Chocolate butter cake with chocolate frosting

It was my daughter's 5th birthday on October 10. She wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with flowers on it :)

Source : Joyofbaking

Ingredients:

For chocolate cake

1.  All purpose flour - 2 and 1/4 cups
2. Sugar - 2 cups
3. Eggs - 3, at room temperature
4. Unsweetened cocoa powder - 3 tbsp
5. Semi sweet chocolate pieces - 1 cup , chopped
6. Baking soda - 1 tsp
7. Baking powder - 2 tsp
8. Salt - 1/2 tsp
9. Hot coffee - 1 cup
10. Butter - 1 cup ,at room temperature
11. Milk - 1 cup, at room temperature
12. Pure Vanilla extract - 2 tsp

For Chocolate frosting

1. Butter - 1 cup, at room temperature
2. Powdered sugar - 2 cups
3. Semisweet chocolate chips - 1.5 cups
4. Pure vanilla extract - 1.5 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Butter the bottom of a 9 x 13" cake pans (or you can use two 9" pans).Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease it with butter.
2. In a bowl, add the chopped chocolate pieces, chocolate powder and hot coffee and mix till the chocolate pieces are fully melted. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. In a large mixing bowl , combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In another bowl, beat the butter until soft . It will take around 1- 2 minutes.
4. Gradually add sugar and beat for another 5- 6 minutes till it is very light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs one at a time , beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 1-2 minutes.
6. Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate and beat until combined for about 2-3 minutes.
7. Alternatively add the flour and milk and beat on low speed, like add 1/3rd flour, then half the milk, then 1/3rd flour, half the milk and the remaining 1/3rd flour. Beat till the mixture is well combined.
8. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate frosting

1. Place the chocolate chips in a bowl on top of simmering water. Melt the chocolate chips and allow it to cool to room temperature.
2. In a large mixing bowl, place the butter and beat till the butter turns soft, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat on high till the mixture turns very soft, light and fluffy, for about 4-5 minutes.
4. Then add the melted chocolate to it and beat on low for about 1-2 minutes and then beat on high speed for another 2-3 minutes till the mixture is very smooth.

Decorate the cake with frosting and enjoy!!

Chocolate banana muffins

Ingredients:

Banana - 2 ripe bananas
Egg - 1
Oil - 1/3 cup
All purpose flour - 1.5 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Baking soda - 1 cup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Then beat in the egg. Then add oil to this and mix well so that everything is well combined.

4. In a separate large bowl , sift together all purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda.

5. Fold in the banana mixture and the flour mixture. You can add chocolate chips, about 1/2 to 3/4 cups at this stage. Since I didn't have chocolate chips at home I didn't add it.

5. Pour the batter into prepared muffin cups to 3/4 of it.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Apple muffin from pancake mix

Ingredients:

Pancake or waffle mix  - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup , packed
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1 cup
Oil - 1/3 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Apple - 1, peeled,cored and chopped

Topping

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 3 tsp


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease the muffin tray or line the muffin tray with cups.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, pancake mix, all purpose flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon powder.
3. In another small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients( milk, oil, egg and vanilla essence).
4. Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients . Mix gently until the ingredients are well combined.
5. Add the chopped apples and mix together. Pour the batter into muffin cups till 3/4th of the cup.
6. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle 1 tsp of it over the muffin .
7. Bake to 15- 20 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Eggless Nan Khatai

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter - 1 stick ( 1/2 cup) at room temperature
Powdered Sugar or Confectioners sugar - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour -   1 cup
Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Chopped pistachios - 2-3 tbsp

Method:

1. Butter should be very soft. So keep it out of refrigerator for 3 -4 hr. Add small amounts of powdered sugar to butter and mix it until the mixture is soft and creamy.
2. Add the nutmeg powder and cardamom powder and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, little at a time. mix it well to form a soft dough.Keep it aside for 20-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 300 F.
6. Knead dough again and make small balls of it. Place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper/wax paper.
7. Decorate it with pistachios and bake it on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes.Make sure the nan-khatais remain white.
8. Allow it to cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Simple Chocolate cake

My daughter wanted a cake similar to the birthday cake with animals on it. So we made a chocolate cake this time and frosted it with chocolate frosting.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 3/4 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Warm water - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Oil(vegetable, canola,safflower) - 1/2 cup
Vanilla - extract - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease or butter the bottom of a 9"x 13" cake pans(or you can use two 9" pans).Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease it with butter.
2. In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients( sugar, all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder).
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk,water, oil and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix or whisk until combined.
4.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 27 - 35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Source: Joy of baking

Christmas fruit cake/ Kerala Plum cake

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR !!!

My first post of the year is Christmas fruit cake or Plum cake. Plum cake is one of mine and my husband's favorite cake. This is my first attempt in baking plum cake and it was a huge success. The whole cake was finished that day itself :)

The recipe is a combination of many other recipes like Yummyoyummy, edible garden, marias menu... The recipe list seems to be very long, but believe me its not that difficult and the taste is worth the effort :)

Ingredients:

To soak dried fruits & nuts
Dried fruits - 2.5 cups
Nuts - 1.5 cups
Orange Peel - 1 tsp
Apple juice/Wine/Rum - 1 cup

For spice powder
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
Clove powder - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Dried ginger powder -1/4 tsp (Optional)

For caramel:
Sugar- 1/2cup
Water - 1 tbsp
Hot Water - 1/4 cup

For cake batter
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 2 cups
Butter - 1 cup or 2 sticks ( at room temperature)
Eggs - 4 (at room temperature)
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

Method:

Soaking the fruits and nuts
Roughly chop all the fruits and nuts. You can use any dried fruits and nuts like raisins, cranberries, dates, cherries, cashews, almonds or pecans. Soak all these fruits, nuts and orange peel in apple juice/wine/rum in an air tight container. I used apple juice here. Soak it for atleast 24 hrs to 1 week.

Caramelize the sugar 
1. Heat sugar with 1 tbsp water in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat. The sugar will first melt and slowly turns  into golden brown. Heat it for somemore time until the colour changes to dark brown. Now add the hot water to the caramel and heat it for another 2 minutes so that the sugar doesnot crystallize. Set it aside and allow it to cool down.
Note: Be very careful and keep safe distance while pouring water into the caramelized sugar.
          Donot stir until the sugar has melted completely and the colour has changed to golden brown.

Preparing the cake batter
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8" cake pans or one 9x13" pan with butter and a sheet of parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift together all purpose flour,baking soda , baking powder, salt and spice powders.
3. Drain the soaked dry fruits. Reserve around 2-3 tbsp of the juice/rum/wine. Add 1/2 cup of mixed flour to this so that the fruits and nuts are completely coated with flour. This will help prevent the fruits and nuts from sinking to the bottom of the pan.
4. In another mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy for around 3-4 minutes with a n electric hand mixer. Now add eggs one by one, beating after each addition. Beat until the mixture is creamy and fluffy.
5. Add the flour mixture to this and beat until incorporated. Now add the vanilla essence and mix well.
6. Mix in the cooled caramel and dried fruits and nuts and gently fold in with a wooden spatula. Lastly add 2-3 tbsp of the reserved juice/wine/rum to this and mix well.
7. Pour the batter into the greased pans and bake for around 1 hr , until a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean. The baking time can vary from around 50 min to 1 hr 15 min, depending upon the oven. Allow the cake to cool for 10 -15 minutes.

Enjoy the Christmas fruit cake!! Happy holidays!!

Palmiers / Little hearts

Ingredients:

Puff pastry sheets(like Pepperidge farms) - 1
Sugar - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Remove the puff pastry sheet from the refrigerator and bring to almost room temperature. It should still be cool and not very soft.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F.
3. Sprinkle about 2 tbsp of sugar on to the counter.Unfold the thawed pastry sheet onto the counter and sprinkle another 2 tbsp of sugar on to the sheet.
4. Now with a rolling pin , roll the pastry sheets with sugar on it . Just roll it 1-2 times so that the sugars are incorporated into the sheets.
5. Fold the sheet from the opposite sides so that they meet at the center.  Again fold the same side of the sheet so that they meet at the center.
6. Fold one half of the sheet over the other. Now cut the sheet into 1/2" pieces and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
7. Sprinkle remaining sugar on top of all the pieces .
8. Bake it for 5 minutes. Then turn over all the pieces and bake for another 5 minutes or until the pieces turns golden brown.

Carrot cake

Source: Joy of baking

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Carrot - 1 - 1 and 1/2 cups
Nuts(Walnuts or pecans) - 1/2 cup chopped
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method:


1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9" cake pan and line it with parchment paper.
2.Peel the carrots. Grate or finely chop the carrots .
3. In a mixing bowl, add the wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk it together.
4.In another mixing bowl, add the eggs and beat it for about 1 minute until frothy. Add the sugar slowly and beat till the batter is thick and lightly coloured, for about 4-5 minutes.
5. Add the oil while beating the mixture.Now add the vanilla extract and beat for a minute.
6. Mix in the flour mixture and beat until incorporated.
7. Fold in the grated/chopped the carrots and nuts.
8. Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until the tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Allow it to cool for 10 -15 minutes before removing it from the pan.

Vanilla Cake

It was my daughter's 3rd birthday and I wanted to make her a jungle themed cake. So I made a 4 layered vanilla cake and covered it with green buttercream frosting . Also made small animals with fondants for my daughters friends :). It was a huge success. The cake has a very sweet buttery flavor. Its very moist and light. And all the kids liked the small animals on top of the cake.

Source:Joy of baking

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3 cups
Sugar - 1 3/4 cups
Eggs - 4 large
Unsalted Butter -  1 cup
Milk - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp
Pure Vanilla extract - 2 tsp

Method:

1. Bring the butter, milk and eggs at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Butter the bottom of a 9 x13" cake pans (or you can use two 9" pans).Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease it with butter.
3. In a large mixing bowl , combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
4.In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until soft . It will take around 1- 2 minutes.
5. Gradually add sugar and beat for another 5- 6 minutes till it is very light and fluffy.
6. Add eggs one at a time , beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined for about 2-3 minutes.
8. Alternatively add the flour and milk and beat on low speed, like add 1/3rd flour, then half the milk, then 1/3rd flour, half the milk and the remaining 1/3rd flour. Beat till the mixture is well combined.
9. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Banana bread

Ingredients:

Banana               - 4  ripe (mashed)
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Eggs                   - 2
Baking powder   - 1 tsp
Baking soda        - 1/4 tsp
Sugar                  - 3/4 cup
Butter                  - 1/2 cup (at room temp)
Salt                     - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan with butter.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.Keep aside
3. Take another mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat until well blended.
4. Now add the mashed banana and stir well combined. Add in the flour mixture and stir until moistened. Do not over mix.Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 - 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10-15 minutes


Source - allreceipes.com

Chocolate brownie

Source: Food.com

Ingredients:

Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 1/4 cups
All purpose flour - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Butter - 1/2 cup
Vanilla  - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Nuts(Almond, walnuts, pecans) - 1/2 cup ( chopped)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 8x8" pan.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan over low heat and then stir in cocoa. Remove from heat.
3. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Then mix in eggs one at a time.
4. Stir in all purpose flour and baking powder and mix well. Then mix in the nuts.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Allow it to cool completely. Then cut it into 2x2" squares.

Bread Pizza

Ingredients:

Bread slices - 2
Pizza sauce/ Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp
Mozzarella Cheese - 4 tbsp
Vegetables (Onion , tomato, capsicum) - 2 tbsp (chopped)


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 250 F .
2. Spread pizza sauce/tomato sauce on to the bread slices.
3. Then add the onions, followed by capsicum or tomato or any vegetable of your choice.
4. Add the cheese to cover the veggies.
5. Place these bread slices onto the oven and bake for about 5 - 7 minutes or until the cheese melts.
6. Serve hot.

Home made croutons

Ingredients:

Bread - 5-6 pieces, cut into 1 inch cubes
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, place the bread cubes and drizzle it with olive oil and salt. Toss until well mixed.
3. Spread the seasoned bread on to a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, for about 10- 15 min.
4. Store it in an air tight container.


Note:
- You can season the bread with pepper and  red chilli flakes.
- Use within 1 week or you can freeze it for 6 months.

Mango Yogurt cake

Ingredients:

Sugar  - 1 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Mango Yogurt - 1 cup
All purpose flour  - 2 cups
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 7 tbsp
Vanilla Extract  - 1 tsp


Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Beat sugar and butter until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Sieve the all purpose flour along with baking soda and baking powder.
5. At low speed, add the yogurt and dry ingredients . Mix well to combine.
6. Fold into a greased pan and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
7. Allow it to cool .
8. Decorate it with fresh mango slices or nuts and serve.

Dates Cake (Eggless)

Source: Sharmis Passion

Ingredients:

Dates - 18
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp for soaking
Oil  - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Walnut + Cashew - 1/2 tbsp , chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F .
2. Soak dates in  warm milk for 5 - 10 minutes. (You can even microwave it for 30 sec). Then grind it to a smooth paste.
3. In a mixing bowl , add sugar, milk and oil and stir until sugar dissolves completely.Keep aside.
4. Sieve all purpose flour with baking soda.
5. Add the dates paste to the sugar-milk mixture and mix well. Now add the all purpose flour and mix well.
6. Fold in the nuts and mix well.
7. Grease the pan with oil and little flour and pour the batter into it.
8. Bake the cake for 35 - 40 minutes. Start checking in after 30 minutes. Bake until a tooth pick or fork inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Allow it to cool down and enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Oats - 1 1/2 cups
Raisin - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup (melted)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 large
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a large bowl , whisk together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt . Set aside.
3. In another bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. 
4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
5. Stir in the flour mixture . Do not over mix as it results in a tough cookie.
6. Add oats and raisins and stir until incorporated.
7. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
8. Bake 10 - 12  minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
9. Cool slightly before removing from the sheet.

Eggless Banana walnut muffin

Ingredients:

1. Banana - 2 ripe
2. Walnut - 1/4 cup
3. All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
4. Sugar  - 1/3 cup
5. Oil  - 1/4 cup
6. Baking soda   - 1/2 tsp
7. Baking powder -  1/2 tsp
8. Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Take a bowl and mash the bananas with hand or fork. Mix in oil, vanilla  and sugar. Keep aside.

3. In another bowl, mix all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder..

4. Fold in the banana mixture and the flour mixture, donot over mix. Mix in half of the chopped walnuts.

5. Pour the batter into prepared muffin cups to 3/4 of it. Sprinkle each muffin with the chopped walnut.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.


Recipe courtesy - Rakskitchen

Peanut butter cookie

Ingredients:

1. Peanut butter crunchy - 1/2 cup
2. Peanut butter creamy - 1/2 cup
3. Egg - 1
4. Sugar -1 cup
5. Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon


Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Grease a large baking sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl , combine both the peanut butter and sugar. Then add egg and vanilla. Stir well with a spoon.
3. Roll the dough into balls and place it on the baking sheet. With a fork , press crisscross design on each cookie.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from the sheet.

Marble Cake

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Eggs - 3
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Sugar  - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1  tsp
 Dark chocolate - 5
White chocolate - 5

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch pan with butter.
2. Mix all-purpose flour and baking powder. Keep aside.
3. Melt dark and white chocolates and keep aside.
4. Pour the butter, sugar , eggs and  vanilla extract into a bowl. Mix well to make it soft and fluffy. If using an electric mixer ,beat it for 2 min or if using hand, mix it for 5-10 min.
5. Now add the dry ingredients(all purpose flour and baking powder) and milk to the wet ingredients and mix together to form the cake batter.
6. Divide the cake batter into 2 parts. Stir in the melted dark chocolate into one of the parts and melted white chocolate into the other.
7. Pour the white and chocolate cake batter alternatively till all the batter has been used up. Now using a knife/fork make swirls in the batter .
7. Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.