Chocolate and White Chocolate Mirror Glaze

Working around fondant......

Decorated cakes and themed cakes are really easy to plan and make with fondant..because its basically like play dough..and you can make whatever you want with it... it also gives your cakes a lot of stability, especially if you want to carry your cake someplace else..where in it wont have refrigeration while travelling...whipped cream cake can really melt in such conditions in the heat that we experience over here...

But what do you do if you don't like the taste of fondant..or if fondant is not easily available..In My case i really don't like the taste of fondant, i wouldn't mind a few tiny fondant roses on top if my cake..that too would be put aside while eating...so covering the whole cake with fondant is pointless..as no one in my house or near and dears like fondant...a cake should have just the rite amount of sweetness and it should be fresh and soft...covering it with chewy fondant in my opinion is waste of a good cake...

so anyways the question arises as to what can be used to cover the cake and give it a smooth appearance to make successful themed cakes....and the answer is mirror glaze..

its easy, its cheap, and its tasty, and your cake looks great, and your cake gets stability.

for smaller floral decorations, i found that you can make flowers our of marshmallows which i tried suceesfully and gummy candy too..which is on my next to try list(the list btw is never ending)

  

chocolate mirror glaze with fondant roses and marshmallow flowers

I finally found my answer in chocolate mirror glaze - it like the best thing possible, tastes like chocolate sauce and it actually gives stability to your cake, similar to fondant, and your cake decorations don't spoil on touch (as it would in case of buttercream or whipped cream).

And you can make either a chocolate or white chocolate version depending on the theme of your cake

3D car cake with coloured white chocolate glaze..

I followed the recipe more or less, but reduced the sugar quite a bit as that is my personal preference

Ingredients:-

10 g powdered gelatin ( about two tsp)
150 g sugar (100 g for white chocolate glaze)
100 g water
65 g cocoa powder ( 50 g milk powder - optional - for white chocolate glaze )
65 g fresh cream or heavy cream (75 g for white chocolate glaze)
50 g dark chocolate / white chocolate

Method:- 

In a medium-sized bowl, bloom the gelatin in plenty of cold water. Let the gelatin bloom for at least 10 minutes before using.
 Bring the sugar, water, cocoa powder, and Heavy cream to a boil while stirring constantly.
When it comes to a boil, stir in the chocolate and mix until dissolved.
Squeeze the excess water off the bloomed gelatin, add it to the pot, and stir until dissolved.
Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, or use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until it is smooth and glossy ( if your mixture already looks smmoth and glossy the you can skip this step)
Transfer the chocolate glaze mixture to a jar, and cover the surface of the chocolate glaze with plastic wrap.
Chill in the refrigerator overnight before using.

When you’re to use it, warm the chocolate glaze to the temperature between 44°(microwaving it for short bursts at medium high , gets the desired result ) before using it. If you do get a a lot of air bubbles in the glaze, strain it through a fine mesh strainer before using, otherwise the tiny bubbles will show on the finished cake.
NOTE It is always necessary to make more glaze than needed, because the entire cake needs to be covered with glaze. As the glaze is poured over the cake, some will pour off, resulting in an even coat. You can rescue some of the dripped off glaze to reuse later and pass it through a fine-mesh sieve.
this glaze can be stored in the refrigerator for more than a month, and can be reused.

My little one's 3rd birthday cake !!!

personally i like the chocolate glaze better than the white chocolate glaze..but this could be because, i'm not a big fan of white chocolate, plus the white chocolate available was not of the best quality...but stability wise they both worked great.....

Coffee mousse cake with marbled glaze for the anniversary !!

double chocolate banana muffins

Going Bananas....

I love a freshly baked banana bread anytime, but some how whenever i've gone through any recipes with chocolate and banana, it always used to weird me out, i couldn't get myself to imagine liking that combination (even before trying it).

So when i read this recipe, i thought the best way to know whether i'll like it or not is to try in once and for all..they recipe looked quite appealing and easy, so i went ahead a gave it a try.And i was convinced.I got lovely moist chocolaty muffins, with just a hint of banana flavor, which actually tasted good.

I substituted all of the refined flour for whole wheat and oats, because the moisture from the bananas take care of not making the cake dry. So what you have is yummy chocolaty, whole wheat muffins..

Ingredients:
2 medium bananas (about 1 cup), over-ripe
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp milk (or sub 2% dairy milk)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp (packed) light brown sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (look for dutch-processed)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1-1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup ground oats
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips (bittersweet or semisweet)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, use the back of a fork to mash the banana until only very small lumps remain. Add the vanilla and the egg and use the fork to whisk the mixture together until completely combined. Add the oil and milk and stir to combine. Add the sugars and stir again.
Using a spatula, stir in the cocoa powder, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix until the cocoa is completely incorporated. Stir in the salt and baking soda, then gently fold in the flour, until just combined.
Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Bake for 15-17 minutes, rotating once, until the muffin tops look set, and a cake-tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, before removing and cooling completely on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room-temperature.

miniature muffins for little one's tiffin

I know..who would believe these are actually heathy !!!

victoria sponge

Classic Buttery treat...

I think this would be the oldest and simplest plain butter cake recipe...Its ideal for people who want to start learning the basics of baking, and the end result is a lovely golden yellow buttery sponge cake, that can be layered with jam, nutella, or had just as it is.
This one is an old recipe, dug out of some of my mom's files...oh how i miss that file sometimes.....

layered with chocolate ganache n almonds

Ingredients:
100g butter
100 g powdered sugar
2 eggs
100 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp warm water

Method:
cream butter and sugar until it becomes soft and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well. fold in sifted flour, baking powder and salt, mix lightly and evenly, stir in warm water. Spread mixture evenly in a pan.
bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. until well risen.
serve with jam, chocolate sauce or whipped cream...or just plain doesn't matter it still tastes awesoeme.

layered with coconut cream

yoghurt mousse

Who says healthy can't Be tasty....

Its yoghurt, its fruit, its yummy, its healthy....especially if layered with a whole wheat sponge...YES!!mthats rite, you heard rite...substituting refined flour with whole wheat in my sponge cake recipe is an idea thats been ruminating in my mind since a while now. As i have already substituted whole wheat in most of my recipes successfully, the trick is to simply reduce the quantity of flour a little or add a mix of oat flour and wheat flour. in this case I only reduced the amount of flour from 9 tbsp to 7 tbsp (since this was a plain sponge didn't add any cocoa or custard powder, hence 9 tbsp). and thankfully my sponge turned out nice and soft and spongy.

the mousse is quick to make, and for fruit mousses, the yoghurt gives a nice tart flavour to the overall dessert.

i have so far tried a lemon mousse, orange mousse and of course strawberry mousse.....next on my list pineapple mousse......

Proud of my sponge !!!

Ingredients:
200 g strawberries, pureed
200 - 250 g hung curd (made from 500 g curd)
5 - 6 strawberries chopped
2 packets of whipped cream powder. (prepared)
10 g gelatin (if preparing in individual glasses, you can sip the gelatin)
powdered Sugar, as required.
2 sheets of sponge cake (if you want a mousse cake) / for individual mousses you can also use biscuits soaked in milk.

Method:
prepare whipped cream as per package instructions and refrigerate. Soak gelatin in two tbsp of water for 5 minutes, then add 2 tbsp of boiling water to dissolve.
Beat the hung curd with powdered sugar until smooth, make sure there aren't any lumps. add in the pureed strawberries and gelatin. fold in the whipped cream and chopped strawberries.
If you want to make individual glasses or bowls you can straight away set in those and refrigerate for 4 - hours.
For mousse cake. refrigerate for half an hour. Take a deep dish or a spring-foam pan. place a layer of sponge cake at the bottom, you can soak with a little syrup if you want, cover it with half the mousse mixture, add another layer of cake, and cover with the remaining mousse mixture. cover and refrigerate overnight for best results.

lemon mousse..

For lemon mousse: add 2 tsp of freshly grated lemon zest and 3 - 4 tbsp of lemon juice, depending on the taste and tartness.



For orange mousse : use 2 tbsp of freshly grated orange zest, 1/4 cup of orange juice, 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Triple Layer Oreo cake

Slice of heaven....

By Far the Best cake I have made.....according to public and personal opinion...

I had always wanted to make a three layer cake, and this Oreo cake was being designed in my head since quite a while...originally i had wanted to make a smaller version of the same cake for my niece's first birthday...but due to certain circumstances that got cancelled...so i thought why not make it for my little one's second birthday, then again his birthday was like just two days before eid...so I finally Made it on Eid, when all my beloved family comes over, i mean why keep a good thing to yourself.

Decorate it what ever way you like

for my three layers I made two layers of white sponge cake with oreo chunks in it, and one layer of moist chocolate cake in the centre. 

For the oreo sponge I used my swiss roll sponge recipe.The only difference to the recipe i made was that i used two eggs in each cake layer instead of three and reduced the sugar a little.i didn't use any custard powder this time since i wanted a white cake

I mixed separate batches and baked the cake separately. also make sure to hand chop your oreos and not blitz them in a chopper as then they become too fine, and your cake will have more or less a brown color. Also fold inn the oreos in the batter at the very last moment before baking, so that it retains some of its crunch after baking. 

For Frosting I used whipped cream powder, which i blended with half milk n half cream, to get stiffer cream.and mixed oreo chunks into it. I needed 5 packets of whipped cream powder for this big a cake, and three big packets of oreos.

reserve some oreos for decorating and chop the rest.

While completing the cake, make sure to moisten the layers with light sugar syrup. so that the layers completely merge and blend into each other, to give that "Oh So Good taste".

lovin the layers !!

Marble Cake

Perfect tea time accompaniment...

Its amazing how something so simple, can look so sophisticating. When i was a child it always used to fascinate me that how can two flavors be baked in a single cake with such beautiful designs ( I also used to try fist eating all the white cake parts and then the chocolate parts from the slice).

I always used to love a slice of marble cake either with tea in the evening or in the lunch box, or a late night snack. We used to get this lovely slabs of freshly baked marble cake at the bakery which would get over in no time at all.

Its one of those things that makes you realize that beautiful things don't always need a lot of effort, its more about the technique and the thought behind it.

A marble cake is a basic white cake, with cocoa powder mixed with some of the batter and then swirled in. the technique is the same as chocolate swirl cake

i also tried this coffee swirl cake with the same technique.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup plain, yogurt
25 g cocoa powder
2 tbsp milk

OR

2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup brown sugar


Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla extract.
Stir in half of the flour mixture, followed by the yogurt (or sour cream), then stir in remaining flour mixture. Batter will be thick.
In a seperate bowl dissolve the cocoa powder in the milk, and then mix it with half or 1/3 of the cake batter.

OR


In a small bowl, beat together butter, instant coffee/espresso, cocoa powder and brown sugar until well combined. Mixture will be crumbly. add 3 - 4 tbsp of the batter to this mixture

Spread half of the cake batter into prepared pan. Spread the chocolate or coffee batter in the center of the layer of cake batter (doesn't need to be neat), then top with remaining cake batter, spreading it evenly to cover the chocolate or coffee mixture. swirl with a knife or a wooden skewer.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Plain Marble cake

Coffee swirl cake

If you have more time on hand or if you are feeling more adventurous, you can even try piping a design with the brown colour batter on the base. although my first try din't turn out rite, i guess it was because of the brown sugar in my coffee batter...maybe next time

Failed attempt at making hearts

Carrot Cake

Winter Chillzzz.....

Winter is Finally here, and for a change Its actually chilly in Mumbai. Winter in Mumbai means the season for Fresh strawberries, and Figs..and Red Carrots...Yess, red carrots are in season, so its the season for carrot Halwa, and fresh carrot juice. So this time I thought let me also try a carrot cake, since i've always heard so much about it.
I have actually tried a carrot cake one time before....but this was like way back (at a time when i thought how can carrots be in a cake)...but it had not turned out good. I don't know why but nobody had liked it.
Any ways i still decided to give it another try. this was the recipe i zeroed on. and it turned out pretty good. what more could anyone want with a cup of tea than a piece of whole wheat healthy carrot cake

Ingredients:
175g light muscovado sugar
175ml sunflower oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
140g grated carrots (about 3 medium)
100g chopped dates
grated zest of 1 large orange
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried ginger powder (optional)
½ tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give you the best flavour)
1 tbsp orange juice.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Oil and line the base and sides of a square cake tin with baking parchment.
Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.
Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients – when everything is evenly amalgamated stop mixing. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. (You can freeze the cake at this point.)
Beat together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth – you want the icing about as runny as single cream. Set the cake on a serving plate and boldly drizzle the icing back and forth in diagonal lines over the top, letting it drip down the sides.

Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

Going down the upside down lane....

Finally, pineapple upside down cake....You see..I love pineapple the fruit, but when it comes to store bought pineapple cake or the jello packets that are available...they always taste so artificial, not at all like the actual fruit..
So when i wanted to make my pineapple cake, i didn't want to use any canned fruit...i went for the fresh pineapple (coz that's easily available and cheaper and healthier ), and i must say the cake turned out truly amazing. Ther is just something about the goey caramel at the bottom...or top that literally make you lick the plate and the spoon in the end.
It also makes you wanna try all kinds of upside down cakes.
after googling for some time I narrowed down to the recipe here as i found it best fit my requirements (or maybe looked the simplest).

Ingredients:

Topping:-
1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Batter:-
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Make topping: Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, four minutes. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly.
You can reduce the amount of caramel, if you have a smaller cake pan, or if you have left over caramel, just add a litlle water to the pan, bring it to a boil and make caramel syrup to use in any recipe later.(that's what i did). the recipe was for a 9 inch pan, and I have a 6 inch pan.
Make batter: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)
Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cake stand in skillet five minutes. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet. Sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.
Serve cake just warm or at room temperature.
Do ahead: Cake may be made one day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.

absolutely scrumptious 

Swiss Rolls

Quickie Dessert

Or so I think now, this is one of those desserts that I was in awe of for a long time. And i always dreaded actually making it, for fear that either my cake would break or it wouldn't roll properly or for not knowing how to roll it.

But after i tried it, it took no time to master it, and now its the recipe that i make, when i'm looking for a quick dessert, coz it takes no time to make, and.... its so simple.

i hate seperating eggs and most recipes i found had seperated eggs. so after looking for a while i found the perfect recipe over here. Its simple, Its quick and its awesome....

i just made a very few minor adjustments which i felt need changing.

filled with coffee ganache n coffee whipped cream

stawberry jam filling

                               

Chocolate sponge with strawberry whipped cream

The best thing about Swiss rolls is that you can vary the filling and try out new varieties every time...

I'm even planning a savory one. lets see how that turns out..

Vanilla sponge witButterscotch filling

Ingredients:

For the sponge cake:-         

3 eggs

½ to ⅓ cup sugar

6 tbsp flour

2.5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder / vanilla custard powder

½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp boiling water

Filling:-

1 cup whipped cream / icecream

1 -2 tbsp jam or preserve

Method:

preheat oven to 200 º C and line a square or rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer beat the eggs and sugar until very thick and four times the initial volume. When the beaters are lifted they should leave a trail of egg on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

Fold in the sifted flour, cocoa powder and baking powder very gently. And then fold in the water.

Spread mixture on parchment paper, evenly. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until the centre is spring to touch.

Spread a clean kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar on it. Place the top of the cake on the towel and carefully peel the parchment paper. Trim of any crisp edges.

Starting from one end, use the towel to roll up the cake, with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll.

Once cooled, unroll the cake and spread the filling, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges.

Roll it back, wrap in cling wrap and chill.

Slice into ¾ inch pcs for serving.

caramel cupcakes

Something about caramel.....

sorry about the really really long break in posts, but was really busy the last few weeks..what with the wedding season starting over hear.
So caramel cupcakes....you see speaking from a health point of view chocolate is better then caramel. But there is something about caramel..the sticky, sweet goo.. that is caramel. how can anyone say no to anything caramel.
I've had a few caramel cupcake recipes bookmarked since a long time, but most of these recipes had caramel as a filling or as caramel frosting. what i really wanted to try was a caramel flavored batter, as i usually prefer plain and light cakes. rather than a heavy and extremely rich cake.
after a lot of browsing, i came across a recipe on someone's Facebook page that swirled the caramel into a plain yellow cake which really appealed to me. so i adapted a similar idea for my own caramel cupcakes..

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

100 g butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

vanilla essence

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk

1 tsp baking powder

for caramel sauce:-

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup cream

Method:

for the caramel sauce - heat sugar and butter on medium heat until melted, do not stir, u can swirl the pan to distribute the sugar and melt it evenly, keep heating until sugar turns a nice amber color. remove from heat and add the cream all at once and stir to mix evenly and dissipate the air bubble...be sure to pour in the cream from some distance so as not to burn your hands. cook for a few more minutes to get the right consistency. remove from heat and let cool completely...the sauce will turn thicker once it cools.

for the cupcakes - cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add the eggs one at a time until well blended, add the vanilla essence. Add half of the sifted flour and baking powder, then add the butter milk, followed by the rest of the flour mixture. fill your lined cupcake tins halfway, then add 2 tbsp of caramel sauce and top with another tbsp of batter. swirl with a fork. 

bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

can top with extra caramel sauce before serving.

topped with caramel...yummmm!!!

light and Heavenly....

caramel sauce...

Almond Pralines n Custard Layer Cake

Festive baking

Normally i take a lot of time to finish one post, but when I posted this pic on facebook after eid, i got a lot of requests for the recipe, and so for a change i'm finishing this one a little faster.

I went for a purely white cake for Eid this time, (mainly b'coz we went on a chocolate overdose for my son't birthday, and didn't want to make anything chocolaty for some time).

So i was really confused as to what to make on Eid (can't think straight when there is no chocolate involved), thought of a cheese cake, or lemon squares, or muffins, and i kept on searching the net for ideas, finally zeroed in on a combination.

So most of the recipe is just combining simple ingredients to get a lovely light custard filled, sponge.

Ingredients:

For the sponge cake:-

3 eggs

⅓ cup sugar

7 tbsp flour

1.5 tbsp unsweetened vanilla custard powder

½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp boiling water

for the caramel syrup:-
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water

for the custard filling:-
750 ml milk
4 - 5 tbsp sugar (don't make the custard to sweet, as we are soaking the cake in syrup and adding pralines)
40 g custard powder (add more if required, the end result should b like a pudding)

for the almond praline:-
1/2 cup toasted almonds or any other nut
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp butter

For topping:
1 packet of whipped cream powder or whipped cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 º C and line a square or rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer beat the eggs and sugar until very thick and four times the initial volume. When the beaters are lifted they should leave a trail of egg on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

Fold in the sifted flour, cocoa powder and baking powder very gently. And then fold in the water.

Spread mixture on parchment paper, evenly. Bake for 6 - 8 minutes until the center is springy to touch. 
i made double the quantity of sponge, given in the recipe to get four layers of sponge cake (approximately 6" by 10" ), but i didn't mix the batter all at once, because an egg sponge batter deflates pretty quicky, which would have resulted in the last layers of cake not rising properly. instead i first mixed a batch with three eggs and finished baking them, and then mixed another batch.

for the caramel syrup:- heat the sugar and 1/2 cup of water on medium high flame, stir until the sugar is just dissolve and then leave undisturbed(no stirring, but you can swirl the pan) till the mixture turns amber, remove from heat and add another 1/2 cup of water, mix well and bring to boil until the mixture is properly combined and liquid  cool to room temperature. (and prepared my syrup a day ahead)

for the Almond praline:-  toast a 1/2 cup of almonds at 150 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes until you start getting a nice toasted smell.
add the butter and sugar in a shallow pan and heat till melted ( do not stir ), when the sugar starts to caremelize, add the almond and mix till all the almonds are well coated, spread on a tray lined with foil paper and cool. once completely cooled and hardened. chop in a food processor.

for the custard :- heat milk and sugar, till it comes to a boil add the custard powder dissolved in a little milk and simmer till it thickens to the required consistency, chill in a covered container.

To assemble:-

soak the first layer of sponge with caramel syrup and spread the custard filling on it, sprinkle with chopped almond praline.

cover with the second layer of sponge cake and repeat the same procedure. use up all the layers of sponge. spread chilled whipped cream on the top layer, and sprinkle with slight larger pieces of the almond praline.

chill for a few hours before serving, to set perfectly.

A perfect dessert for anybody who loves white cakes instead of chocolate

Dutch Apple Cake

Bake !
I love using fresh fruits in my cakes, be it bananas, oranges, pineapple , apples. there is something about those freshly baked cakes that is hard to resist for your evening tea.
So when i saw this rachel allen recipe on TV, i immediately wanted to try it out. especially since you didn't even have to mash the apples, just slice them up and arrange them on top.
so i got busy trying out this recipe as soon as i could.
But me being me i made a few changes, i switched the white sugar with brown and switched half the refined flour for whole wheat, and voila, a healtheir take of the same cake !

Ingredients:

2 eggs

150 g brown sugar + 1 tbsp for dusting

½ tsp vanilla

2 ½ tsp baking powder

75 ml milk

50 g butter, melted

65 g refined flour

60 g whole wheat flour
½ tsp cinnamon powder

1 apple, peeled and sliced (can use any other fruit)

Method:

Beat the sugar, vanilla and eggs at high speed in a stand mixture until very thick and four times the initial volume, add the melted butter and milk and mix well. Fold in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder.

Pour into a well greased pan, arrange the sliced apples on top and sprinkle with 1 tbsp of sugar.

Bake at 200°C for 10 mins and then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes

Orange Mousse Cake

Long time pending......

Yes !!! this blog has been sitting in my draft list for a long long time. What with ramadan and then eid and then a visit to my mom's place, i couldn't find the time to complete this recipe. this was a special dessert that i made for my third anniversary (which was in July, that's y the long time pending).

the worst part about this recipe - you have to wait for it to set overnight. (yes, that long)

the best part - Well, its worth the wait.

and also good, that I was free on my anniversary and not stuck in the kitchen.

the other thing I found out. as i had made this recipe in Ramadan, and we were all fasting, i could only taste my mousse after breaking my fast, and when i had that first bite of the mousse ( i had set it in a bowl separately to taste). i really didn't like it all that much. it tasted a bit too orangy (this coming from someone who loves citrus fruits) and a bit too sweet, and something weird. But When we had it the next day, layered with the chocolate cake, It was absolutely amazing, the chocolate totally complements the orange mousse. and I must say, it was perfect for our anniversary.

Ingredients :

For orange mousse:-

200ml orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp gelatin

200 ml cream

1 packet whipped cream powder

2 egg whites

1 tbsp grated orange zest

For chocolate cake:-

See recipe for Chocolate moist cake.

Method:

prepare your chocolate cake in a round springform pan. cool completely and slice into two parts horizontally and keep aside.

For orange mousse:- soak gelatin in 2 tbsp water for 5 minutes

add gelatin, orange juice, and sugar to a sauce pan, and heat on medium to low flame. stir constantly until sugar and gelatin are completely dissolved. remove from heat and cool.

whip cream and whipped cream powder until stiff peaks are formed.  fold in the gelatin mixture.

whip to eggwhites till soft peaks form and fold into the orange cream mixture. if too runny refrigerate for 10 to 15 minute. if it holds shape on a spoon then you can use it to layer with chocolate cake immediately.

allow the cake to set overnight. demould after it is completely set and decorate with chocolate curls, chocolate syrup or orange slices.

Chocolate Swirl Cake

Forgotten Recipes

Its been a long break from blogging, as i was at my mom's place for a whole week (long but lovely), only to find that my nets not working for two whole days after i come home.

Anyways being at my mom's place i made this batch of chocolate swirl cake which turned out really great.

its a recipe that I've had since ages, i mean really ages ( like since i was in school), but haven't actually made that often.i don't know why though..as it turned out absolutely scrumptious.

This was initially a chocolate chunk cake recipe, but I adapted it to make a chocolate swirl cake.

its a very simple white cake recipe that i think can actually be adapted for making a lot of variations. (can think of quite a few at the top of my mind )

Ingredients:

175 g butter, at room temperature

350 g flour (2 ¼ cups)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

175 g powdered sugar

2 large eggs

150 ml milk, warmed

1 tsp vanilla essence

100g of dark or milk chocolate

50 ml fresh cream

1 – 1 ½ tbsp of powdered hazelnuts or almonds (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs, stir in the sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla.

Mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl prepare a ganache from the milk, cream and almond or hazelnut powder.(can use nutella or any fruit jam or fruit puree instead)

Pour ⅓ of the batter in your prepared baking pan. Spoon ¾ th of the ganache on the batter, in 3 -4 separate blobs.

Pour the remaining batter and ganache in the pan. Insert a wooden skewer or knife and swirl the batter and ganache in the pan.

Bake for 35 -40 mins or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Lamingtons

Eid Mubarak

Ramadan is already over...and i know i'm a little late with an Eid post, but didn't really get time before this, what with Eid coming on a long weekend for a change.
So this year I decided to make lamingtons for eid. And talk about a mammoth task, especially since Eid came early this year,and i was short of time.
I adapted my moist chocolate cake recipe to make a moist vanilla cake (which i wanted to try since a long time). the cake turned out ok, but not the best as it did not rise as much as the chocolate cake does. although I couldn't pinpoint why.
 I made both chocolate and jelly lamingtons and with the frosting and the coconut the lamingtons tasted really fine..

• Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 
  
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup vanilla custard powder
• 
  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2  eggs
• 
  
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 
  

Method:
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
Stir together sugar, flour, custard powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

For chocolate lamingtons:

Chocolate Frosting:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

5 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp melted butter

1/3 cup boiling water

Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder together, add melted butter and boiling water and mix till smooth and not too thin.

dip vanilla cake squares in chocolate icing, let it rest on a wire rack, so that all the extra chocolate sauce can drip out. roll in desiccated coconut.

cool for the icing to set.

For jelly lamingtons:

1 packet of strawberry jelly

Mix jelly in 2/3 of the water mentioned on packet, and let it set at room temperature. use a fork to break up the jelly.

dip cut pieces of cake in jelly and follow same procedure as the chocolate lamingtons, and enjoy.