Mother’s Day Special and Crunchy Strawberry Cake

Here is Cake, for a special day,

Just for you on Mother’s Day.

I must have been born beneath a lucky star,

To have a mother as nice as you are!

He wanted to be an artist but was rejected by the prestigious Art Schools in Vienna. His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. He came back from Vienna for her. In his book “Mein Kampf” he says that he honored his father but ‘Loved’ his Mother. Yes, yes..you know who I am talking about - Adolf Hitler. The reason I brought this incident up is, that no matter what you are for the world, there is one person who reminds you of how tiny you are when it comes to her and where you come from - Her Womb. Pardon me for being dramatic. I have developed this penchant for drama, thanks to what I am watching these days - Game of Thrones. Sometimes it’s really difficult to understand Mother, but as we grow up, she becomes the only person we understand most. She’ll make fun of you, thrash you at times too which is followed by a flood of love and kisses. That’s what makes every mother a bit Weird- which is cute. She’ll scold you for a mistake, but if someone else scolds you- let it be anyone- that person will have a really bad time from your mother. That’s how mothers are. 

 

At times they prove their capability of doing things which will either straighten you up or will put in that path, like Toya Graham. She thrashed her kid in front of the national media as she saw him with a stone in his hand, at the Baltimore riots this April. Well, it’s not the sky which is limit for her, may be it’s the outer space or something beyond. My mother was upset with me as I didn’t tell her about my first boyfriend in high school. She didn’t scold me, but this saddened her a bit. Writing of this incident takes me back to that time where I can feel the aroma of Strawberry Cake. I tried this cake recipe for her, to see that wavy smile on her face. I was a bit clumsy back then, she said the cake was fine - mothers are always fine when someone else cooks for them - but could have been better. Today let’s try Strawberry Cake and bring a smile on every mother’s face.

Strawberry Layered Crunchy Cake

Ingredients

For the Vanilla Cake

6 Eggs,

1/2 cup Milk,

1 cup Sugar,

2 cups All Purpose Flour,

2 tablespoons Vanilla essence.

For the Corn Crumbs

1/2 teaspoon Salt,

3/4 oz. Cornstarch,

4 teaspoons Sugar,

11 tablespoons Butter,

6 cups Crunch Cereal

For Presentation

1/2 cup White Chocolate,

1/2 cup Strawberry Reserve,

2 cups sliced fresh Strawberries.

Preparation Method:-

1. Prepare a classic vanilla cake. Take a bowl. Assemble all the ingredients given under cake. Bake at 350 D. F for 20 minutes. Cut into three layers as shown.
2. Prepare corn crumbs. Take a food processor. Grind cereal completely. Combine cereal, cornstarch, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add melted butter. Toss well. Squeeze the crumbs with your hands. Make small clumps.
3. Bake until the crumbs turn golden brown for 15 minutes. Cool completely. Once the crumbs cool, melt the white chocolate.
4. For assembling, take the top most layer and uniformly spread Strawberry reserve on it as shown. Stuff in between the layers, the corn crumbs, melted white chocolate and sliced fresh strawberries. Serve!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sansa Stark and her Love for Lemon Cake

“Do you like always write on festivals?”

“Oops. Thanks. I’ll make sure that I change my ‘routine’ ASAP”, I replied with a confused smile.

She was my 23 year old neighbor. This conversation happened before my Jazz Fest and Jambalaya blog. I needed to move on from Festivals. “I’m going to watch Game of Thrones. Talk later” she said this and hurried to her home. Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series, loved by millions.

Voila! It helped. I was on a GOT marathon and consequently fell in love with “Jaqen H'ghar”, mumbling ‘Valar Morghulis’ at almost everything. This marathon ceased after the 4th season . I called her up and she was like “This is the year when they air season 5. They actually started it and two episodes are out”. Immense relief! There is one character which I noticed has grown up from a sweet little beautiful girlie girl to a damsel in distress and gradually to an alert and an astute woman when wisdom and tragedies hit her hard. Irrespective of all the troubles she has been through (including Joffrey), she walked through fire with tears and survived. Partly because of her will to survive and partly because of Lemon Cakes. When Lady Olenna of House Tyrell offers lemon cake to a ‘sad’ Sansa-

Olenna Tyrell: "Shall we have some lemon cakes?"

Sansa Stark: "Lemon cakes are my favorite."

Olenna Tyrell: "So we've been told."

I was like ok, people know this affair. Even Little finger tries to woo her by offering Lemon Cakes.

They are appetizing enough for me to try them in my kitchen. I love cake recipes. So let us make these Lemon Cakes for this sweet damsel in distress.

Ingredients for Cake:-

6 Eggs,

1 teaspoon Salt,

1 cup Sour Cream,

1 cup Unsalted Butter,

1 teaspoon Baking Soda,

3 cups All-purpose Flour,

1/3 cup Fresh Lemon Juice,

2 tablespoons Lemon Zest,

2 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar.

Preparation Method for Cake:-

1. Preheat oven to 350 D.C. Take a pan and butter and flour it. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, lemon zest, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In a blender, beat butter and granulated sugar for 5 minutes. Add eggs. Mix in lemon juice.

Keep adding flour mixture and sour cream, until incorporated. Do not overmix. Add to the bundt cake pan.

3. Bake until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

4. Turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Poke holes all over the cooled cake, and brush with lemon icing.

5. If the cake does not absorb all the syrup at once, allow to sit for 20 minutes before continuing to brush with any remaining syrup.

Ingredients for Lemon Icing:-

1/2 cup butter,

2 tablespoons lemon juice,

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,

3 cups confectioners' sugar.

Preparation Method for Lemon Icing:-

1. Combine butter, lemon juice, vanilla, and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

2. Add more sugar or lemon juice. Adjust the consistency as needed.

Enjoy “Game of Thrones” with authentic Lemon Cake!

Celebrate Australia Day with Traditional Chocolate Lamington

Australia Day, falling on January 26, has become nation's largest annual public celebration. It brings together Australians from all walks of life. Be sure to grab your spot along the streets of Australia to cheer the bulk parade participants. It's the national day and ultimate time to celebrate with classic and traditional dishes. Australia has a rich variety of food and drinks. Last year I shared with you Australian Cocktails and I'm so glad that everyone loved to dance with those drinks. 

This time I come up with the traditional dessert called Lamington. Lamington are squares of sponge cake that are dipped in melted chocolate and grated coconut. Lamingtons are usually made up of stale cake. I have used fresh cake. So the trick is to freeze it. After this, sauce the lamination when it is slightly frozen. Though I am equally fond of strawberry and raspberry flavor, this time I tried Chocolate Lamington. You can also add in strawberry cream in between the cake as I have done. 

For the Cake:-

3 eggs,

1/4 cup milk,

1/2 cup sugar,

1/4 cup cornflour,

3/4 cup self raising flour,

3 teaspoons melted butter.

For Icing:-

1/2 cup milk,

3 1/2 cups icing sugar,

1/3 cup cocoa powder,

2 teaspoons melted butter,

2 cups desiccated coconut for coating.

Preparation Method for Cake:-

1. Preheat oven to 180 D.C. Now grease and flour a square shaped cake tin. Take a bowl. Beat eggs, sugar, butter and milk in it. Sift this mixture in flour and cornflour mix. Mix until well combined.

2. Pour the mixture into the greased tin. Bake in preheated oven until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Bake time is 25-30 minutes.

3. Allow to cool. Cut into smaller squares. Place in the freezer until it begins to harden, for 1 1/2 hours, uncovered.

Preparation Method for Icing:-

1. Stir butter, milk and cocoa powder, together. Then stir in the icing sugar.

2. Dip frozen cake squares into icing mixture and then into grated coconut.

3. Place on baking paper and allow to defrost. This must take 1 1/2 hours at room temperature.

 Enjoy Australia Day!

Homemade Gluten-free Vegan Carrot Cake

Holidays are over but the spirit of the festive season is still on. Though I am not a gluten-free or vegan by nature, I wanted to try a recipe for my friends. So I tried Gluten-free Vegan Carrot Cake. I chose a beautiful cake tin to flaunt my recipe to the fullest, though the cake making procedure is extremely simple. Any celebration is incomplete without dessert, especially cake. 

Hope you liked the dessert that I had recently prepared, Low Calorie Lattice Christmas Cherry Coffee cake recipe. Yesterday, I invited my newly married neighbors for evening tea. I prepared very lite snacks coz everyone was tired of fritters and other heavy snacks that we had during the Christmas and New Year holidays. This carrot cake is very lite. I never allow desserts to finish at my home, as I’m very fond of them, my blog trail must have told you by now. So let’s go ahead with the recipe.

For the Cake:-

2 cups Sugar,

4 grated Carrots,

1/2 cup Cashews,

14 oz. Coconut milk,

1/4 teaspoon Ginger,

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg,

1 teaspoon Cinnamon,

1/2 cup White Rice Flour,

1 tablespoon Molasses,

1/3 cup ground Flax seed,

1 teaspoon Baking soda,

1/2 cup Buckwheat flour,

2 teaspoons Vanilla extract,

2 teaspoons Baking powder,

3/4 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour,

1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar,

1/2 cup unsweetened Coconut Flakes.

For the Frosting:-

60 grams Honey,

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice,

1 tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste,

200 grams Thick Coconut Cream.

Preparation Method:-

1. Preheat oven to 350 D.F. In a bowl sift flours, baking soda and baking powder. Now take a large measuring cup and combine coconut milk, vinegar, molasses and vanilla. Pour this liquid into the dry mixture. Add sugar and flax seed. Blend until smooth.

2. Now add grated carrots, chopped cashews and shredded coconut. Mix well. Pour into greased cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes.

3. Cool for 15 minutes. While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Blend the ingredients under frosting.

4. Add frosting on the cake when cool. Sprinkle with additional shredded coconut or nuts of your choice.

Happy New Year!

Low Calorie Lattice Christmas Cherry Coffee Cake

Hey friends, how was your Christmas eve? Well juz to add on lemme tell you that mine was awesome. Hope you liked my nutty cake recipe. This Low Calorie Lattice Cherry Coffee Cake is an all-time favorite recipe of my family. The latticed surface showcasing the cherries is so vibrantly that the cake is too pretty to be eaten. Isn't it? The cherry sauce within is where the real fun is. I prefer sour cherries while making the sauce. I have used sugar-free sweetener here, taking into consideration the craving plus health of everyone. A bit time consuming, but trust me, the cake is a rich delicacy. Whether it’s Christmas or New Year, holidays are definitely incomplete without this yummzz!

Ingredients:-

1 egg,

1 teaspoon salt,

1 cup sour cream,

1/4 cup warm water,

2 tablespoons butter,

1 pinch active dry yeast,

3 cups all-purpose flour,

3 tablespoons Sugar-free Sweetener.

Preparation Method:-

1. In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Add sour cream, egg, sweetener, butter, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic for 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. Punch dough down. Reserve 1 cup dough. Divide remaining dough in half. Roll each portion into a 9-in. circle; place in greased 9-in. round baking pans. Combine filling ingredients; spread over dough to within 1/2 in. of edge.

4. Roll out reserved dough to 1/4-in. thickness; cut into 1/2-in. strips. Make a lattice top over filling. Fill in the cherry sauce. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

5. Cover the top with foil. Bake 20 minutes longer or until browned.

Quick and Easy Cherry Sauce 

Ingredients:-

1 cup Water,

1/4 cup Lemon Juice,

2 tablespoons Cornstarch,

20 ounce frozen pitted Cherries,

2/3 cup Sugar Free Sweetener.

Preparation Method:-

1. Bring cherries, sweetener and 3/4 cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir often.

2. Stir 1/4 cup water and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth. Add into the boiling cherry mixture.

3. Return to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Welcome Mid-Autumn Festival with Authentic Mooncake

The Mid-Autumn Festival of China, also called the Moon Cake Festival is falling on September 8, 2014. It is denoted a harvesting festival which is stuffed with sweet treats. The markets and houses are flooded with mooncakes, a month before the arrival of the fest. Mooncakes are made up of thin dough shells. They contain heavenly fillings like red bean paste, chocolate, nuts, dates etc. This festival is considered as one of the best shindig, after the New Year celebration. It is accompanied by pomelos (Chinese grapefruit) eating competition. Well, the word eating reminds me, I’m very fond of Chinese food especially sweet and sour pork with pineapple and dumplings :P.

The Moon Cake festival is accompanied by pomelos (Chinese grapefruit), eating competition. It is marked by fire-dragon dances and lantern burning all over the night, which lightens and brightens up the place. People worship lunar goddess Chang’e and devotees burn incense sticks in the honour. Chinese believe that the Goddess lives on moon with a jade rabbit. There is a famous moon-watching spot in the city of Hangzhou. Here, there are  three candlelit towers in West Lake, beautifully decorated with lights and lanterns. Let's welcome the Moon Cake Festival with Authentic Mooncake recipe.

Authentic Mooncake Recipe

For the Mooncake Dough:-

25 ml Peanut oil,

2 ml Alkaline water,

100 grams All-purpose flour,

70 grams golden syrup.

For the Mooncake Filling:-

415 grams edible lotus paste,

40 grams melon seeds.

Preparation Method:-

1. Mix lotus paste with melon seeds. Divide the filling and shape into small balls. Set aside. Place the golden syrup in a bowl. Add in alkaline water and stir well. Add in oil and mix well.

3. Place flour in a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre. Add in the above mixture. Gently knead the dough till smooth. Dust the working surface with some flour.

5. Divide the dough into small balls. Dust hand with flour and flatten each ball of dough into a small disc, about 5 cm in diameter. Wrap in it the filling made above and shape it into balls.

6. Lightly dust the wrapped dough with some flour. Place in the mooncake mould and press the mooncake out. Place mooncake on a baking tray, with parchment paper. Spray some water on the mooncakes.

7. Bake at preheated oven at 180 D.C for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes. Brush the top with some egg wash. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

9. Leave mooncakes to cool completely and store in airtight containers. Enjoy!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Enjoy Foodies Festival with Authentic English Pudding

The Foodies Festival in UK calls for summer celebration involving lots of yummy food and drinks. Foodies enjoy this festival to the fullest by getting a chance to meet their favorite chefs and food experts. The great cooking shows are held in theaters and masterclasses. One can dine at the famous restaurants and also have good time in the private VIP areas. The afternoon tea time is certainly enjoyable accompanied by cakes cookies, cupcakes, rich biscuits and other snacks. 

Not only this, people can dance in the Vintage Tea Tent and have ultimate fun in the Real Ale and Cider Farm. A competition known as "chill competition" is also held on this special occasion. People enjoy family picnics on lush green grass and also listen to the live music and much more. But as you know that any festival is incomplete without dessert, I thought of sharing an English dessert recipe with you. Hope you liked my recipe "Roasted duck with pomegranateglaze, UK-style". So let's start with Authentic English Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Authentic English Sticky Toffee Pudding

For the Pudding:-

1 cup Sugar,

2 large Eggs,

1/2 teaspoon Sea salt,

1/4 cup unsalted Butter,

1 teaspoon Baking soda,

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract,

1 teaspoon Baking powder,

2 cups sifted All-purpose flour,

1 1/2 cups chopped pitted Dates.

For the Sauce:-

1 teaspoon Brandy,

1/2 cup Heavy cream,

1/4 cup unsalted Butter,

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract,

1 1/4 cups light Brown sugar,

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Preparation Method for the Sauce

1. Take a small heavy saucepan. Bring sugar, cream, and butter to a boil, over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes.

2. Remove from the heat; stir in brandy and vanilla. Warm gently before serving.

Preparation Method for the Pudding

1. Preheat the oven to 350 D. F. Bring dates and 11/4 cups water to a boil in a medium heavy saucepan with tall sides. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. The mixture would be fluffy. Set aside and let it cool.

2. Whisk 11/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Blend 1/4 cup butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Now add 1 egg; blend well. Add half of flour mixture and half of date mixture; again beat to blend. Repeat with remaining 1 egg, flour mixture, and date mixture. Pour batter into the pan.

3. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted at center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert pudding onto rack. Cover and let it stand at room temperature. The pudding is ready. Add sauce over it. Serve warm!

Enjoy the Foodies Festival!