Chocolate Chip Almond Pound Cake for a new begining !!!

Dear All,

Change is always very painful especially if you are changing from your very first company to another. First company is like your first love which one really cannot forget! You all must be wondering what the hell I am talking about....well I recently switched from my previous and first company to another details of which I have already updated on my FB :-) Honestly there is lot of excitement as well as little sadness as I really miss my old company. The beautiful campus, my colleagues, my friends and each and every moment I have spent in my last 4 years here brings tears in my eyes. But I am happy that I am moving ahead in my career to take on new opportunities and challenges!

During my last week in my previous company, lots and i mean lots of people expressed that they will miss me a lot but more than me they will miss my bakes! Now that really is a compliment!! Yes and for all my colleagues and well wishers I prepared this cake which was till date on of my best cakes I have ever made! I was so impressed by the taste and texture of this cake that I have already made it twice in a week!

Chocolate Chip Almond Pound Cake
Ingredients:-
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar or white sugar
2 tbsp coco powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 medium eggs at room temperature
1 cup milk
90 ml vegetable oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup roasted almonds, chopped finely


Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C.
• Grease and flour a pound cake tin.
• Sieve together flour, coco powder, baking powder and baking soda in a vessel.
• In a measuring cup mix milk, oil and eggs. Mix with a spoon until well blended.
• Mix together flour mixture, sugar, almonds and 1/4 of chocolate chips.
• Add the liquid mixture and fold the batter together until well blended. DONOT use a beater, a wooden spoon or a spatula is perfect.
• Pour the batter in the baking tin and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chip on top.
• Bake the cake for 40 to 45 mins until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from oven and let is cool completely atleast for 20 mins.
• Once completely cooled, cut into pieces and serve.
• Enjoy with a coffee or even with some vanilla ice cream!

Verdict? Trust me and go and make this cake right away!!! Its so easy to prepare and hardly require any extra preparations, just mix the dry and liquid ingredients and you are ready to go! Everybody in the office loved it and I too managed to gobble down 3 pieces all by my self..hehehe :)

So what are you waiting for, rush into your kitchen and make this special treat for your loved ones! In case of any queries pls feel free to email me anytime and I will try to answer them to the best of my knowledge!

Thank you and take care!

Eggless Chocolate Raisin Coffee Bread

Dear All,

The moment I saw Eggless Coffee Banana Bread at Cilantro i knew i wanted to try out the recipe but I am not a big fan of bananas and hence I dont buy them very often until and unless I am making a fruit salad. I used Cilantro's recipe as a base and made this Eggless Chocolate Raisin Coffee Bread. I love Cadbury's Temptations especially the one with raisins and rum, so I was inspired to use chocolate and raisins combo and was quite sure it would work well. Another reason for using raisins was that, few weeks back i bought a large bag of raisins which were on sale! The cake is perfect as a tea time treat, its dense and chocolaty, not too sweet but has perfect blend of coffee and chocolate! This is a perfect bread for people like me who love coffee and chocolate together! 

Adapted from Cilantro's recipe

Ingredients:-

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1/3 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup freshly brewed strong black coffee*

1 cup raisins

2 tbsp rum (optional)

1 tsp vanilla extract

* Make sure the coffee is warm and not boiling hot.

Procedure:-

• Soak the raisins with 2 tbsp of rum. If you dont want to use alcohol, pls use orange juice or you can completely skip this step as well. I prefer juicy raisins in my cake hence i soaked them with 2 tbsp of rum for about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and flour a loaf pan 5-9 inch in size.
• Sieve the dry ingredients and keep aside.
• In a seperate bowl, mix together oil, sugar and vanilla. Add in the flour mixture alternatively with black coffee.
• Sprinkle some flour on raisins and add them into the batter. Mix them well.
• Pour the cake in greased or lined cake pan and bake at 180 degrees C for 40 to 45 mins, until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool the cake completely before slicing. The  tastes even better after refrigeration.

Eggless Chocolate Raisin Coffee bread is finding its way to Meeta's Monthly Mingle guest hosted by Jamie the theme for this month being Chocolate and Bread.

Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend ahead!