Chocolate Truffle Cake for 1st Wedding Anniversary

Hi All,

Samyukta from ISimplyLoveMakeup requested me to prepare a Chocolate Truffle Cake for her first wedding anniversary. I was very excited and nervous at the same time as 1st wedding anniversary is so special and honestly I didn't want to disappoint her.

Also I always believe in giving a personal touch to cakes especially if its a birthday or anniversary. So I asked some of her hubby's favorite things and having met her and following her blog I knew some of her favorite things :) I have incorporated both her and her hubby's favorites in the cake like football, shoes, lipstick, apple logo etc :)

The cake is dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache used as filling and frosting. The border is done using white chocolate. The cute little items like shoes, lips, football, lipstick, handbag, apple logo etc is all made with chocolates and is completely edible :)

I totally loved the final look and I hope the couple enjoyed it as well.

Here's wishing the lovely couple Samyukta and Saurabh happy 1st wedding anniversary and a wonderful life ahead!!

Enjoy the pics :)

Hope you all liked the cake, do leave your suggestions and comments below.
Thank you

Eggless Chocolate Truffle Cake

Dear All,

Hope you all had a great and relaxing weekend. It had been a long time since I made a chocolate cake so thought of making my most favorite cake ever Chocolate Truffle Cake! Doubled the recipe of Eggless Chocolate Cake filled and frosted with homemade chocolate ganache!

The cake turned out to be fantastic! Chocolate ganache filling was simply perfect, not too sweet and not too bitter! I personally love to warm up the cake for few seconds in microwave and have with a BIG scoop of vanilla ice cream!! YUMMMM!!!


Want a slice?

For the recipe, follow my eggless chocolate cake recipe just double all the ingredients to get 8 inch cake

For Chocolate Ganache I followed the recipe from here, the recipe adds flavored liquor but I have not added any.

Once ganache is ready put it in fridge overnight for setting before using it on the cake. Refrigeration will cause ganache to become quite thick and makes it easy for spreading on the cake and piping.

Once filled and frosted the cake with ganache again pop the cake into fridge for atleast couple of hours for setting, remove the cake half an hour before serving.

Hope you guys liked the cake and if in case of any doubts or queries do post below.
Until next time, tc!

Love,

Moist Butter Cake

Hi All,

I was craving for some home made butter cake from a long time! Even though I bake cream cakes a lot these days for orders pouring in but the aroma of freshly baked butter cake is out of this world! This recipe is definitely a keeper! The cake turned out so moist and buttery! Its not too oily or heavy at all. The added vanilla takes this cake to another level! 

Its a perfect cake to be enjoyed lazy sunday afternoon with some hot coffee and a book! It perfect cake to be served as snacks for kids or even pack it in tiffin for mid day meal.

I have adapted the recipe from The Little Teochew
Serves 6 to 8
Moist Butter Cake
Ingredients:-
- 195g all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 170g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar, 200 gms
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 12 tbsp whole milk


Procedure:-
- Preheat the oven to 175 degress C
- Sieve flour, salt and baking powder.
- Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 mins
- Beat in one egg at a time in the sugar and butter mixture until well mixed
- Add in vanilla and mix well
- On low speed add the flour alternating between milk in the egg mixture. Make sure no lumps are there.
- Pour the mixture into greased and floured cake pan.
- Bake for about 40 to 45 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool completely before cutting the cake or else you'll end up with lots of crumbs.
- Always use a serrated knife to cut the cake.
- Serve with coffee or tea as snack or add a dollop of cream fresh and some fruits to serve it as dessert!
- All in all a perfect butter cake!

Just look at those fine cake crumb! Isn't it gorgeous? You can omit vanilla and add in any flavor you like - lemon, butterscotch, orange, cardamon etc or throw in some chocolate chips!. It's very versatile recipe so do try it out and let me know how it turned out!

Until next time take care!

Love,

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Dear all,

This cake was on my to do list since a long time! Who doesn't like gooey chocolaty chocolate cake which is easy to prepare and is ready in less than 30 mins!! I think the first time I tasted this cake was from Dominos and to be honest never liked it a bit! It leaves weird oily taste behind..yuk!!! I have seen this cake floating around a lot in blogosphere and finally made it this weekend! It's a fool proof recipe though I would like to reduce the sugar a bit as don't really have a sweet tooth but of course you can use the same quantity of ingredients :)

I have adapted this recipe from ShowMeTheCurry.com. I really like those two gujju gals blame me for being biased :P and also most of the recipes tried from their blog has always given me great results! Both Hetal and Tanuja are quite sweet and explain the recipes really well.

Recipe adapted from ShowMeTheCurry.com
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Ingredients:-
Bittersweet chocolate - 113gms
Butter - 113 gms (I used amul)
2 eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour - 35 gms
1/3 cup sugar - 70 gms

Procedure:-

• Grease 6 ramekins with butter and keep them aside.
• On a double boiler or microwave melt the chocolate.
• Once completely melted remove from heat and add in the butter and mix well until butter is completely melted.
• In a separate clean bowl beat together sugar and eggs until light and fluffy for about 3 to 4 mins.
• Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and mix well.
• Now gently fold in the flour until its well incorporated.
• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C, fill in 6 ramekins till 2/3 or max 3/4 cup and bake these for exactly 10 to 13 mins! If you bake any longer the gooey center might become hard. Adjust the time according to your preference shorter for gooey and longer for hard center.
• Immediately serve these with fresh cream or sprinkled some strawberries and icing sugar!
• Best serve them with vanilla ice cream!

This is gonna be permanent in my house and will be making every week I suppose! Nothing wrong to pamper yourself every once in a while :)

Hope you guys enjoyed the post, incase of any questions or doubts pls post in comments section and I'll get back to you asap!

Thank you and until next time, tc!

Love,

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins For A Sweet Beginning

Dear all,

I know I know I have been away for quite a while and to be honest I really needed this break. Initially it was pure laziness and my hectic work schedule which kept me away from blogging but the good news is I missed blogging so much that now I have finally decided that enough is enough and from now on I'll be regularly posting and updating my blog. 

I am gonna update few things on my blog so you may see quite a lot of changes in the coming few weeks so please bear with me for a while :) Also the Recipe Index is almost done!! Please do have a look and let me know if you have any suggestions :) I have marked recipes which are kids friendly or a cuisine specialty along with some of my most recommended recipes! So do check it out!

Eggless Tiramisu Cake

Dear All,

I am back with another mouth watering treat and one of my most favorite dessert of all time TIRAMISU!!!!

I was first introduced to this heavenly dish when I was in Switzerland, we used to have Tiramisu every thursday for after lunch dessert in our canteen. One bite and it just blew my mind away! There have been times when I have had only this as my lunch! Yes I love to bits! Though tiramisu is basically made up of eggs and mascarpone cheese but I have used my basic eggless cake recipe and homemade mascarpone cheese to make this divine dessert into a cake!

Chocolate Chip Stuffed Gulab Jamuns - Stey By Step

Dear All,

Today I will be sharing with you a very simple and innovative way of making your home made gulab jamuns even more tastier and sweeter bu stuffing them with chocolate chips!

For entire pictorial please check out my first guest post on Indian Makeup and Beauty Blog here

Chocolate Kisses (Eggless Vanilla Chocolate Cookies)

Dear all,

On my last trip to US I had bought a big bag of Hershey's Kisses on request from my baby sister. Though I am not very fond of these but she adores them and hence I ended up buying a big bag of these! On the other hand I truly love their packing, its so very attractive and cute :) As I had lots of these I planned to use them in my baking experiments and I must say I am glad because these were delicious...light, crispy, buttery with a tinge of vanilla! Oh boy these were perfect for a lazy evening snack :)

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.

Homemade Malai Barfi / Malai Peda under 15 mins

Hi All,

I am back with another mouth watering recipe which can be made under 15 mins!! I am sure everyone of us have tasted Malai Pedas or Malai Barfi's some or the other time in our lifetime :) Any special occasion and we have a box of delicious pedas ready. May it be Diwali or Rakshabandhan or a Birthday or if your child has scored good percentage in 10th....pedas and barfi's are served on almost all occasions. With just 3 ingredients used these are so much easier to make than the original version and absolutely no compromise in taste! 

This weekend I had a small reunion of my college friends, the menu was very simple as in such hot weather none of us were really interested in having a heavy meal. The menu was kept simple, Methi Malai Mutter(my updated version coming up very soon) with parathas and for dessert homemade version of Malai Barfi. Everyone enjoyed the barfi's a lot and went back with the recipe :) This recipe can be made in microwave as well as on gas stove. I made these on gas stove.

Recipe adapted from ShowMeTheCurry site
Malai Barfi/Malai Peda
1 stick unsalted butter (113 gms)
2 cups milk powder, 240 gms (I used Everyday)
1 tin sweetened condensed milk, 400 ml (I used Milkmaid)
Masala milk powder for garnishing / silvered almonds / pistachios etc

Procedure Gas Stove Version:-

• In a heavy bottom pan or a non stick pan melt the butter on low heat.
• Once melted remove the pan from heat and add in the milk powder and condensed milk.
• Mix the mixture properly with a spatula.
• Heat this mixture on slow heat for about 2 mins with stirring constantly. Be gentle while stirring.
• Again remove the mixture from heat and mix well.
• Repeat the 5 and 6 steps twice more, do make sure the mixture does not get burnt.
• Once the mixture is thickened and starts to loose the sides of the pan.
• If you are planning to make barfi than grease a plate with some butter or ghee and immediately spread the mixture on the plate smoothing the top. Sprinkle masala milk powder evenly on top and keep it in fridge to firm up. Once cooled you can cut slices and serve them.
• If you want to make pedas, cool the mixture for 15 to 20 mins until it comes down to room temperature. Take one spoonful mixture in your greased hands and gently roll it to form a ball. Press it lightly in middle to flatten the ball. Similarly make pedas of the entire mixture and decorate with silvered almonds or pistachios.

For Microwave version check out this

Verdict - These were a BIG hit in my house and so easy to make! Its a must try for everyone who has a sweet tooth and I am sure you wont be disappointed!


Lots of Love,

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!

Anzac Bicsuits for my 100th post !!!

Dear Foodies,

Finally I have reached my 100th post. The journey till here has been quite a roll-a-coaster ride sometimes slow and sometimes with lots of bumps but I cant complain as this has been one of the most beautiful and enriching journey for me and my blog. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who have supported and encouraged me, a very big heart felt thanks to all of my readers!

If you have been following my blog closely you would know I am not a big cookie person in fact the only cookies I love to munch are Chocolate Chip Cookies and very recently I have fallen in love with Anzac Biscuits. Anzac biscuits are very popular in Australia, made with oats, flour, sugar and golden syrup, it has been said that wives of soldiers used to make these biscuits during the WWI. These biscuits are extremely easy to prepare and taste extremely delicious, if you like your cookies eggless, mild in sweetness and chewy then these little drops are for you!

Recipe adapted from here
Recipe yields 24 cookies
Ingredients:-
1 cup (240 gms) all purpose flour
1 cup (90 gms) rolled oats, I used quacker
1 cup (85 gms) dessicated coconut, I used 100 gms
3/4 (155 gms) cup brown sugar
1/2 cup + 1tbsp (125 gms) unsalted butter
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp water

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 160°C, line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Sieve the flour in a bowl, add in oats, coconut and sugar, mix well.
• Put butter, honey and 2 tbsp water in a pan, stir over medium heat until butter is completely melted. Add in baking soda.
• Pour the butter mixture on the flour mixture and stir until well combined.
• Roll a tbsp of mixture into small balls and place on the baking tray 5cm apart from each other.
• Using a fork, flatten the top of the cookies lightly.
• Bake for 12 to 15 mins until lightly browned. If you like your cookies crunchier than bake them for 2 to 3 mins more than the specified time.
• Remove the cookies from oven once done, let them cool down for 5 mins and then transfer them to a cooking rack. After 20 mins store these in air tight containers.

Verdict? These cookies were fantastic in taste, not over sweet and just perfect for some tea time munching. I did not have golden syrup so i substituted honey and it worked like a charm! I love my cookies a little crunchier so I baked these for close to 17 to 20 mins or until the top was golden brown. I shared these cookies with my friends and colleagues and got great reviews, everybody loved these! 

These were so easy to prepare, no heavy beating or mixing required, just fold in all the ingredients and you are ready! I urge everyone to try these wonderful cookies once, do share your experiences with me and you can always email me if you have any questions or doubts and I will try to answer them to best of my knowledge! Until next time thank you an wish you all a wonderful week ahead!

Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes/Eggless Strawberry Muffins

Dear Foodies,

Hello everyone! I know I have been away for quite sometime but last two weeks have created quite a stir! First of all there is this never ending assignments and work in office, on top of this monsoon has finally hit India. Last couple of days have been a complete mess. It rained quite heavily here in Pune, with strong winds blowing there was quite lot of destruction. Several trees have fallen, cables wires have been uprooted, infact we almost had an accident in our office with the glass doors bursting due to strong winds! Thank god no one was hurt! With electricity gone for 2 days and maid not turning up for work I was really frustated!

So when V asked me if i could bake a batch of muffins for her office party I got the much needed break! She wanted something other than the usual chocolate and vanilla flavors. I had strawberry extract in my pantry, so thought of making some Strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing. She loved the idea and she wanted to use the same color combination which I had used for the cake which I made for my parents anniversary.

This is off to Bangalore Baker's Bake-Off event!

Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes/Muffins
Recipe yields - 9 muffins
Ingredients:-
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tin (200 gms) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp strawberry essence
1/4 cup limca or plain aerated soda water

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degress C, grease and flour 9 muffin moulds.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
• Beat butter, condensed milk and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the strawberry essence.
• Alternatively add flour and limca and beat well after each addition.
• Fill in the muffin cups to 3/4 full and bake the muffins for 15 to 18 mins until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool them completely before going ahead with icing.

Buttercream icing, recipe here

Verdict? I got great reviews on these cupcakes and everyone in the office loved them! As compared to other eggless recipe, i like this one the most as I have always got fantastic results! Muffins were light and fluffy, perfectly baked! With vanilla buttercream icing it was a winner! Do try these and let me know, you can replace strawberry essence with any other flavor and it will still work like a charm!

Classic Vanilla Beans Muffins

Dear All,

Vanilla has always been apple of my eye when compared with other universal flavors. Did you know vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron, due to extensive labor required to grow the vanilla seed pods. And still I am sure we all love vanilla flavor for its oure and delicate flavor which is described by author Frederic Rosengarten Jr as "peculiar bouquet". The most common types of vanilla pods are Bourbon or Madagascar vanilla, Mexican vanilla and Tahitian vanilla.

Vanilla beans are not easily available in India though few super markets do sell them but one really needs to search a lot. My sources say that the only place in india where you can find Vanilla pods is Kerala so if any of your friends and family coming down from kerala or visiting kerala dont forget to request them to get a bunch of fresh vanilla beans for you! I probably dont mind visiting Kerala only to buy vanilla pods, I am sure its worth it! Or if anyone coming down from US or EU you can request them to get vanilla pods from there as well as I too got mine from Switzerland, a little expensive but I have no complains! Planning to request few more, hope D is listening :-)

Recipe is adapted from Deeba's blog, which can be found here
Recipe yields 12 medium muffins
Ingredients:-
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of vanilla sugar
2 tsp  baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
*1 vanilla bean or use 1 tsp vanilla extract

* Tip - Slice the vanilla bean from middle and scrape the sides using back of a knife to remove the seeds

Procedure:-

• Gease and line 12 muffins cups or muffin pan.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda.
• Beat butter and sugar together in a seperate bowl for 2 to 3 mins until light and fluffy.
• Add in one egg at a time and beat well between each addition.
• Add in flour and milk alternatively in 3 additions. Beat well after each addition.
• Add in the scraped vanilla seeds and mix well.
• Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake them at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 mins, until tooth pick inserted comes out clean/
• Remove from oven and cool them completely, you can see the muffins leaving the side of the pan.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, its a perfect tea time cake!
• Enjoy!

Pineapple Tutti Frutti Cake

Dear All,

I have always been very fond of tutti frutti right from school days. Tutti frutti studed muffins and fruit cakes are quite common at my home and is enjoyed by everyone. Tutti fruitti's are also used in number of other desserts like Falooda ,  Ice creams etc.  When used in bakes it looks very attractive and colorful and is specially enjoyed by kids very much. I love to  have them just like that as well :-)

Tutti Frutti is nothing but papaya tit bits colored and cooked in sugar water. Sometimes these are also made from pineapple, candied cherries and apricots. You can even make these at home for more information visit Viki's post here. While making these at home, make sure you use good quality organic colors.

Pineapple Tutti Frutti Cake
Ingredients:-
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup tutti frutti mixed with 1 tbsp of flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs at room temperature
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pineapple extract
2 tbsp pineapple juice (optional)

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together and keep aside.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffly, about 2 to 3 mins.
• Add one egg at a time and beat well.
• Add in the pineapple extract and pine juice if using, beat well.
• Now add in flour and milk alternatively and beat well after each addition.
• Finally fold in the tutti frutti's rolled in flour, mix gently, donot beat.
• Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 40 to 45 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool is completely.
• Slice and serve with coffee or tea.

Verdict? I have already made this cakes twice in one week so you can imagine how good it is! You can replace pineapple extract with vanilla or any other flavor of your choice. Infact I am planning to replace tutti frutti with some chocolate chips and walnuts...mmmmm yummm.....isnt it?  The only mistake I made was to slice the cake before cooling it completely and hence i got some crumbs, in my defense it was very tough to resist as the cake looked so beautiful :D

On 23rd April 2010 D and I completed two years of togetherness filled with love and friendship! This is the day we met for the first time! Dedicating this cake to you dear! 


Have you seen my  first guest post as yet? No? I would urge to go and visit Deepa's blog right away, check out my first guest post - Eggless Mini Chocolate Muffins. I know its little late but never late too have some chocolate muffins right?

Sending this cake to BakeOff event.

Until next time take care and keep baking!

Love,