Peanut butter n ghee nan khatai

I tried nan khatai erlier & did not post it. This time round, I tried a fusion of two -three recipes & tweaked them a little. I used peanut butter as also ghee. I mixed, whole wheat flour or atta with besan or chickpea flour ( chana dal flour ) & rava or sooji.

For the flour besan rava mix, inspiration was a You tube video . 

Since I had peanut butter ,I googled for nan khatai making use of peanut butter. I got two peanut butter cookie recipes .One used eggs & another was eggless. Both recipes by the same food blogger.

I added flax seed meal as I was making eggless nan khatai. And I used ghee & peanut butter in equal amounts.

Ingredients : 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup chana dal flour, 1/2 cup rava,1 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup ghee, 1 tbsp flax seed meal.

Method : Add 3-4 tbsp water to 1 tbsp flax seed meal.Mix nicely & keep aside in a small bowl. Let this be kept aside for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade for 10 minutes.

Mix chana dal flour, rava & whole wheat flour nicely with a spoon or whisk. keep aside.

Mix peanut butter & ghee nicely. Add powdered sugar to it. Mix sugar with ghee & peanut butter nicely.

Add this ghee peanut butter-sugar mixture to flour rava mix. Mix nicely.

After 15-20 minutes of soaking flax seed meal in water, pour the soaked flax seed meal water mix into the dough  mix containing flour-rava-sugar-peanut butter ghee.Add  water little by little if the dough is crumbly. Dough must be such that small cookies can be shaped by hand out of the dough.

Shape small cookies from the dough. Put the cookies on butter paper. Put the butter paper on to a tray.Bake them at 200 degrees centigrade for 20-30 minutes( in total after baking them 2-3 times ). I baked them in two trays in the oven...one below the other. So ,the baking was improper. I had  to bake many times And some got browned a tad too much & 2-3  got burnt . Baking in an electric oven is unfamiliar & so I erred. I forgot to bake the cookies from below & when, I tried to do that, I went overboard.Some got browned to chocolate brown shade & 2-3 got burnt.

The cookies turned out somewhat chewy. My dad felt they were not crisp. Sweetness was okay.

Tip : I forgot to add baking powder and or baking soda. I skipped adding elachi or cinnamon powder.

The cookies can be garnished with almond or cashews before baking & they turn out to be almond or cashew embedded cookies . Or any dry fruit of choice .

Next time around, I hope to bake better cookies ..crispy ones ! 

Vegan Upside Down Apple Cake

I avoid eating apples as I feel they constipate. Since,   I had some apples at home , I decided to make this  upside down apple cake.I have borrowed generously from recipe of Apple cinnamon coffee cake & upside down wholewheat apple cake.

Ingredients : 1 cup atta + 1/ 4 cup maida, 1/2 cup sugar + 2 tbsp sugar , 2 medium apples peeled , de seeded & thinly sliced after 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp coffee powder,1 tsp cinnmon powder, 1/4 tsp clove powder, 1/4 tsp cardamom powder, 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 2 tbsp oil, a pinch of salt.

Method : Take a baking vessel.Line it with butter paper. Arrange the wedges on the bottom of the vessel over the butter paper.Mix clove powder, 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder, cardamom powder & sugar nicely with a fork.Sprinkle this powder on the apple slices so that all slices are covered with this powder. Bake these apple slices at 180 degrees  centigrade  for 8-10 minutes.Keep aside.

In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients namely atta, maida, sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder, baking powder, baking soda & alt.Mix with a whisk or fork or spoon many times over, so that, ll dry ingredients are nicely mixed.Keep aside.

Add 3-4 tbsp water to 1 tbsp coffee powder. Mix nicely so that no lumps of coffee remain undissolved. This is the coffee decoction. Keep aside.

In another bowl, mix wet ingredients....applesauce, oil, coffee decoction nicely with spoon or whisk.

Pour this wet ingredient mix into a well made in the dry ingredient mix. Mix all nicely so that a batter is formed. It must have just drop down consistency like idli batter.

Pour this batter over the apple slices which have sprinkled with sugar-clove-cardamom-cinnamon powder. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade or till a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

I always bake in microwave mode for 2-4 minutes, even 5 minutes. after this convection baking to make sure that all batter has got cooked.

Put off oven. Let it cool in the oven for half an hour. Remove cake from oven after half am hour. Cool the cake outside oven for another half an hour.

Take a plate & invert the baking vessel on the plate. The cake will drop down. I felt the apple slices were too moist . So I put the cake in vessel & baked in microwave mode for 2.5 minutes.Let it cool for 5 more minutes. Take out the cake on the plate.Cut it into desired shapes & serve.

Tips : I sliced apples into very thin pieces. Apple wedges can be cut instead of slicing apple.After cutting apples into slices or wedges, sprinkle lemon juice to prevent darkening of apple pieces.

The coffee powder used is Nescafe classic. The coffee powder that was remaining in bottle was less than 1 tbsp. Maybe 3/4 tbsp.I used up the whole thing. Since it was less than 1 tbsp, the coffee flavour was there & yet, not pronounced.

I used white granulated sugar to sprinkle on apple slices. In the cake batter, I used nearly 1/4 cup white sugar & the remaining 1/4 cup jaggery sugar. Simply because jaggery sugar that remained to be used was just 1/4 cup.

Kiwi top cake

I had a kiwi in the refrigerator.It was ripe & firm as well.So decided to google a recipe for kiwi cake.

I saw this recipe for an eggless kiwi cake.I tweaked it a little & made a vegan kiwi top cake.

Ingredients, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup maida, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal , 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup jaggery  sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, a kiwi , 3-4 tsps white sugar for sprinkling on kiwi slices .

Method : Pre  heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

.Mix whole wheat flour, maida, baking soda & baking powder nicely many times over .Keep aside.

Make apple sauce by pressure cooking an apple.Peel the apple. Remove the seeds.The apple can be cut into 4 slices or more.  Pressure cook it upto one whistle. Mash the apple pieces by hand or pav bhaji masher or mixer . Keep aside.

Alternatively, simply cut the apple into pieces. Pressure cook to 1 whistle. After it cools, de peel the apple pieces & de seed them.Mash the apples by hand or mixer or pav bhaji masher.

Soak flaxseed meal in 1/ 4 cup warm water for 15 minutes Keep aside.

Mix apple sauce, flaxseed meal soaked in water together. Add brown sugar.Mix all nicely.

Make a well in the dry ingredients mix & pour the wet mix into it. Blend all, such that,
no lumps remain in the cake batter.I had to add 1/4 cup water as the liquid content was less. Even 1 tbsp oil ( optional ) can be added & then some water drop by drop.Batter consistency must be liked idli batter.

Line a baking vessel with butter paper. Pour the cake batter into the baking vessel.Smoothen top of the cake batter with backside of spoon. Arrange kiwi slices on the top of the cake batter.Sprinkle white sugar generously  on the kiwi slices. Bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

I bake in microwave mode for 5-10 minutes after the aforesaid convection baking of 45 minutes.

Cools the cake for 45 minutes-( 15 minutes in the oven ) & later outside the oven.Turn the baking vessel upside down on to a plate. Remove the butter paper sticking to the bottom & sides of the cake gently.Then turn the cake up. Cut into desired shapes & serve.



My cake turned out good.The texture was good. Sugar was just apt. Kiwi pieces taste tangy & it gives a nice flavour to the sweetness of the cake.

Coffee ice cream.

My daughter had got this Nestle coffee mate ,Hazel Nut flavour.She had stopped having it just as suddenly as she started liking or rather gulping it with coffee. I get very cross with such wasteful attitudes. I started using the Coffeemate powder in cakes.And yet, I could hardly use one to two tablespoons per cake. The hazelnut flavored coffee mate powder continued to occupy space in my kitchen.I started googling for coffee mate recipes & came across many at the Nestle Coffee mate site .I tried searching for an ice cream recipe as that would help in using up almost all of the remaining coffee mate powder.I thought, coffee mate could be used as it was like milk powder .Moreover, it was sweet as it had added sugar.I had come across custard powder ice cream recipe.

Hence, I wanted to try ice cream with this coffee mate powder. I had one packet of 200 ml Amul Fresh Cream packet. And I had almost a tiny bit of malai removed that day itself from fresh milk.I decided to use all this to make ice cream.

Ingredients : 2.1/4 cups Nestle Hazel Nut coffee powder containing sugar, 200ml Amul Fresh Cream, 2 tbsp instant Coffee powder ( I used Nestle instant coffee powder ), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1tsp cream ( mali removed from milk -optional ).

Method : Mix all the ingredients. If needed, add water drop by drop.There will a batter type consistency.Mine was quite wet. Blend all in a mixer .Pour it into a freezer safe air tight container. Freeze for an hour or more.

Take it out after more than an hour & blend it again in the mixer grinder. Again piur it into the same container from which it was removed & refreeze for more than an hour.

Repeat this freezing , de freezing & blending 3-4 times. This will make the ice cream get a creamy consistency.

Then  after it has frozen for the last time, remove it & scoop it out into bowls & serve.Eat it immediately as it melts quite fast .

Scopped ice cream can be garnished with nuts of choice. We had our scoops just like that.The quantity made was enough for five to six persons ( 2 small  scoops per person ) .

Notes : I found ,that I had added too much of coffee powder. Maybe, one tbsp of coffee powder would have sufficed. Initially,I had skipped adding brown sugar.After I tasted the ice cream ,I realised that sugar was needed. If just one tbsp of coffee had been used, there would be no need to add sugar. Coffee mate has added sugar & that is sufficient unless one likes ice cream to be more sweet & yet ,that would dilute the coffee flavour.

I used coffee powder to make coffee ice cream as the recipe used Nestle coffee mate powder .I felt that the coffee mate would blend nicely with coffee.

The ice cream was creamy in consistency.Yet, I feel, ice creams are best eaten outside, as home freezing can never compete with commercial refrigeration.

Vegan Apple cake

I had always admired this one cake on Madhuram's blog .I love the texture of the cake.And yet, the quantity of grating many apples put me off always.This time around, since the refrigerator was overflowing with apples ,I decided it was high time, I made this cake.

I replaced some ingredients & got a nice cake.

Ingredients : 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup maida, 1 tbsp flax seed meal, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup apple sauce, 1 + 3/4 cup tightly packed peeled, deseeded & grated apple, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder, a pinch of salt.

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Mix dry ingredients together except sugar & flaxseed meal .  Mix whole wheat flour, maida, baking soda, cinnamon & salt.Mix nicely many times over with a whisk.Keep aside.

Add flaxseed meal to apple sauce & mix.Keep aside .

Add sugar to grated apple.It will release lot of water. Add applesauce flax seed meal mix to this apple sugar mix.Mix nicely. Make a well in the centre of the dry atta-maida-soda-cinnamon -salt  mix .Into this well ,pour the dry mix. Make a batter by mixing dry & wet ingredients nicely.If ,needed add water drop by drop.I had to add almost 1/4 - 1/2 cup water . This batter turns out thick unlike other cake batters as there is too much apple in it.Keep aside.

Take a baking vessel.Line the inside of the baking vessel with butter paper.Pour the batter into the vessel on to the butter paper. Bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 40-45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

I have started baking the cake for 2-4 minutes in microwave mode after convection baking is over to remove all doubts about batter remaining uncooked.

I got a dry cake.Of course, I was able to cut it into nice shapes. So many apples had gone into it & yet, I was unable to detect taste of any apples .Even cinnamon for that matter.So maybe 1/2 tsp cinnamon needs to be added in place of 1/4 tsp.

Flaxseed meal provides the good fat.Yet, since , this cake was dry ( though not crumbly ) , I should have used 2-4 tbsps of oil .It would have turned out moist & nicer, perhaps.Those are the tips for the next time.

Vegan chocolate cake.

I wanted to make a chocolate cake after my friend posted her vegan chocolate cake on whatsapp.Her recipe used warm water & vinegar.I googled & came across this vegan chocolate cake recipe using applesauce. I thought, this was a brilliant idea to sneak in an apple into the cake !

I have posted an eggless chocolate cake which was baked in microwave, earlier on the blog.

I made just an alteration or two & my cake turned out super ! Except that it hardly tasted sweet.Because ,I used jaggery sugar & white sugar in 1 :1 ratio.So , I sprinkled powdered sugar on the cake & then rubbed fingers all over the sprinkled sugar.so it looks as if it is smeared over the cake.

Ingredients : 1 cup whole wheat atta, 1 tbsp maida ( In the original recipe,there was corn starch .I googled to learn that corn starch could be replaced by flour, flax seed meal etal ) ,1/2 cup sugar ( I used part jaggery sugar & part white sugar  as jaggery sugar got over) , 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp Coffee powder, 1 tsp baking soda,1/3 cup apple sauce, 1/2 to 1  cup warm water ,a pinch of salt.

Method  Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

Meanwhile as oven pre heats, mix all dry ingredients that is whole wheat flour, maida,sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, 1 tsp baking soda & salt. Mix all ingredients many times over so that all are thoroughly mixed with each other. Keep aside.

Cut an apple into 4-5 pieces.Deseed them.Pressure cook to 1 whistle. Cool. Deskin the apple pieces & mash them up.This mashed up apple mix is unsweetened applesauce.

Make a well in the dry ingredients mix.Add the apple sauce & mix thoroughly.I found that applesauce was less. The batter was dry...in fact not all flour had got wet even.So , I warmed some water & added to dry ingredients applesauce mix till I got a cake batter. Add water drop by drop or rather spoonful by spoonful.Add water carefully so that the batter does not get runny. If apple sauce amount is enough for cake batter , then ,there is no need to add warm water. Cake batter must have idli batter like consistency.

Take a bake able dish & line the insides of the dish with butter paper. Pour the batter into the vessel on the butter paper. Bake in oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 30-40 minutes. My cake was baked in 30 minutes.

Do the toothpick test. If toothpick comes out wet, bake in microwave mode for 2 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes.Take out the cake & cool outside oven for 15-20 minutes. Cut into desired shapes & serve.

My cake was not sweet at all....so please add more sugar.If adding white sugar, maybe a little more than 1/2 cup sugar would suffice.In case brown sugar or jaggery sugar is used, 3/4 cup sugar may be needed. I think ,even amount of coffee powder should be reduced .Maybe 1/4 tsp coffee powder can be used. Coffee powder can be skipped as some recipes use it & some recipes don't.

Apple cinnamon mug cake in microwave

I am fascinated by mug cakes.I tried once or twice.No more than that.Earlier attempts failed.This time, I tried sincerely ,I think.I loved this recipe.I tweaked it & made this cake in a mug !

Ingredients : 1/4 cup atta ( whole wheat flour ) , 1 tbsp apple sauce,1 tbsp jaggery sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tbsp Nestle coffee mate powder , 1/2 tbsp peanut butter, 1/4 tsp baking powder & oil or ghee to grease the mug.

Method : To make apple sauce, deseed & peel an apple.Chop it into 4 pieces.Pressure cook the washed apple pieces up to 1 whistle. Cool.Mash up the cooked apple.Apple sauce is ready.Keep it aside.

Take atta in a bowl.Add the Nestle Coffee mate powder,baking powder, cinnamon powder.Mix all nicely many times over.Keep aside.

Take 1 tbsp apple sauce &  1 tbsp jaggery sugar.Mix nicely.Add peanut butter & mix nicely.Add this liquid mix to the dry atta mix kept aside.No lumps should remain. The  batter thus ready , must have drop down consistency similar to consistency of idli batter.

Grease inside surface of mug with oil or ghee.

Pour the cake batter into the mug.Microwave cake batter in mug for 2 minutes. Put off microwave. Cool.Put a toothpick in the mug cake to test if it is baked. If it is wet,microwave for 30sec -1 minute.Cool & enjoy !

In the topmost snap , the cake can be seen leaving the sides of the mug.That is an indication that it is fully baked !

The mug cake was fluffy & nice.Except that cinnamon was not traceble.Next time, I must put 1/2 tsp cinnamon instead of 1/4 tsp.

This mug cake or for that any mug cake is a great idea for a quick & easy bake.It is a sumptuous snack !

Tips : I used Nestle coffee mate as I had no options..My kid had got it some time before & was lying around in the kitchen shelf. In the original recipe, milk is used. Since, I used whole wheat flour & that too 1/ 4 cup ,I used 1/4 tsp baking powder.  As Nestle coffee mate is sweet ( it has some sugar ( , I used just 1 tbsp jaggery sugar.I replaced oil in original recipe with peanut butter .One can use ghee or oil .If flaxseed meal is used or even yoghurt, then , ghee or oil or butter need not be added.Flaxseed meal or yogurt will make up for the fat content.

I have posted picture of jaggery sugar in my earlier blog post of Vegan Strawberry cake.

If batter is too watery, keep microwave on for up to 3-4 minutes, instead of 2 minutes.If batter is too semisolid, it may get done faster. Batter must have drop down consistency or be like idli batter ( dosa  batter is more watery in comparison to idli batter )

Vegan Pineapple upside down cake

I had made Pineapple cake earlier.This time ,I wanted to make batter using apple cider vinegar.I searched for such a recipe.I stumbled upon this apple cake recipe.I replaced apple with pineapple & lemon juice with apple cider vinegar .

Ingredients : 1 cup  atta ( whole wheat flour  ) , 1/4 cup maida,3/4  cup jaggery  sugar ( Patanjali brand )  ,1 tsp baking soda, 2 tbsp oil,1 tbsp apple cider vinegar,4 round pineapple slices ( the kind available for 10 -20 Rupees in plastic pouches throughout Mumbai now, in season ) pinch of salt, warm water .

Ingredients for sprinkling on pineapple pieces : 2 tbsp brown sugar ,1/2 tsp cinnamon powder.

Method : Preheat oven  @ 180 deg centigrade.

Take a baking dish.Line it with butter paper.On that,arrange pineapple slices by cutting them or as it is.I lined just one layer.One more layer can be lined ,if you so wish.I added remaining tit bits of pineapple into the cake batter.I added remaining sugar cinnamon mix to batter.

Mix all dry ingredients that is atta,miada, baking soda & salt.Mix nicely with fork or whisk many times over.Keep aside.

Mix all wet ingredients that is apple cider vinegar & oil.Add 1/2 cup-1 cup warm ( optional ) water  water.Mix nicely.Add jaggery sugar to this wet mix. This is because, jaggery sugar has lumps & mixing this jaggery sugar in wet ingredients helps dissolve big lumps into small ones & finely dissolves lumps completely.

Make a well in the dry ingredient mix & pour the wet mix into it.Mix both dry & wet ingredients nicely so that no lumps remain.Add remaining pineapple tit bits to batter.Mix nicely again.Pour this batter on the pineappple slices lining the bottom of the baking dish.Bake @ 180 deg.centigrade for 50 minutes.

Put off the oven after 45-50 minutes.Then bake in microwave mode for 4-5 minutes so that no part of cake will remain unbaked. After 10-15 minutes,open the oven & take out the baking dish with gloved hands as baking dish will be hot.

Place baking dish out to cool for 20 minutes.Put the baking dish upside down on a plate.The cake will fall on it.Remove the butter paper from the cake .Let the cake cool for some more time.Cut into desired shapes & serve.

My cake was crumbly.It had started falling apart after I had turned it upside down .Maybe because,I did not allow it to cool much at any stage.Or maybe ,because ,I baked it for a longer time.Maybe ,I should bake it for 45 minutes & see.

The texture was nice.It had a nice dark brown crust on top & pineapple lining at bottom as seen in the picture..The cake was just sweet enough.If more sweetness is needed,sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving or add more sugar to batter. Jaggery sugar is less sweet compared to white sugar.That makes all the difference in the sweetness. 

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 ."

Fluffy cake in a jiffy !

I love many food blogs.They share simple recipes & post such superb clicks that one would want to cook the recipes at that moment !

A very simple cake recipe was shared by one of the food blogs on facebook.It is the 5 minutes oreo biscuit cake.It so happened that I had some oreo biscuits  at home.Well ,my kid loves oreo & yet, not all flavours.I had 11 biscuits of chocolate  cream  & 6 biscuits of orange cream oreo biscuits sitting in a box.So,I decided to try this microwave quick cake !And, I was rewarded by a super  fluffy cake !

Ingredients : 11 oreo biscuits ( chocolate cream ones ) ,6 oreo biscuits ( orange cream ones ),1/2cup milk + 1tbsp milk, 1-2 tbsp brown sugar,1/2 tsp baking powder.

Method : Break the oreo biscuits into pieces.Breaking makes it easier to pound them in mixie.Now powder the broken biscuits into powder in mixie.Add milk.

I added 1/2 cup milk.Run the mixie.Add sugar & baking powder.Run mixie again.Put off mixie.

Line a baking dish with butter paper.Pour the batter from mixie into the butter lined baking dish.As ,I poured the batter ,I noticed that towards the bottom of the mixie ,some biscuit powder had remained dry.I panicked.I added some more milk & ran the mixie again.I poured this batter on the top of  the batter already poured before in the baking dish.I was thinking that my cake may not rise as bottom powder was mixed later etc.

The cake batter must fall like ribbon into the baking dish.That must be the consistency of the batter.

Put the baking dish containing the batter in the microwave.Bake it for 3.5 to 4 minutes.Put off microwave.After 5 minutes,take out baking dish.Test with knife if cake is done.If not bake for 1-1.5 minutes again.

After baking is over,open microwave door after 5-10 minutes.Let the baking dish cool outside the microwave for 10 more minutes.Now put up the baking dish upside down on to a plate.After a few minutes,the cake will drop down on plate.Remove the butter paper sticking to the cake.Let the cake cool for 5-10 minutes.Cut into desired shapes & serve.

The final test was yet to come.I served one piece to my kid.She dug her fork into it & put a tiny piece into her mouth.Then she bit it.She said ,"Not bad ." I was glad.And then ,she finished that piece & said ,"Please get the whole cake here." She devoured half the cake at one go ! And this from someone who saw me powdering the orange cream oreo biscuits & making a face ! And the remaining pieces,she savored the next day !

The cake was extremely soft .And there was no proof that I had poured some leftover batter later.Moral is that baking chocolate cake is a good ego booster !

Vegan apple banana bread

I had some apples & ripe bananas.I wanted to bake cake or bread using the ripe bananas & the apples.And I wanted to try a vegan version.I searched & got this vegan apple banana chunk bread recipe .

I added flax seed meal to the recipe & made my own version of this bread.I added flax seed meal as it gives a nutty flavour & the nutty flavour goes well with the bread.

Ingredients : I cup multigrain atta ( I used Aashirvaad ),2 apples ( peeled & desseeded,1 ripe banana ( peeled & pureed in mixer or blender ) ,1 tbsp flax seed powder soaked in 3 tbsp water for 15 minutes & more ,1/3 cup brown mineral  sugar + 1 tbsp brown mineral sugar, 1 tsp baking soda,1/4 tsp cinnamon,a pinch of salt.

Method : Take one peeled & desseded apple & pressure in cooker for 1 whistle.Let it cool.Then blend that apple into puree.This is the applesauce.Mix this applesauce with pureed banana.Add flax seed meal soaked in water to this fruit puree mix.Mix nicely to blend the fruit puree with flax seed water mix.Keep aside.

Take another peeled & deseeded apple.Cut into small chunks.Keep aside.

Mix all dry ingredients that is mutligrain atta,sugar,baking soda,salt ,cinnamon powder nicely with a whisk or fork.Mix many times over so that all dry ingredients blend into each other.

Add the apple chunks into the dry mix.Now fold the apple chunks such athat each apple chunk is coated with the dry mix.

Slowly add the apple banana puree into the dry apple chunk mixture.Mix so, that no lumps remain.This is the bread mix.

Line a microwaveable vessel with butter paper.Pour bread mix or  batter .Bake in microwave for 8-9 minutes.Switch off microwave.Let it cool for 5 minutes.Remove & check with knife if cake is done.If knife comes out clean ,cake is done.Otherwise microwave for 1 more minute.Check again.Let it cool for 15 minutes.Put the bread vessel upside down on a plate.The bread  will drop down on plate.Else ,it can be gently removed from sides of vessel so that it drops down on plate.Cut into desired shapes & serve.

Vegan red velvet cup cakes

I have tried this before .I forgot to note down the recipe.Hence, was unable to post it earlier.
I tweaked  the eggless  red velvet cup cake recipe from Divine Taste  a little.I made it into a vegan recipe.

Ingredients :  1 cup multigrain atta ( I used Pillsbury ) ,1/2 cup beet puree,1/2 cup brown sugar,1/4 cup oil,2 tsp chocolate powder ( I used  drinking chocolate powder which was available at home ),1 1/8 tsp( 1tsp +1/8 tsp ) baking powder,11/2 ( 1.5 ) tbsps apple cider vinegar,1/2 tsp vanilla essence,a pinch of salt.

Method :
Pressure cook 2 small  beetroots  for 3 whistles.Let the cooker cool.Take out the beets.Peel them.Cut into big pieces.Puree them in blender or mixer.Add vanilla essence,oil & vinegar to the beet puree.Mix nicely.Keep aside.

Take all dry ingredients ....atta,sugar,baking powder,chocolate powder & salt .Mix thoroughly with fork or spoon many times.Keep aside.

Now add the wet mix to the dry mix .Mix both nicely so that no lumps remain.Now line silicone cup cake moulds with butter paper.With a table spoon fill 2/3 of the cup cake moulds with the cake batter.Bake them in microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes.Put off microwave.Let it cool. After five minutes,cup cakes can be tested with fork to see if they have been baked by poking a fork.If the teeth fork come out clean ,it is done.Otherwise,bake for another 10-15 seconds.Cool. After 10 minutes,take out the cup cakes.Let them cool outside for another 10 minutes.Carefully & slowly remove the butter paper lining the silicone cup cake moulds.The cup cakes are ready !

I garnished them with titbits of white chocolate that I had at home.The cup cakes had no taste of beet,They were moist & sweet.Not very sweet. The quantity stated made seven small cup cakes & 6 slightly larger cup cakes.

Marble cake :1st attempt.

I have been baking a cake for my kid & her classmates since I learnt baking some time ago.Every Valentine day ,I bake a chocolate cake for them as chocolate is a flavour which is a hit with kids & teens.

I searched & got this marble cake recipe here.I omitted bananas & made this cake.

Ingredients :1 cup multigrain atta ( I used Pillsbury ) ,3/4 cup brown mineral sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp baking powder, 2-3 tbsp cocoa powder or Bournvita powder ( I used 1 tbsp milk chocolate powder which I had at home & 1.5 tbsp Bournvita powder ) ,1tsp vanilla essence, 1 cup yoghurt,2tbsp oil,salt a pinch.

Method : Mix atta, baking soda,baking powder,salt  & sugar with a fork or whisk many times so that all dry ingredients are finely mixed with each other.Keep aside.

Mix liquid ingredients :oil,vanilla essence & yoghurt with whisk.Now make a well in dry ingredient mix & pour the wet ingredient mix.Mix nicely.Add water if needed.It must have drop down consistency.Divide this batter into 2 equal parts.In one part add the chocolate.I added chocolate just like that.I should have boiled  a little water & dissolved  chocolate in that hot water & then added to batter.I was afraid that batter may get runny.Hence some Bournvita chunks can be seen in cake pieces as dark blobs.

Line a microwaveable vessel with butter paper.Pour a layer of plain batter ( without chocolate ) into it.Put some spoons of chocolate batter next.Repeat with plain & chocolate batter till both batters get over.With a  fork or knife ,make a swirl pattern in the batter.

Bake in microwave for 8-10 minutes.Let it cool.Take out from microwave.Test with knife.If it comes out clean ,cake is done.Otherwise bake for 1-2 minutes more Repeat knife test.

Let it cool inside microwave for 10 minutes.After 10 minutes,let it cool for 20 minutes outside microwave.Then put the vessel upside down on plate.The cake will drop down on plate or can be gently loosened from sides.Let it cool for 10-15 more minutes.Cut into desired pieces & serve.

The cake had a crumbly texture.It just melts in the mouth ! My teen's friends gobbled up all pieces which she packed to school.

It is so healthy - multigrain atta ( wholegrains ) ,yoghurt,brown sugar,low fat ! What more is needed ? !

Apple banana carrot cake

I follow Lite Bites, a recipe blog on facebook.I came across this mixed fruit cake there.Hence ,I thought why not make it ?

I made some changes & here is my recipe.

Ingredients : Assorted fruit chunks of choice ( I used banana,apple & carrot finely chopped )3/4 cup,1 cup multigrain atta,1/3 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp baking powder,1/2 tsp baking soda,1 ts[p vanilla essence,1/4 cup oil,1/4 cup yoghurt,a pinch of salt,water to get batter consistency right.

Method : Mix all dry ingredients -multigrain atta,baking soda,baking powder ,sugar & salt.No lumps should remain.Use whisk or fork to mix again & again.Keep aside.

Mix all wet ingredients -oil,yoghurt,vanilla,mixed fruits in bowl nicely.

Make a  well in the dry ingredient mix & pour the wet ingrent mix into it.Mix nicely with a whisk.Take care that no lumps remain in the batter.Keep aside.

Take a microwaveable vessel & line it with butter paper.Pour thev cake batter into the vessel on the butter paper.Microwave for 8-9 minutes.After 10 minutes,take it out from microwave & check with fork or knife if cake is done.If still wet ,microwave for 1-2 minutes more.Let it cool.

Take out the  vessel .Let it cool outside microwave for 10 minutes.Now put it upside down on a plate.The cake will drop down on plate after some time.If not ,just nudge it from the edges to let it drop down.Cut into desired shapes & serve.

In the snap ,some soft grey coloured lumps can be seen in cake...those are banana pieces.If you would rather have no chopped fruit pieces ,then puree all fruits in blender & use that instead of chopped fruits.

Beetroot carrot cake

When I was new to baking ,I had come across a  beetroot carrot cake.I tried it & I had messed it up.Now,that  I have  some what honed up my baking skills,I wanted to give it another try.I failed to get hold of that earlier recipe on the net.I saw & read some.I decided to do it myself as some had one fruit too many & others had very huge measurements.

Ingredients : 1.5 Cups multigrain atta ( I used Pillsburry ) ,1/2 + 1/3 cup brown grainy sugar( I get 1 under brand name Sunehra.... it is just like refined white sugar...except that colour is brown  in Sahakari Bhandar at BARC colony ,Mumbai) ,1/4 cup oil,1/4 cup dahi,1/4 cup apple sauce,1.5 cups grated beetroot & carrot mix,3/4 tsp baking soda,3/4 tsp baking powder,a pinch of salt.

Method : Chop an apple into two & pressure cook it for 1 whistle.After the cooker has cooled,puree the apple after removing the skin & seeds.Keep aside.

Take a vessel & put all dry ingredients .....multi grain atta,baking soda,baking powder & salt .Mix nicely.Keep aside.

In another vessel,mix all liquid ingredients ...oil,grated beetroot carrot mix,apple puree,dahi,oil .Add sugar.Mix nicely.

Make a well in the dry ingredient mix & pour the liquid mix into it.Whisk with a spoon so that no lumps remain.The cake batter thus ready must have drop down consistency.Add water if the batter is very thick. Keep aside.

Line the bottom of a a   microwaveable vessel with butter paper .Pour the cake batter into it.Microwave for 10 minutes.Put off the microwave.Let it cool for 10 minutes..Insert a knife in the middle of the cake.If knife comes out clean ,it is done.If not,microwave for 1-2 minutes more.Cool & check again.

Keep the cake out side for 10-15 minutes.Put it upside down on to a plate.Remove the butter paper .Cut the cake into desired shapes & serve.

Veg sweet French toast

My kid said that she wants to eat sweet French toast.As we are vegetarians,I set about searching for an eggless  French toast recipe.I got one @http://www.sharmispassions.com/2010/09/eggless-french-toast-sweet-version.html

I made it & it turned out real good.My daughter simply loved it !

Ingredients : 2 brown bread slices ( white can be used....brown bread is healthier ),1 tsp ghee, 1 tsp sugar,1/2 tsp custard  powder ( vanilla flavour ),a pinch of cainnamon powder,1/4 cup milk.

Method : Boil milk.Take it off from gas stove.Keep aside.

Add custard powder to the boiled milk.Mix nicely so that no lumps remain.Add sugar.Mix nicely.Add a pinch of cinnamon powder.Mix nicely.Keep aside.

Warm a tawa on the gas stove.Spread little ghee on the tawa.

Cut a bread slice into two triangles or even four.This makes it asy to dip them in the milk mixture.

Now ,dip a bread slice in the milk mixture so that all sides of the slice are coated with the milk mixture.Place the bread slice on the tawa. Let it get toasted.Once it has browned a little,turn it over & cook on the other side.It will turn little brown.Take it off the tawa .Serve with maple syrup or just like that.

Repeat with  aforesaid process another bread slice.