Chocolate Cake With Fudge Icing (Eggless)

This is my last minute entry for Suma's event - Bake-o-mania. I had made it for New Year. The fudge icing transformed this simple cake into a delicious and sinful treat. The reason I chose to cover it with fudge icing was the lack of time. I did not want to sit and spend time smoothing the icing. I am glad to have made the choice.We enjoyed some slices of it with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Doesn't that sound tempting!

This cake also find its way to my event 'Winter Warmers' and Champa's Bake Off.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup AP flour.

½ cup condensed milk.
¼ cup butter,
2 tbsp cocoa powder.
3/4 tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
80 ml soda water
½ tsp vanilla essence.

For the fudge icing and decoration:

50 g milk chocolate.
1 cup icing sugar.
3 tbsp butter.
1/4 cup milk.
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Process:
1. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes.

2. Grease a sandwich tin and dust it with flour. In a mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients together and mix. Sieve it so that the mixture in uniform and there are no lumps in it.

3. In another bowl add the soft butter and beat in the condensed milk. Stir well for two minutes. Add the vanilla essence and beat nicely for 2 minutes till everything is evenly mixed.

4. Now add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, slowly and keep rotating to form a batter. Add the soda water and mix for another couple of minutes.

5. Pour it in a pre greased tin and bake it in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes at 180 C till nicely raised and a skewer pricked in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

6.  Cool it completely on a wire rack. While it is cooling prepare the fudge icing. For that chop the chocolate into small pieces. Pour all the ingredients into a heat proof bowl and place it over a pan containing boiling water. Stir the ingredients as it melts.

7. Take it off gas once nicely melted and beat well. Wait till it cools a bit and reaches the right consistency.

8. Once the cake is cooled completely cover it with freshly prepared fudge icing and decorate it with chocolate gems.

Enjoy! Have a nice weekend!

Mango Choco Chip Tea Loaf

I had baked this cake around 3 weeks back. It happened when, I was cleaning and reshuffling my kitchen shelves when I spotted a can of mango slices sitting at one corner. I had bought it long back from Tesco and it was till to be used.

Long back I had bookmarked this recipe from Madhuram's site. She had made it from here. I thought of using my long desolated mango slices can for it. However, I didnot want it to be overly mango-ey. So, I decided to add some chocolate chips to it. The original recipe was vegan but mine is not as the chocolate chips I used are not vegan. Otherwise, it a nearly vegan cake! I drained the syrup form the can and churned the slices into a smooth puree. It measured 1 cup which was half a cup less than stated in the original recipe. I also added half a tsp of baking soda for leavening. I reduced the amount of sugar as the mango puree was already very sweet. I baked it for extra 4-5 minutes to get a nice golden crust. It just looked and smelled awesome when out of oven.

This Tea Loaf makes its way to Champa's Bake-Off, Suma's Blog Anniversary Event-Bakomania and to Sameena's Cookies n Cake for X mas Event.

P.S: Don't forget to check out what Suma's giveaway for the event!

Mango Choco Chip Tea Loaf:

Ingredients:

1½ cup AP Flour.
1½ tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
¼ tsp salt.
⅓ cup sunflower oil.
1 cup mango puree.
1 tsp vanilla essence.
¼ cup chocolate chips.
⅔ cup - 2 tbsp sugar.

Process:

1. Grease a 1 lb loaf pan and dust it with flour. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes.

2. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.

3. Add mango puree, oil, vanilla essence in the dry ingredients mixture and mix gently to get a uniform batter. Add in the chocolate chips and fold it in the batter.

4. Pour the batter into the greased tin and bake for about 35- 40 minutes till done.

5. Cool it on a wire rack for 10 minutes before taking it out of the tin. Cool it completely before slicing.
 Serve cold ot warm with a cup of tea!

Enjoy!

1st Blog Anniversary with Black Forest Cake!

It is exactly one year today since I started this blog 'The Veggie Hut'. I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to all my readers and blogosphere friends for their support and encouragement throughout the year. That is the reason I have reached this milestone today. Thanks a ton friends!

During this journey of a year, I have known so many food enthusiasts from around the globe, have experimented and tried my hands on new recipes, have made some blogosphere buddies and lots more. In a nut shell, it has been a enriching experience and a win-win decision to start this blog!

On this special occassion, I would like to share the recipe of 'Black Forest Cake'. I am sharing it from my drafts as I had saved it for this day :-).

I have refered this recipe from Nita Mehta's Book and I am satisfied with the results. Lets check the recipe now. First we have to prepare a ‘Rich Eggless Chocolate Cake’. We will need:

Ingredients:

½ tin condensed milk.
½ cup milk.
1 cup flour.
¼ cup powdered sugar.
¼ cup cocoa powder.
½ cup oil.
1 tsp baking powder.
½ tsp soda bicarbonate.
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Process:

1. Grease a swiss roll baking tin and dust it nicely with flour. Preheat the oven at 175 C for 10-15 minutes.

2. Sieve flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda bi-carb together. Keep aside.

3. Beat oil, sugar and essence till well mixed. Add condensed milk and milk. Beat well till well incorporated.

4. To this mixture add flour mixture in 2-3 batches, mixing well all the time. Beat well for 4-5 minutes till the mixture is light and fluffy and of a soft dropping consistency. Add a few spoons of milk if needed.

5. Transfer the cake mixture to the prepare tin. Level it.

6. Bake it at 175 C for 15-20 minutes. If the same cake is prepared in a small square or round tin it will take around 35-40 minutes to bake it.

7. Insert a clean knife in the middle of the cake to check if it is done. If it comes out clean, switch off the oven and take the cake out. Remove from tin after 10-15 minutes, by inverting on the wire rack.

I was in a hurry to take it out of the tin. I didnot wait for more than 5 minutes.. Thats evident from the picture!

For the black forest cake we will need.

1 chocolate cake (From above)
150 gm glazed cherries.
1 tbsp rum (Gives the flavour, I encourage to use it or use rum essence).
2-3 tbsp sugar.
¼ cup water.
50 gm dark chocolate flakes.

Cream Icing:

250 gm double cream- chilled.
4 tbsp sugar or to taste.

Process:

1. Cut the sheet of chocolate cake into 2 equal halves. Slice off thin slices from the sides. Place one half upside down on a flat plate.

2. Beat cream with sugar till the cream is thick and stands soft peaks. Keep it in the freeze till needed.

3. Dissolve sugar in water with rum. Thinly slice the cherries keeping aside 5-6 for decoration.

4. When the cake is completely cooled down, brush the sugar and rum syrup generously over the cake. The cake will soak it and will be moist. Spread a layer of cream over it evenly. Now spread a thin layer of sliced cherries.

5. Place the other half of the cake. Brush with syrup generously. Cover the whole of the cake with cream icing evenly.

6. Cover the cake sides with chocolate flakes. Decorate the top with chocolate flakes and cherries as desired.

7. Keep the cake in the freeze and take it out 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Sending it off to Champa's Bake Off!

Eggless Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I had a few pineapple slices in my refrigerator and my hands were itching to bake something. So, I decided upon this cake. I have baked this cake many times now but never got to post it in this space. I used soft dark brown sugar here for the glaze. However, it can be replaced by plain granulated sugar if liked.
Needless to say, it tasted delicious and was over in no time.

Vegan Banana and Gingerbread Slices

I love reading books. I read a variety of them, from novels to short stories and most recently cookbooks! Ever since I have developed an interest for cooking, I always browse the cookery section of the library on my frequent visits. It just happened that I came across a low fat baking book and I brought it home. It is a nice book with a huge collection and has pictures for all the baking recipes. I have tried this particular cake from the book- 'The Ultimate Low Fat Baking Cookbook' edited by Linda Fraser. I have made a lot of variation to make it eggless. I made this cake for our 'Girl's Get Together' which was at one of my friend's place. While baking it I kept it in oven for about 42 mins and the top of the cake turned slightly more brown and hard. I should have taken it out 5 minutes early. Still, the taste was great. The flavour of this cake develops as it keeps, so if you can store it for 2-3 days before eating.

Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake

I had bookmarked a recipe for Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake from Madhuram's site. I did some variation from the recipe given on her site, so it is not vegan anymore. First time, I had prepared this cake for our girl's get together. I was very apprehensive about using banana then. My hubby didnot like the idea much, so I told him that this cake was not for him and he gave me a nasty look. Still, I baked the cake and my house was filled with the smell of baked bananas. I thought it was a flop and didnot even dare to taste it. Next day, I tasted it and believe me, it was delicious!! After, cooling down, the smell of banana had vanished. It was a great hit with my friends too but sadly I couldnot save a peice for my hubby!
My hubby had not been a chocolate cake fan, but after I had baked one for Valentine's Day,  he had been asking me for another. So, I baked this Chocolate Banana Cake yesterday and we had this with vanilla iceream. He ate it with delight and guess what? Till now I havenot told him that it has bananas in it.

Valentine Day Special Eggless Chocolate Gateau and Some Awards!

February has been a very lucky month for my blog. I have been showered with lovely awards from my fellow bloggers. I am very glad and thank ful to them. Thanks a ton for remembering me and encouraging me through these awards. It means a lot to me.

Priya on acheiving the milestone of 200th post passed an award to her fellow bloggers. Thanks a lot Priya for making my  day.                                 

     

Nithu also shared this award and another award with me.

                                                                            

Thanks Nithu for these lovely awards.

Renuka has shared a bunch of awards with me. Thanks a lot for your kind gesture.

                                            

                         

                                                                        

I would like to share these with all my blogger friends! Please accept them.

Coming back to the recipe I am sharing here. It is the cake I made this Valentine's day!

'Chocolate' is a word that brings a plethora of feelings, tastes and pleasures. A peice of chocolate that lands on our tongues, melts slowly into a rich and creamy taste and soothes and tantalize our tastebuds. Me and my husband, both are chocolate lovers. A peice of chocolate is a must after every meal. It is a stuff of mood lifting happiness. But when it comes to cake he always wishes to have a plain vanilla cake with cream icing and cherries. After having made it for several occassions now and most recently on new year, I wanted to make a chocolate cake. Gladly, my husband agreed and I made this cake.

 

Eggless Chocolate Gateau:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup AP flour.
½ cup condensed milk.
¼ cup margarine.
1 tbsp chocolate powder.
2 tbsp cocoa powder.
½ tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
¼ cup milk.
¼ cup aerated drink.
½ tsp vanilla essence.

This measurement is for one sandwich cake.We need two sandwich cakes for this gateau so just twice this measurement.

A little extra margarine and flour for greasing and dusting the pan.

Icing:

250 ml fresh cream.
1 tbsp cocoa powder.
½ cup icing sugar.
10-12 glazed cherries cut in halves.

Sugar syrup:

1 tbsp sugar.
2-3 tbsp water.

Process:

Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes. Grease a sandwich tin and dust it with flour. In a mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients together and mix. Sieve it so that the mixture in uniform and there are no lumps in it.

In another bowl add the melted margarine and beat in the condensed milk. Stir well for two minutes. Add the vanilla essence and milk and beat nicely for 2 minutes till everything is evenly mixed. Now add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, slowly and keep rotating to form a batter. Add the aerated drink and mix for another couple of minutes. Pour it in a pre greased tin and bake it in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes at 180 C till nicely raised and a skewer pricked in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

                                                   Fresh from oven

We will need 2 sandwich cakes. Make the other sandwich cake in the same way.

Whip 125 ml of fresh cream with ¼ cup of sugar. Keep it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In a small bowl make sugar syrup by mixing the sugar and water. The sugar should dissolve completely in the water.

Heat a pan and add fresh cream. Keep the heat on low and let the cream melt. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Remove it from heat and let it cool down a bit. Now add ¼ cup of sugar and beat well. Sugar will help it to thicken. Keep aside and cool it completely. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes before using.

The cake must be completely cooled down before using it or else the icing will melt and start running.

Place one sandwich cake on a flat plate. Brush it nicely with the sugar syrup. It will help the cake to remain moist. Spread the whipped cream over it evenly. Place the other sandwich cake over the cream layer. Spread the cocoa icing over it evenly. Decorate with glazed cherries.

I used ready to use tubes to write over the cake. It was very thick and I could only manage to write a few words.

                                                  But this lack of decoration this year was covered by the lovely taste. My husband loved it. I also served it later hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

                                                                             

[ Microwave a slice of cake for 30 secs and top it with a scoop of vanilla icecream, chocolate sauce and glazed cherries].

Hope all of you guys had a wonderful Valentine Day! Enjoy!!

Eggless Lemon drizzle Cake

Mission accomplished! I had been thinking of baking  a lemony cake for quite a time now and finally today I did it. To my surprise this cake has puffed very well as such my loaf pan was somewhat small for it. It tasted awesome and I loved it. This is my weekend treat. Hope it survives the weekend. Here is my recipe for 'Eggless Lemon Drizzle Cake'.

Spiced Apple Cake

Spiced Apple Cake:

An extra moist apple cake with spices for the extra flavor.

This recipe serves 8 people.

Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour.
1 apple peeled and grated.
¼ cup butter.
¾ cup granulated sugar.
¼ cup apple sauce.
½ cup whole milk.
1tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
½ tsp nutmeg powder.
½ tsp cinnamon powder.
½ tsp vanilla essence.


For decorating:

1 apple very thinly sliced
Apricot glaze.


Process:
Preheat the oven at 180 C and grease and dust a baking tin with flour ready to use for baking the cake. Mix the AP flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg powder and cinnamon powder. Sieve it twice so that everything is evenly mixed. Set aside.


Now take butter at room temperature and add sugar in it. Beat it for 5 minutes. Then add apple sauce. Stir for minutes and add milk and vanilla essence. Stir for 2-3 minutes till it is a uniform mixture. Now add this mixture slowly into the dry mixture and stir so that everything is folded into a uniform mixture. Pour this batter into the baking tin kept ready and bake at 180 C for 40-45 mins till golden brown. Using a skewer prick the cake at the centre, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Fresh from oven.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Take the cake out on a plate by turning the container upside down. Decorate the cake with thinly cut apple slices.

For the apricot glaze, place a 2 tbsp of apricot jam in a small pan, along with a squeeze of lemon juice. Heat the jam, stirring until it melts and is runny. Pour the melted jam into a wire sieve set over a bowl. Stir the jam to help it get through. Return the strained jam from bowl to pan. Keep the glaze warm and brush it generously over the freshly sliced apple until fully coated.

Slice and serve.

This one goes for the ongoing event at Mahima's (Indian Vegetarian Kitchen)- Contribute cakes/cookies

Eggless Layered Vanilla Cake

Eggless Layered Vanilla Cake:

Four layered vanilla flavored cake with cream icing decorated with glazed cherries, grated milk chocolate. Mouth watering! Isn’t it?

This recipe serves 12-15 people.

Ingredients:

For one sheet of cake:

1 cup AP Flour.
¾ cup condensed milk.
¾ cup butter.
½ cup milk
½ cup soft drink (Pepsi or Cola).
1 tsp baking soda.
½ tsp baking powder.
1 tsp vanilla essence.

In this cake we are using two sheets of cake. So, we need just twice the above ingredients.


300 ml fresh double cream.
100 gm glazed cherries.
100 gm milk chocolate bar.
1 cup icing sugar.
1 tbsp sugar and ¼ cup water.

Procedure:


Take a deep bowl or container and pour melted butter in it. Add condensed milk to it and stir it nicely with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. Then add milk and mix for another 2 minutes. Add AP flour and stir for another 5 minutes till it is mixed properly. Add vanilla essence and soft drink and mix well. Then add baking powder and baking soda and give it a good stir for a minute so that everything is uniformly mixed.

Keep a cake baking sheet (11.7”x 7.5”x 0.8”) greased with butter and dusted with flour ready before starting to make the cake batter. Pour the cake batter into it. Insert the cake pan into an oven preheated at 200 degree C for 15 mins. Bake the cake at 180 degree C for 20-25 mins.

Using a skewer or knife check if the cake is done. Prick the skewer into the cake, if it comes out clear then the cake sheet is ready.

Take the cake sheet out of the oven and let it cool for 10 mins. Take the cake out on a plate by turning the container upside down. Cut this sheet into two equal halves.

Bake another cake sheet in the same way and cut it into two halves.

Add the icing sugar into the fresh cream and whip it in a mixer. Transfer it into a bowl and refrigerate it for 20 mins. Mean while let the cake sheets cool down completely before icing.

Grate the glazed cherries finely. Keep 5-6 cherries aside and cut them into two halves.
Grate the milk chocolate finely.
Add 1 tbsp of sugar in ¼ cup of water to make sugar syrup.

When the cake sheets are completely cooled, place one half of cake sheet on a plate upside down. Sprinkle the sugar syrup generously over the cake but do not over do it. Sugar syrup helps in keeping the cake moist. Now spread the whipped cream over it into a smooth layer. Use a knife to spread it. Now spread the grated cherries over the cream layer. Repeat this process for the next two layers of cake. Place the final sheet of cake and spread the whipped cream icing over it. Spread the cream on the side of the cake and use a knife to smooth out any irregularities and give a fine finish. Now, decorate the sides of the cake with the grated milk chocolate. Use the glazed cherries cut in halves to decorate the top. Refrigerate the cake for half an hour.
Slice and serve.

Have a bite... Hmm...

Eggless Pineapple Chunk Cake

Eggless Pineapple Chunk Cake:


Deliciously moist pineapple flavored cake with pineapple chunks in every bite. What could be nicer?

This recipe serves 8 people.

Ingredients:
1 cup AP Flour.
3/4 cup butter.
¾ cup condensed milk.
5 rings of canned pineapple cut into chunks.
½ cup of pineapple juice (from the pineapple can).
½ tsp baking powder.
1 tsp baking soda.
1 tsp pineapple essence.

Procedure:

Take a deep bowl or container and pour melted butter in it. Add condensed milk to it and stir it nicely with a wooden spoon or a hand mixer. Add AP flour, pineapple juice, pineapple essence, baking powder, baking soda and stir for another 5 minutes till it is mixed properly. Add the pineapple chunks and fold it in the mixture.
Keep a cake container (8”x 8”x 2.5”) greased with butter and dusted with flour ready before starting to make the cake batter. Pour the cake batter into it. Insert the cake pan into an oven preheated at 200 degree C for 15 mins. Bake the cake at 180 degree C for 40-45 mins.
Using a skewer or knife check if the cake is done. Prick the skewer into the cake, if it comes out clear then the cake is ready.
Take the container out of the oven and let it cool for 10 mins. Take the cake out on a plate by turning the container upside down.
Pineapple chunk cake is very moist and it tastes best when served cold. When the cake cools down refrigerate it for 2 hours.

Slice and serve.

Eggless Dates and Walnut Cake

Eggless Dates and Walnut cake:


Serves 8 people.
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose (AP) flour.
½ cup wheat flour.
¾ cup condensed milk.
1 cup chopped dates.
1 cup milk.
1 cup butter.
½ tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
¼ cup chopped walnuts for garnishing.
2 tbsp granulated sugar.