Eggless Dates Cake

Hello World!

Well! Are you thinking if I am coming out of a deep slumber! Well not! Then, what explains such a long absense from this space! I am going to answer that shortly.

As I have already mentioned in some of my previous posts that I have started a new blog and it chronicles my experiences with food, books and everything I feel like writing about. So, these days I am active in that space only. I had started this blog 'The Veggie Hut' to write about my cooking experiences. But, believe me I learnt cooking in that process of blogging. So many food enthusiasts in this blogsphere to be inspired from! I loved cooking and blogging. Gradually, I realised I would like to blog about everything I am enthusiastic about and that can list a number of things starting with books. So, the idea of starting afresh took shape in my mind and Pages was born. I would like you to join me on there and join me in my journey in this blog world.

I have posted a couple of recipes there. Do have a look at them and let me know what you think of them!

Vada Pav ~ The Indian Burger (With home made Pav/Buns)

Fruit Salad ~ Fruit Chaat ~ Colourful and Healthy!

Eggless Almond and Cherry Cake

Eggless Chocolate Brownies
Celebration Chocolate Cake With Fudge Frosting (Eggless)
Pineapple Chunk & Cardamom Cake (Eggless)
Cardamom Kulfi

Malai Kulfi ~ Using Condensed Milk~ A Quicker Version!
Bread Ras Malai ~ my all time favourite!
Chocolate-y trifle
Breakfast in a glass ~ Strawberry Banana Shake & Dates Mocha Shake

Mango Mania ~ Mango Lassi/ Mango Smoothie!
Lemonade With a Twist ~ Blueberry Lemonade ~ Making It From Scratch!

This probably will be my last post on this space. However, I may update it with any food related post I do on my new blog. So, for this last post, I have a Dates Cake for you. Enjoy the sweet treat!

Ingredients:

1 cup AP Flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup pitted dates(About 18 soaked in water for 2-3 hours).

1 tsp baking powder.

3/4 tsp baking soda.

1/4 cup soft butter.

1/4 cup water used for soaking dates.

1/4 cup milk.

Process:

1. Grease a 8'' round cake tin and preheat the oven at 180C.

2. Strain the dates but keep the water it were soaked in. Churn the daytes with milk to make a smooth paste.

3. Shift flour, baking powder, soda 2-3 times together so atht it is well blended.

4. Cream in the sugar and butter till well incorporated and fluffy.

5.Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients whisking all the time.

6. Add water and whisk till the batter is smooth, around 2-3 minutes.

7. Pour into the pre greased tin and bake at 180 C for 25 mins and then lower the temperature to 160 C and bake for another 10 minutes or untila sweker comes out clean.

8. Let it rest in the tin for 5-10 mins before turning it on a wire rack to cool.

9. Cool completely and slice. Serve.

Sending it to Tamalpaku's Only Baked Event. Only Series is the brain child of Pari.

Cheers! Enjoy! See you on Pages.

Holi Wishes!

Wishing you all a very happy and colourful holi! Enjoy!

I have been off from this blog for over a month now and  hope to be back in a week or two. Enjoy!

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!

Blueberry Muffins

Finally, I have managed to squeeze some time for my blog. Actually, there are so many things in our 'To-Do' list on our India visit that my blogging has taken a back seat. I think it happens with everybody. I am having a lovely time here socialising, relaxing, catching up with friends and having good food prepared by my Mom.  

Before flying to India, I had prepared and taken pictures of a few dishes intending to post it soon. But, it seems like I had been postponing it a little too long. Today, I am sharing the recipe of 'Blueberry Muffins' which I tried from the book -101 Cakes and Bakes from BBC Books. The recipe was named 'Buttermilk Berry Muffins' in the book but I prefer to call it simply 'Blueberry Muffins'. I have baked these muffins twice and was happy with the results both times. My husband loved it. It was the first time I used an Egg-replacer powder of the brand name Orgran. I have followed rest of the recipe as given in the book. I hope to experiment with the egg replacer powder more often.

Needless to say sending this off to Baking from a book 4 event guest hosted by Sowjanya. This event is the brain child of Champa. Also sending it off to Champa's Weekly Event Bake Off and Sri's EFM-Cakes and Bakes Series.

 Ingredients:

400 g AP flour.

175 g caster sugar.

1 tbsp baking powder.

Finely grated rind of one lemon.

284 ml buttermilk.

Egg replacer powder in place of 2 eggs.

85 g butter, melted.

250 g fresh blueberries.

Makes 12.

Process:

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a 12 cup muffin tray. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, lemon rind, sugar and salt. Prepare the egg replacer powder as per the instructions given in the box. In a separate bowl mix butter, buttermilk and the prepared egg replacer. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Mix it lightly so that it is well combined. Do not over do. Fold in the blueberries and spoon it into the prepared tin.

Bake it for 25 mins until risen and pale golden on top. Leave to cool on wire rack for 5 mins. Place them on the wire rack to cool further.  

These muffins are very delicate when hot. I have tried it second time substituting the butter with 1/4 cup + 2tbsp oil. They came out good too.

Enjoy!