Cakes Archives - Page 3 of 4

Category: Cakes

30
Sep
2013

Guest Post on The Vanilla Bean: Pineapple~Coconut Breakfast Loaf

categories: Baking, Breads and Loafs, Breakfast, Cakes, Summer

When Roshni from The Vanilla Bean asked me to do a guest-post on her blog, I wanted to bake something simple and quick for her readers. Yet something which look and taste like you’ve spent the whole morning working on it but in fact was just left in the oven to work its own magic.

Roshni has a special soft corner for cakes hence I decided to rustle up this breakfast loaf which is moist and crunchy at the same time. Each bite is filled with pineapple and coconut bits. It’s a tropical heaven! Perfect for the rushed up mornings. Just plonk it in the oven right before you had for the bath and it would be ready when you’re back!

The loaf is actually quite healthy with whole wheat flour, olive oil and brown sugar. Feel free to substitute the sugar in the recipe with date syrup, honey or liquid jaggery.

Drop by here to get my recipe of pineapple-coconut breakfast loaf and don’t forget to check out The Vanilla Bean blog for some delicious recipes. Thank you again, Roshni, for having me over!

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19
Sep
2013

Sweet~Lime Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Bean Frosting

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts, Summer

Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting1

I mentioned in my previous posts that I’m surrounded by family from past few weeks. Last Friday, the 13^thwas husband’s birthday. His folks were in town for the celebration. Yaay! So as you must have already guessed, I was going to bake the birthday cake myself. I asked him what flavour he would like this year and without thinking much he said I want lemon… And I was like, lemon cake?! Really?!!

I was thinking more like my favorite chocolate cake layered in a fancy tier-cake, filled with chocolate ganache and slathered with mocha frosting and he says he wants lemon this year?! Hmm… Even though I was a lil disappointed, I obliged to his wishes! I knoooww *best wife of the year* isn’t it! I had to add my own twist to the cake of course and hence this awesomeness happened. Less tart but tangy, zesty and supremely moist.. win-win for all! Of course, I didn’t tell him that it is sweet-lime until he ate a giant piece at midnight! He was indeed surprised and super-happy which made my whole-day’s effort totally worth it! 😀

Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting2

I had made sort of a similar cake with lemons few months ago for my dear friend’s baby girl. It marked her 1st month on the earth. That cake was egg-less, used buttermilk and everyone loved it! So I just had to tweak my old recipe a bit and came up with this soft, springy and moist cake. Layered with cream cheese filling which is out-of-the-world but the hero here guys is, vanilla bean frosting… It is AWESOME! Trust me 🙂

Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting5

Sweet-Lime Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting4

I made every single element on this cake on same day. If you do not have such a luxury of time then I suggest you make cakes a day before and refrigerate them individually covered in clingfilm until you’re ready for assembly. Make filling and frosting just before assembling the layers. This will certainly cut down on waiting time as the cakes would be cool and ready for the assembly the next day. So let’s get on with the recipe!

*Please pardon the pictures as the only chance I got was couple minutes before the celebration!

Sweet~Lime Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Bean Frosting

Makes: 1 6-inch 3-layered cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
14 1-inch cubes of unsalted butter
Zest of 3 sweet-limes
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweet-lime juice, freshly squeezed (Around 3 sweet-limes needed)

For the filling:

100 gm/4 oz. cream cheese, cold
Zest of 1 sweet-lime
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup medium-fat cream

For the frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp medium-fat cream, whipped

For the garnish:

Yellow and green colored sparkling sugar
1 sweet-lime slices

Directions:

To make Cake:

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350° F. Butter and flour the edges of 3 6-inch round cake pans and shake out the excess. Set aside. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Add the butter to the large bowl and prepare electric hand-mixer or electric stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the lime zest to the bowl with the butter. Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another minute.
Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Combine yogurt, sweet-lime juice and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.
Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make Cream Cheese Filling:

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined.
Mix in icing sugar and beat on low speed until incorporated.
Blend in lemon juice and sweet-lime zest. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set aside.
Wipe out the mixer bowl and fit with the whisk attachment. Add cream to the bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overbeat. Mix about a third of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain and the mixture is evenly blended.

To make Vanilla Bean Frosting:

Add butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
Add icing sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated.
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the bowl and add in the salt. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
Mix in the vanilla extract and whipped cream on low speed just until incorporated. Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes.

Assembly:

Level cake layers if necessary. To assemble the cake, place one of the layers on a serving platter. Top with half of the cream cheese filling and smooth in an even layer. Place a second cake layer on top of the filling and top with the remaining filling. Place the final cake layer on top.
Frost the top and sides of the assembled cake with the vanilla bean frosting.
Sprinkle some yellow and green colored sparkling sugar around the 1-inch border of the cake. Garnish the centre with the sweet-lime slices.

Notes:

To make the frosting look whiter, use white unsalted butter and clear vanilla extract.
If you wish to decorate the top of the cake with piped frosting instead of fruit, double the frosting recipe. Use a pastry bag with a decorative tip to pipe accents on the cake. You may have some extra frosting which is always a good thing in my book! 😉

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20
Aug
2013

Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts

I was retrospecting and I had a simple realization… I do not have a single recipe for a chocolate cake on my blog yet! Very shocking for a chocoholic like me! This, this & this simply does not qualify. I’m a strong believer of “A chocolate a day keeps a doctor away!” And this is how this ultimate chocolate cake I’m posting today was born.

The universe conspired and the stars aligned!

It was not as dramatic but you can imagine how delighted I must be after I nailed the recipe.

It is made with simplest of ingredients. You will have everything required in your pantry at any given day or time. Except pears. And you can substitute them depending upon what you have at hand. Substitutes are mentioned at the end of this post.

As the name suggests this cake is studded with pears. And they are not alone! Cinnamon sprinkled pears! Cinnamon enhances the pears’ sweetness and this combo is truly heavenly. You can smell the magic of Fall in your kitchen! The weather here has been just perfect for this. I used Red Anjou pears as that is what I had at the moment and they went perfectly with this cake. Comice pears would be excellent choice too!

I chose to call this cake Life By Chocolate Cake. You gotta eat it to know why but I’ll try telling you in words why?! First of all it is not one of those overly rich, heavy, cocoa powderish death by chocolaty cakes you’re so accustomed to seeing/eating around. Nope… This tastes nothing like those which makes you stop eating half-way because it is just too-over-the-top-chocolaty. THIS is a stark opposite of it. This cake is moist, light yet chocolicious, silky, melt in the mouth, perfect piece of chocolate cake ever produced in my kitchen! No one can eat just one slice of it. Chocolate heaven! And if you get a chance to make this, i can guarantee that this will be the best chocolate cake you’ll ever make! Trust me on this one…

So wait no longer… You NEED this chocolate cake in your life, like RIGHT NOW!!

Pear Studded Life By Chocolate Cake

Yields: 6-8 slices

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
100 gm dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
3 large eggs
1/2 + 1/3 cup brown sugar
4 Red Anjou/Comice pears, peeled, halved and cored
1 tsp ground cinnamon
icing sugar, for dusting
To grease the tin: 1 Tbsp melted butter and 2 Tbsp caster sugar

Directions:

Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of 9-inch round spring-form tin. Melt 1 Tbsp butter and brush the base and sides of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with more butter. Dust 2 Tbsp of caster sugar to coat the base and sides, then tip out any excess.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Take roughly chopped chocolate and butter together in a heat-proof bowl and microwave it for about 1 minute or less till the chocolate has melted completely, stirring in between at the interval of 30 seconds. Whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool a little.
In another smallish bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Put the eggs and brown sugar together in a bowl and using electric mixer’s paddle attachment, beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you achieve a pale, aerated and thickened cream-like consistency.
Turn the speed down a little and pour in the butter-chocolate mixture, beating continuously. Then slowly tip in the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, gently fold in with a spatula and pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the pears. Sprinkle the peeled, halved and cored pears with cinnamon and gently arrange on top of the cake in a circular fashion (as shown in photograph). Bake for another 23-25 minutes till the skewer inserted in the center comes out clean or with a very few chocolate crumbs clinging to it. Do not overcook.
Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while it is still warm with dusting of icing sugar and a dollop of ice-cream.

Notes: Feel free to substitute pears for any other fruit of your choice like raspberries, strawberries, oranges or peaches. Tastes amazing even without adding any fruit to it.

Oh ya,

HAPPY RAKHI Everyone!

Enjoy!!! 🙂

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25
Jul
2013

Microwave Chocolate-Nutella Mug-Cake

categories: Baking, Cakes, Cupcakes & Muffins, Quick Fix

It was a conscious decision to stay-away from this dangerous mug-cake only because of its sheer convenience. I did not need a confirmation that I can make this cake whenever chocolate-cravings hit me.

As all our resolutions come to an end sooner or later, on a particularly depressing morning, I caved in! And it definitely lifted my spirits up instantly! Yaay for broken resolutions! I’m totally hooked to this one and will be definitely trying different versions! 😛

I know there are infinite versions of mug-cakes floating on the web since 2-3 years and I did check out many of them. But I had a few things in mind about how I wanted this cake to be so I ended up making my own version of this sinful dessert. For one wanted this cake to be eggless and a wee-bit healthier so that I don’t feel too much guilty about gobbling it up.

Another criteria was a perfectly soft, moist and fluffy cake. I can’t tolerate dry crumbs. But microwave especially has a tendency to snatch away moisture and make everything dry. So timing here is a key. Do not over-cook it. Check it after 1 minute + 10 seconds. If not done then cook for another 10 to 20 seconds.

It will take you more time to assemble all the ingredients than for it to actually cook! Perfect for unusual cravings or unexpected company! It would be ready in a jiffy! For it to look more posh, make it in a fancy tea-cups/Ramekins and serve it with ice-cream or whipped cream with fresh fruits. Add anything else you want in the batter like chopped nuts, dark/white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, dried fruits, M & Ms, sprinkles… Tini-tiny pieces of delicious surprise in every bite! Pure happiness!

Mouth-watering? Read on to find out how it’s done. Be warned ~ it’s addictive!

Microwave Chocolate-Nutella Mug-Cake

Serves: 1 | Prep time: 2 minutes | Cook Time: 1 to 1 1/2 minutes

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp powder sugar
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp Nutella
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
M & Ms for topping or 1 Tbsp dark chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium-sized microwave-safe mug/ramekin add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk with fork until combined.
Add oil, milk, Nutella, vanilla extract and mix with a fork until no lumps remain in the batter.
Sprinkle top of batter with M & Ms or chocolate chips. Microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Mine was done in 1 minute + 10 seconds so check at that mark and if it is not cooked through then let cook for another 10 to 20 seconds. Be careful as you don’t want a dry cake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

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19
Jul
2013

Fresh Peach Fluffy Pancakes Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Summer

Another fruit cake you’ll say, eh? But I just can’t let the amazing plethora of summer fruit pass by just like that. Without a dessert tribute at least!

I was too lazy to bake muffins or flip the pancakes so I went an easier route. My favorite buttermilk cake route. I know I have given you this and this this month but this recipe is different from those. Of course it uses buttermilk but it tastes like a cross between muffins and pancakes without having to actually make them! How do you like that! 😉

Just like my previous recipes, this recipe does not require electric mixer and the batter comes together in like 5 minutes total. Seriously! The result is fluffy and tender cake like a perfect pancake should be!

So how this cake is different from my previous buttermilk cakes? The batter resembles the pancake batter unlike my previous recipes. So no heavy duty mixing for this cake. In fact, you leave the lumps in the batter. Only gentle folding does the job. Another difference is.. Unlike topping the cake with the fruits in our previous recipe, we fold in the fruit in the batter to get peach in every bite! Yum!!

It’s a gorgeous weather in Bangalore today, I’m having a slice of it while writing this and I just can’t tell you how good it tastes the next day too! I had one slice with the dusting of confectioner’s sugar and another with vanilla ice-cream.. Delicious both ways!

You can replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour to make it healthier. Rest, you just got to deal with the sugar! 😛

You have to make this!!! Just be sure to use ripe peaches. Peel them, remove the pit, chop in a bite-sized pieces and you’re ready.. Only 2-3 peaches required!

Fresh Peach Fluffy Pancakes Cake

Prep time: 5-10 mins | Baking time: 35-40 mins

Yields: 8 pieces

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Salt, a pinch
1 large egg
½ cup white granulated sugar
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup full-fat yogurt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 medium peaches, peeled, thinly sliced (or a combo of stone-fruits)
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line 8×8 inches square baking dish with a foil and grease it.
In a large bowl, sift all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt.
In another bowl, whisk egg and sugar together. Add buttermilk, yogurt, oil, vanilla and whisk.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients slowly and fold in gently. If you get lumps in better t is all right.
Gently fold in peach cubes. Bake for 35-40 minutes or till the top and sides are golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.
Let the cake cool in a baking dish for half hour. Slice it and dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve it plain or along with ice-cream.

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