Orange Cake – Baked in Cooker

I recently went visiting my parents and keeping in with my new hobby, Mom opened up a whole new world of looking up recipes on TV. Before this, I always went for the internet but a video is always clearer as it shows how the dish should turn out every step of the way and you can make adjustments right away even before trying out. Orange Cake was being showcased on TataSky Active Cooking and seemed really interesting. However, the amount of milk and orange juice added made the batter too thin. The sugar quantity mentioned turned out to be too less. Also, one really should go for fresh orange juice to get the real flavor than opting for pre-packaged ones. Orange essence also helps.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup ghee (unsalted butter)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp baking powder

½ cup orange juice

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp orange zest

½ cup of milk

Yummy Orange Cake to spice up tea-time

Mix butter, sugar and eggs. Beat till light and fluffy. Add flour. Mix in orange juice, lemon juice and orange zest. Now slowly add milk till you get the desired consistency. Pre-heat the pressure cooker. Grease the baking pan and pour the batter in it. Bake for 30-40 mins on low flame till a toothpick when inserted, comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

My First Eggless Cake – Baked in Cooker

This recipe for eggless cake has been submitted to “Foodie Event: Royal Foodie Joust” for the month of May hosted by Leftover Queen under the theme of “Red, Green and White” ingredients.

Yesterday was MIL’s (mother-in-law’s) birthday and as I have said again and again, I belong to a Marwari family. So let alone anything remotely related to non-veg, even eggs don’t go. I tried to explain to her that today the eggs are made artificially and no matter whether you put them under the bulb or hold them close under your jacket for warmth, a chick is not going to hatch out of it in a million years. No matter what I said, it is hard to break a life long habit so I had to let it go. But a birthday is a birthday and what is a birthday if there is no cake to cut? HD (hubby dear) searched for an eggless cake but could get his hands on tiny brownies only at such a short notice. So I scoured the web for an eggless cake recipe, modified it to suit my needs and prepared a surprise yesterday for her.

First modification I did was to add a little bit of milk along with water (the recipe mentioned only water to bring the batter to a pouring consistency). Second, I added sugar soaked cherries, chopped finely, to substitute for tutt – frutti. Third and the most dramatic one, I added a swirl of colors to the cake. See, I do not have any icing experience and I was a little bit scared to experiment too much with the cake, it being my first eggless version and to be presented before my MIL on her birthday. In short, to avoid spoiling the cake, I simply added three colors (red, yellow, green) to the batter and gave it one single swirl with the spoon before pouring the batter into the baking dish. And prayed.

The cake turned out to be a motley of colors. Everyone at dinner kept asking how did I make it look like that and when I brought out my phone camera (not a very good version being a VGA) to take a pic for my blog, there were immediately two others madly clicking away for a best shot. Needless to say, it was immensely flattering and gratifying. Tarla Dalal has said that a cake’s presentation is as important as its texture. Thankfully, the cake turned out soft and spongy and sweet as well as attractive and made my evening as much as my MIL’s.

Happy Birthday Mummyji

Preparation Time – 45 mins

Servings – 12

Ingredients

1 cup maida (all-purpose flour)

½ can condensed milk (I used Nestle Milkmaid)

¼ cup ghee (unsalted butter)

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tblsp baking powder

½ cup milk

Edible food colors (red, green, yellow)

Candied cherries (Tutti-frutti optional)

My first swirly-wirly tutti-frutti eggless cake with a cherry flower on top

Sieve flour with baking powder. Mix condensed milk and butter with it and roll it. Add milk to make the batter thin. Slowly add water spoonful by spoonful to achieve pouring consistency. Mix the cherries and vanilla essence. Put three teaspoonfuls of the coloring on the batter and give it one single swirl with the rolling pin. Heat the pressure cooker for 5 mins. Grease and dust the baking dish. Pour the batter in it and place the baking dish in the cooker. Keep the cooker on low flame (sim).

Insert a toothpick in the cake after half an hour to check if it is done. If the toothpick comes out clean, take out the cake. Cool on a wire rack before serving. The cake should be spongy and spring back on pressing.

Eggless Sponge Cake

Generic Cake Recipe – Slow Cooker Recipe

The festive season is upon us and there is a lot of merriment going around. Much shopping and socializing is being done. Nothing feels better than a gracious welcome from a smiling face and a warm cozy home smelling of fresh bakes. Some people are experts at baking and can whip up the most amazing concoctions from complex recipes and ingredients. But what to do when there is paucity of time and there is just one more gift bag to fill or no time at all (like poor me who has to work on weekends  also this year)? Here is a recipe wherein you need minimum ingredients. You can create a basic cake or you can create a fruit cake by changing by just a couple of ingredients. Amaze your friends and relatives by this simple cake preparation. I have presented an apple cake and then given the variations below.

Preparation Time – 1 hour

Servings – 8

Ingredients for Apple Cake

1 cup refined flour (maida)

1 cup sugar

¾ cup unsalted butter (ghee)

3 eggs

2 tblsp baking powder

½ cup milk

1 tblsp Vanilla essence

1 tblsp yellow food coloring

1 cup apple

Blend eggs, unsalted butter and sugar. Roll in flour and baking powder. Add a little milk till you get pouring consistency. Peel and chop the apples finely. Add the chopped apples, vanilla essence and food coloring to the batter. Grease and dust a baking dish and pour the batter in it. Heat the cooker for 5 mins and then place the dish in it. Bake for 30-40 mins till a knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and serve.

 

Variations

• You can add peaches, strawberries, bananas or any other fruit you like in the cake. The quantity of fruit should be equal to the quantity of flour.
• Change the food coloring accordingly. If you are using strawberries, use red food coloring.
• Change the essence accordingly. When adding pineapple, use pineapple essence. If you are adding oranges, use orange essence. However, essence is used to mask the smell and taste of eggs so in case you do not have any other essence, you can use vanilla itself.
• In case you do not want to add fruit to the cake, you can double the quantity of flour but make sure the amount of other ingredients are also increased proportionately.
• If you want to make a chocolate cake, increase the quantity of the other ingredients in a proportionate manner and add 2 tblsp cocoa powder. No need of food coloring is required.
• You can play with the cake as you wish. One way is to make a plain vanilla batter. Then add red, green and yellow food colors but do not mix them thoroughly. Just roll the batter once or twice to make streaks. The cake will come out in a rainbow pattern.

It is really upto you to unleash your creativity or to make use of the ingredients sitting in your kitchen for a long time. Just use the basic ingredients and viola, your cake is ready to enthrall everyone.

Basic Chocolate Cake – Slow Cooker Recipe

This is a very basic chocolate cake that can be used in any dish or served as is. The twist in the taste is added by the spoonful of white vinegar.

Preparation Time – 45 mins

Servings – 6 people

Basic Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 ½ cups refined flour (maida)

2 tblsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter (ghee)

2 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tblsp vanilla essence

2 tblsp cocoa powder

1 tblsp white vinegar

½ cup milk

Blend the eggs with the unsalted butter and sugar in a mixer. Sift the flour with the baking powder and add cocoa powder to it. Pour the egg mix into a bowl and slowly add flour while rolling the mixture. Add milk teaspoon by teaspoon in case the batter is too thick. When a pouring consistency is attained, add vinegar and vanilla essence to it and roll again. Put the cooker on high flame. Take the baking dish and grease it and dust it with flour. Pour the batter in it. Put the dish in the cooker and bake for half an hour. Insert a knife in the centre of the cake after half an hour and if the knife comes out clean, the cake is ready. Remove the dish from the cooker and allow to cool for 2-3 mins. Remove the cake and serve once cooled completely.

Coconut Cake – Slow Cooker Recipe

My mom made coconut cake once when I was a kid and it tasted awesome to say the least. I do not know how she made it but I created a recipe of my own for the cake. Turned out well according to HD J

Ingredients

1 cup refined flour (maida)

1 cup coconut, dessicated

½ cup ghee (unsalted butter)

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tblsp baking powder

1 tblsp vanilla essence

½ cup milk

Beat the egg yolks, ghee and sugar together till light and fluffy. Sieve flour with baking powder. Add the egg mix and vanilla essence. Add a little milk to achieve pouring consistency. Mix in coconut powder. Heat a pressure cooker on high flame. Grease a baking dish and dust properly with flour. Pour in the batter and bake on low flame for half an hour.

 

Tip: Coconut cake tastes best when cooled.

Carrot Cake – Slow Cooker Recipe

I heard of carrot cake 4 years ago and it has captured my imagination ever since. Yes, I saw it at various shops but did not venture to purchase the delicacy. I really don’t know the reason why I did that when I could have tasted it long ago! Every mention of carrot cake in magazines or by friends kept tantalizing my taste buds. I would wonder what a western sweet made of a vegetable taste like. After all, it is nothing like making an apple cake or a banana cake or a pineapple cake. It is a deviation from the normal and yet so easily accepted. It took me a marriage and a Tarala Dalal recipe to finally get the courage to try it out.

The best part about this recipe is that it targets health at its core. Whole wheat flour (gehun-ka-atta) has been used instead of refined flour (maida). Also, sugar has been replaced by a honey and jaggery (gur) lending the cake a distinct, earthy flavor. This cake is eggless so it can be served to anyone.

It is mentioned in the recipe to bake it for an hour. However, I have baked it in a pressure cooker so the baking time has been reduced to half an hour. Also, do add only half teaspoons of cinnamon powder and nutmeg each unless you are really wild about these spices. They tend to leave a bitter after taste in the mouth. I have altered the recipe a little and presented it according to my observations to suit baking in cooker.

Ingredients

1 ½ cup gehun-ka-atta (whole wheat flour)

½ tsp cinnamon powder (dalchini)

½ tsp nutmeg powder (jaiphal)

½ cup ghee (unsalted butter)

½ cup honey

½ cup jaggery (gur)

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups grated carrots

If you do not have cinnamon and nutmeg powder, simply prepare it in the grinder. Heat ghee, honey and jaggery together and set it aside. Sift gehun-ka-atta, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and baking powder. Mix all the ingredients together. Take a greased baking pan and sprinkle some flour on it. Pour the batter in it and bake in cooker for half an hour. The carrot cake is best served cooled.

Carrot cake is a good dessert for kids as it provides all the vitamins and presents a healthy mix of ingredients.

Banana Cake – Slow Cooker Recipe

Hubby Dear and I were on this diet where we had to consume only milk and bananas on a particular day of the week. So he got this huge bunch of bananas for the both of us. Unfortunately, we never could make it to that part of that diet and more unfortunately, the bananas remained untouched on the table for a week. Needless to say they had become overripe and completely inedible. So I whipped up this banana cake recipe to finish them off…

Preparation Time – 1 hour 30 mins

Servings – 8 people

 

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup refined flour

¾ cup sugar

½ cup ghee (unsalted butter)

3 ripe bananas

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Vanilla essence

Edible yellow color

¼ cup milk

 

Blend the eggs, ghee and sugar in a mixer. Chop the bananas finely. Alternately, the bananas can be churned with a little milk to form a thick paste. Pour the batter in a bowl and add flour slowly stirring continuously. Add baking powder, baking soda, vanilla essence and edible yellow color and mix till a pouring consistency is achieved. Add a little milk if the batter is too thick. Add the bananas to it and mix well. Grease a baking dish and sprinkle four on it. Pour the batter in it. Pre-heat the cooker for 5 mins on high flame and put the baking dish in it. Bake for 1 hour. 

 

 

Tip: Do not store the cake for more than 1 week.  

Chocolate Walnut Cake – Slow Cooker Recipe

My parents were coming over for the very first time after my marriage and I really wanted to impress my mother, who happens to be a great cook, with my kitchen artwork. What better than to make a cake I thought. The only problem was cocoa. It was not available anywhere. I checked in Spencer Plaza, I checked in More, I checked in Reliance Fresh and I checked in all the small kirana stores near my home. Nothing. Finally it was Hubby Dear who came to the rescue. Between HB, his brother and me, the cake was half finished before serving before my parents…. ;-).

Preparation Time – 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings – 8 people

 

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup refined flour

¾ cup sugar

½ cup ghee / unsalted butter

1 tblsp cocoa

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ cup milk

 

Blend in the eggs, sugar, ghee and cocoa in a mixer. Sieve flour along with baking powder and baking soda. Pour the contents in a bowl and slowly add flour to it. Mix in anti-clockwise direction with a spoon. You can also use your hand to mix the batter. It the batter seems too thick, add a little milk to it to get a pouring consistency. Grease a baking dish and sprinkle flour in it. Pour the batter in it and garnish it with the chopped walnuts. Pre-heat the cooker for five minutes at high flame. Put in the batter and bake for 1 hour.

How to bake a cake in a pressure cooker

With the advent of new technology, people are forgetting the art of cooking. Everything is readily available, ready-to-eat or just order. I believe in the more traditional form of cooking. Like baking a cake in a pressure cooker. My mum always bakes it in a cooker. And I assure you, it is absolutely easy.

1. All you need to bake in a cooker is a pressure cooker….voila. But the cooker should be completely cylindrical so that the base of the baking dish touches the cooker perfectly. The cooker should be of preferably of 5 litres of capacity or more.

2. The cooker should be pre-heated at high flame for five minutes before putting in the baking dish.

3. Keep the dish straightaway in the cooker. Do not add water or place a plate / grill of any kind underneath the dish. Make sure there is no water in the cooker when you put in the dish.

4. Keep the gas on sim the whole time while baking to avoid burning.

5. Bake the cake for a minimum of 1 hour. After 40-45 minutes, open the cooker and insert a knife deep into the middle of the cake. If the cake comes out clean, the cake is ready otherwise let it cook for some more time.

6. If you feel the burner is providing uneven heating, place a pan on the stove and then the cooker on it. Keep the gas on sim the whole time.

Apple Cake Recipe – Baked in Cooker

My life took a sudden turn. It got me married and stirred up my interest in cooking. All I can think of now is trying new recipes. Every moment of my day passes in planning the menu for dinner. The last thought in my mind before I sleep is what to serve for breakfast. So much so that I don’t repeat a dish though the week. Suddenly it struck me, why not create a repository of all these recipes and cooking tips and all my experiences and what better way to do that then blog about it. In India, it is said that one should start any event with a sweet to make it auspicious. So here is a recipe of apple cake that I tried when my parents and brother had come over. Everyone enjoyed it immensely and it was gobbled up in minutes. Hope you enjoy it as much.

Preparation time – 1.5 hours

Servings – 6 people
Ingredients

3 eggs

2 1/2 cup flour (maida)

1 cup unsalted butter (or refined oil)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup fresh apples (chopped finely)

1 tsp vanilla essence

Edible green color

1/2 cup milk (optional)

Blend sugar and salt in a mixer so that sugar melts completely. Add the eggs one by one to it then. Pour the mix into a bowl and add flour, salt, soda, baking powder, vanilla essence and apples and keep rolling it with a spoon till it reaches a pouring consistency. Add some milk to the batter if it is too thick. Grease the baking dish and pour the batter in it. Preheat the cooker for 5 mins. Put the baking dish in it and leave the cooker on sim for 1 hour.