Italian Lemon Cake

We got home an Italian Lemon Tree planted in a pot last month. Its a small baby with 6 green lemons on the plant. Since then I have been watering that l'il baby every single day waiting for the lemons to turn yellow. I wanted to try so many citrus recipes with these home grown lemons. But more than a month passed and still the lemons didn't turned yellow; the waiting part is so difficult. Until one day when I a lemon turned slightly yellow. That's when I got my first Italian lemon to use for my baking experiments.

It was a very tough to decide on one recipe to make with my very first Italian lemon. I was tempted to try among so many citrus recipes with that one lemon but I kinda decided to make a lemon cake as I had made it at various several occasion and it's been a hit every single time I have made it but somehow never got a chance to feature it on the blog here because I didn't have any pictures of those cakes I had made earlier. 
And being such a expensive Italian lemon tree, I didn't want to take too many chances with it.

I got this Ina Garten's recipe of Lemon Cake from food network and kind of got intrigued to see that the cake gets its lemon flavour from the lemon zest while the lemon syrup is used to infuse the cake with some lemony flavour topped with a lemon glaze. Hence, this cake gets loaded with triple the lemony tangyness and the citrus flavour oozes out on every single bite of this cake very beautifully. The cake was so fresh and the tartness of lemon was just enough to kick all the right flavours in the mouth which lingers for a long time. 

The cake gets a very nice crust from the outside and perfect moistness from the yogurt. This cake is simply perfect for any time of the day.

Lets take you to the recipe

(Print this recipe)

Italian lemon Cake


Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 50 minutes

Source: www.foodnetwork.com
Makes one 9x5 loaf cake

Here's what you would need to make Lemon Cake:

Lemon Cake:

1 1/2 cups/ (175 gms) all purpose flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1 cup/ (240 ml) yogurt

1 1/3 cup/ (200 gms + 65 gms) caster sugar, divided

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp lemon zest (from 1 large Italian lemon/ 3 small lemons)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup/ (120 ml) vegetable oil

1/3 cup/ (80 ml) lemon juice

Glaze:

1 cup (115 gms) icing or confectioner's sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Here's how you can make it:

Preheat your oven to 180 degree C/ 350 degree F. Grease a 9X5X2 inch loaf pan with butter and dust with flour to form a coating.

• In a bowl, sift all purpose flour, baking powder and salt and whisk it all together to until all dry ingredients come together.
• In another bowl add 1 cup sugar and curd and whisk it until nicely combined.
• Add all the three eggs and vanilla extract to the sugar yogurt mixture and whisk it until all the ingredients combine together.
• Add the dry ingredients to the mixture and combine in the batter using a rubber spatula.
• Add the lemon zest and give it a good stir.
• Add vegetable oil and mix it well.
• Pour the batter in the prepared loaf tin and bake for about 50 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• While the cake is baking in the oven, combine lemon juice with 1/3 cup of remaining sugar in a heatproof container and heat it over medium flame until the sugar is dissolved and makes a lemony simple syrup. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat off and let the syrup cool to room temperature.
• Once the cake is baked, let the cake cool in the loaf pan kept over a cooling rack for 10 minutes before taking the loaf from pan. Let the loaf cool on the wire rack kept over a baking tray. 
• Once the loaf is warm enough to handle with hands, poke holes on the top layer of the loaf using tooth pick and pour the lemon syrup over the cake. Let the lemon syrup get soaked into the loaf before glazing the top layer with the lemon glaze.

Glaze:

• Sift the icing sugar and add lemon juice and stir it until smooth.
• Pour the glaze on the cake before serving.

Hope you would also enjoy enjoy making this as much as I did!

Happy Baking!

Tres Leches Cake for Hubby's Birthday (#Daring Bakers September 2013 Challenge)

Pastel de Tres Leches – Three-Milk Cake is very popular in Central and South America. It is a super moist, light, airy and super delicious sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk (evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream). Tres Leches is a very light cake (especially if made without butter), with many air bubbles in its crumb. This distinct texture is why it does not have a soggy consistency, despite being soaked in a mixture of three types of milk.

This month's daring baker's challenge, hosted by Inma from La Galletika, Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and WOW did she bring something decadent and delicious! Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy...just plain delish!

September is very special month for me as this month is my Husband's birthday. I was searching for something new to try for his birthday which he or I have never tasted before. Hence, when I saw this month's Daring Bakers Challenge, I sort of immediately made my mind on what to make for his birthday...a Tres Leches Cake!

I made this cake a day before my husband's birthday and the day was so busy as I baked another cake for a friend who was leaving the town and made some Nutella Cookies for her cute l'il nephew Ayan. All of it, in the middle of the week juggling myself between some office work and some baking at home. While this cake was baking in the oven, it gave me some solace as the house was smelling so fresh and so festive that I really forgot all the crazy stuff going around. This cake was enough to calm my senses down.

I poured the three milk syrup over the cake and left the cake in the refrigerator to let it soak the syrup and went to watch the movie; The Lunch Box, a movie with the moving performance by Irrfan Khan (Life of Pie fame). The movie was set in the city I live, Mumbai and depicts the life of people in Mumbai very minutely. When I was back home, it was midnight of September 26 and my husband's birthday. I checked on the cake kept in the refrigerator and saw that the cake had completely absorbed the milk syrup and then I whipped the cream and kept the cake ready for his birthday with some cherries on top.

I wasn't sure if I would get good reviews about the cake as it was a special day and I tried something I never made or tasted before, but my hubby was really impressed with the cake. Once again, thanks Inma for sharing the wonderful recipe with all of us!!!

(Print this recipe)

Tres Leches Cake

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Cooking Time: 25 minutes for the cake

Soaking Time: 2 - 6 Hours (you can also leave the cake to soak over night)

Prepares one 9x9 inch cake

Serves - 12 people

(Source: Daring Bakers)

Here's what you would need to make the Tres Leches Cake

For Vanilla Sponge Cake

5 large eggs (separated)

1/2 cup (100 gms) granulated sugar)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup (130 gms) all purpose flour (sifted)

For three milk Syrup

1 can (400 gms) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (340 gms) evaporated milk (see below to substitute store bought evaporated milk)

1 cup half and half or milk (I mixed 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup cream)

1 cinnamon stick

2 tsp rum

Topping and Filling

1 cup (240 ml) whipping cream with about 30% fat (I used Amul cream with 25% fat content) 

1/4 cup (75 gms) icing sugar

fresh/ canned fruits for decoration

Substitute for Evaporated Milk
1 cup milk powder
3/4 cup water
Add the two and stir it until well combined. Now, measure and use only the quantity specified in the recipe above.

Here's how you can make it:

Vanilla Sponge Cake

Preheat your oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F. Line a 9x9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.

• Separate the egg whites from the yolks when the eggs are cold. Let it sit for 1 hour to come to room temperature before preparing for the cake.
• Beat the egg whites on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until soft peak comes.
• When soft peak forms, start adding sugar 1 tbsp at a time while continue to whisk.
• Whisk the egg whites till it forms stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Set it aside.
• In another bowl, beat egg yolks, at medium speed for about 5-6 minutes, until the egg yolks becomes pale in colour, creamy and puffy. Stir in vanilla extract.
• Add the egg yolks over egg whites and fold it gently using a rubber spatula until well combined. Try not to lose any volume from the mixture.
• Sift the flour over the egg mixture and fold it very gently just until combined. DO NOT over mix the batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin. DO NOT knock the cake tin when containing batter.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Once, the cake is baked, let it cool in the cake tin for 5 minutes and then transfer onto a wire rack. Let the cake cool completely before proceeding on to the next step.

• Once the cake is cooled, invert the cake to a dish having high edges, see the one shown in the picture above. Using a fork, poke all over the cake (on the sides too) to better absorb the milk syrup evenly across the cake.

Three Milk Syrup

• In a saucepan, add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, half and half and cinnamon stick and bring it to a boil. Once the milk mixture is boiled, reduce the heat and simmer it for 5 more minutes. Remove it and let it cool completely.
• Add rum on the cooled milk syrup and pour it all over the cake. Let the milk syrup drop over the sides of the dish. 
• Let the cake rest in the refrigerator over 2 to 6 hours (best if left overnight) and the cake will magically absorb all of the milk syrup from the sides. 

Assembly

• Once the cake absorbs all the milk syrup, you are good to serve it
• Whip the cream until soft peaks, add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time and whip it as best as you can. My cream did not whip to the stiff peaks as it contained lower fat %. For better results, you can whip the cream by placing the cream bowl over a bowl containing ice. 
• Layer the whipped cream on top of the cake and decorate it with fresh/ canned fruits of your choice.

Hope you would also enjoy making this recipe as much as I did.

If you like this recipe and if want to be updated with the new recipes updated on the blog, don't forget to subscribe on email or like me on FB or simply post a comment about the blog below.

Happy Baking!

Eggless Plum Cake

I know most of you would surprise to see this post at this time of the year as this cake is generally made during the Christmas time when the dry fruits have been marinated for days, weeks or even months to make the Plum Cake. 

My husband is a huge fan of plum cakes and he's been complaining ever since that I do a lot of baking and have never made things he likes the most like plum cakes, chocolate walnut fudge and fondant cakes. Although I did make a fondant cake which I have not yet updated on this blog. 
Here I am with freshly baked plum cake. 

Since we are just the two of us at home, I made a boozy version of this cake but booze is totally optional. The cake is very good on its own and does not need any frosting but still if you would like to frost this cake, reduce the amount of sugar from the recipe. The softened dry fruits makes this Eggless Plum cake very dense and moist. The good part, you don't necessarily have to marinate the fruits for days for this version of the cake.

Do I need to say that hubby just loved this cake?? :D He finished the entire loaf in just 2 days.

(Print this recipe)

Eggless Plum Cake 



Preparation time: 15 minutes 
Cooking time: 50 minutes 

Makes one 9X5 loaf 
(Source: www.cookingandme.com)

Here's what you would need to make this Eggless Plum Cake:

160 gms/ 2/3 cup of water 

105 gms/ 1/2 cup of brown sugar

110 gms/ 1 cup of mixed dry fruits (I mixed raisins, prunes, dates, dried cherries, tutti fruity)

2 tbsp brandy (optional)

1 tsp of baking soda 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

115 gms/ 1/2 cup of butter 

295 gms/ 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour 

2 tsp of baking powder 

1 tsp of salt 

1 tsp of mixed spices like cinnamon, nutmeg etc 

2 tbsp of finely chopped cashew nuts/ pistachio nuts (I used cashew nuts) 

2.5 tbsp vegetable oil

Here's how you can make Eggless Plum Cake:

Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease and line a 9"x5" load pan or 8" round cake pan, whatever you prefer. 

• Bring the water to boil in a pan and add the dry fruits (leave out the tutti fruity if using them), brandy and the sugar. Simmer for about 7-10 mins until the dates have softened but not mushy. 
• Turn off the flame, remove the pan and set aside for 5 mins to cool slightly. 
• Add the butter, vanilla (or zest) and baking soda. The mixture will foam a bit. Set aside to cool. 
• In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the spice powders and mix well to combine. 
• Add the cashew nuts and tutti fruity (if using) to the dry mixture. You can also add some chopped preserved cherries at this stage. 
• Add the cooled fruit mixture to the flour mixture and add the vegetable oil. 
• Gently fold until the batter has no flour streaks left in in it. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 50 mins. If the top seems to be cooking too quickly, loosely cover the pan with aluminium foil.

Hope you would also enjoy making this recipe as much as I did.

If you like this recipe and if want to be updated with the new recipes updated on the blog, don't forget to subscribe on email or like me on FB or simply post a comment about the blog below.

Happy Baking!

Classic Red Velvet Cake

July is the month of many birthdays at home but unfortunately both the birthday boy and girl have not been at home as they went outstation for some work taking away my chance to bake a cake. 

To save my urge to bake the cake, I saw a daring baker's challenge which is the most toughest for me as the challenge was to choose a recipe from the past challenges and make. The hardest part was choosing the recipe to make. Well, there is a long list of things I wanted to make and I keep adding in my already very long "to make list of baking". I chose to make a red velvet cake from March 2007 daring baker's challenge. This cake was made on the birthday of my lovely brother in law who was shooting in Goa for a film (he is a cinematographer you see..:))

To top the challenge, I wanted to frost the cake with homemade quark cheese. I got a very nice recipe of Quark cheese from GermanFood.About.com and decided to get started.

The cake turned out deep dark red and I loved the flavour of the cake. I also loved the combination of red velvet cake with quark cheese and it is needless to say how beautiful the cake was looking with the combination of red and white...truly festive!!! Isn't it??? Perfect to try it during Christmas or Valentine's Day!!! Would love to make it again during the next Valentine's Day.

And now for you, here's the recipe.

(Print this recipe)

Red Velvet Cake

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Assembly Time: 30 minutes
Quark Cheese Preparation Time: 2 days





Here's what you would need to make Red Velvet Cake

Cake:
2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda


Frosting:
2 cups/ 459 gms homemade Quark Cheese/ cream cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cups (400 ml) cold whipping cream (I used Amul)

Here's how you can make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

• In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
• In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). 
• Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). 
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
• Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
• In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. 
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
• In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 
• Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. 
• Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. 
• Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. 
• Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Cream Cheese Frosting: 
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the quark cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. In another bowl whip the whipped cream until soft peaks. Add the whipped cream in quark cheese and stir until well combined. Ensure the frosting is thick enough to spread. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.

Assemble:

With a serrated knife, cut each cake layer in half, horizontally. You will now have four cake layers. Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Garnish the cake with white chocolate and cake crumbs. 

Hope you would also enjoy making this recipe as much as I did.

If you like this recipe and if you want to be updated with the new recipes being uploaded on the blog, don't forget to subscribe on email or like me on FB or simply post a comment about the blog below. I would love to hear from you.


Happy Baking!

Swedish Prinsesstarta - Princess Cake (# Daring Bakers May 2013 Challenge)

This is my first participation at Daring Bakers Challenge. I have been trying to participate for a long while now but something was pushing me back. Somewhere in my mind, I had the feeling that Daring Bakers Challenge was attempted by only the genius and the great bloggers and I, a new baker with my new small blog, doesn't fit into the role. 
But looking at this month's Challenge hosted by Korena from Korena in the Kitchen who challenged everyone to make a Swedish Prinsesstårta, I couldn't help but think why not give this cake a try. And I decided to dedicate this to my Princess, my Sweet little sister Shruti, who celebrated her 24th birthday this month. And to top the happiness, she got selected in her Pre-PG Exam and will now be getting entrance in Collage to be Super Specialized Dentist.

A Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta in Swedish) is a traditional Swedish cake consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, whipped cream, and thick pastry cream, all topped with a 2–3 mm thick layer of marzipan. Although the texture is slightly different, the flavor is very similar to that of angel food cake, and the marzipan and whipped cream (along with the heavy, cream-based frosting) is highly comparable to a buttercream in both texture and flavor.

A little research revealed that the original recipe was created in the 1930s by a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny Åkerström, who taught the three Swedish princesses of the time. She published a series of four cookbooks called “The Princess Cookbooks” and in one of the editions, there was a recipe for “Grön Tårta” (green cake). One story is that this later became known as “princess cake” (Prinsesstårta) because the three princesses are said to have loved it so much. Another story is that Ms. Åkerström actually created three very elaborate “princess cake” recipes – a different one for each princess – and that the current version is a simplified combination of all three. That explains the princess connection, but the reason for the cake being green still seems to be a mystery. Today, Prinsesstårta is popular in Finland as well as Sweden – so much so that the third week in September is officially Prinsesstårta Week!

At first the Challenge looked difficulty as it needed a lot of things to be prepared in a short duration as I saw the Challenge only in the last week (May 24th). I had all the ingredients at hand and decided to make this Princess Cake from scratch. I prepared the pastry cream, sponge cake, marzipan on May 25th and kept everything in the refrigerator to assemble the cake the next day i.e. on Sunday. But to my dismay, I discovered the cake I baked was not properly baked from the center and it could not be used to cut into 3 slices. :(

The next day I had someone visiting at home and could not bake another cake until night. Thats when I baked the cake, whipped the cream and tried to assemble the cake in a hot and humid May mid-night and in the room with no Air Conditioner. There were a lot of challenges in finishing this cake but at the end I am glad I could finish it and it tasted awesome! This cake might not be the best looking cake I have ever made but this is definitely one of the best tasting cake that I have made. 

I apologies for the poor quality pics as the battery of my camera was over and I had to click all the pictures with my Samsung Galaxy Note II. Here's some pics of the the Prinsesstårta in the making-

I would like to thank Korena once again for putting up the challenge to make this sweet and beautiful Princess Cake!

Here what you would need to make this Princess Cake:-

Marzipan
Sponge Cake
Whipped Cream
Pastry Cream
Sponge Cake
Whipped Cream
Pastry Cream
Raspberry Jam
Sponge Cake

1 Sponge Cake (recipe below)

1 cup/ 240 ml pastry cream (recipe below)

1 cut ripened mango
2 cups/ 500 gms heavy whipping cream (I used Rich's non dairy cream)
300 gms Marzipan (recipe below)
Yellow, Red and Green food colouring

Icing sugar/ corn flour for rolling

Sponge Cake

Fine dry bread crumbs for the pan 

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup/ 200 gms caster sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup/ 70 gms all purpose flour

1/2 cup/ 65 gms corn flour/ corstarch

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

Pastry Cream
Recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu London

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk (whole or 2%)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup/ 50 gms granulated white sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch (corn flour)

Eggless Marzipan
Recipe adapted from Cake Central
1 cup/ 115 gms Homemade Almond Flour
1 cup/ 225 gms icing sugar
1/4 cup/ 60 ml. corn syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp lemon juice/ water or rum

Here how you can make the Swedish Prinsesstarta:

Sponge Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form cake tin with parchment paper then butter the paper and sides of the pan. Dust the buttered pan with bread crumbs to coat the sides and bottom of the pan. Set aside.

• In the bowl of your stand mixer or hand mixer, place all four eggs and sugar and beat on a medium high speed for about 5  minutes until the eggs tripled in volume, fluffy and light pale yellow in colour. The mixture will fall from the beater in thick ribbon.
• Add vanilla extract and beat it to incorporate in the egg mixture.
• In another bowl, sift all the dry ingredients i.e. all purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt and whisk it together.
• Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and fold it in with the help of the rubber spatula by cutting in the centre and folding it in just until the flour is completely incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix the batter. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 40 minutes. The cake is done when the top of the cake is spongy to the touch and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out with few moist crumbs.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes then run a knife around the edges and remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Do not worry if the cake sinks a bit from the center.
• Once cooled completely, cover the cooled cake with a cling film and freeze it in the freezer until further use.

Pastry Cream

• In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until sugar completely dissolves. Add the corn flour and all purpose flour and whisk it to incorporate in the egg mixture until it becomes a smooth paste.
• In a big heat proof bowl, keep the milk to boil. (just until the milk start to forming up)
• Remove the milk from heat and add slowly in the egg mixture while continuously whisking the egg mixture otherwise the eggs will scramble! 
• Pour the egg mixture back into the bowl which had milk boiling and cook over medium heat until boiling whisking continuously. Once the egg mixture starts to thicken (after 30-40 seconds), remove from heat and quickly add the vanilla extract and stir.
• Pour the cream into a clean bowl and place a plastic wrap on the top layer of the cream to avoid forming of a skin.
• Let it cool completely on room temperature. Freeze the  cream in the refrigerator for 2-3 days if not using immediately.
• Stir before using the cream to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

Marzipan

• Place the almond flour and icing sugar in the bowl of your food processor and pulse it to remove any lumps that may have formed.
• Add corn syrup and almond extract and pulse again to combine. The mixture should still be quite dry and crumbly and would not have a doughy consistency.
• With the food processor running on a slow speed, add the lemon juice just until the mixture starts to clump together. (I missed this part, and added the entire 1 tbsp lemon juice and got a sticky marzipan. I had to add a lot of icing sugar to make it come to a workable condition while rolling)
• Scrap the mixture onto your kitchen top and knead it to form a dough ball. Wrap the dough with a cling film and rest it in the refrigerator over night to let the flavours merge completely.

Here's how you can Assemble the beautiful Princess Cake:

• Whip the cream (I used Rich's non dairy cream) until stiff peaks before assembling the cake. Keep the cream in the refrigerator until use.
• With a long serrated knife and working very softly, slice the sponge cake into three equal layers. Use a spatula to help you lift out each layer of the sponge cake once you cut it. Set aside the middle layer as this will become the top layer of the cake which will give the cake the dome shape as this layer is most flexible and fragile and very easy to bend.
• Place the bottom layer of the cake onto the serving plate or cake board and spread the raspberry jam evenly on the layer. 
• Spread half of the chilled pastry cream over the jam in an even layer keeping 1 inch gap from the sides of the cake so that the pastry cream won't spill over the sides of the cake
• Spread the cut mangoes evenly onto the layer of pastry cream and cover the mangoes with a thick layer of whipped cream. 
• Top the whipped cream with another layer of the cake. Spread the remaining pastry cream evenly over it again keeping some space around the edges.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of the whipped cream separate and pile the rest of the stiffly whipped cream to make a dome shape covering the sides of the cake.
• Place the final layer of the sponge cake (the one set aside earlier - the most fragile middle layer) and cover the cake with the remaining whipped cream making the dome look as perfect as you can. Refrigerate the cake to firm up while you continue with the next step. Considering the hot weather I had kept the cake in the freezer.
• Colour a small  piece from the marzipan into a pink colour to form rose and another small piece into green colour to form leaves. Colour the remaining marzipan with yellow colour. I chose these colour to compliment the season and the mangoes I had put in the cake earlier. 
• Spread the kitchen top and rolling pin with lots of icing sugar or corn flour and press the marzipan into a disc and rolling it out to a 14 inch circle with 1/8 inch thickness. Use plenty of icing sugar on both sides of the marzipan and roll it with your hands to avoid sticking onto the kitchen top. Thankfully, I had worked with a fondant cake earlier which made my job of rolling the marzipan bit easy but the hot weather made this job very tough. 
• Use the rolling pin to drape the rolled marzipan sheet over the cake and smooth it around gently with the help of your hands. I loved the smoothening part of assembling this cake. Trim the excess with a paring knife 
• Decorate the top of the cake with marzipan roses and leaves.

This one's for you - Shruti!

I hope you would also enjoy making this cake as much as I did!

Happy Baking.

Not just a Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache | #BundtAMonth

I am pretty excited for this particular post as this is my first participation in any group event. I have been trying for a long time to do this but something (may be fear deep inside) was pushing me back all through. But this month, I wanted to overcome my fear and wanted to just go ahead and participate in the group baking event this month. I was surfing on the internet and came to know about this month's BundtAMonth bake event and I immediately decided to be a part of it.

I love Bundt Cakes and loved the idea of baking a Bundt every month based on a theme. The theme of this month is Tropical Fruits. I was pleased when I got to know about this month's theme as I really love baking with fruits. Having already baked an Orange Marmalade Cake before, I decided to go for bananas this time and bake a Banana Bundt Cake. I love bananas in the cake as the ripened banana makes the cake very moist. I had a recipe for Banana Bundt Cake by Jamie from My Baking Addiction which I had pinned long time back on my list of 'Things to Bake'. With the tropical theme on BundtAMonth, I decided to give it a try once the bananas were perfectly ripened for the cake.

This is NOT JUST ANOTHER Banana Bundt Cake, there are many things done differently for this cake. What caught my eye is the fact that the cake is baked at a very low temperature of 135°C/275°F for about 1 hour 40 minutes! You will love the smell of the cake while it bakes in the oven and even hours after the cake is baked. The cake is then transferred to the freezer for a good one hour as soon as it is brought out of the oven. This is not something you do for other cakes. Do you??? To top it all, the cake gets a frosting with chocolate ganache to go with bananas for a combination made in heaven. All these efforts pay off when you taste the cake, so wonderfully moist and soft and full of flavour.

Without taking much of your time, lets get straight to the baking.

Here's what you would need to make Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache:

For Banana Bundt Cake:
1½ cup ripened bananas (mashed with a fork)

2 tbsp lemon juice
3 cup/ 390 gms all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup/ 170 gms unsalted butter, at room temperature (ignore salt if using salted butter)
2 cup/ 400 gms granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1½ cup/ 360 ml. buttermilk (refer Note Below)

For Chocolate Ganache:

125 gms dark chocolate
½ cup/ 120 ml. low fat cream (I used Amul)

Note - To make Buttermilk at home, mix 1½ tbsp lemon juice/vinegar to 1½ cups of milk and keep it untouched for 10 minutes. You have the perfect buttermilk for the recipe.

Here's how you can make it:

For Banana Bundt Cake:

Preheat you oven to 135°C/275°F. Grease a 12 cup bundt pan with some butter.

• Mix lemon juice in mashed bananas and mix it well. Keep it aside.
• In a bowl, sift together all purpose flour, salt and baking soda and whisk it all together.
• In a separate large bowl (if using hand mixer like me) or in the bowl of your stand mixer using paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed. After adding all the eggs, the mixture will turn very soft, smooth and light lemon in colour.
• Add vanilla extract and beat it all together until nice and combined.
• Add the flour mixture (in three additions) alternatively with buttermilk (in two additions), starting and ending with flour mixture. Fold the mixture after each addition until dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the wet ingredients. 
• Add the mashed bananas in the mixture and give it a good mix until the bananas are completely incorporated into the mixture.
• Pour the mixture in the bundt pan and bake it for about 1 hour 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Take the cake out of the oven and keep it in the freezer (with the cake pan) for about an hour.
• Bring the cake out of the freezer and let it cool on a wire rack for about 3 hours to overnight. Invert the cake and prepare the chocolate ganache

For Chocolate Ganache:

Melt the chocolate. Add the cream. Give it a good mix until both the ingredients are well combined. Immediately pour it over the cake. Finish it with banana slice toppings.

Hope you would also enjoy making this cake as much as I did! Don't forget to share your experiences by way of comment on the blog or on FB! I would love to hear from you guys!

Happy Baking!

The Best Eggless Chocolate Truffle Cake Ever!!!

I love to try different cake recipes especially if the recipe does not include eggs in them. Well, for some, its hard to like an eggless cake but being from a family where not everybody eats eggs, eggless recipes are always welcome! I found one such recipe when I was browsing though the net and I immediately knew I had to give this recipe a try.

Fortunately, I did not have to wait for a long time as I had my newly wed cousin visiting me last week. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to bake him this Chocolate Cake in celebration.

I have not named this cake as Best for no reason. I have tried and tasted a lot of Eggless Chocolate Cake recipe, but this was simply amazing! So soft, so moist and so easy to make. This cake uses unsweetened cocoa powder which is so easily available anywhere and gives an intense dark flavour that satisfies any cocoa lover. This cake also uses some lemon juice which reacts with cocoa powder and gives this cake a texture like a red velvet cake.

Enough of bragging about this cake. Now, lets get straight to how you can also replicate this at your home.

Here's what you would need to make this Best Eggless Chocolate Cake:-

For Chocolate Cake:

• 195 gms (1½ cup) all purpose flour
• 25 gms (¼ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Cadbury's)
• 200 gms (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 75 gms (1/3 cup) vegetable oil (You can use any flavourless oil or melted butter. I used vegetable oil.)
• 240 ml (1 cup) warm water
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

• 250 gms semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 200 gms low fat cream (I used Amul Cream)
• 2 tbsp butter

For sugar syrup

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tbsp dark rum (optional)

Some chocolate shavings for decoration 

Serves - 8 people

Here's how you can make it:-

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F. Line an 8 inch round cake pan with baking parchment paper.

• In a large bowl, sift all purpose flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk it all together.
• Make a well in the center of your flour mixture and add warm water, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix it all together with a rubber spatula.
• Add vegetable oil/ melted butter and mix it until all the ingredients come together.
• Pour the batter into your cake pan and bake it for about 30 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the center come out clean. The cake will spring back when lightly pressed.
• Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
• Once the cake is cooled completely, serve it with some icing sugar sprinkled on top of it. If you would like to frost the cake like me, keep the cake in the freezer for an hour to chill completely before you cut and frost the cake. This helps to reduce crumbs while slicing the cake.

For Chocolate Ganache Frosting:-

• Melt chocolate and butter in microwave until completely melted. Add low fat cream and mix until the cream is completely mixed into the chocolate. Let the ganache cool to room temperature slightly.

For simple syrup:- 

• Put water and sugar in a saucepan and let it simmer until the sugar completely dissolves. Once cooled to the room temperature, you can add dark rum (optional).

Assembling:-

• Using a long serrated knife, cut the cake in two layers. Keep the cake right side up.
• Soak the bottom layer of the cake with simple syrup and cover the layer with some chocolate ganache. Smooth out the surface using an offset spatula. You can also add some chocolate shaving.
• Place the top layer of the cake on the base layer. Again, soak the top layer of the cake with simple syrup and pour a big dollop of chocolate ganache on top and sides of the cake. Smooth out the top and sides of the cake with the help of your offset spatula. 
• Clean the offset spatula and mark the tip of your offset spatula from the edge of the cake towards the centre in one single stroke. Repeat the process to cover the entire cake.
• Decore the sides and top of the cake with some chocolate shavings.

Hope you enjoy the cake as much as I did!

Don't forget to share your experience by way of your comments here below or on FB!

Happy Baking!

Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta Cheese

With my first Wedding Anniversary right around the the corner, I have got all the reasons to bake this week and woo my husband. What's better than making a Cheesecake at home to celebrate a beautiful Sunday morning when all the family members are at home.

Ricotta Cheesecake

If you decide to make one, I can bet you that the Cheesecake won't last even till lunch. Everybody wanted a piece of this cake even before I made the Strawberry Sauce to go with the cake. But to show you people, how the complete Cheesecake looked like and how the Cheesecake turned so pretty with the dash of Strawberry sauce drizzle over it, I had to request them to give me another 15 minutes till they cherish the goodness of the Ricotta Cheesecake. In the 15 minutes I got, I quickly cut the strawberries, made the Strawberry Sauce and took some pictures of the cake hurriedly. I feel proud to say that more than half of the cake was gone within 5 minutes of clicking these pictures. My day was made...:)

Without talking any further, lets get straight to making Ricotta Cheesecake.

Here's what you need to make the Ricotta Cheesecake:

For the crust -

• 100 gms/ 1 cup of graham crackers or digestive biscuits (I used Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuits as this was available at my home)
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 55 gms/ 4 tbsp melted butter

For the Cheesecake filling:

• 227 gms/ 1 packet cream cheese, at room temperature
• 450 gms/ 2 cups whole milk Homemade Ricotta Cheese, at room temperature
• 200 gms/ 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Serves - 8 to 10 people.

Here's what you need to do to make the Ricotta Cheesecake:

• Preheat your oven to 180° C/ 350° F. Grease the sides and bottom of your 9 inch spring form pan with butter or non stick cooking spray.
• Wrap the outside of your spring form pan with two layers of aluminium foil from the sides and bottom and keep it aside.

• For the crust:-
• Crush the graham cracker/ digestive biscuits in a plastic bag stammering with a  rolling pin. Place the crushed biscuits in a bowl and add sugar and melted butter and mix it all to come together. Press the biscuits mixture over the bottom of the cake pan and keep the pan in the refrigerator till you prepare the filling.

• For the cheesecake filling:-
• In the bowl of your food processor or electric stand (or hand) mixer, place the cream cheese and process it for a few seconds until smooth with no lumps. Add sugar, ricotta cheese and process it until well combined. Add in the corn starch and salt and again process it for a few seconds until smooth and combined. 
• Add in the eggs, one at a time and process until incorporated. And finally, add in the lemon zest and vanilla and process it until all the ingredients and well incorporated. Thats it, we are done! Its as easy as that.

• Remove the pan with the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the cheesecake filling. 
• In a large pan, pour the boiling hot water so that the water in the large pan come halfway up to the sides of the spring form cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a kitchen towel. This process is known as water bath. This method is used to bake the cheesecake as the texture of cheesecake is similar to custard and its best to bake in a water bath.
• Place the spring form cake pan in the pan and very carefully place the large pan in the oven. Mind the words "very carefully", you are dealing with the boiling hot water here and don't want to burn yourself. Bake it for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until the cheesecake is set, or yet moves slightly when the pan is shaken.
• Remove the cake from the water bath (or it will continue to cook under hot water) and cool it completely on a wire rack. Then cover the pan and let it chill in the refrigerator for atleast 4 hours to preferably over night. 
• This cake stays best for 3-4 days in the refrigerator, or it can be frozen. 

• Enjoy this wonderful cheesecake with some fresh strawberries and strawberry sauce or any of the berries from the berry family for that matter.

Hope you will also enjoy baking this wonderful cake as much as I did! Don't forget to share your experience with me. I would love to see your comments!

Happy Baking!