EGGLESS MANGO SEMOLINA CAKE

 

I wanted to get this mango recipe out while the fruit was still in season.

I already have a recipe for a Mango Cake on my blog. This one is with Semonlina /Rawa/Sooji. I have been seeing recipes/ pictures of Rawa cake all over the internet and wondered what the hype was all about and when I found this recipe (from Love and Flour by Pooja) with mango in it, I thought it was time to finally bake the Rawa Cake.

As always, I scoured the net for different recipes until I settled on this one as this is from a tried and tested blog. While this recipe calls for using Rawa as is, some of the other recipes called for grinding the Rawa into a fine powder. (I didn’t grind the Rawa)

This was the first time I had eaten Rawa cake and I did not like it, it felt like eating mango flavoured upma. I did not like the texture. Would I bake this cake again ? No. I wonder how it might have tasted had I powdered the Rawa.

If you like Rawa cakes, you may try this cake out. It has a mild mango flavour, is moist and crumbly and if it weren’t for the grainy texture, I would have liked it too. Sky, who detests Upma, enjoyed this cake while Skip who loves Upma (he and I have it with sugar) kept feeling mysteriously full , each time I offered the cake.  

For more mango recipes, stay home, stay safe and follow me on Facebook and Instagram (Lucidlucent).

MANGO SEMOLINA CAKE

 

Ingredients:

Semolina (Rawa) – 1 ¼ cup

All-purpose flour (maida) -1/4 cup

Sugar – ¾ cup

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Butter (melted) – 1/3 cup

Yogurt – ½ cup

Mango pulp – ½ cup

Chopped nuts – 2 tsp (optional)

 

Method:

1.     Grease a loaf pan.

2.     In a bowl, add the semolina, flour, sugar, melted butter, yogurt, mango pulp and mix well. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

3.     15 minutes into the resting time, pre-heat the oven at 180C.

4.     After 30 minutes (Step 2), add baking powder and baking soda to the above mixture and whisk well. If the batter feels too thick, you may add 1 or 2 tbsps of milk.

5.     Pour the batter into the greased dish. Add chopped nuts on top.

6.     Bake for 35-40 mins or until done.

7.     Done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EGGLESS WHITE CHOCOLATE BLONDIE

 

11.10.2020: I have never liked white chocolate. Even as a child when I was of the age when anything sugary that had the word chocolate in it was a source of immense pleasure, I stayed away from Milkybar (give me the power!).

I accidently bought a bar of white chocolate instead of dark chocolate. When I enter a departmental store, I’m like a kid in a candy store. I love walking up and down the aisles, checking out all the jams and sauces and preservatives and snacks and biscuits and during this period, I oft confuse brands and products and realise my mistake only after I return home.

The bar was lying in the fridge, having used only a quarter of it for decorating desserts. I decided to make Blondies with it. I was always under the impression that a Brownie with white chocolate was called a Blondie, I have however come across recipes for Blondies with ‘brown’ chocolate too. If someone would like to clarify this, please drop a comment in the comment section below.

This recipe is adapted from ‘From Noopur’s Kitchen’ and its eggless !

I have always loved chewy desserts. I may have over baked the Blondie by 5 minutes and its edges got a bit crunchy but then I love crunchy edges. The white chocolate lends a wonderful flavour and the walnuts a lovely crunch. If you are planning to store this in the fridge, please let it come to room temperature before you eat it. Let the Blondie cool completely before you cut it into squares else it will crumble.

EGGLESS WHITE CHOCOLATE BLONDIE

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) – 120 gms ( 1 cup plus 2 tbsps)

Cornflour – about 25 gms (2.5 tbsp)

Butter -  56 gms ( ¼ cups)

Light brown sugar – 4 tbsp

Condensed milk – 150 ml

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Milk -1/2 cup

Vinegar – 1 tbsp

White chocolate chips/chunks – 75 gms

Walnuts (chopped) – about 20

Caramel sauce (optional)

Sea salt (optional)

Method:

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C and grease an 8-inch baking dish.

2.     Melt the butter and let it cool slightly.

3.    Sieve the dry ingredients ( flour, cornflour, baking powder, baking soda) at least 5 times.

4.   Chop the white chocolate and walnut and add about 2 tbsps of the above flour mixture to this, mix well and set aside.

5.   To the melted and cooled butter, add condensed milk and mix it well. To this add milk, vanilla extract and vinegar. Add the brown sugar and milk well.

6.   Add the dry ingredients( from Step 3) to the wet and mix until there are no lumps. Do not overmix.

7.     Add the chocolate and walnuts from Step 4.

8.   Pour into the greased tin. You may also scatter some white chocolate on top or drizzle caramel sauce on the batter and sprinkle a little sea salt.

9.     Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the skewer inserted comes out clean.

10. Done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EGGLESS DATE AND WALNUT CAKE

 

 07.10.2020: The past few years I’ve had many requests for eggless cakes but I’ve always avoided making eggless bakes under the (false) presumption that cakes with eggs would be fluffier and lighter. The Eggless Banana Bread with Walnut Streusel put an end to these preconceived notions and while I still don’t specifically go about looking for eggless recipes, I’ve been more open to trying these eggless cakes if I happen to come across them.

My mother used to bake a scrumptious, sticky Date Cake which was rich and decadent and had the strong caramel taste of dates. Though she has sent me the recipe for it thrice already, I keep inadvertently deleting the message (If you are reading this, please send it again).

I always have a box of dates lying about in the house. For some reason, my father in law and my mother think that Skip loves dates and send me a box once in a while. Even though I know Skip hates dates and I have cause to believe that my skin breaks out when I eat them, I buy a box because I like to stock up on healthy food ( It’s not just Haldirams and Laxmi Narayans 😉).

I had two boxes of dates in the house and was looking for recipes with Dates when I came across this recipe on lovenadflourbyPooja. I follow her on Instagram as she has some amazing recipes. You may check out the Eggless Lemon Loaf that I baked following her recipe.

I also have a recipe for Bliss Balls saved which I plan to make soon. Please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent and you’d be notified when that post goes up.

This cake is definitely one of the best cakes I’ve baked. It is moist, has a wonderful (but not too strong) flavour of dates. Skip loved it too, even after I told him it had dates. At times, I skip adding nuts to cakes, but I would highly recommend adding walnuts as it tastes wonderful with dates.

EGGLESS DATE AND WALNUT CAKE

Ingredients:

Chopped and Pitted dates- 1 cup

Milk – 1 cup

Sugar – 3 tbsp

Oil – 1/3 cup

Flour – 1 cup

Baking powder- ½ tsp

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Walnuts – ½ cup

 

Method:

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 6 or 7 inch baking dish.

2.     Soak ½ cup of the dates in half a cup of hot milk for at least an hour and then grind it into a smooth paste.

3. To the above date paste, add oil, sugar and remaining milk and mix well with a whisk.

4.  In a separate bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. To this, add the remaining dates and walnuts and mix well until the dates and walnuts are covered in the flour mixture.

5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until streaks of flour disappear.

6.     Transfer to the baking dish and bake for about 35-40 mins or until done.

7.     Done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRENCH APPLE CAKE

 

26.09.2020: About 5 years ago, I had come across the recipe for the French Apple Cake which I had saved on my phone. During one particularly tiresome day, when I was feeding a fussy 3-year old Skip and not even his favourite Red Riding Hood video came to the rescue, I handed over the phone to him only to later find my entire folder of recipes deleted!

Out of sight, out of mind. This recipe had completely slipped my mind until...

A few days ago, when I opened the fridge for a regular inspection to check what items were left ignored or hidden away behind frequently used items, I found apples, nestled amongst little cartons of spices. In no mood to eat apples as is, I decided to bake a cake with them instead.

As I scrolled through many recipes, wondering which one would work best, I decided to bake the one from ‘Pardon your French’.

Then began the search for the liquor. We hardly ever have Dark Rum, Cognac or Brandy at home. After a little looksie here and there, Sky got a little bottle of Armagnac. After a quick search on liquor substitutes, I decided to go ahead with the Armagnac but poured a negligible quantity (about 10ml) to the cake. (I should have poured more). If you do not want to use alcohol, you may substitute it with apple juice but a classic French Apple Cake is one with a buttery, Rum flavoured crumb.

This cake is the most delicious of all the apple cakes I’ve ever baked. The melted butter forms a wonderful crust on the cake, the sugar sprinkled on top adds a lovely crunch (though it doesn’t help aesthetically, in my opinion) and the cake in itself is buttery and crumbly and fluffy with sweet, softened apples.

I am not a big fan of apples, but I do love them in desserts!

FRENCH APPLE CAKE

Ingredients:

Apples- 2 regular sized

Unsalted butter – ½ cup (125 gms)

All-purpose flour (maida) – 1 cup (125 gms)

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salt – a pinch 

Eggs – 2

Granulated sugar – ¾ cup (150 gms) + 2 tbsps

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Dark rum/cognac – 3 tbsps (45 ml)

 

Method:

1.     Preheat your oven to 180C and prepare your baking dish. (I used an 8 inch pan).

2.     Melt the butter. Set aside and let it cool.

3.     Peel and core the apples and chop them into tiny pieces (about ½ an inch). (If you like your cake to have chunky pieces, dice the applies into bite sized portions).

4.     Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt.

5.     In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the 150 gms sugar for about 8 minutes until it is light and fluffy and doubles in volume. (I used an electric beater for this).

6.     With a rubber spatula or a whisk, gently stir in the vanilla and the alcohol.

7.     To this, add half the flour mixture and gently stir. Add in half the melted butter and stir. Stir in the remaining flour mixture, stir and then the remaining melted butter. DO NOT OVERMIX.

8.     Fold in the apples and stir until the pieces are evenly coated with the batter.

9.     Pour into the baking dish and sprinkle the 2 tbsps sugar evenly on top of the batter. Bake at 180C for about 40 minutes or until done.

10. Done.

 

 

 

 

 

EGGLESS LEMON LOAF

21.09.2020: I have been spending more time on trying to click better pictures for the blog and have painstakingly been segregating items of clothing, showpieces, utensils for these pictures. As I go through other blogs, scrutinising their pictures, I make a mental note to purchase dried rose petals, bits of jute with frayed ends, black serving dishes, wooden slabs, bark coasters…. Pheew! While these items continue to remain on my Amazon  wishlist, I continue using random sweaters and leaves for my photography.

As I scrolled through my gallery looking for appealing food pictures to post on the blog, I realised the old ones did not match up to the current ‘pretty’ ones. The next morning, I took the butter out of the freezer and placed it on the kitchen slab. When Skip spotted it, he jumped with joy saying “cake, cake”. I told him I was not to be disturbed as I wanted to bake this soon and get back to my office work.

I have gotten quite adventurous during this period of work from home. Yes! Eggless baking is me being experimental. :D I came across this wonderful recipe for the eggless Lemon Loaf on Love and Flour by Pooja.

I love lemony desserts. The tangier it is, the more appealing I find it.

This cake is so buttery soft with the perfect hint of sweetness and citrusy flavour. The lemon frosting is tangy and the kind that gets you smacking your lips after a bite. Mmhhmm… so good.

Mamma asked me what the egg substitute was and from what I’ve read on the net, typically yoghurt, banana, condensed milk or flax seeds is used. I suppose the combination of milk and lemon (which is how I make Buttermilk at home for bakes) makes this cake so fluffy and crumbly.

Do try it out and if you enjoy it as well, you know what to do 😉.

EGGLESS LEMON LOAF

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour (maida) – 250 gms (1 ¾ cups )

Baking powder – 1.5 tsp

Baking soda – ¼ tsp

Salt – a pinch

Butter – 113 gms (1/2 cup)

Castor sugar – 200 gms( 1 ¼ cup)

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Milk – 100 ml (3/4 cup)

Lemon juice – 50 ml (slightly lesser than ¼ of a cup)

Lemon zest – 1 tbsp

For the glaze:

Icing sugar – ½ cup OR powdered sugar + 1 tsp cornflour

Milk – 1 tbsp

Lemon juice – 1 ½ - 2 tbsp

Method:

1.     Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and prepare the baking dish.

2.     Sieve the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.

3.     In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until it is light and fluffy.

4.     Add the vanilla, lemon juice and zest to the butter mixture and mix well.

5.  To the above mixture, add the dry ingredients and milk alternately, whisking a little after each addition. Mix until streaks of flour disappear. DO NOT OVERMIX.

6.     Transfer the batter ( batter will be thick) to the dish and bake at 180 C for about 40 minutes or until done.

7.     For the icing: Add the milk to the sugar and mix well. Add the lemon juice and give it a good mix.

8.     Once the cake cools completely, drizzle the lemon frosting on it.

9.     Done.

Recipe Notes:

•      I didn’t have castor sugar at home. So, I used coarsely ground granulated sugar.
•     You can use plain powdered sugar as well for the lemon frosting.
•      I like lemony, tangy frosting and added about 2 tbsps of lemon juice to the frosting. You may adjust the quantity of the lemon juice to suit your taste.

AVOCADO CAKE WITH AVOCADO FROSTING (FATLESS)

12.08.2020: We have three Avocado (butterfruit) trees in our house. Whilst all three do not bear fruit simultaneously, we do manage to get a good crop every year. We were done with our batch of Avocados when I came across an Avocado cake on one of the food groups that I am on, on Facebook. Skip and I were admiringly looking at the lovely green colour, Skip was excited about the cake as he LOVES Avocado, so much that he often has it plain. I love it with either sugar or on my toast with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. I also love guacamole.

I was expressing my regret to Skip of not having posted any Avocado based recipe on the blog whilst we still had the fruit. The other day he excitedly came running up the stairs saying he had spotted 11 butterfruits in one of the trees

“You can bake the cake now” said he.

I adapted the recipe for this cake from the blog – Naïve cook cooks.

This is a fatless cake- there is no butter/oil used in this cake. Unlike other fatless cakes, this recipe called for baking powder. Also, I have used regular sugar and not castor. Fatless sponges are typically dry and go best with cream and fruits. This cake is comparatively healthier as there’s no butter or oil in it and it has a fruit in it. Yayyyy! If you want to bake a cake with a vegetable in it, you can check out my post on Zucchini Cake.

The recipe for the frosting is inspired from Crazy for Crust. I did not follow the quantities mentioned in the recipe. The recipe called for the following proportions – 1 avocado, 1 tbsp butter, ½ tsp vanilla essence, 2 cups powdered sugar. If you want a thicker frosting, increase the quantity of the butter.

Did this cake taste good? Hmm…

I must be honest. This is one of the prettiest cakes I’ve baked but I personally didn’t think it to be the tastiest. It’s all a matter of taste I suppose (pun intended). I may probably have a sensitive palette as I’ve sometimes felt that the avocado leaves a disagreeable aftertaste that sits on the back of the tongue. I felt the same way with the cake. Also, I did not find the cake to be very moist. Sky, on the other hand, loved the cake more so after I declared it to be a healthy cake.

Did you find this cake pretty? Then please do follow me on Instagram and Facebook @lucidlucent.

AVOCADO CAKE WITH AVOCADO FROSTING

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Sugar – 1 cup

Eggs – 4

Avocado pulp – 1 cup

All purpose flour (maida) – 2 cups

Baking powder – 1.5 tsp

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

For the frosting:

Avocado pulp – 3/4^th cup

Butter – 1 tbsp

Vanilla essence – ½ tsp

Powdered sugar – ½ cup or as per taste.

Method:

1.Preheat oven at 180C. Grease and prepare the baking dish.

2.Beat the eggs and sugar with an electric beater ( I would recommend using an electric beater as the eggs have to be beaten well) until the mixture doubles up in volume ( for about 5- 8 minutes).

3.Add the mashed avocado to the above mixture and gently mix.

4.Sieve flour and baking powder and add it to be above mixture. Gently fold it in only until you no longer see streaks of flour. Do not over mix.

5.Bake it at 180C for about 35 minutes or until done.

6.For the frosting: Mix the avocado and butter until it is smooth. Add the vanilla essence and powdered sugar and mix until combined.

7.Frost the cake once it’s completely cooled.

8. Done.

Recipe Notes:

• You may also use a lemon glaze as frosting for this cake.

LEMON ZUCCHINI CAKE

01.08.2020: The whole time that I was baking this cake, I wondered what MNR would have to say about this cake as he considered my post on Kheer with Bottlegourd a blasphemy! Hahaha.

Ever since I made Zucchini Boats, Zucchinis have been a staple at my place. I make them atleast once a month and each time I try them out with a different topping. Earlier this month, I craved to eat a nice, lemony cake. As I was mentally going through the list of lemon-based cake recipes I had saved, Radha was rattling off the vegetables we had in our fridge and asked me if I was planning on baking Zucchinis that night. I decided to bake a Zucchini cake.instead. I remembered having seen Zucchini Cake recipes on the internet but never dared to use a vegetable in my cakes earlier.

The Zucchini Chocolate cake seems to be the most popular amongst the Zucchini cakes, this vegetable makes the chocolate cake moist and delicious and you would never ever notice its presence in the cake (so they said). I wanted my Zucchini’s presence to be felt.

So, I zeroed in on the Lemon Zucchini Cake (lemon in it, tadaaaa 😊). I got this recipe from the blog- icecreaminspiration.

The answer is NO. In case you were wondering if you could taste Zucchini in the cake. You get bits of it in your mouth but these by itself lack any distinct taste or flavour. An unsuspecting person would just think it to be lemon rind having lost its tartness in the cake. Is the cake delicious? It ABSOLUTELY is! The cake is moist and the sweet and tangy lemon glaze makes it taste heavenly.

I do not have a loaf tin so I decided to use a glass dish for baking the cake. Please check the bottom of the glassware if it is oven safe before you decide to use one. Metal pans can withstand higher temperatures, hence while using a glass dish, make sure to reduce the heating temperature by about 20C. Also, it takes longer to bake in a glass dish.

After being emboldened by the success of this cake, I also baked an Avocado Cake with Avocado Frosting. More on that in my next post.

Skip was helping me with the photography and after my 10th click, lost patience! 

Skip was excited to eat Zucchini in the cake and wouldn’t let Sky have the second slice until he guessed the vegetable in it. He couldn’t but needless to say he did get the second slice.

Curious about the Avocado cake? Follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent and you will know when that post is out.

LEMON ZUCCHINI CAKE

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Granulated sugar : 1 1/3 (One and one thirds) cups

Vegetable oil – ½ cup

Eggs – 2

Buttermilk – ½ cup ( if you don’t have buttermilk at home, refer to recipe notes)

Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Lemon zest – 1 tbsp

All purpose flour (maida) – 2 cups

Salt – a pinch

Baking powder – 2 tsps

Zucchini (grated) – 1 cup

For the lemon glaze:

Powdered sugar – ½ cup

Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Milk – 1 tbsp

Method:

1.     Preheat oven and grease a baking dish.  I used a 9*5 baking dish.

2.     Sieve the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

3.   In a bowl, add eggs and beat them well. Add oil and sugar to the eggs and beat until it is mixed well.

4.     Add buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest to the above mixture and blend well.

5.     Add the sieved ingredients and mix only until no lumps are visible.

6.    Add the grated Zucchini and gently fold it into the mixture. Do not over – mix at this stage.

7.     Pour the batter into the dish and bake at for about 40-45 minutes or until done. Remove the cake from the dish and let it cool completely.

8.     For the glaze: mix the sugar, lemon juice and milk and drizzle the liquid over the cake. The glaze will harden in time.

9.     Done.

Recipe Notes:

• How to make Buttermilk at home: Take half a cup of milk and add 2 tsps of vinegar/lemon juice and stir it. Set aside for 10-15 minutes. Voila, you have buttermilk ready.