Eggless Date n Walnut Cake

I am so happy that my blog has initiated my cousin into the beautiful world of baking :) Baking is something that can be addictive, for me it is the most personal way to share some great food moments..an evening of tea with close buddies and a freshly baked tea cake is an evening well spent :) Of late I have been trying to do more and more of eggless baking as I don't have to worry then of who to feed the goodies to :)) And yes , the idea to try this cake came from a recent trip to the mall where a very smart sales lady tried to sell me a face cream made from dates but priced soooooooo steep that I thought.. I might as well find ways to eat more dates :)))

Ingredients (makes 8-10 pieces)

1/2 tin (200 gms ) condensed milk
50 gms butter, room temperature
50 ml milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dates ,pitted

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Soak the dates in one cup of lukewarm water for half hour.
2. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees (actual baking temperature will be 175 degrees)
3.With an electrical mixer, beat the condensed milk and the butter for 3-4 minutes till creamy in texture
4.At speed 1 of the beater, mix in the milk and the vanilla essence.
5.Sieve the flour,cocoa,baking powder and baking soda all together.
6.Beat in the flour mixture,adding little bit at a time . Continue beating for 3-4 minutes.
7.Drain off most of the water the dates are soaked in and grind the dates into a pulp.
8.Fold in this pulp into the cake batter and stir in the walnuts as well.
9. Pour the batter into a greased tin (I used a 5X7 rectangular inches tray) and bake at 175degrees in the center rack for around 40 minutes  or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
10.Serve warm freshly baked..

 

Instant Khandvi

I am a big fan of Gujarati snacks,especially khandvi and dhokla but sadly lack the expertise in making them taste as authentic..I have made khandvi once before and although the end product was not bad, the whole task of constantly stirring the batter in the kadhai till my wrist hurt ,followed by the stress of plating it so quickly left me with no desire for a repeat performance! Till I came across this variation in the method which involves no stirring :))) yes you still have to be quick with spreading the mixture on the plate..but practise will make perfect!

Ingredients

For the batter
1/2 cup heaped besan
 2 tablespoons curd whisked into 150 ml water
1 teaspoon ginger-green chilli paste
1 teaspoon salt
pinch heeng
1/2 teaspoon haldi
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

For the tempering
1 tablespoon oil
1 green chilli finely chopped
1 teaspoon rai seeds
3-4 curry patta leaves, chopped
Coriander to garnish
2 tablespoons water

1. Mix all the ingredients of the batter well, removing all lumps.
2. Pour 1 cup of water in the pressure cooker and place the vessel with the batter in the cooker. Cover the lid and turn the flame on high.
3. Give 7 whistles , keeping the flame high throughout..pay attention to the counting :)) Turn off the gas
4. Keep 2 greased thalis ready (grease the back of the thali with very little oil,too much oil will not let the batter spread easily) ..I used two thalis of 10 inch diameter
5. Once the steam is released from the whistle,open the cooker and take out the vessel. Whisk the batter once again quickly with a whisk. Then drop half the batter on one thaali and spread into a very thin layer with a spatula. The layer should be as thin as possible. Repeat the process with the second thaali..speed is they key as the batter thickens very quickly!
6. When the spread batter has cooled, cut into strips with a knife and roll each strip with gentle hands.
 Place all the rolls on a plate.
7. For the tempering, heat the oil. Add the rai, when the rai splutters, add the curry patta leaves and the green chilli. Fry for few seconds , turn off the gas. When this cools add the water and pour the tempering uniformly over the khandvi.
8. Serve fresh garnished with coriander leaves

Strawberry Crumble Cake

Was in a mood for Strawberry tart but personally I can't enjoy the taste of a tart without ice-cream ..given the weather, decided to experiment with a nice warm cake instead. Again from my favourite site joyofbaking.com..I liked the idea of strawberries sandwiched between a soft cake texture at the bottom and a crisp crumbly texture on the top..yum!

Ingredients (serves 8)

For the cake batter

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (50 grams) (4 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) powdered white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1 cup fresh strawberries

For the topping

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.  Grease a 6 inch round cake pan.

2. For crumble topping:  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and ground cinnamon.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Set aside while you make the cake batter.

3.In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

4.With an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.  Add the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, and beat only until combined.  

5.Spread the batter onto the bottom of the prepared pan (see pic below)

6.Evenly arrange the strawberries on top of the cake batter and then sprinkle with the crumble topping.

7.Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. 

8.Serve warm

The cake batter topped with the strawberries

The batter with the crumble topping

Cake just out of the oven

Thai Veg Skewers

If you are on vacation and love experimenting with new cuisines, then the best way to learn is to sign up for a local cooking class ...this is a must 'to-do' especially in far east countries. I have attended a Thai cooking class in Pattaya and I was so excited to come back and try the stuff that I actually went straight after class to a local market to purchase a wok and other stuff :))) Couldn't leave it at the utensils only,so even came back home with a whole lot of lemongrass and kafir limes :))) Have managed to grow the kafir lime which is sprouting a good number of leaves now..doubt I'll see the fruit for another decade! Anyway while I am totally against store bought pastes and sauces, this time is an excuse as I had a green curry paste packet lying around for rainy days..I have also cheated on making skewers :) , just tossed everything on a tray and baked in an oven..result was anyways equally good and really yummmy.

Ingredients 

1 yellow bell pepper, diced (big pieces)
1 large broccoli, cut into big florets
8-10 baby corn cobs, cut into two pieces each
2 tablespoons green curry paste
1 tablespoon soya sauce
5-6 kafir lime leaves (optional)
4-5 large garlic pods, unpeeled
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon palm sugar (or regular sugar)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celcuis.
2. Toss the vegetables with the paste ,soya sauce and sugar. Add salt ,not too much as the paste also has salt.
3.Mix in one tablespoon of the olive oil.
4.Grease the tray with one tablespoon olive oil, spread the vegetables evenly. Drop the lime leaves and garlic pods here and there over the vegetables.
5. Pour the remaining oil over the vegetables . Bake on top rack for 15-20 minutes or till really well done.
6. Serve hot garnished with coriander and lemon wedges

Before popping into the oven

Lettuce Cigars

For the Japanese,food is an art form ...literally. Each food platter is almost like a canvas and that thought inspired me to create these salad cigars with simple basic salad ingredients, but with some visual aesthetics added.All the vegetables should be evenly julienned (sliced finely) so that the 'cigars' look uniform. If you want to make these a little before hand ,then just pour the dressing over the salad before serving and not as part of the filling..so that the salad stays crunchy. To give it a real twist, add a small amount of wasabi paste to the dressing ..but only a teeny bit !

Ingredients (makes 16 pieces)

4 large lettuce leaves
1 cucumber, sliced finely
1 red bell pepper, sliced finely
1 yellow bell pepper,sliced finely
1 capsicum,sliced finely

For the dressing
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt

1. Cut each lettuce leave into two rectangles, after trimming the edges. The width of the rectangle should be little more than that of the vegetables.
2. Place 2-3 pieces of each vegetable along the edge of the lettuce rectangle,as shown in the picture below.
3. Pour 1/2 a spoonful of dressing over the filling and tightly roll the lettuce leaf over the vegetables.
4. Cut each roll into two pieces and arrange on a platter.
5. Pour any remaining dressing over the rolls and serve fresh !

The filling of the lettuce leaf..