Eggless Caramel Cake

Eggless Caramel Cake

I have, since long, wanted to bake a caramel cake. I had many recipes handy. I would drool over the beautiful pictures of the cake. However the idea of making caramel was a little daunting. 
Turns out I was wrong. Making caramel was a cakewalk. What was difficult was stopping myself from licking the bowl clean. The flavour reminded me of certain toffees I used to have in childhood and I simply couldn’t stop myself from licking my fingers. 
The second most difficult thing was cutting the cake. I know I am not a professional baker but this cake turned out so beautiful, at least by my standards, that I had a hard time allowing anyone to eat it. 
The eggless cake turned out all soft and fluffy. Overall this was one baking experiment I was totally happy with. 

Ingredients

For the cake
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup butter
½ cup oil
½ cup curd+ ½ tsp baking soda
½ tin milkmaid
1 cup milk
5 tbsp caramel sauce 9 ( the recipe for caramel sauce is also given below)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Beat the sugar, butter, oil and vanilla essence well. It should become light and frothy. 
Add the curd to which ½ tsp baking soda has been mixed. Mix well. Add the milkmaid and caramel sauce and beat well. 
Sift together flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Now mix the flour and milk alternately, starting with flour and ending with the flour. The flour will be added in three batches and the milk in two batches.

Grease a 8” cake tin. Pour the batter in the cake tin and bake 30-50 minutes. 

For the caramel sauce
1 cup granulated white sugar
5 tbsp butter
½ cup cream

Put the sugar in a pan and put it on medium heat. Once the sugar starts caramelizing then add the butter. Keep on low flame and cook till the sugar melts. Do not stir. Take off the heat and add the cream and mix well till no lumps remain. 
Do not worry if you are still left with lumps. Put it back on low heat and cook. Keep stirring all the while and soon any lumps remaining will dissolve and the sauce will thicken. 


For the caramel frosting
1 cup whiling cream
½ cup caramel sauce

Whip the cream till soft peaks form. Add the caramel sauce and whip more. 

Your caramel frosting is ready. 

To assemble the cake

Once the cake is cool slice it in half. 

Spread a generous amount of icing on one half and put the other half on top. 

Cover the top and sides of the cake with frosting. 

Drizzle a bit of caramel sauce on the cake for decoration. 

Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Ganache

This is my favorite kind of frosting. First because it is the easiest to make. Secondly because its chocolate and I end up licking the mixing jar..:) You can simply smother it on the cake and add some sprinkles. You can dip cupcakes in the ganache. You can dip fresh fruits, shortbreads, cookies etc to enhance the flavor.

The amount specified here is good enough to cover a 8 inch cake completely.

Ingredients

220 gm dark chocolate

1 cup cream

4 tbsp butter

 Chop the chocolate into very small pieces. I prefer grating it. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler. 

Alternatively you can melt it in the microwave. First micro it for 1 minute. You will see that the butter has almost melted.. Then put it in for another minute. It will be half melted. Take a spoon and mix vigorously. If there are still some lumps left you can put it in for 30 seconds. While melting chocolate in the microwave you have to be very careful as it can burn easily.

Another important thing while melting chocolate, either in a double boiler or microwave, is that water is chocolate’s worst enemy.

Once the chocolate has melted mix in the cream. Mix well so that it is smooth and glossy. 

Your ganache is ready to be used on the cakes. 

Buttercream Icing

Buttercream Icing

The amount specified in this recipe should be enough to sandwich two layers of cake and also use on the outside of the cake. You can adjust the measurements as per your requirement. 

Ingredients

5 cups icing sugar
1 cup butter
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Using a hand blender beat the butter well. Slowly add the sugar and beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla. if the icing seems too hard you can add milk. 

Guilt free Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Almond Praline

Guilt free Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Almond Praline

Recipe Source: Rose Levy Beranbum’s Cake Bible

One must- have book on baking is Rose Levy Beranbum’s Cake Bible. It is a treasure trove of amazing recipes, helpful hints and a baker’s secrets. This recipe is from that book.

For the Cake

½ cup+2 tbsp Hershey’s Cocoa powder

¾ cup boiling water

1 ¾ cups flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

6 tbsp Walnut oil ( I, unfortunately, did not have walnut oil and so I used normal vegetable oil)

2 tbsp Saffloweroil (I had no clue what this is and so I omitted this ingredient)

6 large eggs, separated

4 egg whites ( apart from the 6 egg whites you already have after seaparating the whites and yolks. So a total of 10 egg whites)

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 ¼ tsp cream of tartar (This is used to keep the egg whites stiff. If you don’t have this you can use 1 tsp white vinegar)

For the Buttercream Frosting

100 gm butter

150 gm icing sugar1 tsp vanilla essence

 Few drops milk if required

For the Almond Praline

1 cup sugar

1 cup Almonds with their skins

To prepare the cake

Preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius. Boil the water and add to the cocoa powder. Mix well so that no lumps remain. Now leave it to cool.

Grease a tube pan.

Sieve together flour, baking powder and salt. Keep 2 tbsp sugar apart and mix the rest to the flour. 

Now make a well in the centre and add egg yolks, oils, chocolate mixture and vanilla essence and beat well for about a minute.

In a separate bowl add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and whisk well till peaks form.

 Be careful not to overbeat them otherwise the egg whites will curdle and will not incorporate into the batter properly. Add the remaining 2 tbsp sugar and beat a little more.

Now you have to mix with a balloon whisk. Take a few tablespoons of beaten egg whites at a time and slowly fold into the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the greased tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to remove any air pockets. Bake for about 60 minutes.

Invert the pan upside down on a bottle and cool it completely.

To prepare the frosting

Beat the butter well till it is pale and frothy. Now add the sugar using a tablespoon. Keep beating. If the frosting seems too dry then you may use a drop or two of milk. Add the vanilla essence. Keep beating till the frosting is smooth.

To prepare the praline

Place the sugar in a pan and scatter the almonds over it. 

Then put the pan on medium heat to allow the sugar to melt. Do not try to mix or stir the sugar. You can swirl the pan around very gently so that the almonds are well coated. The sugar will start bubbling and will get a caramelized look. 

Turn off the heat and tip the whole thing onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave it like that till it is completely cool. Do not try to touch it because caramelized sugar is very very hot. 

Once it is cool break it into pieces and whiz in a mixture. Your praline is ready.

Frosting the cake

Using a spatula cover the cake with frosting. Then sprinkle praline all over the frosting.

Devil's Food Cake

Devil’s Food Cake

It is indeed a devilish cake. It tempts you with its silky decadence. 

It beckons with its layers of dark chocolate. 

You just want to dip your fingers into the chocolate frosting and lick the bowl clean….and you are really unhappy when you finish the last bit of cake…..till you make the next one…

For the cake

1 ½ cups flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup cocoa powder

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup boiling water

110 gm butter

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

For the frosting

312 gms dark chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp brown sugar

150 gms butter

½ cup water

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Mix cocoa powder and brown sugar and add the boiling water. Mix well till the sugar dissolves.

Sieve together flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Beat butter and sugar till frothy and pale. 

Beat in one egg and then a large spoonful of flour. Add the other egg then another batch of flour. Fold in the remaining flour. 

Stir in the cocoa mix. Pour the batter in a greased cake tin and bake for 30 minutes.

For the frosting

Mix together water, sugar and butter. Bring to a boil and add the chopped chocolate. Mix well till the chocolate melts. 

The frosting will be runny at this stage. Put it in the fridge for some time till it thickens.

Assembling the cake

Cut the cake in half. Layer with chocolate frosting. Cover the top and sides with the chocolate frosting.