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Monday 24 December 2012

"Xmas Plum Cake"

I am keeping my promise to share the recipe of Rich Plum cake to celebrate this Christmas. Its Christmas eve and its time to open some sparkling wine or champagne with rich plum cake slices.
I hope you all had soaked dryfruits in Rum as per my previous pre cake update and ready with your ingredients now.
So lets not waste more time and get started with the cake preparation. I made these today and trust me they look so delicious that I cant wait to dig in post midnight ;)
Hope you like the recipe and prepare this for Christmas tomorrow and enjoy with your friends and family.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas . Have a beautiful Christmas :)


" Xmas Plum Cake"

Ingredients:

Pre soaked dry fruits and spices ( please follow my previous recipe on the same)
2 cups flour
2 cups powdered sugar
200 gms butter
2 tsp baking powder
6 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla essence
salt a pinch
2 tbsp orange juice
Few tablespoons of Brandy or Rum

Preparation:
  •  Preheat the oven at 177*C for ten minutes before baking
  • Sift the flour,salt and baking powder together. Mix the soaked dry fruits in the flour nicely
  • Beat butter and powdered sugar together till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and keep whisking till the batter is mixed properly and smooth
  • Add vanilla essence and orange juice to the batter and mix properly
  • Add the liquid batter to the flour mixture slowly and mix well to avoid any lumps.
  • Add a tsp of brandy and mix well.
  • Pour the batter in greased or lined cake mould and bake for 45 minutes. ( I could make two cakes with this batter so try distributing it in two small cake moulds)
  • Check with a knife or toothpick if it comes out clean. Remove cake from oven. Immediately sprinkle two tbsp of brandy or rum to enhance the flavour and increase the lifespan of the cake.
  • Slice and serve. Store the remaining cake in an airtight container. Keep in refrigerator if storing for a little longer

Note : You can skip adding more brandy or rum if you dont want additional liqour in the cake. You can also more mixed spices powder in the batter to enhance the flavour.







Saturday 22 December 2012

"Dates & Figs Cake - Eggless"

Christmas day is coming nearer and nearer and so is the excitement to celebrate :)
I am sure you all are busy preparing cakes and muffins for the big day so I thought of sharing a quick and delicious recipe of Dates & Fig cake. This cake is dense, rich and eggless which makes it perfect to enjoy on   a Christmas day. Another good thing about this cake is that you can enjoy its warmth in this chilly weather as dates and figs are perfect fruits for the winter season.
Enjoy the recipe and keep sending your posts and feedback :)


"Dates & Figs Cake - Eggless"

Ingredients :

1 cup chopped dates ( seedless)
1/2 cup chopped dried figs
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tin condensed milk 
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda bi carb
1/2 cup oil
Few cashewnuts for garnishing

Preparation:
  • Preheat the oven at 150*C for ten minutes before baking 
  • Chop the dates and figs finely and put in a deep pan. Add 6 tbsp of water and heat gently together on low flame for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add soda bi carb. Mix well and keep aside for 15-20 minutes
  • Sift flour and baking powder together in a mixing bowl.Mix dates mix with the flour. 
  • Beat oil and condensed milk together till smooth and add vanilla essence. Mix well.
  • Pour this liquid to the flour mixture and mix well till the batter becomes smooth and of dropping consistency.
  • Grease a small cake or loaf tin and put butter paper to prevent cake from sticking. 
  • Pour the batter in the tin and garnish with cashew pieces.Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Check with a knife before removing the cake if its done or not.
  • Slice the cake and serve warm with coffee or tea.
Note : You can frost this cake with whipped cream before serving. Store this cake in an airtight container for longer shelf life. This cake will be little dense and heavy so you need to grease the tin well or use butter paper before baking. Decorate the cake with cashew or walnuts for additional flavour/taste.



Wednesday 12 December 2012

"Sponge Fingers with Strawberry Coulis"

Its the season for Strawberries. I love the rich red colour and the aroma of this beautiful fruit. Eat it like that or convert it into jams, sauces, pulps or icecream. You can enjoy this luscious red fruit in any and many ways.
Christmas season is about guests and family gatherings and celebrations. The whole idea of celebration revolves around good food and wine :) Listening to carols and chitchatting with your friends and family,you will not get enough time to prepare massive desserts. So I am sharing a quickfix dessert for you which you can serve for coffee or after dinner. Prepare the sponge cake and sauce in advance and store it in an airtight container and you can prepare this dessert in a jiffy without putting in much effort ;)
Hope you enjoy this simple and delicious recipe. Happy Baking !!!!!


" Sponge fingers with Strawberry coulis"

Ingredients :

For Sponge cake please follow my Eggless Tea Cake or Britannia Fruit Cake recipe. You can also use a readymade vanilla sponge for this dessert

For Coulis :

250 gms fresh strawberries
80-100 gms castor sugar ( as per your sweet tooth)
1 tbsp of lemon juice
some fresh strawberries to decorate
Icing sugar for dusting

Preparation:
  • Rinse the strawberries and remove the leaves from berries.
  • Put the berries and sugar in a pan and put on low heat. Simmer softly for around ten minutes or till the fruit has become soft. Let it cool.
  • Once its cooled down blend it together. Seive the syrup to get a smooth sauce.
  • Add lemon juice and mix well.
  • Chill the coulis before serving
  • To serve, cut slices of the cake and arrange on a plate. Drop some spoonfuls of coulis all around and over the slices. Decorate with freshly cut strawberries and dust it with some icing sugar. Serve chilled
Note : You can store this coulis for upto a week in an airtight container in the fridge. Just like strawberries you can make this sauce with Raspberries, Blueberries,etc for different taste and colours. 
If you want to experiment more then try using chocolate cake slices with the coulis and enjoy the sinful taste:)
Also, you can decorate the dessert with other freshly cut fruits like bananas or oranges. I also like to pour a littlt hot chocolate sauce on the plate to add more dimension to this dessert. There are way too many options to add to this simple cake and coulis and make it extraordinary so keep trying new versions and do share them with us. 



Thursday 6 December 2012

"Pre Christmas Plum Cake Preparation"

Traditional Christmas Plum cake calls for a month long soaking of dry fruits and spices in Rum or Brandy. So keeping this lovely and delicious tradition in mind, I have done my Plum cake preparations and I am already looking forward to a rich,yummy and delicious Xmas cake.
Have you all started the Christmas preparations yet ???
Get ready for Christmas and soak some nuts tonight :)

I will share the Christmas plum cake recipe before the festival. Till then Happy Baking !!!!! 


"Pre Christmas Plum Cake Preparation"

Ingredients :

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped cashews
1/2 cup tutti frutti
1/2 cup candied cherries
1/2 cup black currants
1 tbsp powdered cinnamon
few orange and lemon peel
1 cup Rum or Brandy

Preparation:

Mix all the dry fruits and spices and soak in Rum/Brandy in an airtight container and keep in the fridge till Christmas. 




Tuesday 4 December 2012

" Banana & Carrot Muffins - Eggless "

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Let your heart be light,
From now on our troubles
Will be out of sight.

Christmas is coming nearer and the excitement to celebrate the festival has already begun. Rum cakes preparation is going on, carols are playing and everyone is looking forward to the party season. So what are we waiting for??? Lets start the month with some yummy sweet treats and enjoy with our family and friends.
Today I am sharing a simple yet yummm Banana & Carrot Muffin recipe. Its eggless and has the goodness of whole wheat ( pssst less calories ;) ) ..
Will post more yummy Xmas recipes this month and I hope you all will like them. Enjoy the season and have a beautiful December. Keep Baking :)))))


" Banana & Carrot Muffins - Eggless"

Ingredients :

3/4th cup whole wheat flour
3/4th cup self raising flour
1and 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp soda bi carb
1 cup grated carrots
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 cup butter - softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup powdered sugar
2 ripe bananas - mashed or blended in a mixer
1/3 cup milk ( approx)



Preparation :
  • Seive both the flours in a bowl with baking powder and soda bi carb.
  • Add carrots and raisins and mix well. 
  • Beat butter, vanilla essence and sugar till light and fluffy.
  • Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture slowly and mix well. You will get a thick lumpy batter
  • Add banana puree to the mixture and mix. Add little milk and mix well. You need to add as much milk that will give you a smooth cake batter. 
  • Preheat the oven at 160*C for ten minutes before baking
  • Line muffin moulds or cupcake moulds with butter paper. Add the muffin batter to each mould till 3/4 full. Bake at 160*C for 30 minutes till golden and cooked. 
  • Garnish with grated carrot and serve warm
Note : You can frost these muffins with fresh cream or butter icing and then decorate with grated carrots and serve. The texture will be little soft and dense as we have used whole wheat in the recipe.