Tag: skinny


Aug
2017

Peach Banana Breakfast Cake ~ Eggfree & Whole Wheat

categories: Baking, Breakfast, Cake, Cakes, Desserts, Summer

Peach Banana Breakfast Cake-1

Peach season has almost ended around here but if you are still able to get your hands on some fresh or even canned peach for that matter, that could turn your breakfast into major awesomeness. Yes! This banana breakfast cake could be made with either fresh or canned peach. I have used the fresh ones here but I would use canned variety in a heartbeat if need be.

I first made this cake with strawberries back in the strawberry season days in February but didn’t get a chance to blog hence I decided to bake it again using peach this time so that you all could try it during stone-fruit season but alas, I am late again. Surely you guys have come to expect this erratic behaviour from me by now and I don’t even have any silly excuse to back me up here anymore. ?

Peach Banana Breakfast Cake-2

Coming back to the cake, as the title suggests, this cake here is eggfree and the batter is made using whole wheat flour, smidgen of oil and little cane sugar. You could replace cane sugar with powdered jaggery to make it refined sugar-free. Totally wholesome breakfast material. But there’s more. You could also make it vegan by using a vegan variety of yogurt or buttermilk. Win-win for everyone!

This recipe has lots of cinnamon which is my most favourite flavour to bake with after vanilla. Also, in my book, banana, peach and cinnamon go hand in hand and I love whole teaspoon of ground cinnamon here to enhance the banana flavour but if you don’t like then skimp down on cinnamon by adding half a teaspoon and a pinch of nutmeg if that’s your thing. If plums or apricots are available to you, use them on top in place of peach. Apart from strawberries, I have tried the plum version as well and it works beautifully. Basically, switch things up as you fancy and still the end product would be this gorgeous looking CAKE you’d want to devour in seconds.

Topping the cake batter with fruit instead of layering the fruit at the bottom makes demoulding this cake a breeze, definitely not as tricky as an upside-down cake. It also eliminates the chance that part/s of fruit would get stuck to the bottom of the cake pan. Topping it with granulated sugar before baking makes peach reach jam-like consistency while cooking in the oven. This in turn enhances the sweetness of peaches and helps in keeping the total added sugar to the minimum. Make this cake ASAP as it is just what your breakfast table needs alongside a cup of coffee.

Have a lovely rest of the week folks!

PS : If you’re in Mumbai, stay safe!

Peach Banana Breakfast Cake-3

Print Recipe
 Peach Banana Breakfast Cake
Course Breakfast, Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Course Breakfast, Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC/350ºF. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with oil and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
  3. In another medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together oil, mashed banana, cane sugar/powdered jaggery, vanilla and buttermilk.
  4. Gently fold in dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Be careful not to overmix. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Top with the peach slices (as shown in the image) and granulated white sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Stays fresh for 3 days stored in an airtight container in refrigerator.

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Jul
2017

Orange Cherry Baked Donuts ~ Eggfree, Low-fat

categories: Baking, Desserts, Doughnuts, Summer

Oh hello donuts! How I missed thee. I baked these lovely orange cherry donuts couple weeks ago and because it’s been way too long since I baked any donuts, you can imagine my excitement.

Life here has been a bit of mumbo jumbo lately and I am falling short of words on how to describe my current disposition so instead let’s talk about the awesomeness that these donuts are. Summer (or any season for that matter) makes me crave citrus desserts and if you know me you know I prefer lemony desserts over chocolate almost every single time. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love chocolate and there are times when nothing else will do. But on most days, I crave lemon and orange comes close second.

The combination of orange and fresh cherries is just sublime. A delicate cake bursting with orange zest and citrusy notes, soft and pillowy, with a piece of cherry in each bite to make you swoon. The ingredient list is short with no funky stuff and the method no fuss. The recipe doesn’t even call for any oil or butter, isn’t that awesome? Yogurt and orange juice lends soft and fluffy interiors to these donuts. You can have them ready under 30 minutes flat, totally foolproof! You could totally make the recipe vegan by using vegan yogurt. Win-win for all!

So don’t wait until weekend to bake these. Get on them now! ?

Print Recipe
 Orange Cherry Baked Donuts ~ Eggfree, Low-fat
The combination of orange and fresh cherries is just sublime. A delicate cake bursting with orange zest and citrusy notes, soft and pillowy, with a piece of cherry in each bite to make you swoon.
Course Desserts, Donuts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
donuts
Ingredients
Course Desserts, Donuts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
donuts
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Grease 12-count donut pan with oil. Set aside.
  2. In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, add orange zest and sugar and rub together with finger to release oils from the zest. Whisk in yogurt, orange juice and vanilla extract until the mixture formed is completely smooth.
  4. Slowly fold in dry ingredients into wet ingredients using rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Arrange 3 pitted, fresh cherries in each mould of the donut pan. Do this for 9 moulds. Divide the batter among 9 donut moulds (let 3 moulds empty). Be careful not to overfill the moulds, 3/4th would be just fine.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a center comes out clean. Let cool in the baking pan over a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then carefully turn out doughnuts onto the rack to cool completely. Tastes best the next day, chilled in the refrigerator. Keeps well 3-5 days stored in an airtight container in refrigerator.
Recipe Notes

Don't own a cherry pitter? No problem, a chopstick will do the job! ?

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Here are some items I used to make today’s recipe.

                    

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Cook By Book.

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Jul
2017

Mango Red Paprika Hummus {Healthy & Low-fat}

categories: Appetizers, Breakfast, Dips, Dips & Sauces, Sides, Summer

I love dips dearly, hummus and salsa being my absolute favourite. Mango season means making mango salsa every other day in this household and chips are always welcome but I don’t really even need any accompaniments with it. I eat dips by spoonfuls tbh! But I had never thought of adding mango to hummus so I was very skeptical before attempting mango hummus the first time. Also, I know I am quite behind in blogging all the mango recipes I made this Summer as the mango season is almost over in most parts of our country. But if, like me, you keep stash of mango cubes in the freezer for rest of the year then you are in luck and can still make this delicious hummus in any season for that matter (read recipe notes)!

This hummus is full of healthy ingredients and contains good fat from mango and olive oil. The hummus doesn’t require using Tahini which means you already have all the basic ingredients in your pantry. I use dry roasted sesame seeds instead of Tahini. The dry roasted cumin and red paprika lends a great depth of flavour to the hummus. I love serving it with multigrain lavash or as a spread on toasted whole wheat bread.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend (while I sulk because I work Saturdays ?) with a bowl of this luscious mango hummus in one hand and a book in the other. Enjoy!

Print Recipe
 Mango Red Paprika Hummus
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a fry-pan heated on a medium high heat, add sesame seeds and cumin seeds. Reduce the heat and let it dry roast until they slightly change their colour (about 5-7 minutes) to pale brown.
  2. In a blender or food processor jar add all the ingredients and blend on high speed until smooth. If needed, add a bit more olive oil to bring everything together.
  3. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and sprinkle a pinch of red paprika on top. Serve with nachos, lavash, toasted bread or veggie crudités. Keeps well stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Recipe Notes

For this recipe, frozen mango could be used as well. Just thaw the mango until it reaches room temperature and it's ready for hummus.

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Aug
2014

Skinny Summer Popsicles

categories: Desserts, Ice-creams, Summer
Skinny Summer Popsicles1
I love popsicles any time of the day. Be it for breakfast, an afternoon snack or dessert. I mean who doesn’t, right?! This one here is so refreshing and healthy without addition of any sugar, be it refined or unrefined. Just some fresh fruit pieces blended along with little bit of fruit juice. It’s a perfect pick-me-up treat using all the gorgeous summer bounty on offer. I bet you can’t stop at just one!
Hope you all are having a great Monday!
xx
Skinny Summer Popsicles
Yields: 4 popsicles | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 0 | Freeze time: 4-5 hours/overnight
Ingredients:
Puree 1:
  • 6 slices fresh pineapple
  • 1/3 cup pineapple juice (freshly squeezed or packed)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Zest from 1/2 orange
Puree 2:
  • 1/4 cup cherries, pitted
  • 1 medium nectarine, cored
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1 orange)
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

  1. Puree 1: In a blender, blend together pineapple slices, pineapple juice and salt. Stir in orange zest to it and divide the puree among 4 popsicle moulds.
  2. Puree 2: Wash and wipe the blender dry. Add all the ingredients mentioned under puree 2 in a blender and process until smooth. Top the popsicle moulds with puree 2, dividing equally.
  3. Insert stick in the centre of each mould, cover and freeze for about 6-7 hours. To demould, run the moulds under warm running water for 30-50 seconds. Enjoy!

*Recipe can be easily doubled or tripled or quadrupled!

 

Skinny Summer Popsicles2

 

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Jul
2014

Italian Summer Pasta Salad

categories: Dinner, Lunch, Salads, Spring, Summer

 Italian Summer Pasta Salad1

 

After radio silence for 3 weeks, I’m back. Again. Can’t say for how long but I am here. So how are things guys? Here, monsoon has almost arrived and summer is officially over (for good!). But here I am, with a huge backlog of summer recipes. What am I to do when all these days I have been cooking all things “summery” regularly but not getting time to post them. Let’s just say that it is still summer somewhere in the world, right?! 😉

I love anything and everything Italian so when I came across this pretty looking salad on Sommer’s amazing blog I knew I had to get to it pronto. It is so good and SO refreshing! Zests of orange and lemon, al dente pasta, orange chunks, tiny tomatoes and torn basil all tied together with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. What’s not to love? Must try, whatever time of year it is for you.

I hope you’re having an awesome weekend.
Stay cozy, it’s gonna be a rainy one! xx

 

Italian Summer Pasta Salad3

 

Italian Summer Pasta Salad

Recipe scaled down & adapted from A Spicy Perspective

Yield: 2-3 servings | Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 15 minutes | Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat Farfalle pasta
  • 1 naval orange, zest and orange segments
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup scallions, cut into 1 inch segments
  • 1/4 cup torn basil leaves
  • 3 Tbsp shaved Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain the pasta and set aside to cool.
  2. Meanwhile, zest the orange and lemon. Place the zest and the juice of lemon in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and whisk. Peel the orange, gently break the segments apart and seed them. Place them in the bowl.
  3. Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the bowl. Then pour the drained pasta over the tomatoes and gently toss to coat. Add the scallions and basil leaves to the bowl and toss. Salt and pepper generously, about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: I didn’t have scallions at hand so I had to skip them but they are highly recommended as it’d add some crunch & make the dish all the more flavorsome. 🙂

 

Italian Summer Pasta Salad2

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