Tag: summer


Sep
2017

Six-Bananas Banana Bread Bundt Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts, Fall, Monsoon

Six-Bananas Banana Bread Bundt Cake-1

SIX bananas! Yep, you read that right! Do you think I’ve lost it? Hell, NO! Please read on.

We’ve been experiencing heavy downpours in the evenings around here since past 2 weeks and to me gloomy mornings and rainy evenings are synonymous with a slice of banana bread + a cup of strong coffee with a dash of milk. I love experimenting with my no-oil/butter and egg-free banana bread recipe (it’s a staple in my house and uses 3 ripe bananas) by changing the add-ins every time. I developed that recipe first by using raspberries but on other occasions I have added walnuts, chocolate chips, cocoa and strawberries add-ins.

This particular banana bread is all the more special because the batter here uses SIX (no kidding!) VERY RIPE bananas which imparts super-intense banana flavour to this bundt cake. I love all the above mentioned banana bread versions dearly but this here has become my favourite. I had very ripe banans sitting on the counter, begging to be used. The husband and I both ended up picking up a bunch of bananas on the same day. Due to chill in the air I have traded my usual breakfast of smoothies made with frozen bananas with piping hot cinnamon stovetop oatmeal so I had to come up with a way to use up this substantial quantity of bananas at my disposal. That’s when I developed this recipe which absolutely deserves a place in your repertoire too, prefect for times when you find yourself drowning in excess ripe banana situation like myself. I used some more bananas to bake chocolate chip banana brownies (recipe next up!) later in the week which turned out pretty good as well.

Six-Bananas Banana Bread Bundt Cake-2

This is your quintessential banana bread laced with sublime flavour from cinnamon and nutmeg. The addition of spices also makes your house smell divine while baking. Also, it’s baked in a bundt pan instead of a loaf pan and in my book, bundt > loaf! ❤️
Bundt cakes are truly awesome when baking for groups, potlucks and picnics. This cake is soft, moist and the crumb; gorgeous. It could be baked ahead and travels beautifully because it’s quite sturdy. Serving it warm just out of the oven is highly recommended and so is generous drizzle of sea salt caramel sauce. A scoop of vanilla takes it few notches up and is just the thing for your post-dinner dessert cravings. You could obviously have a slice for breakfast because B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I’ll leave you to a recipe now. Do leave a comment if you have any questions or just to say hi. Have a great rest of the week people!

Six-Bananas Banana Bread Bundt Cake-3

Print Recipe
 Six-Bananas Banana Bread Bundt Cake
Course Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 60 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Course Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 60 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC/350ºF. Grease the bundt pan with oil and set aside.
  2. In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter at high power for 30-60 seconds. Let cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in eggs using hand whisk, one at a time, until completely incorporated followed by white sugar and cane sugar. Whisk in yogurt, vanilla and 2 1/2 cup mashed bananas.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Gently fold in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients using rubber spatula.
  4. Transfer batter to the bundt pan and bake for 55-60 minutes. Mine was done in 57 minutes exactly. Let the cake cool in the bundt pan placed on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes of cooling, invert the cake on wire rack and pour sea salt caramel sauce on top. Slice and serve warm. Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Recipe Notes

I have used 1/2 cup sugar in total in this recipe as I wanted to top the cake with sea salt caramel sauce. You could add another 1/4-1/2 cup sugar to the cake batter if you prefer sweeter cakes.

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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

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buttermilk Waffles

categories: Breakfast, Desserts

Weekends to me are for leisurely breakfast with a pot of coffee. English breakfast and pancakes are my absolute favourites, followed by waffles. To be honest, I love waffles equally but finding a decent place in the neighbourhood which serves healthy and low-calorie waffles is far more challenging than I thought. On top of all the calories you seem to pile on and money you spend, hardly any place seem to get the texture even remotely right so there goes my weekend mojo and moolah. Ha! So one fine day, husband decided to surprise me with a waffle maker. Ta-da! Problem solved (We own this model but it’s out-of-stock on Amazon at the moment, for other options see ‘shop the recipe’ section below the recipe section). 

Bazillion waffle combinations here I come! Breakfast, meal or dessert; using whole wheat, oats or sorghum flour; topped with fried/pached eggs, cheese, mango, berries, Nutella, maple syrup or ice cream; well you get the idea. ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES! It’s truly such a versatile piece of equipment you could invest into, to up the delicious quotient of your weekend brunch situation.

Just like all the recipes on this blog, this recipe could not have been simpler. Definitely groggy eyes and child friendly. Addition of brown butter is an extra step but lends such a great depth of flavour and your kitchen will smell fantastic. And if you don’t want to do the extra step to brown the butter (if that’s even possible!), replace it with a healthier substitute – extra virgin coconut oil. All other ingredients are usual pantry staples. These waffles have crispy exterior and soft interior, just how perfect waffles should be. So what are you waiting for?

Go on and have a lovely weekend. ✨

Print Recipe
 Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buttermilk Waffles
A simple recipe using pantry staples. These waffles have crispy exterior and soft interior, just how perfect waffles should be!
Course Breakfast, Desserts, Waffles
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
waffles
Ingredients
Course Breakfast, Desserts, Waffles
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
waffles
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Do this step if you're using brown butter - Heat a pan on a medium-low heat and add butter. Let the butter melt, once the water from it evaporates it will begin to brown. Keep an eye on it as it browns quickly. The butter will begin to smell nutty. Remove from the heat and immediately transfer the browned butter to a small bowl. Let cool for 5 minutes.
  2. In one bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
  3. In a liquid measuring jar, whisk in egg, cane sugar, brown butter/olive oil, buttermilk and vanilla, in this same order.
  4. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add liquid ingredients to it. Stir together using silicon spatula until well combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Make waffles as per the manufacturer's instructions of your waffle maker. Serve immediately topped with seasonal fruits and a drizzle of maple syrup.

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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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