Yipee! My Grandmom and mom are here to stay with me. I feel like a kid running around happily. My 3-year old daughter feels double the excitement.  She says ‘My nani has come with your nani?’

The word Grandmom is synonymous to a lot of things, like Delicious mangoes, Besan Laddus, Chocolate bars and Cream wafers. These are the things she used to treat me to whenever I visited her at Dehra Dun. I loved summers as a child. I would come back all plump from vacations to Granny’s. 

My friends came home a few days ago to have tea with me in the evening. It was a sudden plan, I got a call from one of them when I was clearing the dishes after lunch. A couple of my friends who stay in my apartment decided to drop in. I didnt have much time to make anything. I was planning to doze off with the baby. Thats when I thought ‘May be its a good idea to make something that cooks on its own’ I immediately decided to bake a bread. I kneaded the dough for 10-15mins and allowed it to stand in my kitchen balcony which is quite warm. While the yeast worked hard on the dough I was fast asleep with my baby

Ingredients :

This is the result of a banana going very ripe. I remember the last time I had a banana like this. It became an ice cream. However, this time around its too cold to consider making one so I decided to use it up in making an eggless cake. I’ve added dry fruits like cashews, almonds and walnuts along with one fresh fruit – a ripe banana. This cake doesnt need much beating. Its just like making a banana milk shake , mixing a few ingredients and baking it. Since all the ingredients like dry fruits, all purpose flour, banana and sugar are white, so is the resultant cake.

Hope you all are having a great Republic Day. My daughter wore a tri-color dress and attended a flag hoisting in her school. I, on the other hand went to the market and did the regular house chores. Where is the freedom from that? House work knows no National Holidays. Why cant we have some days when its against the law to work in the house?

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour / maida
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder
• Pinch of Baking Soda
• 1.5 tablespoons of chopped Dry Fruits – Cashews, Almonds, walnuts
• 1 cup Milk
• Few drops of Vanilla essence

Procedure:

1. Puree banana along with sugar, vanilla essence and milk in a blender.
2. Sift together the maida with Baking powder and baking soda.
3. Mix the dry sifted powder into the banana puree. Ensure dropping consistency (add more milk if necessary)
4. Toss the dry fruits in a teaspoon of maida and mix into the cake batter.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 deg C for about 30 mins.

Garnish Tip:

Half the cashews. Rub some maida on them. Place them on top of the cake before putting it in for baking.

Hope you all are enjoying the Chrsitmas holidays so far. My week was really fun filled and hectic. Almost 6 parties this week – some for Christmas, some for birthdays and one wedding too. This much even before the New Year Party plans begin. I managed to bake a couple of cakes at the end of 3 days (in instalments, of course) . I’m rarely ever able to do any icing on cakes. The reason is that I love to eat hot cake. One thats fresh out of the oven. It just melts in your mouth and I dont want to miss that taste for anything. Thats why this time I baked 2 cakes. One for icing and one to gobble down as soon as its done.

We dressed up the Christmas tree on 23rd and got Santa gifts for all kids in the family. My baby kept her little socks by her bedside on 24th eve. I told her to keep big socks so she can get Lots of gifts. She happily agreed and kept her big red sock. She also cleared the dressing table so santa gets enough space to keep her gifts.

Santa left presents for the baby

In the morning she had forgotten all about the Santa story. She was amazed to find gifts on her bedside. I was in for a bit of surprise myself. All this time I was thinking that I was Santa but I realized that ‘Santa’ had left a gift for me too ! I was zapped. Have I been a good girl this year ? Who is Santa in my house really?

Our Little Christmas Tree

Christmas is incomplete without cake. I didnt have any rum to make a traditional plum cake so I decided to make the basic fruit n nut one. I managed to get some marzipan. Honestly, I have only read about marzipan in blogs and books but have never seen it being sold anywhere in Bangalore. This time for the Special Christmas sale I found Nilgiris selling hundred marzipan boxes and chocolate santas in their basement! It was such a treat to the eyes. I immediately bought some and got onto seeing videos on molding marzipan. I also managed to make some caramel roses and used the left over caramel to make praline flakes.

Now for the funny part. While trying to shoot a picture of this cake the wind as usual went against me. The heat was so much that the base of a chocolate Santa kept near the cake started melting. I was trying to wipe the molten chocolate on the paper base when a strong wind blew and threw Santa’s face right into the cake. I was anxious to remove the involuntary facial that Santa had undergone. By the time I wiped his face it started to melt too. Gosh! One of the toughest moment

The house is filled with the fragrance of roses and fresh rajnigandhas. I had got a whiff of the sweet scent a night before and knew they were there somewhere in the house. I was positive my mom would have brought flowers like she does every anniversary. Then we got a lot more flowers, from friends and family. Our house looks dressed up and now you know the air that the lucky florists breath every day. My 3 -year old baby noticed everyone giving us flowers. She went into the garden, picked a withered rose from our plant and gave it to her papa saying ‘Happy Anniversary’.

Mayank followed the ritual of taking me out to dinner to an unknown place. It was the Oberoi at MG Road this time. The ride was pleasant. Especially the moon, was it full yday? Coz it was definitely BIG and made a  wallpaper backdrop through our drive.

Full moon backdrop through our drive

The menu was continental and the baby was pampered with exotic food right through. I had half a mind of exchanging  plates with her! She had a blast, she created an unusual environment in the silence of a grand restaurant where people dont even make the slightest munch while eating their meal. The Baby loved the restroom so she decided to go there every 30 mins. The sweet attender got her a pasta with cheese (non-spicy) made specially for her and she said in these exact words ‘ I dont want it, keep it on the other table’ Mayank and I went red. Next Mayank took her to the loo for the 4th time, she ended up peeing in her frock! First time this happens in months and that too in a fancy place like this. He took off her frock and let her back into the dinner room. My jaw dropped when I saw the baby enter the room in a vest and a diaper! Unfortunately I had only a spare t-shirt and no pant. I examined her frock, it wasnt that wet. So I dry wiped it and put it back on her. No choice. Soon baby was given crisp french fries and a bowl of sauce into which she instantly dipped her fingers. After stuffing her face with french fries she was full, so she  decided to do something different – she tore my new shiny hair band into bits. The pampering continued and she was served with choco marble cakes. She ate half of it and left the remaining ensuring we dont get to eat it either (but I managed to finish it, I am also her mom! )

Finally the dinner was over and the pleasant and ohh so sweet waiters came to our table with a bouquet of flowers and a scrumptious chocolate cake. I was about to cut it and the baby pushed from behind. The table being a regular trolley moved ahead. Gosh! The last thing I needed was to have my face in the cake and everyone around me controlling  their laughter!   Thankfully the cake cutting went off well. Mayank caught the baby in time so I managed to cut a thin sliver of the cake which I naturally gave my super enthu baby.

Complimentary Cake with Dinner

We returned late at night with the baby curled up and fast asleep in the car. Once it was all over it seemed so funny that I just had to pen it down. Baby, when you are grown up and go for your anniversary dinner, please read this post so will  definitely have a hearty laugh before going out to celebrate. I think the day was very special to me. Thanks so all  the people who sent flowers, gifts, best wishes and calls to make our day. The dinner was delicious and the ambiance  was perfect. A very memorable day indeed.

Fragrant flowers in our home

I made a mocha chocolate chip cake for our anniversary. It was a simple cake made in very little time. Thankfully, it came out soft even without much beating. It was a recipe made on the fly. I’m sharing it with you here.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All purpose flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1.5 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon coffee powder
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon chocolate chips
• 1 egg
• 1 cup butter

Procedure:

1. Shift the dry ingredients. Beat the butter and the egg separately.
2. Slowly add the dry mix and the beaten egg alternately to the butter and beat well.
3. Add vanilla essence , chocolate chips and mix.
4. Bake at 180 Deg C for 30 mins.

Please note:
The cake didnt have a strong coffee smell. In order to increase the taste of coffee you can increase the
coffee powder quantity and sugar as well.

Nearly 3 days now, flowers still look happy

Finally I made them! Thanks to my sister who baked cookies and inspired me to follow suit. My niece goes to this fun activity center called Hippocampus. Its a place where kids can read, learn and play at the same time. The center conducts cooking classes for kids from time to time -  involving them in making simple things like sandwiches, muffins and cookies. Thats where I got this recipe from. I personally love the idea of involving kids in cooking as it encourages them to eat better and also serves as a good distraction for mommy and baby.

When I made these cookies I didnt have chocolate chips so I used broken chocolate bits instead. I searched all over but Bangalore doesnt seem to provide you with chocolate chips that easily. Finally found them at the Nilgiris on Brigade road.  I also got many other ingredients from there like chocolate vermicelli, liquid glucose and doughnut baking molds – stuff thats hard to find around here.

Ingredients:

• 90 gms flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of soda
• 40 gms butter
• 25 gm Brown Sugar powder
• 2 TBsp Honey / Golden syrup
• 60 gms chocolate chips
• few drops of vanilla essence
• some milk

Procedure:

1. Sift dry ingredients
2. Add cold butter – mix to make crumb-like mix
3. Add sugar , chips, essence and honey syrup.
4. Add milk to form soft dough.
5. Roll to about 1/4 inch thickness on floured surface
6. Bake for 12 – 15 mins in an oven preheated to 180 deg C.

Hats off to all people who pain stakingly create gorgeous icings on their cakes. I, on the other hand cant wait to dig in! Most of the time I tell myself that the next time I bake a cake I’ll surely do some simple icing over it and every time the same thing happens – baking, photography and cake disappears. Usually, I take snaps under incredible pressure from my baby (who sits at the edge of her seat waiting with her mouth wide open)

Finally I found a way to manage some icing even if there is no time between baking and serving it. A Truffle mix – that can be made well in advance and stored in the refrigerator until required. When your cake is ready, just warm the truffle icing in the microwave or double boiler and spread it on the cake. There! Your icing is done.

The truffle icing has a really long shelf life. Mine lasts for around a month in the fridge. Its just like keeping a chocolate for weeks. You can get creative and use the leftover molten truffle for coating laddus or just making simple butter toffees (although I’m sure these yummy things are rarely leftover )

Recipe for the Banana Cake same procedure as Banana walnut cake (although here I didnt add the walnuts to the cake batter, just garnished eventually with roasted almond bits)

For the Truffle ~

Ingredients:

• Milk pwd 50 gm
• Sugar 50 gm (add more as per taste)
• Cocoa pwd 20 gm
• Margarine/ butter 75 gm
• liquid Glucose 1 tsp (optional)
• Chocolate essence 1/4 tsp
• Water 1/2 cup

Procedure:

1. Boil water and sugar till sugar dissolves
2. Sieve cocoa powder and milk powder together.
3. Add spoon by spoon to the sugar syrup. Stir continuously.
4. When all is mixed add margarine
5. When mixture starts leaving sides of pan (setting stage) add liquid glucose and blend well
6. Spread on greased tray and let it  set for a while.
7. Cut out slices of the Banana cake, spread the molten truffle over it.
8. Garnish with roasted almond bits and enjoy it…. warm!

Please note:
You can refrigerate the Truffle Icing for weeks. Warm when required and spread on cakes, buns, doughnuts or any other bakes you like.

I found this cake to be particularly soft! Since applesauce is used as an egg substitute it has all the qualities that make a cake soft and spongy. Add a few eggs and now you have a cake thats even softer, yet well bound. 

Apples and cinnmon are a match made in heaven. Its rare to find a apple dessert that doesnt contain cinnamon. Its advisable to freshly prepare any spice powder by roasting and grinding the spice. This when added at the very last stage of bread making results in a lasting aroma. I tried roasting the cinnamon but didnt know that it burns so fast. I threw those poor charred sticks away and started again, very cautiously. This time I tossed them around constantly and turned off the gas as soon I got the fragrance of roasted cinnamon. The resultant cakes were soft and brown with a hint of cinnamon in them.

I have adapted this recipe from Mansi’s Apple Bread Recipe. Thanks Mansi, for sharing this delicious recipe with us.

I made a few changes to the original recipe :

1. I made it as a muffin since my baby likes small round portions
2. I didnt add nutmeg powder and nuts
3. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to the flour while seiving
4. I baked muffins at 175 °C for 25 mins

As you might have guessed by the name its a chocolate cake, in taste and appearance its a close cousin of the Deep Dark Chocolate Cake. The main difference being that Black Magic Cake contains a magic potion, coffee.

The procedure of making this cake is fairly simple. Since we dont use any butter there is not much beating, the baking soda and oil does the softening part for you. Only one thing you need to take care of, when you mix hot water to the egg mixture you need to whisk constantly else the eggs could scramble. The hot water combines with the eggs to result in a sticky kind of cake hence you really must wait for the cake to cool off before trying to demold it otherwise the cake could stick to the mold and detach.

I have so far found recipes from Hershey’s website fairly simple and with reliable results. I keep going back for more, I’m sure my doctor wont be very happy with this.

This is again one of my kitchen experiments. Long ago my aunt told me that adding fresh orange juice to cake batter can create freshness in its taste. I also had lots of black raisins in my fridge. I remember buying these raisins as a humble substitute for blueberries. I love blueberry muffins but couldnt find any berries.

Finally, I thought of marrying the two ideas. Why not have an orange flavored cake which has black raisins in it? Here is the concoction. I must say its worth a shot. The end result was a shiny muffin in which the freshness of orange juice was interrupted by dark, sweet black raisins.

Off this goes to the original recipe event hosted by Lore. Merry Christmas!

Ingredients :

• Orange juice 1/2 tea cup
• Orange peel
• 6-7 black raisins
• 1/2 tin condensed milk
• 100 grams maida / white flour
• 50 grams butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt

Procedure :

1. Extract fresh orange juice.
2. Remove the white fiber from the reverse of the peel. Now finely chop the orange rind.
3. Deseed black raisins and chop them.
4. Mix condensed milk with melted butter.
5. Add 1/2 cup of orange juice , beat until thoroughly blended.
6. Sift together maida, baking powder, salt and soda. Blend in maida using the cut and fold method.
7. Dust the orange rind and raisins in maida. Now gently mix them into the batter.
8. Grease & dust muffin molds. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 Deg C for 25 mins.

Cake for little BIL's Birthday

It was my younger Brother-in-law’s birthday a few weeks ago and I decided to bake a cake for the occasion. He loves cakes but unlike me he is not very fond of chocolate cakes. So I started thinking of an eggless cake that is simple, non-choco and yet tasty. I started going through my mom’s cookery notes when I stumbled upon this cake which was made from condensed milk. I had a can that had been chilling in my fridge for over a month, so I decided this was the best time to use it. Moreover, I had never really tried an eggless cake in a long time so I got cracking.

I am glad my BIL liked it very much. . Actually, although I bake cakes all the time its still a bit nerve racking when you bake for an occassion. You want to get it right. When I was turning the cake out of the mold for a second it got stuck and I was like ‘God! Its for a party, let it not break !’ Thankfully it came out clean and I was happy. Next comes the part when you want to taste it. Obviously, I couldnt taste it till it was cut. So I waited impatiently for the cake cutting. As soon as the cake was cut I jumped to have a piece. I was almost holding my breath and was hoping it wont end up as another one of those grand kitchen experiments. I felt like a kid waiting for her result. Thankfully the cake was delicious and I think I am going to make it more often.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 tin condensed milk
• 100 gms maida
• 50 gms butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Procedure :

1. Mix condensed milk with melted butter.
2. Add 1/2 cup of water and vanilla essence, beat until thoroughly blended.
3. Sift together maida, baking powder, salt and soda. Blend in maida using cut and fold method. Let the batter reach dropping consistency.
4. Grease baking tin and pour the mixture in. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 Deg C for 35 – 40 mins.