Mango Pound Cake - Step by step pictures

Hi All,

A life without love is like a year without summer
~ Swedish Proverb

Summers always brings back memorable memories of school days when we used to wait desperately for our summer vacations!! I always used to accompany mom to buy green mangoes for making various sweet and spicy mango pickles. We used to make around 10kg's of mango pickle every year. Most of which we would share with our aunt's and uncle's families nevertheless it was fun to watch my ma and grandma making those yummy pickles. It was like a ritual which we used to follow every single year!

Summers are also special as we kids used to have so much of fun visiting each other's houses and playing games right from morning 8am till night 9pm. I remember most of the time my mom had to come down to fetch us home to eat dinner. I am sure my mom used to dread summer vacations as if she has to give an exam. I think for mom's its an exam everyday...atleast thats what my mom says even now Believe it or not we kids were quite naughty and fighting all the time. The thought of having 3 kids at home for 2 whole months is enough for mom's to go bonkers :) Wish we still had summer vacations..hope someone's listening :)

When we are talking about summers, how can mangoes be left behind? Mangoes are probably the most loved fruit of all time and hence no wonder given the title of "King of Fruits". Honestly till date I feel its over exaggerated! Friends who know me better will know that mango is not one of my favorite fruit.Honestly I would skip it all the time but sometimes my mom corners me and I have to eat it purely out of guilt as my mom uses her tactics of letting me know how expensive these mangoes are :( On recent visit from my family ,dad got around a dozen mangoes for me! You know how parents feel about their kids living in a different city and not getting proper nutritious food.  I couldn't really send them back...and a good girl I am I promised to eat them all...almost!. I always wanted to try my hands on making a mango cake so what better way to use those plump and juicy mangoes than baking a pound cake out of it?

Mango Pound Cake

Serves 10 - 12

Recipe Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe here

 Ingredients:-

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh mango puree

4 small eggs or 3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

Procedure:-

•  Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda and keep it aside
• Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy , for about 3 to 5 mins

• Now add in the mango puree and beat until well combined.

• The texture and color of the mixture would be light pale yellow.

• Now beat in one egg at a time alternating with flour mixture. I used 4 eggs so started with an egg and ended with an egg.

• Finally add in your vanilla essence and beat lightly just until its incorporated.

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease and flour a pound cake tin.

• Pour the batter into greased cake tin and tap lightly on the kitchen platform so that the mixture is evenly spread.

• Bake the cake for 45 to 50 mins until a knife inserted comes out clear. My cake was baked in exactly 50 mins.

• Remove the cake pan from oven and leave it to cool down completely. Once the cake as reached on room temperate, slice the cake and serve it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or cherish the flavors of mango as it is!

Verdict:- One of the most softest cake I have ever made! Next time I will add in some roasted nuts to get some nutty flavor in the cake. Definately a keeper recipe! All mango lovers must try this for sure!


Love,

Strawberry Margarita (Non-Alcoholic)

Hi All,

Strawberries are the angels of the earth, innocent and sweet with green leafy wings reaching heavenward  -Terri Guillemets

Its been quite hot lately with temperatures roaring high it has become impossible to step out of house in the afternoons. The evenings on the other hand are lovely, the temperature drops down and is much more pleasant. From past couple of days the evenings have been extremely windy and standing in the balcony facing almost an empty ground does lift your spirits after a hectic day at work. Strawberries do have a natural way to make one feel refreshed, one look at those plump, juicy and vibrant berries and I am sold. What could be more refreshing on a summer's day than cool and sparkling strawberry margarita?

Travelling between Mumbai-Pune has its own merits and demerits. Merits being I get to buy strawberries /fruit jams/jellies/syrups etc from Lonavla/Khandala. Everytime I see strawberries and I simply cannot resist and end up buying way too much! On one such an occasion I usually end up making tons of strawberry milkshake or end up using some as a face pack! But now I have a new favorite and its such a breeze to make Strawberry Margarita, plus its also non-alcoholic so even kids can enjoy these!

Strawberry Margarita
Serves 6
Ingredients:-
2 cups fresh strawberries (500gms)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup sugar syrup (recipe below)
1 tsp freshly crushed black pepper
Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
Sprite chilled
Fresh mint leaves for garnishing

For sugar syrup boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar for about 5 to 6 mins.

Procedure:-

• Throw in the strawberries in a juicer. Remove and pass it through a sieve
• Take the strawberry juice, add in lime juice, sugar syrup, crushed black pepper and salt to taste
• Mix well and chill the mixture for atleast couple of hours.
• Take tall glasses, add 3 to 4 tbsp of strawberry mixture and pour chilled Sprite.
• Garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve chilled.
• Enjoy!

Verdict:- One of the best refreshing drinks ever! You can even make the strawberry puree a day ahead of time or even freeze it and use it whenever required. So easy and vibrant, perfect for summer!

Oreo Cookies Chocolate Cream Cake

Dear All,

Cookies are made of butter and love.  ~Norwegian Proverb

 

Who can say no to an Oreo Cookie? I am still yet to meet someone who dislikes Oreo's. These are very popular amongst kids as well as older generations. During my visit to US last year I understood the true craze of these cookies! Probably every trolly in the supermarket had big packs of Oreo's. Its packing also states "America's Favorite Cookie"! Oreo cookies are probably one of the oldest cookies available since 1920's. I have seen them being used in ice creams, milkshakes, cakes, puddings, fudges etc. I too enjoy these cookies especially with a cold glass of milk. Oreo's are so famous that it even has Oreo Cookie Day which is celebrated on March 6th.

 I too was tempted to use Oreo cookies in my bakes and I truly believed they would go wonderfully well with fresh cream cakes! Plus there is something very intriguing about the black and white combination! The cake is very easy to make and looks gorgeous! You don't have to be a skilled cake decorator to get the perfect finish, anyone can make it!

Oreo Cookies Chocolate Cake
Serves 10-12
Ingredients for Chocolate Sponge Cake:-
4 eggs seperated
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp coco powder
1/2 cup + 2tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder


Procedure for Chocolate Sponge Cake:-

• Sieve all purpose flour, coco powder, cornflour and baking powder and set it aside.
• Grease and flour a 9inch round cake pan, preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
• Beat together egg yellow and 2 tbsp sugar until it turns pale yellow in color, about 5 to 8 mins.
• In a separate clean vessel using clean blender beat egg white for about 2 mins until frothy. Now add the remaining sugar and beat on high for 5 to 6 mins until it turns stiff and glossy.
• Carefully add the egg yellow mixture into egg white mixture, beating very slowly. Donot overbeat and make you do not allow the air to escape from egg white mixture.
• Now gently fold in the flour mixture. Again do not tend to over mix and be careful not to allow the air to escape. This has to be done as gently as possible using the cut and fold technique. Please see the link1 and link2 to better understand this technique.
• Once all the flour is folded, pour the batter in the greased and floured baking pan and bake the cake for about 2o to 30 mins, until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Ingredients for filling and frosting the cake
2 cups fresh cream whipped until it triples in volume and is stiff
15 to 20 Oreo cookies crushed
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Ingredients for sugar syrup
1 cup water
1 tbsp dark rum
1 tbsp strong coffee
3-4 tbsp sugar

Procedure:- Boil the water and add sugar and coffee. Cool this mixture completely and add in the rum.


Assembling the Cake:-

• Once the cake is cooled completely, slice the cake into 3 even layers.
• Place the top most layer on the cake board and drizzle the sugar syrup using a spoon. Make sure to drizzle is across evenly on the cake especially along the edges which tends to get a little hard.
• Now add a generous dollop of fresh cream and spread it evenly using a spatula.
• Now sprinkle about 1/4th of the crushed oreo cookies and chocolate chips.
• Carefully place the second layer of the cake on top of the first and repeat the above steps of drizzling sugar syrup and fresh cream.
• Place the last layer on top and again drizzle the remaining of the sugar syrup.
• Now cover the sides of the cake and top with the remaining fresh cream, if the sides of the cake are not turning out evenly don't worry they will be coated with generous amount of crushed oreo's :)
• As shown in my pic sprinkle the sides of the cake with crushed oreo's.
• Decorate the top of the cake as shown in my pic using the remaining crushed cookies and chocolate chips. You can even use whole oreo cookies and line item on the side of the cake as I have done.
• Decoration part is completely upon your imagination.
• Make sure to chill the cake atleast overnight or for minimum 5 to 6 hours for all the flavors to blend in well.
• Serve chilled! Enjoy!

Verdict:- I made this cake for a colleagues farewell party we had in our office. I personally was very happy with the outcome of the cake and its a must try for everyone who loves Oreo cookies!