Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

 I finally bought a 12 cup bundt pan!!!YAY!!

I had bookmarked a lot of recipes even before my pan arrived..

The foodlibrarian website has tons of bundtcake recipes to choose from.I tried a simple cinnamon chocolate bundt cake. It was super moist,soft and tasted yummmmmm!!

Thanks to Mary(of foodlibrarian) and Ellie of Vintage Victuals !!

Ingredients:

Water - 1 cup

Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

Unsalted butter - 1 stick

Unsweetened cocoa - 1/4 c plus 1 T (or 5 T)

All-purpose flour - 2 cups

Sugar - 2 cups

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 1/2 tsp

Buttermilk - 1/2 cup

Baking soda - 1tsp

 Eggs - 2

Vanilla - 1 tsp


Method:

Bring to a boil in a pot: Water, oil, butter and cocoa

In a large bowl, combine together with a whisk: flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon

Add the chocolate mixture to the flour and mix until combined.

Add the buttermilk and baking soda and mix.

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla. Add to the batter and combine.

Pour batter into greased 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan  and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes (the original recipe says 25 minutes, so start checking then).





Cool in pan.

Top with a dusting of powdered sugar or a simple glaze of powdered sugar and milk or water.

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Strawberry Bread

I know Iam not blogging regularly.This is because my kid's summer vacation has started and we had been to my BIL's place for vacation.

This time we had great fun camping at a state park.The kids really enjoyed a lot.It was a nice experience for them being without TV,video games for 2 days.

I had made this strawberry bread more than a month ago.It was lying in my draft.Strawberries are aplenty in stores now.So I never miss to grab a box of these antioxidant-rich fruit during errands.

Recipe courtesy :Allrecipes.com

I halved the recipe to make 1 loaf and made some changes according to reviews.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour -1 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup-- can be reduced to 3/4 th of a cup

Salt - a pinch

Cinnamon Powder - 1 1/2  tsp --I reduced it to 1/2 tsp

Strawberries - 1 cup chopped-- I added another cup to make it 2 cups.

Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

Eggs - 2 beaten

Pecan - 1/2 cup chopped optional--I didnt add.

Method :

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
 
Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaf out  and cool completely.

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Eggless Milkpowder Cake

The weather was cold and drizzly last weekend and it was perfect for baking a cake.But I ran out of eggs and even condensed milk to bake an eggless cake.The only thing I got was a tin of milkpowder which I had bought to make angel burfi.So I googled and found the recipe for eggless milkpowder cake from Divya's blog .She had made a marble cake.But I made it just plain and slightly adapted the recipe.It was moist,fluffy and delicious.

Thanx Divya!!

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup

Milk powder - 4 TBSP

Baking powder -2 tsp

Baking Soda -1/2 tsp

Melted Butter-1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Milk - 1 cup

VAnilla extract - 1tsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 330deg F.

Grease a round cake pan and dust with some flour.Sift together flour,baking powder,baking soda,milkpowder.

In a bowl cream the butter and sugar and add the vanilla extract.Add the dry ingredients.Then add milk gradually and mix a little bit.

Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

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Vanilla and Chocolate Marble cake

Marble cake was in my baking to-do list for a long time.It was so easy to make than I thought and I got the swirls reasonably good for the first time:-)

Ive taken this recipe from allrecipes.com and made some changes according to the reviews.

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Sugar - 1 1/3 cup

Cocoa Powder - 2tbsp

Butter - 1/2 cup(softened at room temperature)

Vanilla - 1tsp

Eggs - 2

Milk - 1 cup


Method :

Grease and flour an 8 inch round pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.

In a bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Add eggs one by one and beat until fluffy.

Add the vanilla essence.

In another bowl mix the flour,salt,baking powder.

Add a small amount of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.Gradually add little bit of milk and fold.Alternate between the flour mixture and milk and fold.

Separate into two parts.Mix the cocoa powder with melted butter and add  to one part of the flour mixture.

Put one spoon of vanilla mixture in the center of the prepared pan.Now add 1 spoon of cocoa mixture on top of the vanilla mixture.

Alternate between vanilla and cocoa.Finally swirl the top with a knife until you get a marble effect.Do not overdo it because you might lose the definition of either vanilla or cocoa mixture.


Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes and check by inserting a tester in the middle.If it comes out with a little bit of crumb then the cake is done.

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Two egg Vanilla Pound Cake

Pound cake recipes always calls for sooooo many eggs which makes it so heavy.Though rich and tasty,I always hesitate to bake one fearing the amount of  fat .
But I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe featured in About.com which uses only 2 eggs for pound cake baked in loaf pan.
It was moist,soft and delicious.

Ingredients:


All purpose flour - 2 cups sifted

Baking powder - 3/4 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Sugar -1 1/2 cup

Butter - 2/3 cup softened at room temperature.

Eggs at room temperature - 2

Whole milk - 2/3 cup

Vanilla essence - 1tsp

Method:


Line a loaf pan with parchment paper(It makes cleaning easier) .Alternately grease the pan with melted butter and sprinkle some flour.Preheat the oven to 325 deg F

In a medium bowl cream the butter with sugar until fluffy.Add eggs one at a time and beat well.

In anothe bowl,sift the flour,baking powder and salt.

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.Add milk little by little and mix gently.Finally add the vanilla essence and mix.

Pour the mixture into the loaf pan.

Bake for about 1  1/4 hrs to 1 1/2 hrs.Start checking your cake after 1 hour.Mine took about 1 hour 20 minutes.



Test the cake by inserting a toothpick in the middle.If it comes out clean,then cake is ready.

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Back after a long break with Butter cake!!

Ive been in hibernation for a loooong time.. We relocated to a nearby city called Arcadia from Pasadena,the reason being my elder kid's education.
Arcadia boasts having one of the best school districts in California.

I like my  kitchen in this apartment  a lot cuz its bigger and it is well lit.Well lit means.... Brighter and better pictures for my blog:)

So coming to the recipe..It is one of the simplest tea cake.Rich,soft and moist and it tasted even better the next day.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 3/4 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup(you can reduce to 3/4 cup if you want)

Melted Butter - 1/4 pound

Vanilla essence - 2tsp

Eggs - 2

Method:

Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
Mix the flour,baking powder.
In another pan mix the butter with sugar.Then add the eggs,vanilla essence.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients.It would be lumpy.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs up when touched.
The cake would be golden brown in color when done.
Allow it to cool completely.

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Eggless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous Newyear!!I baked this cake for Newyear.

This is my first attempt in frosting.Though it was shabbily frosted :(I loved the taste of the cake with ganache.
Its been a year since I bookamrked this recipe on Joy of baking website.I was really apprehensive in making the frosting from scratch.But this recipe is so easy to follow that even an amateur baker like me was able to manage.
There are too many good things in this recipe.First of all it is eggless and the next thing is it uses only one pan.Yeah!!We mix all the ingredients in the cake pan itself and pop it into the oven.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups

Sugar - 1 cup

1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed), sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (75 grams) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (240 ml) warm water

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract



Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream (35% butterfat)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature


Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

In an ungreased 8 inch (20 cm) square cake pan, stir together the flour, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the melted butter, water, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. With a fork, mix all the ingredients together until well blended.

Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.


Frosting: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let the ganache sit at room temperature until slightly firm (about one hour) and then beat the ganache until creamy smooth and light. With an offset spatula or knife spread the ganache over the cooled cake.

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Eggless Orange Cake

I have a passion for baking.I always search for eggless baking recipes.This eggless orange cake recipe was posted in a jewish food website.I wanted to try immediately because i had all the ingredients in my pantry.So I saved an errand to the store.Not to metion about the texture.It was soft and light and it tasted good.

This was my entry to Mythreyee's Paajaka's Baked sweets event.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups - all-purpose flour

3/4 cup - granulated sugar

1 tsp - baking soda

1/2 tsp - baking powder

1 cup - orange juice(fresh juice or bottled)i used welch's brand

1/3 cup - vegetable oil(i used mazola corn oil)Any oil can be used.

1 tsp - grated orange zest(i omitted this since i ran out of oranges)

Method:

1. Grease an 8" round cake pan. Preheat oven to 350F(180C).

2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder until well mixed.

3. Add the oil and orange zest.

4. Then pour in the orange juice.

5. Stir just enough to combine the ingredients..No need to beat the mixture..Cuz over-mixing will result in the cake not rising well.

6.Pour into the prepared pan immediately.

7.Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a tester inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean and the cake is slightly golden brown in color on the top.

Icing

Powdered sugar can be sifted on the top of the cake when the cake is still warm.I skipped the icing part.

Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee!!

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