Eggless Chocolate Cupcake

After making the vanilla cupcakes, i wanted to try my hand at chocolate, and see if I could make that work (this time at least!) with the new recipe. It worked!! So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Maida/All purpose flour (apf)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate powder (i prefer Hershey’s, you can use any other brand, but the taste may be slightly different)
• 1.25 cup thick curd
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (except olive oil)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp soda bi-carb
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven @ 210 deg C / 400 deg F
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the curd and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved.
• Add in the baking powder and soda bi-carb and let it rest. the mixture will start to “bubble” in 2-3 minutes
• Sieve the maida/apf and chocolate powder together and set aside
• Add oil and essence to the curd-sugar mixture and mix well.
• Gently add the flour and mix thoroughly to avoid clumps
• The mixture should now be in dropping consistency, else add a bit of curds.
• Grease your baking dish/cupcake moulds with oil and lightly dust with maida/apf
• Pour into the baking dish of choice and place in oven
• Bake for 10 minutes
• Lower the temperature to 150 deg C/ 300 deg F and bake for ~18 minutes at the lowered temperature.
• Test the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center. When pulled out, it should be clean, without cake stuck to it.
• Visually, the top should be lightly browned and formed a “crust”
• Let the cake sit for a few minutes in the dish before removing it.
• Let the cake rest on a wire grill to cool. Let it cool to room temperature before cutting.

I hope you enjoy making this quick and light cake!

Eggless Vanilla Spongecake

I’ve been experimenting with quite a few recipes to finally get this one right. This recipe can be modified into a regular cake, or cup-cakes. The time taken to bake is slightly different, but all else is the same!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Maida/All purpose flour (apf)
• 1 cup thick curd
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (except olive oil)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp soda bi-carb
• 1 tsp vanilla essense (or butterscotch)

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven @ 210 deg C / 400 deg F
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the curd and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved. You can use castor sugar, but the amount to be used may vary.
• Add in the baking powder and soda bi-carb and let it rest. the mixture will start to “bubble” in 2-3 minutes
• Sieve the maida/apf and set aside
• Add oil and essence to the curd-sugar mixture and mix well.
• Gently add the flour and mix thoroughly to avoid clumps
• The mixture should now be in dropping consistency, else add a bit of curds.
• Grease your baking dish with oil and lightly dust with maida/apf
• Pour into the baking dish of choice and place in oven
• Bake for 10 minutes
• Lower the temperature to 150 deg C/ 300 deg F and bake for 35 minutes
  • For cupcakes bake for 25 minutes at the lowered temperature.
• Test the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center. When pulled out, it should be clean, without cake stuck to it.
• Visually, the top should be lightly browned and formed a “crust”
• Let the cake sit for a few minutes in the dish before removing it.
• Let the cake rest on a wire grill to cool. Let it cool to room temperature before cutting.

I hope you enjoy making this quick and light cake!

Gajar ka Halwa

This sweet dish is popular across India, especially in the winter season when you get Dilli Gajar, as the red long variety of carrots is called.

My recent kitchen acquisition has been a Dutch Oven or cast-iron cooking pot. And this sure has been help for making this absolutely amazing sweet. The slow-cooking ability enhances the flavors by letting the carrot cook very slowly.

Gajar ka Halwa in my DO

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg carrots – peeled and grated
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1/2 ltr milk
• 1 heaped cup sugar
• ground cardamom, cashew nuts and raisins/sultanas

Method:

• Heat the ghee in the Dutch oven or any other deep, thick cooking dish.
• Add the grated carrot and mix well, letting the ghee coat the carrot completely.
• Add the milk and sugar and mix again and set the heavy lid.
• The carrot would normally cook for about an hour on a slow flame. However, the time taken will vary depending on the kind of dish used for cooking. A thinner dish may take lesser time.
• Mix well intermittently to prevent the carrot from sticking to bottom of the dish. Take care not to mash the carrot as it cooks.
• When done, the milk would have completely been absorbed into the carrot.
• Add the ground cardamom and mix well.
• Add the cashews and raisins, and any other dry fruit as desired.

This sweet can be served hot or cold. However, hot is preferred as it tastes better that way. Many times, people prefer it to be even heated a bit before serving.
It lasts for about 3-4 days without refrigeration.

I hope you, dear reader, enjoy this sweet dish as much as we do in this season! 🙂