slices softens and the solution gets thick, syrupy and sticky. Remove oranges and reserve to garnish.

Garnish cake with confectioners’ sugar and orange slices.

I did not use icing sugar though. Good for me because the cake came out a little too sweet for my liking. I believe a little less sugar in the batter would make the cake taste even better....I've not tried it out though. If you do, please let me know how was it?

 

Eggless Choco-orange cake with Nutella frosting

Happy new year!!

I know I've been absent from the blog space for a while now, but now I'm bacck! And we are starting this new year with this very celebratory choco-orange cake...yummm.


Choco-orange cake with nutella frosting
Adapted from Anushruti's cake 

Ingredients

200 gm (1 1/2 cups) plain flour (i use whole wheat flour, pre-milled)

50 gm (1/4 cup) cocoa powder( i used Hershey's)

30 gm (4 tbsp) fine sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate

1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk ( Nestle)

150 gm butter melted

1 tsp Orange extract

250 ml  (1 cup) water

For soaking the sponge

Orange juice ( fresh or packed, i used packed)- 5 tbsp approximately, but you can use more if you wish to. I intend to use more next time.

Nutella frosting

 Nutella- 1/3 cup

orange extract - 1 tsp

Filling for layer

Pulp of 2-3 oranges (or mausmi/moshumbi)  - about 1/2 cup

Icing sugar- 25 gm (5-6 spoons approx.)

20 gm butter

Method

1. Grease and line the bases of cake tin with greaseproof paper/baking parchment/butter paper.

2. Assemble the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and baking soda, mix with a fork and sieve once to make the mixture uniform.

3. Preheat the oven at about 150 c/300F.

4. Add in the condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla and water. Beat with an electric hand mixer or whisk till the mixture is uniform and smooth and there are no lumps. Do not overbeat.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 50-60 min. or until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

6. After the cake is, allow to rest in their tins forsome time and then cool them by keeping them on a cooling rack.

7. When the cake is cooled, slice it from the middle and divide into 2 parts. Sprinkle the Orange juice. Keep both parts seperate and leave them overnight.

Filling

Mix all the ingredients together and leave it overnight.

Frosting

Put Nutella in the microwave for 10-15 sec to make it smoother in consistancy, add orange extract and whip it to mix well.

 Assemble the cake

Spread the filling on the bottom portion of the cake and place the upper part on it. Press gently. Now spread the nutella frosting on the top and sides with a flat spoon or butter knife. You can sprinkle a little icing sugar or white chocolate chips on it.

Devour the yummy cake...;)

enjoy

A birthday and Pineapple Cake

 We celebrated the birthday of my mother in law this month. She is a perky and fun-loving person with a genuine smiling face. It is very easy to talk to her and she befriends you with her laughter charm. Given the special person she is, I wanted to make a cake really suited for her birthday.

Pineapples are in abundance here and they are as sweet as it can get. We've been feasting on ripe pineapples almost every day during the duration of their (my mother and father in law) stay. So this cake came out to be the perfect choice for this joyous occasion.

Pineapple layer cake
Make a 9" round cake (ref: here and here)
Note:
If you are using fresh pineapples then soak the slices in thin sugar syrup. This will prevent pineapple from turning bitter. Otherwise used tinned ones.
For the Sponge:
Ingredients:
250 gm (1 & 3/4 cups) plain flour
2 tbsp vanilla custard powder
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
100 gm (1/2 cup) butter
175 ml (3/4 cup)  milk (can use water instead)
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Method:
1. Grease and line the bottom of an  9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, custard powder or cornstarch, icing sugar,  baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon or a fork.
3. Preheat the oven at about 150 degrees centigrade.
4. Put in the condensed milk,  butter, vanilla extract and milk into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric hand mixer, whisk or spoon  until the mixture comes together and there are no lumps. It should not be overbeaten otherwise it'll cause the cake to be hard.
5. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 degree centigrade.
6. The cake is done when a knife comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake.
7. Cool the cake.
Cream icing
Ingredients
Whipping cream- 500ml chilled
Icing sugar- 4 tbsp
To Prepare the Cream:
1. Chill 2 Bowls in the Fridge. Chill the Beater/Whisk.
2. Divide the Whipping Cream in 2 Bowls. Add 2 Tablespoons of Sugar to each bowl along with the Cream.
3. Put one bowl back in the Fridge to Chill.
4. Beat the Whipping Cream, & the Sugar in one bowl till the cream is thick,  fluffy & forms peaks.
5. Repeat with the other bowl of cream.
To assemble the cake
1. Slice the sponge cake into 2 halves carefully
2. Keep the bottom half in the serving plate and sprinkle with pineapple juice till its well soaked.
3. Spread a layer of cream and top it with thin pineapple slices.
4. Very carefully keep the top portion on the prepared one and soak it again with pineapple juice.
5. Spread the cream over the cake to cover the sides and decorate with more pineapple slices.
6. Chill for a few hours or overnight for the flavors to set in.
 

Enjoy!!

Golden Yellow custard cake

A few months back I met a lovely person. Even though she is a little elder to me, I absolutely did not feel out of place with her. The casual and welcoming attitude, the helping nature, a positive outlook to everything and an understanding of mindset…What could I ask more in a friend?

So when her cute little daughter told me that her mom's birthday is coming soon, I started thinking of ideas to show my appreciation towards her. There is nothing better than making a cake for a birthday. Chocolate cake has become too common (no brainer!) and so I surfed my favorite sites for that perfect cake.

Anushruti of divinetaste,has some amazing eggless cake recipes. This is one of her b'day cakes.

I'm happy that my friend liked the cake so much, that she asked for the recipe.

This is for you Dee, Happy Birthday!!

GOLDEN YELLOW CAKE (adapted from the recipe here)

Ingredients

1. All purpose Flour (maida) - 2 cups
2. Granulated Sugar- 1 & 1/4 cups
3. Vanilla custard powder-1/2 cup
4. Milk-1 cup+ 1 Tbsp (if required)
5. Baking powder-2tsp
6. Baking soda- 1/2 tsp
7. Vanilla extract- 1tsp
8. Butter- 100gm (1/2 cup)

Method

1. Prepare a round cake pan by greasing and then dusting it lightly with flour.

2. Tap to remove excess flour from the pan.

3. Heat milk in a pan. Stir in the sugar and after it melts completely, set it aside to cool at room temperature.

4. After the milk reaches room temperature, pour it into a large mixing bowl, add custard powder and vanilla extract and mix well with a whisk. Put in the butter and mix again.

5. Heat the oven to 160⁰C or 325⁰F.

6. In a bowl, sieve the flour , baking powder, baking soda together for proper mixing. Alternatively you can put them together and mix well with a fork.

7. Add this flour mixture to the custard mixture and mix well so that no lumps remain. You can use a hand blender also. Add the flour mixture periodically. It'll make it easy to mix in the batter.

8. Put the prepared batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 55-60 min. or till a skewer comes out clean. I usually use toothpicks to check.

Perfect to bring smile on the face of your loved ones.

Choco strawberry cake- B'day special

Yesterday was my birthday. It was the first birthday after my marriage. So to make it special I decided to bake a homemade cake (hey! that rhymes). Thanks to Anushruti of divinetaste, my eggless cakes come out very nicely. This recipe is adapted from her recipe.

Ingredients
1. 160 gm strawberries
2. 2 cups maida/ white flour/all purpose flour
3. 1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar
4. 1 Tbsp coco powder (i used Cadbury's)
5. 1tsp cinnamon powder
6. 2 tsp baking powder
7. 1 tsp baking soda
8. 1/2 cup olive oil
9. 1/2 cup yogurt
10. 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
11. 1 cup milk

Method
1. Sift the white flour, baking powder, baking soda and coco powder together
2. In another deep bowl mix brown sugar, yogurt, oil and milk.
3. Pour half of dry ingredients in the wet ingredients and blend with a hand blender, Combine the rest of the half and again blend it. Alternatively keep sprinkling dry ingredients and mixing it with a long spoon.
4. Now stir in the vanilla extract, the chopped strawberries & the cinnamon powder.
5. Pre heat the oven at 150 degrees centigrade.
6. Pour the cake mix in previously prepared(greased and floured) pan.
7. Keep the pan in the oven and keep for about 50 min. or till a skewer comes out clean.

I also used her chocolate butter frosting recipe to decorate the cake.

Ingredients
1. 1/3 cup cocoa powder
2. 1/3 cup butter, softened
3. 2 cups icing sugar
4. 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
5. 1 to 2 tbsp hot water


Method
With the help of a hand mixer or a wire whisk, mix the cocoa and butter. Stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla and hot water. Beat until you get a smooth frosting which can be spread easily.

My frosting was a bit runny, I might have accidently put more water. I used up only half of the running chocolatey liquid. So, if you dont want to store anything, I suggest halving all the measures for the frosting.

Just to give a more berry-like touch, I decided to put in raspberry jam.
When the cake was cooled then I cut it into half and smeared the jam inside. After placing the top portion and pouring the frosting, the rough edges got covered. Not to mention that it tasted totally delicious!!

Tasty tip- Chill the cake after frosting and enjoy after a few hours.