Vegan carrot cake

I am upbeat about baking cakes more than ever before because I have brought this microwave convection oven.I am dreaming about how perfectly browned my cakes will turn out !

I had quite a few carrots in my refrigerator & thought about making  a carrot  cake. This time ,I wanted to go vegan.Hence no curds or yoghurt.I decided to use apple sauce  as also apple cider vinegar to be the egg replacers in my vegan cake.

Ingredients : 3/4 cup multi grain atta ( Aashirwad or Pillsburry or any brand ) ,1/4 cup whole wheat flour,1/2 cup (tightly  packed)  grated carrot , 1/3 cup apple sauce,1tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup oil,1/2 cup brown sugar,1/2 tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp baking powder,1/4 tsp cinnamon,salt to taste.

Method : Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

I ran out of multigrain atta when I started measuring it out.So ,I added 1/4 cup whole wheat flour to 3/4 cup multigrain atta.To this flour add,brown sugar,baking powder & soda,salt & cinnamon.Mix it nicely with  whisk many times.This will help in getting a thoroughly mixed cake flour.Keep aside.

I made apple sauce by pressure cooking a diced apple till 1 whistle.When ,the cooker cools,take out the diced apple.Peel off skin & puree the apple or it can be simple mashed.Keep aside.

Mix oil,apple cider vinegar ,apple sauce & grated carrot in a vessel.Mix all nicely.Pour this mixture into a well made in the cake flour mix kept aside.Fold the wet & the dry mixes so that no lumps remain.If need be ,some water can be added.The cake batter is ready.

Line a baking vessel ( preferably glass or silicone ) with butter paper.Pour the batter on butter paper into the baking vessel.Bake in microwave convection mode at 180 degrees centigrade for 35-40 minutes.

Then put off the oven.Test with fork or knidfe.If the fork or knife comes out clean ,cake is done.Otherwise,bake for five more minutes.

THen put off oven.Let it cool in oven for 10-15 minutes.Take it out from oven.Let it cool outside oven for another 15 minutes.Put the baking vessel upside down on to a large plate.The cake will drop down on it.Peel the butter paper off the cake.Cut the cake into desired pieces & serve.

I used brown sugar.If while sugar is being used,a lesser amount would do.Brown sugar is unrefined & tends to have less sweetness.

My cake was breaking on the top...that is its crust was cracking up on the top.And I felt, that it was done.I put off the oven at 35 minutes.My cake was moist when it was cut .Spongy too.Yet,the next day,it was soggy.So ,next time around,I am going to bake it for 40 minutes.

I received a compliment too for this cake from my neighbour.She commented ,"Your cakes are getting better ."

Vegan banana cake

During independence day celebrations ,there were sales galore.There were too many tempting offers.One such offer was regarding microwave convection oven.I own a microwave oven.I have made cakes.My cakes are quite nice.They are fluffy & healthy as whole grain flour is used.Yet ,my cakes never have the brown crusts that cakes baked in convection ovens have.So I fell for the offer.I went ahead & brought one.Initially,I felt ,I had erred as I will have yo learn the operations afresh & that is such a chore.Still,when the cakes rise,I forget all & smile.So temptation was worth it.I tried this  vegetarian banana cake.Well,I couldn't believe that the recipe was just what I wanted.It had explained how to bake cake in microwave convection oven ! I tweaked the recipe a bit & got a superb cake !

Ingredients : 3-4 bananas pureed ( these were small sized bananas & the more over ripe ,the better for cake ),1 cup multigrain atta ,1/3 cup brown sugar,1tbsp oil,1/2 tsp baking powder,1/2 tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp vanilla essence,salt to taste,5-10 halved walnuts ( any other nuts like almonds,cashews,can be used instead ) ,salt to taste.

Method : Preheat the oven at 180 degrees centigrade.

Mix all dry ingredients namely multigrain atta,sugar,baking powder , baking soda & salt.I mix nicely with whisk so that all get evenly spread throughout the mix.Keep aside.

Mix all wet ingredients that is banana puree,oil,vanilla essence.Keep aside.

Make a well in the dry mix & pour the wet mix into it.Mix nicely till a batter is formed.If the batter is too thick,add water & make it thinner.Batter must have just drop down consistency.So it must be thicker than idli batter & thinner than chapatti dough.Now add the halved walnuts into it.Alternatively ,walnuts can be added on top of the batter in the cake vessel.

Line a glass or silicone vessel with butter paper.Pour the cake batter into it.Add walnuts on top of cake batter if they have not been mixed in batter in earlier step.

Bake in preheated microwave convection oven for 35-40 minutes or till a knife or spoon inserted in cake comes out clean.

Let it cool.This will take another half an hour or more.Then take it upside down on plate.Cut into desired shapes & serve.Cake was just sweet.So,if need be,more sugar can be added.Please note that I used broun  sugar.Brown sugar is less sweet compared to white sugar. My mom said that I need to have put more oil.Maybe one more tablespoon of oil will make cake more soft.My dad said  it was soft enough.

I was thrilled as my cake had that brown crust which I had eyed on cakes baked in convection ovens.I felt that I should have added walnuts after I had poured batter into the vessel for baking.So next cake ,I am going to try that !

Tip : This cake comes out well with wholewheat flour as well.If 1 cup atta is taken , 1/4 cup maida can be added to get a lovely texture & all will think cake is made from maida.

In place of vanilla essence, use  1 tsp of cardamom powder to give this cake that Indian spice touch !