Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Eggless Marble Banana Cake | Easy & Simple Cake Recipes

Remember the Zebra Cake I posted some eons back on this blog?My God,that was such a gorgeous cake.Everyone on the blogosphere went crazy baking these amazing Zebra cakes,which required a little precision in pouring the batter and Voila!you get pretty Zebra stripes when you cut the cake.I wonder how I had the courage to try something like that then,I mean,I was just a beginner baker.But I think that's why I did it,had no clue about the nuances and I just went with the flow and followed the recipe to the T.

If you're wondering why I'm going all nostalgic,well this Banana-Chocolate cake is a Zebra cake inspired cake.I say inspired because,Radhika who posted this recipe says the stripes were not even and she was calling it a Marble cake instead.Well,so am I.The batter was not as thin as the original Zebra cake recipe and I'm guessing that's the reason the stripes were not even.But hey,no one's complaining!

I have not been baking actively these days,primarily due to curb the intake of flour,butter and sugar but mostly because I'm trying to include more fruits and vegetables in my toddlers diet(as well as ours!)as snacks and he's loving it so far and hasn't asked for cake in a long time.But some indulgences once in a while is allowed no :)and this has fruit too,so win-win!

Though the cake is delicious as it is,I decided to dress it up with a bit of leftover ganache and believe me,it tasted yum!You could just dust a bit of powdered sugar on top or serve it plain :)

Eggless Marble Banana Cake
Recipe courtesy - Sugar and spice by Radhika



Ingredients

  • All Purpose Flour (Maida)- 150 grams
  • Baking Powder - 1 tsp
  • Baking Soda - ½ tsp
  • Salt - ½ tsp
  • Mashed Bananas - 1 cup
  • Butter - ¼ cup
  • Caster Sugar - ⅓ cup
  • Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
  • Milk - 2-3 tbsp
  • Cocoa Powder - 2 tbsp

Method

Preheat oven to160C.Grease and flour a 7' round pan.
In a bowl, sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk butter until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes with an electric mixer. Add in the sugar and whisk for another 3-4 minutes. The mixture should turn fluffy and lighter in colour.
Add in the mashed bananas and vanilla essence. Mix until properly combined.
Mix the flour mix into this little by little,adding milk little by little if you feel the batter is turning dry.
Divide the batter into two equal parts. Leave one part as it is, and mix in the cocoa powder to the other.
To form the swirls, start by pouring 1-2 tablespoons of the plain banana batter in the centre of the cake tin.Next, pour 1-2 tablespoons of the chocolate batter right on it. Make sure you pour it in the centre.
Next, pour the plain banana batter and so on. Repeat until you use up all the batter.
Do not try to mix the batters,just keep pouring the batters alternatively.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake turns golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

Step by Step Pictorial



Preheat oven to160C.Grease and flour a 7' round pan.
In a bowl, sieve flour, 
baking powder, 
baking soda 
and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk butter until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes with an electric mixer. 
Add in the sugar and whisk for another 3-4 minutes. The mixture should turn fluffy and lighter in colour.
Add in the mashed bananas 
and vanilla essence. 
Mix until properly combined.
Mix the flour mix into this little by little,
adding milk little by little if you feel the batter is turning dry.
Divide the batter into two equal parts. 
Leave one part as it is, and mix in the cocoa powder to the other.
To form the swirls, start by pouring 1-2 tablespoons of the plain banana batter in the centre of the cake tin.
Next, pour 1-2 tablespoons of the chocolate batter right on it. Make sure you pour it in the centre.
Next, pour the plain banana batter and so on. Repeat until you use up all the batter.
Do not try to mix the batters,just keep pouring the batters alternatively.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake turns golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.


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Now for the Giveaway winner,you thought I forgot about it?Sorry for the delay guys,been running around like a crazy headless chicken all of last week or rather last month.

Perfico.com has beautiful personalized gifts for all occasions.When they contacted me for a product review and a giveaway and delivered the personalized Wine glasses the very next day,I was impressed.The packing was perfect as well.I was delighted to see the wine glasses with A & D printed on it just like how I'd requested.

The winner who gets these personalized wine glass is 
.
.
.
.
Sukanya :)

Please e-mail me your complete address with phone number so that I can pass it on to Perfico.Also mention how you would like to personalize these glasses.


Monday, July 3, 2017

Spiced Chapathi with Coconut Onion Chutney AND a GIVEAWAY!!!

I still remember the first time Ajay's amma made Chapathi for breakfast when I was a newlywed.Myself being an ardent Chapathi lover,I just couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it and it was smelling awesome.Btw,do you like the smell of chapathi getting done on a tawa?The smell of cooked atta and the ghee put on top of it just make me crave for it more and more.

The chapathis were soft and flaky plus sweet and spicy.I was too busy eating them and never asked her the recipe for it.But these are the only chapathis I make at home now.These are delicious on their own and can be had even without any accompaniment.Amma calls it 'Mammama's chapathi' because that's how her amma used to make it.

Usually Dal or Bhaji is paired with this chapathi but amma always made a coconut onion chutney and believe me,the pairing is awesome.Never thought a coconut chutney would taste so good with chapathi,talk of North-South fusion!

Spiced Chapathi with Coconut Onion Chutney

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour/Atta - 2 cups
Banana - 1,small
Green chilly - 2
Whole peppercorns - 8-10
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Water as required
Oil - 1 tsp
Ghee as required
Ghee+Oil - for making the chapathi

Method

In a mixer jar add banana,green chilly,pepper,sugar and salt and grind to a smooth paste.
Add this paste to the flour and add required water to make a soft and smooth non-sticky dough.
Coat the dough with oil and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into equal sized balls.
Roll the dough into small sized chapathis and smear little ghee on top.
Fold the chapathi once into a semicircle and then fold again to form a triangle.
Roll the chapathi not to thick or thin.If you roll it too thick,it wouldn't cook well and if you roll it too thin,it wouldn't be flaky.
Cook on a hot tawa till done.One tip which amma gives is that,do not keep flipping the chapathi on the tawa.Once one side is cooked,flip and cook the other,that's it.Apply ghee+oil on top and serve.

Step by step Tutorial

In a mixer jar add banana,
green chilly,
pepper,
sugar and 
salt and 
grind to a smooth paste.
Add this paste to the flour and 
add required water to make a 
soft and smooth non-sticky dough.
Coat the dough with oil and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into equal sized balls.
Roll the dough into small sized chapathis 
and smear little ghee on top.
Fold the chapathi once into a semicircle and then fold again to form a triangle.
Roll the chapathi not to thick or thin.If you roll it too thick,it wouldn't cook well and if you roll it too thin,it wouldn't be flaky.
Cook on a hot tawa till done.
One tip which amma gives is that,do not keep flipping the chapathi on the tawa.Once one side is cooked,flip and cook the other,that's it.
Apply ghee+oil on top and serve.


Coconut Onion Chutney

Ingredients

Grated coconut - 1 cup
Green chilly - 2-3
Ginger - 1/2 ' piece
Tamarind - a small piece
Coriander leaves - 2-3 stalks
Salt to taste
Chopped onion - 1/2 cup
Coconut oil - 1 tsp

Method

In a small mixer jar add green chilly,ginger,tamarind,coriander leaves,coconut and salt to taste.
Grind to a smooth paste adding just about 2-3 tsp water.
Mix in the chopped onions and pulse for 3-5 seconds.
Add coconut oil on top.

Step by step Tutorial

In a small mixer jar add green chilly,ginger,tamarind,coriander leaves,
coconut and salt to taste.
Grind to a smooth paste adding just about 2-3 tsp water.
Mix in the chopped onions and 
pulse for 3-5 seconds.
Add coconut oil on top.

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--------Giveaway alert---------

Folks from Perfico.com were kind enough to send me personalized wine glasses of my choice and have offered to giveaway one set of the same to one lucky reader!!
As we are approaching the fag end of Mango season,I decided to make a Mango-Banana Smoothie and serve in these Wine glasses.All you have to do is comment what you would like to serve in these glasses and you could win one set which could be personalized to your choice!