Rice and Coconut Cake

It’s my sister’s birthday today and I wanted to bake a cake for her. And it had to be gluten free, lactose free and without chocolate. 
I was browsing for such recipe in the net but didn’t find anything very appealing. Then I got this sudden idea of making a cake with the Nei appam batter. The Nei appam that I make has a very soft and melt in mouth texture. ( she is very fond of Nei appam).

I worked out few additions to the recipe and after praying God to make my crazy idea a success, started making this cake.

Soon my house was filled with sweet aroma of coconut, cardamom and jaggery. I was so excited that I couldn’t stop smiling.

The cake was moist, soft, perfect in texture and flavour and absolutely divine. I was indeed very very happy with myself and icing on the cake was really my sister’s expression when she had her first bite:)

  
Ingredients 

Basmati Rice – 1 cup

Grated jaggery – 1 cup

Ripe banana – 1

Grated coconut – 1 cup, tightly packed

Cardamoms – 4-5 ( use only the seeds)

Ghee – 3 tbsps + 1 tsp ( 1 tsp ghee for greasing the cake pan)

Coconut oil – 4 tbsps

Baking powder – 1/2 tsp

Baking soda – 1/4th tsp

Rice flour – 1 tbsp ( for dusting)

For garnish 

————

Ghee – 2 tsps

Almond flakes – 2 tbsps 

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Icing sugar – 1 tbsp

Method

Wash and soak basmati rice for 2 hrs.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius,

Grease a cake pan with ghee ( have used a bundt cake pan) and dust it with rice flour.

Drain the rice. Add coconut, jaggery, bananna ( chopped) and cardamom seeds to the rice and grind it to a smooth batter without adding any water.

  
Transfer it to a bowl. Add ghee, coconut oil, baking powder and soda and beat well until the batter becomes light and fluffy.

 

 Pour it into the greased and dusted cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 mins. 

The cake is done when a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely.

  

Heat 2 tsps of ghee in a pan. Add the almond flakes and sauté till it turns golden.

Sprinkle icing sugar on the cake and garnish it with crisp, golden almond flakes and grated coconut.

Serve the cake warm:)

   
 

Eggless Mango Cupcakes

My daughter has been asking me to bake some cupcakes for a while now. I have lots of mangoes at home. I came across this interesting recipe in the net. Made few changes to that and made this cup cake.I was very delighted with the result. It really was soft, had a melt mouth texture with a lovely mango flavour. 

I didn’t want to make it heavy by using any cream or butter frosting. The mango puree itself is rich, smooth and fluffy enough to be used as frosting. This idea came to me when I puréed the mango and was transferring it to bowl. It fell from the spoon as smooth as the whipped cream:)

  
Ingredients 

Mango purée- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp

Maida – 1/2 cup

Semolina( rava)- 1/4th cup

Castor sugar- 1/4th cup

Olive oil – 1 tbsp ( can use any refined oil)

Yogurt- 1/4th cup

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Baking soda- 1/4th tsp

Salt – a pinch

Cardamom powder- 1/4th tsp

For frosting 

Chilled mango puree – 1/2 cup

Almond flakes for garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 190 deg cel.

Grease the cup cake moulds and keep it ready.

Sieve together maida, baking powder, baking soda and salt twice. Add the semolina and mix well.

  
Beat together oil, yogurt, mango purée, sugar and cardamom powder well.

  
Add the maida and semolina mixture to this 

and mix well again.

Transfer the batter to the greased cupcake moulds till its 3/4th filled.

   
 

Bake in a preheated oven at 190 deg cel for 25-30 mins.

Remove, unmould and cool the cake completely.

   
 

Frost the cake with chilled mango puree, sprinkle almond flakes on top and serve:)

   
 

Eggless Banana and Cashew Muffins

I made this cup cake specially for my darling niece, Shreya:) She wanted me to make it without any frosting or topping. 

 

I have followed the recipe of Sharmilee ( Sharmis Passion). I have used three bananas instead of two. So I increased the other ingredients accordingly. 

This is a very easy recipe and can be made with ingredients available at home. It was very soft and delicious and Shreya really loved it:)

  

Ingredients 

 

All purpose flour( maida) – 3/4th cup

Banana ( Moris variety) – 2

Oil – 1/4th cu

Sugar- 1/4th cup

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Vanilla essence-  1/2 tsp

Chopped cashew nuts- 1/4th cup

Method 

Preheat to oven to 190 deg cel.

Place the cupcake liners on the muffin tray.

Sieve maida, baking powder and soda together.

  

Mash the banana well. Add oil and vanilla essence and mix well. Now add the sugar and beat well till the sugar dissolves.

  

Add the sieved ingredients to this and mix well. Add half of the chopped nuts and mix well.

  

Fill the muffin tray till its 3/4th filled and top it with the remaining nuts.

  

Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 mins or till its done.

  

Serve warm . If desired, can sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving:)

   

 

Eggless Chocolate Cake

After a long time, am going on a long drive with my school friends today. I have made eggless chocolate cake for my friends.

 The eggless recipe which I had needed condensed milk which I didn’t have. So I browsed the net for eggless recipe without condensed milk. 

I took the recipe from a site called vegrecipesofindia.com. This recipe has been posted by Dassana Amit. Friends, I have followed her recipe almost exactly with very few changes and very happy to say that it has really come out well:)

  

Ingredients

Maida ( all purpose flour)- 1 cup

Cocoa powder- 1/2 cup

Castor sugar- 1 cup

( in that recipe it was powdered sugar).

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Cooking soda- 1 tsp 

Salt- 1 tsp

Oil- 1/2 cup

Hot water- 1/2 cup

Cold milk- 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence- 2 tsps

Yogurt- 3 tbsps 

For the chocolate ganache

Butter- 4 tbsps

Dark chocolate- 1 cup

Cocoa powder- 3 tsps

Walnuts- 10-12

Almond flakes- 1/4 th cup

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg cel.

Grease and dust an 8 inch square pan and keep it ready.

In a bowl sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.

  

In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup hot water till well blended. Let it cool down a bit.

Once done add the milk , sugar and vanilla essence. Beat well.

Add the yogurt and beat again.

  

Now gradually pour the dry  ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat them together well.

  

Pour it in a greased tin.

Bake it for 35-40 minutes at 180 deg Cel  till the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
 

Remove the cake and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

   

 

Frosting the cake with chocolate ganache.

Melt together butter and chocolate in a microwave ( 1 min) or in a double boiler.

  

I used the microwave. Blend them well till it becomes a smooth and thick sauce. Add the cocoa powder and mix well.

  

Dip the walnuts in this chocolate ganache to coat it completely and chill it in the fridge to set.

  

Slice off a thin layer of cake from the top to make it smooth.

  

Pour the ganache over it and let it drip on the sides to form a pattern by itself.

Smoothen the top with a spatula. 

Arrange the chocolate coated walnuts on top, sprinkle the almonds flakes and leave it to set for some time.  

   

 

Cut into squares and serve:)

   

 

Brownie Cups with Chocolate Ice cream

My son’s 12th board exams got over today. He has been working really very hard for the past few months. So, I wanted to make a small treat for him. 

Brownies are his favourite. Few days back I saw a video in you tube showing brownie cups. I liked that idea. 

It was a good occasion to try that today. You can use any of your favourite brownie recipe. 

I have a made eggless brownie cups today which I served with chocolate ice cream with a generous drizzle of chocolate sauce:)

  

Ingredients 

Butter ( at room temperature) – 1/2 cup

Dark Chocolate – 1 cup

Instant coffee powder- 1 tsp

All purpose flour ( Maida)-1/2 cup

Cocoa powder- 1/3rd cup

Condensed milk- 1 tin ( 400gms)

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Salt- 2 pinches

Method 

Grease 2 muffin trays which has 6 moulds each.

Grease another 2 muffin trays on the outerside and kept it aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave.

I microwaved it for 1 min 30 secs.

Blend it well till it becomes very smooth.

  

Dissolve the instant coffee powder in 2 tbsps of water, add to the chocolate mixture and mix well.

Add the condensed milk and mix well again.

Preheat the oven to 180 deg cel.

Sieve the maida, cocoa powder and baking powder. Add this along with 2 pinches of salt to the chocolate mixture and mix well again.

  

Pour in greased muffin trays and bake in preheated oven for 30- 35 mins.

It’s done when a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

   

 

Remove the trays from and immediately press the second muffin tin into the brownies. Keep both tins pressed together until the brownies are cool.

Add a scoop of ice cream and top with chocolate sauce and serve immediately:)

 

 

  

  

Double Chocolate Brownies

It’s exam time and my son who is giving his board exams has been studying very hard. I wanted to make something special for him. He loves all chocolate based desserts and brownie is one of his most favourite. 

I saw this recipe is one the you tube videos. I liked it very much. It’s a very simple recipe and brownies were indeed very delicious. To me this is the best brownie recipe that I have tried till now:)

  

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate- 11/2 cups 

Butter-  3/4th cup

Instant coffee powder- 1 tsp

Sugar- 1 cup

Eggs- 3

Vanilla essence- 1 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Cocoa powder- 1 tbsp

All purpose flour- 3/4th cup

Chocolate ganache ( optional)- 1/2 cup

Choco chips- 2 tbsps

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg cel.

Grease and dust a square( 8/8 inch) or a rectangular baking tray.

Add 3/4th cup of dark chocolate and the butter in a pan and melt the chocolate using double boiler method. 

 Or you can microwave it. 

I kept in the microwave for 2 mins. Mix the chocolate and butter well till it becomes a smooth sauce. 

  

Add a tsp of instant coffee powder and mix well.

Add 1 cup of sugar and beat well.

Now add the eggs one by one, beating the mixture well after adding each egg.

Add vanilla essence, salt and cocoa powder

and mix well.

  

Add the flour, mix well and add the remaining dark chocolate. Beat well again and pour in the greased and dusted baking tray.

   

 

Bake in the preheated oven ( 180 deg cel)

and bake for 35- 40 secs or till it done ( when you insert a skewer in the middle of the cake, it should come out clean).

Remove from the oven. Cool it completely before cutting.

  

You can serve it without any frosting.

I had some chocolate ganache with me.

I frosted the brownies with the ganache and sprinkled some choco chips before serving them with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream:)

   

  

 

Whole Wheat Choco Banana Loaf

Children are generally fussy when it comes to eating fruits. My kids are no exception. Though they do eat banana, I can never make them eat an over riped one. What can be better than a banana cake? 

Sharing with you all a very simple, easy to make and a delicious and healthy banana loaf recipe. My kids eat them with relish. Hope you all would like too:)



• Ingredients 
• 
  
• Medium to large ripe or over ripe bananas- 3
• Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
• Maida ( all purpose flour)- 1/4th cup
• Cocoa powder- 1/4th cup
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• Brown sugar- 1/2 cup
• Refined oil- 2/3rd cup
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
• Choco chips- 2 tbsps
• Butterscotch- 1 tbsp 
• Almond flakes- 1 tbsp

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Peel and mash the bananas. 
3. Add sugar, oil and vanilla extract and mix very well so that the oil mixes with the banana puree and the sugar dissolves.
4. 
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients very well.
6. 
   
7. Add the choco chips and butterscotch and fold again. 
8. 
9. Pour the batter in a greased loaf pan.
10. Gently tap and shake the pan. Sprinkle almond flakes on the top.
11. 
    
12. Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 45 to 50 mins or till tooth pick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
13. Remove the cake from the loaf tin and cool it on a wire rack for sometime.
14. 
15. When warm,slice and serve banana loaf with coffee/ tea / milk 🙂
16. 
    

Molten Chocolava Cake( Domino’s Style)

Me and my kids are fond of chocolate, be it cakes or ice cream. When my dear friend from school, Indhu Muthu posted this molten Chocolava cake recipe, I was just waiting for some occasion to make this.
Yesterday, my daughter, Sadhanaa’s best friend, Chandhini came home for a sleep over. Sadhanaa wanted me out make something special for her. Perfect reason to make this delicious recipe:)
Since it was Indhu’s recipe, I was very confident that it will come out well. And I was completely right. It was super delicious and also quite easy to make.
My children and Chandhini loved it
and the best part was that my husband, someone who is not fond of chocalate said ‘ this is outstanding’:))
Friends, hope you all would enjoy too:)

The person in the above picture is my dear friend from school, Indhu Muthu. We were in school together from primary classes to 12th standard. She is a self learnt baker, who makes delicious and amazing cakes. Thank you Indhu for this fool proof and fantastic recipe:)

Ingredients

Ingredients:
dark chocolate compd- 1 cup or 8oz
( any brand. I used Morde)
Unsalted butter- 1/2 cup
coffee powder – 1/8th tsp(optional)
All purpose flour- 1/2 cup
Eggs- 3 large
Granulated sugar- 2/3 cups
vanilla extract- 1 tsp
Toasted sliced almonds for topping.

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F.

Generously grease 5 ramekins or any other oven proof containers with butter and dust with granulated sugar and keep aside on a baking sheet.

Melt the chopped chocolate and butter together in a microwave or over a double boiler (I microwaved) and add coffee powder (add more if you like or skip if you don’t like) and mix well until dissolved.

Beat the eggs lightly with the sugar in a separate bowl until just combined. Do not over beat, otherwise it will form a crust as in brownies. Stir in the vanilla extract to the egg mixture.

Now add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and mix.

Finally, fold in the flour into the batter with a spatula until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Pour batter on to greased ramekins and top with nuts.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges are firm but centres are jiggly. Do not over bake. Otherwise, the centres would be cooked and not gooey and you’ll end up with a brownie.

Serve warm with a simple dusting of confectioners’ sugar, or vanilla ice-cream.( I didn’t do both, as no one was willing to wait….:)

Note
The inside will be really hot, so allow it to cool for at least 5 to 10 mins or you will end up with a burnt tongue:)