Honey soaked Dates and Carrot Cake

One of the first cakes I successfully baked and then kept baking again and again due to popular request was a cake with Dates in it.It was and still continues to be my amma's favourite cake.I also remember having a cake with Dates and carrots in my friends place and to this date I remember how delicious it was.I made a very similar tasting cake some time back and that is a wonderful recipe too.

When I saw this recipe in YouTube,I immediately wrote down the recipe deciding to try it out soon.The catchy part was the soaking of Dates in honey.The combination of Dates,Carrot and Walnut is something irresistible if you ask me :) The cream cheese icing (optional,but highly recommended) takes the simple cake a notch higher and makes it fancy.Do try it out.

Honey soaked Dates and Carrot Cake

Recipe courtesy - Mahima's Cooking Class

Ingredients

Flour/Maida - 150gms

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cooking oil(I used Rice Bran) - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup

Eggs - 2

Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Dates - 1/4 cup

Honey - 1/4 cup

Carrot - 1 1/2 cups

Walnut - 1/4 cup

For the Frosting

Butter - 50 gms

Icing sugar - 3/4 cup

Cream cheese - 35 gms

Method

Soak the chopped dates in honey for at least an hour.

Grease and line an 8"round cake tin.Preheat oven to 180C.

Sift together flour,baking powder,baking soda,cinnamon powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl add the brown sugar and oil and beat for a minute.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another two minutes.

Add the soaked dates with honey and grated carrots and beat again.

Now add the flour in batches and beat well till you get a smooth batter.Fold in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap a few times.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake completely.

Make the Frosting

Beat the butter well for a minute.

Add the icing sugar and beat well.

Now add the cream cheese and beat till combined.

Apply the frosting evenly over the cooled cake and garnish with grated carrots and walnuts.

Step by Step Pictorial

Soak the chopped dates in honey for at least an hour.

Grease and line an 8"round cake tin.Preheat oven to 180C.

Sift together flour,baking powder,baking soda,cinnamon powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl add the brown sugar 

and oil and beat for a minute.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another two minutes.

Add the soaked dates with honey and 

grated carrots and beat again.

Now add the flour in batches and beat well till you get a smooth batter.

Fold in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap a few times.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake completely.

Make the Frosting

Beat the butter well for a minute.

Add the icing sugar and beat well.

Now add the cream cheese and 

vanilla,

beat till combined.

Apply the frosting evenly over the cooled cake and garnish with grated carrots and walnuts.

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Ragi Dosa | Finger Millet Dosa

For the longest time I was apprehensive about introducing millets to our diets.Long back I tried making dosa with Sama/Barnyard Millet and it turned out to be a bad experiment.Maybe that is what kept me from trying out anything new but I kept hearing about its health benefits and wanted to try it out again.

Saw this video on YouTube(where else!)and it looked very simple and too good that I immediately purchased some Ragi and soaked it to try making Ragi dosa the very next day.The process is indeed simple and very similar to how we would soak and grind for regular idli/dosa.The batter fermented really well and the dosa too came out wonderful,light and crispy.

Paired with a coconut chutney it made for a delicious breakfast.I have also tried making Ragi Masala Dosa and that's just taking it a level up in taste department.Do try out this recipe and enjoy the health benefits of Ragi!

Ragi Dosa | Finger Millet Dosa

Recipe Courtesy - Skinny Recipes

Ingredients

Ragi(Whole)/Finger Millet - 1 cup

Urad dal - 1/4 cup

Methi seeds - 1 tsp

Cooked rice - 2 tbsp

Method

Wash the ragi,urad dal and methi till the water runs clear.

Soak for 2-3 hours.

In a mixer jar add the saoked and drained ragi,urad dal,methi along with rice and grind to a smooth batter adding enough water.

Ferment the batter overnight or for 8-10 hours.

Add salt to taste and loosen the batter if required with water to make dosa.

Heat a cast iron pan and make dosa with ghee.Don't skip the ghee as it helps to absorbs nutrients in the millets.

Step by Step Pictorial

Wash the ragi,urad dal and methi till the water runs clear.

Soak for 2-3 hours.

In a mixer jar add the saoked and drained ragi,urad dal,methi along with rice and grind to a smooth batter adding enough water.

Ferment the batter overnight or for 8-10 hours.

Add salt to taste and loosen the batter if required with water to make dosa.

Heat a cast iron pan and make dosa with ghee.Don't skip the ghee as it helps to absorbs nutrients in the millets.

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Dates Carrot & Walnut Cake | Christmas Special

Years back,when I had not even heard about home-baking,I remember eating a slice of this cake at a friend's place.The fact that cakes can be made at home itself was news to me.Here it was,a rich slice of cake which smelled like fruit cake but it wasn't.It was much more light and delicious and the plus part for me then was,it didn't smell eggy.

I remember getting a recipe from her when I started baking but unfortunately,I lost the recipe somewhere.I was reminded of this recipe again when few years back,I got a similar cake from Ria.Again I started on my search for the perfect carrot cake,just like the one I tasted first.Some were hits and some were so-so but tasted nothing like the carrot cake I remembered.

I stumbled upon this recipe on YouTube and the moment I saw it,I knew this was the one.This recipe in particular does not use any spices but the one I had was spiced,although lightly.I added a bit of cinnamon powder but other than that,haven't deviated from the original recipe.The combination of dates and carrots with walnut is indeed a delicious one.Do try it this Xmas :)

Dates Carrot &Walnut Cake
Recipe source - Bincy's Kitchen

Ingredients

For Caramel syrup

Sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/4 cup

Flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
Grated carrots - 1 cup
Chopped Dates - 15-20
Chopped Walnuts - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Oil - 3/4 cup

Method

In a pan caramelize the sugar till it turns a deep brown colour.Add the water and let it cook for a minute.Let the syrup cool down completely.
Sift together flour,baking powder,salt and cinnamon powder.Reserve.
Take 1 tbsp of the sifted flour and coat the carrots,dates and walnuts.
Beat the eggs and sugar till creamy.
Mix in the vanilla and oil and beat well.
Add the caramel syrup.
Add the flour little at time and beat well until you get a smooth batter.
Switch to a spatula and fold in the carrots,dates and walnuts.
Pour into a greased/lined pan(I used an 8' round tin) and bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let it cool down completely on a wire rack.

Step by Step Tutorial

In a pan caramelize the sugar till it turns a deep brown colour.Add the water and let it cook for a minute.Let the syrup cool down completely.

Sift together flour,baking powder,salt and cinnamon powder.Reserve.

Take 1 tbsp of the sifted flour and coat the carrots,dates and walnuts.

Beat the eggs and sugar till creamy.

Mix in the vanilla and oil and beat well.

Add the caramel syrup.

Add the flour little at time and beat well until you get a smooth batter.

Switch to a spatula and fold in the carrots,dates and walnuts.

Pour into a greased/lined pan(I used an 8' round tin) and bake at 180C for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let it cool down completely on a wire rack.

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Mambazha Morkuzhambu

I love pairing sweet curries with rice and some spicy vegetable on the side.Usually when I make sweet Pulisheri with Mango,Banana or Pineapple I make a spicy Potato roast on the side and it makes for a finger licking meal.So when I saw a similar recipe for Morkozhambu using ripe mangoes,I tried it soon after.It tastes a bit different than Pulisheri but I loved it.The tang from the curd and the sweetness from the mango along with the heat from the red chillies made it an explosion of tastes in the mouth.

This year,we've tried a variety of mangoes and loved them all.Usually we stick to Banganpally,Alphonso and Kalaphadi mangoes but this year there are so many varieties available and we tried most of them.I made this curry with Banganpally but you can use any pulpy,sweet mango.

Mambazha Morkuzhambu
Recipe courtesy - Malpat's Kitchen

Ingredients

Banganpally mango - 1,peeled and chopped
Fresh curd - 2 cups
Salt to taste
Sugar - 2-3 tsp(optional)
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

For roasting and grinding

Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 1/2 tsp
Methi - 3/4 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp


Method

Cook the mangoes till soft.You can steam/Microwave it,I added a few tbsp water into a pressure cooker along with the mangoes and pressure cooked for one whistle.Cool it down and grind to a smooth paste.
Whisk the curd well so that there are no lumps.
Mix in the mango puree.Add salt to taste.
In a pan add oil and roast the ingredients till the coconut slightly changes colour.Remove from pan and let it cool down.Grind to a smooth paste.
Add this to the curd-mango mix.Cook the curry on a low flame for about 5-10 minutes or till it starts frothing from the sides.Take care not to boil the curry as it may split.
Make tadka with coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.Add this tadka to the morkozhambu.

Step by step Pictorial

Cook the mangoes till soft.You can steam/Microwave it,I added a few tbsp water into a pressure cooker along with the mangoes and pressure cooked for one whistle.Cool it down and grind to a smooth paste.

In a pan add oil and roast the ingredients till the coconut slightly changes colour.

Remove from pan and let it cool down.Grind to a smooth paste.

Whisk the curd well so that there are no lumps.

Mix in the mango puree.

Add the ground coconut paste to the  curd-mango mix.

Add salt to taste - I added a few tsp sugar as well.

Cook the curry on a low flame for about 5-10 minutes or till it starts frothing from the sides.Take care not to boil the curry as it may split.

Make tadka with coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.Add this tadka to the morkozhambu.

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