Colorful Cake

On the occasion of Holi, I thought of baking something fun and colorful. I wanted to bake a rainbow cake, but since I don't like using artificial colors, I thought of doing something lighter. Also, I have read that food color changes the taste of the food. Since this was the first time I using food color, I just used a few drops to give it a hint of color.
This is something I wanted to try so I did. Now, it's behind me.
I used a basic vanilla cake recipe and divided it into four bowls. Added a few drops of Wilton's gel color and gave it a gentle stir making sure that  I do not over beat the batter. Since I have only two 8" cake pans, I baked two at a time. Each batch was baked about 9 minutes. By the time I was done baking and preparing dinner, I was ready to call it a day.  I asked my boys if they would eat the cake without the icing.... and my spoiled brats refused! They were willing to wait a day or two till I ice the cake.
So, I wrapped each layer in plastic wrap and froze it until I was ready.
When I was finally in a better cooking mood, I prepared vanilla cream cheese icing and I was ready to finish this cake.
I just let the layers thaw for a few minutes and spread thinned out Strawberry jelly and the icing between the layers and the outside also. I was too lazy to do a crumb coat and a final coat so I just let the crumbs show.

Happy Holi!!

Baked Mango Semolina Halwa

My friend, Anchal, shared some very good news with me yesterday over the phone. It was something that her little heart has desired for all the years that I have known her. Because it was a very big thing for her, I did not want to congratulate her with just a hug. It was a special moment that called for something sweet.

I decided to bake her a Mango cake. Since the recipe called for semolina (sooji),  I wasn't too sure if the texture will be cakey or halwaey (if there is a word like that). I was a little nervous because this was the first time I was baking something sweet with sooji. I have baked savory delicacies in the past, but never anything sweet. I was constantly peeping through the oven window making sure it was going in the right direction.

Well, here it goes...

You will need:
1. Sooji/semolina         1 cup(I had the coarse kind at home so I used that. You do not need to roast it)
2. Mango pulp              1 cup (I used the ready made kind from the Indian store)
3. Sugar                        1/2 cup
4. Butter (melted)         1/2 stick / 4 tablespoons
5. Baking powder         1 teaspoon
6. Vanilla essence         1 teaspoon.
You can add cardamom powder and nuts to give it an Indian flavor.

The procedure is very simple. You do not need any fancy shmancy gadgets. Just a bowl and a spoon.

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch baking pan.

Gently mix the semonlina, sugar, butter, baking powder and vanilla essence in a bowl. When every think is well incorporated, add the mango pulp and mix.

Let this stand for 10 minutes. If the batter is very thin, let it sit for 20 minutes.

Pour in the baking tray and bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check if the cake is done. Do not over bake this cake, or else you will lose the bright yellow colored top. It will turn brown.

Let it cool and cut in any desired shape. I sliced half as a pie and the remaining half into small pieces.

The halwa/cake was delicious. It tasted good both warm and cold. It had a strong mango flavor. I think the sugar could be reduced because the mango pulp is already sweetened. But then, I don't have a sweet tooth to begin with.

Anchal and her family loved it! That's what matters in the end because this cake was for them.

Once again, Congratulations Mishras! Here's wishing you both much more happiness and success!

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Remember, in this post I had mentioned about the Chocolate cake that I had baked for the kids at the party? This is what it looked like. 

It was an eggless cake, the recipe of which was loosely adapted from here. I baked two 8"inch cakes and sliced each horizontally into two layers and filled freshly whipped cream, chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries (cubed) between the layers.

Even this cake was extremely moist and delicious like  the Eggless Pineapple Cake. It was devoured by one and all at the party. Both Viren and I did not get a chance to taste it, but the expressions on the kids' faces said it all. Everyone was enjoying it so much and I was receiving so many compliments from my lovely friends that it did not occur to me that I should taste it too. I was so much in the moment. It was unbelievable to me that it was my first attempt and it had turned out so well. My boys were very proud that their Mom had made something that was liked so much by their friends.

The party was on Saturday and the Friday before that all I did was baked all evening. I first baked the sponge for the pineapple cake. Then came the chocolate cake. It was beautifully iced, except I made one mistake. I did not slice each cake. I just put the filling on one cake and topped it with the other and iced it.

I was a little skeptical about it and then when Viren came home he confirmed it. We both thought that the cake will over power the filling. So, I baked one more cake and made it a four layer cake instead of two. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the four layers. You can see what two layers looked like.

This was the first Chocolate cake that I had iced so I was in love with it.

Eggless Pineapple Cake

My friend, Anchal, had hosted a potluck dinner to celebrate our friends Priyanka and Pradeep's wedding anniversary. I chose to bake my Eggless Pineapple Cake that Priyanka loves. The first time she tasted the cake, she said that she is not a cake person, but devoured this one. So, I thought why not bake it for her on her special day? Then it struck to me that a Pineapple cake might not go too well with kids so I decided to make a Chocolate Cake which I will write about in another post.

Meanwhile, enjoy some clicks of the first cake I baked for a gathering. I was extremely proud of myself, so were my kids and hubby. The cake was amazingly moist and tasted delicious!

It reminded me of Biba Aunty, our bestest neighbor in India and my Mom's very good friend. My Mom did bake cakes, but never frosted them. So, at that time Biba Aunty was a Master Chef to me. She was the first one to introduce me to homemade whipped cream frosting. At that point in time I was not at all tempted to give it a shot because all I remember from Mom and her discussions was that it was a tedious process. She manually whisked the cream over a bowl of ice. I whisked it with my electric beaters and was exhausted.... I can imagine her pain. Thank you Biba Aunty for always fulfilling our requests with a smile! This one is for you!

The cake was my basic Eggless Sponge Cake. It was a two layered cake filled with freshly whipped cream and pineapple tit bits. I then iced the cake with whipped cream and decorated it with pineapple rings and raspberries. I love the contrast of the yellow pineapple rings and red raspberries on the white icing.

Linking to Healthy Diet Event.

Oranges!

I have an over load of oranges at home because Shiv wanted the 'cuties' and Ishaan wanted the navel oranges. My fruit basket was over flowing with other fruits so I had to come up with a better way of storing all the oranges. I kept them in my candle holders which makes such a lovely center piece for my dining table. I wish I had some greenery to add to the hurricanes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ishaan is a big cookie monster! If there is a box of chocolate chip cookies from Costco, he can polish it off in a matter of two days. His love for chocolate chip cookies made me look high and low for a recipe that is easy enough for a novice baker like me and requires minimum ingredients. The main reason being I did not like the long list of nasty ingredients in store bought cookies. My stomach hurt when I saw him gobbling down the so called cookie that contained few ingredients that I could recognize or carry in my pantry, and more chemicals.

Finally, after an extended search I found one recipe that I really liked. It appealed to me right away.

Recipe adapted from: Annies-eats

Ingredients:
1. APF: 2 cups plus 2 Tbsps
2.Baking soda: 1/2 Tsp.
3. Salt: 1/2 Tsp (less if you use salted butter)
4. Unsalted butter: 12 Tbsps (melted and cooled down until warm. Do not rush this step. Make sure that the butter has cooled down or else your cookies will spread and be more pancake like.)
5. Brown Sugar: 1 cup packed
6. Sugar: 1/2 cup
7. Egg: 1 large plus 1 yolk
8. Vanilla extract: 2 Tsps
9. Chocolate Chip cookies: 1 cup (The original recipe calls for 1& 1/2 cups)

All you do is:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. I was out of parchment paper so I greased the cookie sheets with oil.

2. Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

3. Mix the sugars and set aside. 

4. Add the melted butter and beat with hand or electric mixer until combined. Add vanilla extract, egg and egg yolk and beat again. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Add the chocolate chips to this and mix. 

5. Roll a small ball and place on a cookie sheet leaving some space between the cookie balls. Bake reversing the cookie sheets half way through baking for 16 -18 mins until the cookies are light brown in color and the edges have hardened. The original recipe calls for 11-14 mins, but mine took longer.

6. Cool cookies on the sheet until able to lift and then let it cool on a cooling rack. We did not have to wait for that. The boys attacked them as soon as they were cool enough to hold.


 The best quality of the recipe is that it is very forgiving.
1.The first time I made these, I mixed the sugars with the dry ingredients instead of butter. I also forgot to add the extra 2 tbsps. of flour.
2.The second time I made these, I added the chocolate chips in the dry ingredients before getting the dough together.
3.I never stock unsalted butter in my home except when I have to make ghee. So, though the recipe calls for unsalted butter, I have used salted butter and reduced the quantity of salt.

Both times the cookies came out excellent. In fact, when I asked Shiv how it was, he said, "AMAZING in upper case." I thought that was very cute. My cookie monster of course devours these!! Hubby thinks they are a little buttery, but hey its butter that holds the dough together... if I decrease it, the cookies will be dry and crumbly.

So what  are you waiting for? Go ahead and enjoy these warm cookies fresh out of the oven with a glass of milk. mm mm mmmmm!

This dough freezes very well also. I rolled small balls and froze them in a muffin pan. Once they were frozen, I stored them in a freezer safe container. I have noticed that the baking time increases to 22-23 minutes for frozen dough.


Linking to Vegetarian Tastebuds.

Vegetarian Stuffed Tomatoes

I was looking for a healthy, vegetarian appetizer/starter that looked tempting and colorful. I found a lot of recipes of vegetarian stuffed tomatoes, but most had some or the other cheese.

So, I thought and I thought (scary) and it finally occured to me... why don't I deconstruct a veggie chutney sandwich and stuff it in the tomatoes. So, fully excited I got to work. I was sure the tomatoes will taste good!

All I did was
1. Sliced off the stem. Scooped the center and invert them on a cooling rack allowing the liquid to drain out. Like so

 2. In a food processor, I pulsed the ingredients of a basic green chutney minus water. I added a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, a clove of garlic, 2-3 green chillies, salt, lemon juice, chat masala and cumin powder. Once everything was finely chopped, I added two slices of whole wheat bread and pulsed it again. I took this out in a bowl and added chopped onions and cucumber to this. Other vegetables that can be added to this are boiled potatoes, shredded carrots, beets, corn, etc. 

3. That's it. My stuffing was ready. All I did then was stuffed this in the tomatoes and enjoyed the healthy pre lunch snack.