Chocolate Cake for a Birthday Girl !!

Every birthday girl ought to get her share of Chocolate Cake,don't you think??My little niece Raksha is celebrating her eighth birthday today and what's a more precious gift than a cake full of chocolate?As most chocoholics,I am always looking for a Chocolate cake recipe different from the last one I tried and end up wanting to try each one of them when special occasions like these arise.

Last time,when we all met in Bangalore,I had baked Celebration Chocolate Cake for my two candies,Raksha and Meghna and did the final frosting and decorating part there.I knew I had my sous chef's ready when they stood in attention waiting to hear my command and follow it!!My dear Vanni had bought some lovely sprinkles,pink hearts and all and these two went berserk doing their share of decorating.More than the eating part,they were excited about the decorating!!

So while looking to bake a Chocolate cake for her,I ended up at Ria's place,my ready reckoner for fool-proof baked goodies.I particularly liked this recipe because,it belongs to her grand aunt.I love such rustic,old recipes.I crib about unavailability of baking ingredients even today and I thought how it would have been at that time when even an electric hand mixer was a luxury!!I gave my mixer a break too and decided to whip up the cake using a whisk and a spatula.

I should say this has been one of the best chocolate cakes that I have baked so far.The texture,the chocolatey flavor is  simply out of this world.I got two cakes of the said measure,one 8' cake and a 6' one.I packed off the big cake to Ajay's colleagues lest I finish it all by myself.I am definitely baking this again!!Thanks Ria!!

Moist Chocolate Cake
Recipe source - Ria's Collection

Ingredients

Butter - 200 gms

Sugar-1 3/4 cup + 3/4 cup ,powdered

Eggs-3,separated

Flour-2 cups

Baking Powder-1 3/4 tsp

Cocoa powder-8 tbsp diluted in 1 cup milk

Vanilla -1 tsp

Method

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 3/4 cup of sugar and beat it.

Add egg yolks and vanilla.

Beat egg whites + 3/4 cup sugar to stiff peaks.

Fold into the batter. Add cocoa dissolved in milk to it.

Fold in the flour and pour the batter into a prepared tin.

Bake at 180 deg. for 45-50 mins or till done.

Happy birthday Raksha..we love you lots!!

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Pesarattu ~ Moong Bean dosa / Crepes & the winner!!

New Woodlands Hotel in Chennai is one of our regular hangouts.Nine out of ten times,we'll be there on Saturday evenings to have our usual Goli Bajo/Mangalore Bonda and strong filter coffee.We hardly order anything else to the extent that sometimes if we are late,the first thing the waiters would tell us is that the Goli bajo is over without us even asking them.It was during one such late evening that we had to check the menu and order something else.Ajay was very hungry and he ordered Pesarattu,which was available only during weekends.I hadn't even heard the name,so I played safe and ordered a plate of cutlets for myself.

I was happily chomping down the cutlets when Ajay's big plate of dosa came with roasted onions on top and thick white chutney as accompaniment.I hated to admit but I really wanted a taste of it.My resistance jumped out of the window when I heard oohs and aahs from him.I attacked his plate with a vengeance and to my own surprise,I liked it a lot.I absolutely couldn't make out that the main ingredient was whole moong dal.

While going through Aparna's blog for the Tried and Tasted event going on at Srivalli's space,the recipe for Pesarattu caught my eye.Memories of the dosa came flooding back and I decided I had to recreate the dosa at home.What I loved most about this dosa is that,very little preparation is required to make it.We loved it and I am planning to try it with Upma as I came to know that Upma-Pesarattu is a deadly combo!!

Pesarattu ~ Moong Bean Dosa
Recipe source - Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients

Whole moong dal - 1 cup
Raw Rice - little more than 1/4 cup
Onion - 1 small
Green chilly - 1
Hing/asafoetida - a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - as required to make dosas

Method

Soak the Moong bean and rice together for 4-6 hours or overnight.
Drain and grind in a mixie/blender to a slightly thick and coarse paste along with onions,green chilly and asafoetida using water as required.
The batter is ready to use[if not using immediately,refrigerate the batter till required].

On a hot dosa tawa,pour the batter and prepare dosa,adding about 1/2 a tsp of oil on the sides and cook on both sides till brown and cooked well.

You could also sprinkle some roasted onions on top[optional] before serving with some thick coconut chutney.[or as Aparna says,some powdered Jaggery,which is what I served the dosa with!!]

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As I posted here,I chose the winner for the Giveaway through random.org and the winner is Neena!!!Please e-mail me your address so that I can send it to Uprinting.com.Congrats!!

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Apple Crumble with Custard Sauce & a Giveaway!!

Apple and Cinnamon are a match made in heaven,isn't it? The smell of cooked Apple with a hint of Cinnamon is really to-die-for.The only time I disagreed with this was when I had Apple-Pie.I had read so much about Apple-Pie and the lattice design on top seemed to sing to me whenever I passed by it.I had no clue as to how it would taste[this was some 6-7 years back].We were in Spenser Plaza,tired and hungry after all the shopping and I though it was the right time to try this one out.

We bought a slice of Apple-Pie and a huge glass of Cold Coffee and dreamed us going into heaven once we had a bite of it.But wham..it was [in one word] yuck!The crust was soggy and the apple smelled funny,we swore never to touch "that pie" ever again.

Well,this post is not about Apple-Pie,but something more delicious and something which is easier to whip up.This one was also new to me,I had never had it before and the combination with Custard sauce pulled me to it.The aroma coming out of the oven when it was baking assured me of its taste.It was gone in no time as we had some friends over for lunch.They were a bit sad faced when I told them there was no cake this time,but seeing the expression on their faces after they had a spoon of it assured me that "aaal eez well"!!!

Apple Crumble with Vanilla Custard Sauce
Recipe source - Nags of Edible Garden,Original recipe by Mallika Badrinath

Ingredients

Apples - 500gm (about 2-3 medium-sized apples)

Wheat flour / atta - 1 cup

Salted butter - 100gm + a bit for greasing

Sugar - 2tbsp + 2 tbsp

Salt - a pinch

Lemon juice - a few drops (optional)[I did not use]

Cinnamom stick - 1 (optional)[I used grated cinnamon]

Method

Wash peel and chop the apples. Add a few drops of lemon juice to prevent browning. Mix in 2 tbsp sugar,grated cinnamon and cook on a low fire until soft and mushy. Set aside to cool.

Mix salt and 2 tbsp sugar with the flour. Lightly mix in the butter without kneading until you get a mixture that resembles bread crumbs. 

Grease a pie dish/cake tray with butter. Lay the cooked apples evenly. Add the flour mixture evenly on top and press down gently. Sprinkle sugar on top. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 25-30 mins.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (eggless)

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Verdict - As Nags says,the combination of Apple Crumble with Custard sauce will make you crave for it.The only thing I found amiss was,the recipe calls for using butter at room temperature whereas I felt butter straight out of the fridge would make better,even bread crumbs like texture when mixed with the flour.And also,I thought that the butter was a bit much,75gms for 1 cup of flour would have been ideal.Not that it affected the taste in anyway,hell I don't even have leftovers so that I could warm it up and eat!!!

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Sending this to Ruchika who is hosting an event on her blog called Baking from a Book,an event originally started by Champa. 

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