Banana Walnut Choco Chip Cake

Though I bake everyday, it has been ages since I posted anything new on my blog. Last year saw lots of changes in my life and somehow I lost the drive to type and type and post. I had to close down my website due to maintenance issues. Got back to blogger platform. And then yesterday I received a message on fb messenger. Someone had bookmarked my website and naturally she could not find it anymore. She asked me if I was still baking. Yes, I am always baking but had somehow lost the will to post them. Her sweet words made me realise that there are people out there who love my recipes and are looking forward to them. It was a great lift-me-up. So now I am back to posting and I will really try to be regular about it.

Starting off the new year with a Banana cake. A rich one too!! And of course a yumm one!

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup choco chips

1 cup walnuts, roasted and pounded ( should resemble pebble shape)

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed

2/3 cup yogurt

1 tbsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Line and grease a loaf tin.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add the choco chips and pounded walnuts and mix well.

Beat together sugar and oil for 2 minutes. Add one egg at a time and keep beating well till the batter looks pale and fluffy. Add the mashed bananas and beat. Add the yogurt and vanilla essence and beat well again. Fold in the flour mix. Pour the batter into the loaf tin. Bake for 40 minutes.

Eggless Wholewheat Brownies

Life is a learning process. You learn something new everyday, every moment. No, this is not a philosophical moment I am having. A few days ago I came across a post about brownies. The brownies were nice but what was more interesting was the pan. It had a cutter that would cut the brownies into even shaped squares. Small neat little packets of fudginess. And I learnt that this is another innovation that is very helpful to bakers.
So started my hunt for this pan. And I found it on Amazon. A few days later I had it in my hands. Adequately named Perfect Brownie Pan it turned out to be purrfecttt!! You can adapt any brownie recipe. It easily bakes a 2 cup flour batter. It has a loose bottom. Then there is a cutter frame. And a stand on which you place the pan to pop out the loose bottom. Cut the brownies while they are warm and you have nice square brownies.


Ingredients

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (atta)
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup castor sugar
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup milk
1 cup Greek yogurt
¼ tsp baking soda
¼  cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Sift together the atta, cocoa powder and baking powder. Keep aside.
Beat together soft butter and castor sugar. Whisk together yogurt and baking soda and add to the mix. Now add atta and milk alternately, mixing well after each addition. Start with 1/3 flour, then ½ milk, 1/3 flour, ½ milk and finally the last 1/3 flour. Spread the batter in the pan. Tap the pan a few times. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Wholewheat Zucchini Chocolate Cake

Wholewheat Zucchini Chocolate Cake

What do you do when you have lots of Zucchini and it is not a vegetable that you have ever cooked? It is not a vegetable common to the Indian cuisine. 

Courtesy programmes like Masterchef and Kitchen Rules global cuisine is no longer an uncharted territory. We get to see dishes made of stuff like Kale, Quail, Quinoa, Sumac, Brussel Sprouts and so on. It is extremely entertaining and informative to get to know about such varied food.

Staying in such cold climes as Leh has its own benefits. This kind of temperature is conducive for the growth of many fruits and vegetables that are not easily available in the plains. So I ended up with a basket full of zucchini. I surfed the internet looking for some good recipes to incorporate this vegetable. As usual the first thing that caught my attention was how easily it can be incorporated into cakes, cupcakes and muffins.

This cake recipe is from simplyrecipes.com. However I have made a few changes to suit my requirement.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 ½  tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon powder

½ cup butter

½ cup oil

1 cup castor sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tsp dried candied orange peels

3 cups coarsely grated zucchini

1 cup cashew nuts, chopped

½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, cinnamon powder and baking powder.

Put the grated zucchini to drain in a colander.

Beat the butter and oil till well mixed. Add the two sugars and beat well till smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the candied orange peels, zucchini and vanilla essence. Mix well.

Add the flour and milk alternately. Add the chopped cashews before adding the last batch of flour. Pour the batter into a bundt tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. however as the temperature setting in each oven varies you must check the cake after an hour and further bake accordingly.

Black and White Banana Loaf

Black and White Banana Loaf

Recipe source : Dorie Greenspan

I am going bananas again!!

I have lots of bananas lying in my pantry getting darker by the day. i have a whole range of food planned to take care of the bananas. The planning takes a long time to reach the execution stage. 

But today I finally made this Black and white banana loaf and it turned out awesommmee!!

The bananas are first mushed and then mixed with rum and lemon juice. It is then left for some time as the banana imbibes the two flavours. The nutmeg also has a very distinct taste in the cake. All in all an amazing recipe from Dorie Greenspan!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp nutmeg powder

½ tsp salt

2 ripe bananas

Squirt of fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp dark rum

3 oz/85 gms dark chocolate, chopped

110 gms + 2 tbsp butter

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease a loaf tin.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg powder.

Mash the bananas and mix with lemon juice and rum. Keep aside for some time. 

Melt the chocolate and 2 tbsp butter on a double boiler. Beat the 110 gms butter till smooth. Add the two sugars and beat till pale and glossy. Add the essence and mashed bananas and mix well. 

Add half the flour mix and then the milk. Now fold in the rest of the flour. 

The batter will look a bit curdled but it is fine. 

Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is ready.

Cocoa-Nana Bread

Cocoa-Nana Bread

Recipe source : Dorie Greenspan

This is an awesome cake. Since it is baked in a loaf tin you can call it a bread. The nomenclature doesn’t really matter because this is a super awesome dark as sin chocolaty cake.

 It is literally dark as sin, black as charcoal, midnight black!! You get the idea. In fact it was so dark in color that I had difficulty clicking a good picture. Honestly speaking the pictures do not do justice to the cake. It is tight yet crumbly. The top is cracked and creviced. The bread is soft and delicious.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

100 gms butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

¾ cup buttermilk

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line and grease a 9” loaf tin.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Beat the butter till soft. Add the two sugars and beat again. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. 

Mix in the mashed bananas. 

Fold in the dry ingredients in three batches. 

Add the buttermilk till it is well incorporated. 

Now add the chopped chocolate.  

Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes. Cover the top with a foil and bake another 40 minutes. Total baking time is 70-75 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is done. 

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Recipe source: bbcgoodfood

I was in the mood of making some very fancy looking cake with whatever ingredients I had at hand. Fresh fruits gateaux have long been on my list but lack of fresh kiwis, strawberries, cranberries etc have been a deterrent. 

What I do have is lots of chocolate compound. So it had to be a chocolate based cake.  I have used this chiffon cake with salted caramel recipe from bbcgoodfood. I had seen this chocolate crown decoration on youtube once and decided to give it a go.

The cake turned out to be a beauty. I couldn’t stop clicking pictures. The main discussion was whether the chocolate decoration was a crown or a jungle!!And I really had no heart to cut and eat it. But then that is what cakes are for. To be eaten and enjoyed!!

Ingredients

For the chiffon cake

125 ml oil

7 large eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla essence

375 gm castor sugar

300 gm flour

1 tsp soda bicarb/baking soda

50 gm cocoa powder

200 ml water

For the salted caramel

250 gm brown sugar

150 ml double cream

½ tsp salt

For frosting

200 ml whipping cream

For the chocolate crown

250 gm cooking chocolate

Line and grease two 9” cake tins.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, sugar, essence and 200 ml water. Add the cocoa powder and blend well.

Sift together the flour and baking soda. Fold into the liquid batter.

Whisk the egg whites till soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter. 

Be careful not to beat the air pockets out.

Divide the batter into two tins and bake for 1 hour. 

if required you can put a foil on top of the cake after about 40 minutes to prevent the top from burning.

Once the cakes are baked take them out and cool them.

Make the salted caramel. Mix together the cream, salt and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Switch off flame after few minutes and cool the caramel. Whip the whipping cream and caramel to stiff peaks.

Slice the cakes into two halves. Spread the whip cream on the cake layers and stack them up. 

Spread the frosting all over the cake and smoothen. 

Keep in the fridge till you prepare the chocolate crown.

Chop the cooking chocolate and melt in a double boiler. Whisk it well till it has a glossy shine. 

Pour into a disposable piping bag. 

Take a piece of parchment paper and measure it around the circumference of the cake. Be sure to have an exact measurement. There should be no overlap. 

The length of the paper should be exactly as the circumference of the cake. You can adjust the height of the paper as per your wish. Here I have kept it quite tall! 

Spread the paper on a flat surface. Snip off the end of the piping bag and start drizzling the melted chocolate on the paper in a random manner. Make 2-3 layers of these squiggles.

 Leave it for a few minutes. The chocolate will start to harden. Gently lift the paper and wrap it around the cake.

 The chocolate side should be towards the cake. Gently press the paper to the cake so that the chocolate sticks to the cream. Leave the paper till the chocolate hardens completely. Now carefully peel away the paper leaving the chocolate crown behind. 

Feather Cake

Feather Cake

I love the name!! Feather Cake!!

The very name made me visualize a cake as soft and fluffy as feather, as delicate as the name suggests. And I was not disappointed. There is no baking powder or baking soda in the recipe and I was wondering how can a cake be as light as feather without the help of any rising agent. The magic is the stiffly beaten egg whites. They are what makes the cake rise.

The cake, when it was baked, was a beautiful sight to behold. The outer crust was golden and inside it was white and spongy. You could actually see the air pockets that made the cake so feathery. Amazzinnngg!!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup cold water

½ tsp vanilla essence

6 eggs, white and yolk separated

¾ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Beat the yolks till thick. 

Add cold water and beat some more. 

Now gradually add the sugar beating well after each addition. Add the essence. 

Now fold in the flour adding 2-3 tbsp at a time. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar till stiff. Fold gently into batter. If you beat at this stage the egg whites will lose their shape. 

Bake in a bundt cake tin for 55-60 minutes.

Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake

Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake

Recipe Source : tasteofhome.com

I love upside down cakes, be it pineapple, apple, peach or pear. It is a great way to incorporate fruits into the cakes. Also the juices from the fruits soak into the cake while baking and they give the cake a unique flavour.

I have adapted the recipe from tasteofhome.com. However I have made certain changes. The original recipe called for molasses which I have replaced with jam. I have used Apricot jam but you can use any flavour you want. Also I have increased the quantity of eggs. And I have used warm milk instead of warm water.

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter, melted

 ½ cup roasted cashews, chopped

¼ cup brown sugar

2 large pears, peeled and sliced

½ cup butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup jam

1 ½ cups flour

¾ tsp ginger powder

¾ tsp cinnamon powder

½ tsp baking powder

½ cup warm milk

Pour melted butter in a 9” cake tin. Sprinkle nuts and brown sugar. Heat a little till the brown sugar starts melting. Arrange the pear slices on top.

Make the batter

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. 

Add eggs and jam. Beat well. 

Combine flour, ginger powder, cinnamon powder and baking powder. Add flour mix and warm milk alternately. 

Spread over pears. 

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees and bake for 40-50 minutes.