Sponge Cake (no added butter / oil / ghee)

Sponge Cake (No added butter / oil / ghee)

Ingredients

90 g flour (measure ¾th cup + 1 tablespoon in Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity. Photo given below)

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch salt

120 g sugar (measure 3/4^th cup in Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity. Photo given below)

2 eggs (net weight is 105 g)

2 tablespoon ice cold water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

Grease baking dish with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour (sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ).

Sieve thrice flour, baking powder and salt.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 180 *C or 350 *F.

In a bowl, beat eggs and sugar until creamy and smooth (use electric beater). Add 2 tablespoon ice cold water and beat until smooth and creamy.

Now add sieved flour in 3 batches. Mix well with a thick tablespoon (do not use electric beater at this stage) until well combined and without any lumps (till smooth and creamy).

Finally add 1 teaspoon lemon juice and mix well with a thick tablespoon.

Final procedure:

Transfer this cake mixture (3/4^th level of the pan) into a greased baking pan - ring, square or round (or paper lined) or loaf pan.  Spread evenly with a spatula, and bake at 180 * C or 350 * F for 30 - 35 minutes or till golden brown or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean / leaves from the sides of the pan. Keep aside to cool for one hour.

Run a knife round inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and then invert the pan. Once it reaches normal room temperature, cover cake gently with a butter paper / cling film / aluminium foil and store in a refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Then it will be very easy to make perfect slices.

Cake cutting tip:

Heat a knife first before cutting a cake for crumble-free slices. To heat the knife, you can run the knife under very hot water (or heat knife directly in a gas flame) then wipe dry with a clean towel.

Eggless Caramel Cake

Eggless Caramel Cake

Ingredients

For the caramel syrup:

6 tablespoon sugar

50 ml warm water

Method

Heat a pan or karahi on medium heat. Add sugar (spread it evenly) and heat sugar in a pan on medium heat  till it melts and becomes brown (smooth solution without any sugar sugar crystals). Switch off the heat. Maintain a safe distance from the pan and add warm water to make caramel syrup. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Do not use thick sugar crystals. Collect clear caramel syrup.

Other ingredients

200 g (Cup measurement – 1 ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon in Indian standard measuring cup of 1 cup / 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) all purpose flour (maida)

1 teaspoon  baking Powder

100 g butter

1 tin sweetened condensed milk (Milkmaid or Amul  Mithaimate)

Caramel sugar syrup

50 ml aerated soda (3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)

Method

Grease baking dish with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour (sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ).

Sieve thrice flour, baking powder and salt.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 170 *C or 325 *F.

Soften butter in a pan; mix in  sweetened Condensed Milk. Fold in the sifted maida with the condensed -butter mixture. Add caramel syrup. Mix well until well combined (At this stage, cake batter will be very thick in consistency).

Now add aerated soda (50 ml). Cake batter should be just like normal cake batter.

Pour the batter (up to 3/4th level) into the greased cake tin (round or square or loaf dish)and bake at 170 * C for 22 – 25 minutes or till golden brown or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean / leaves from the sides of the pan. 

Remove from the oven and keep aside to cool for half to one hour. Run a knife round inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and then invert the pan. Once it reaches normal room temperature, cover cake gently with a butter paper / cling film / aluminium foil and store in a refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Then it will be very easy to make perfect slices.

Cake cutting tip:

Heat a knife first before cutting a cake for crumble-free slices. To heat the knife, you can run the knife under very hot water (or heat knife directly in a gas flame) then wipe dry with a clean towel.

Eggless Fruit Cake (with condensed milk, caramel & soda)

Eggless Fruit Cake (with  condensed milk, caramel syrup & Soda)

Ingredients

1 tin (400g)-  Milkmaid condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon - Dalchini (Cinnamon) Powder

1/2 tsp-Jaiphal (Nutmeg) Powder

1 teaspoon -Soda Bicarbonate (cooking soda)

1 teaspoon  -Baking Powder

2 cups (200g)-Maida (Flour)

1/3 cup (50 ml)-Warm Water

½ cup (75g)-Sugar

100g- Butter

150 g /1-1/2 cups-Mixed Dried Fruits (Chopped cashew nuts, almonds,  raisins, figs, tutty fruitty ...)

150 ml-Aerated Soda (I’m recommending to use 115  ml soda)

Method

Preheat oven to 170 * C, grease and dust with maida an 8” dia round cake tin.

Heat sugar in a pan on medium heat  till it melts and becomes brown, add warm water to make caramel syrup and keep aside.

Sift together the maida, baking powder, soda bicarbonate, cinnamon and nutmeg, 2-3 times.

Mix 1 tablespoon  maida into the chopped fruit to coat the fruit.

Soften butter in a pan; mix in MILKMAID Sweetened Condensed Milk. Fold in the sifted maida with the MILKMAID-butter mixture, alternating with aerated soda and caramel syrup till all are used. Add the chopped dry fruits, fold into the mix carefully.

Pour the batter into the greased cake tin and bake for an hour at 170 * C or till the cake is done. Remove from oven, cool for a while. Loosen sides of cake and   turnout onto a plate. Cool slightly (or 2 hours) before cutting into pieces.

Nankhatai / Narayan Katar

Here's the recipe link of Nankhatai / Narayan Katar / Eggless biscuits / Butter cookies  !!!

Cheese Buns

Cheese Buns

Makes: 9

Please use standard measuring cups and spoons. Fresh ingredients for best results.

Ingredients

For yeast:

A piece of advice at the start itself (this is the lesson learnt from my

 many disasters) – If the yeast is not fermenting as described – never go any further. The flour won’t rise. Get a new pack of yeast and start all over again.

5 tablespoons warm water (75 ml)

3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) sugar

1 teaspoon active dry yeast (please use fresh packet)

Method

Dilute 1 teaspoon active dry yeast with 5 tablespoons warm water and 3 teaspoons sugar. Gently stir well. Let it stand for 15 minutes, until it fermented / well risen and doubles in quantity.

For the dough:

Ingredients

400 ml / 2 cups (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon butter + 50 ml milk

Extra 3 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon extra butter (to grease cup cake / small muffin mould)

1 st stage:

For the dough:

Melt 2 teaspoons butter in 50 ml medium hot milk and keep aside.

Place 2 cups of flour in a large bowl (or first add 1 1/2 cups of flour and later adjust with remaining 1/2 cup flour), and stir in salt. Make a well in the centre, and pour milk – butter mix, salt, sugar  and fermented yeast mixture. Knead into a dough. Sprinkle 1 - 3 tablespoons of reserved milk if required until you have a soft moist dough that can be handled well and soft. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead for at least 10 minutes (make an extra soft dough – softer than a soft toy). Return to the bowl, cover with a wet towel / cling film (wet towel and dough should not touch each other) and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

 For the cheese:

Ingredients

2 small cheese cubes, grated

3 tablespoon finely chopped mint and coriander leaves

1 small tomato (optional), finely chopped or any other mixed vegetables (grated carrot, beetroot, cabbage ...)

2 tablespoon chopped onion

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients and keep it ready.

2nd stage:

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

3rd stage:

Sprinkle some dry flour and roll dough into a sheet of 25 cm in length and 20 cm in width. Sprinkle cheese – herb - tomato - onion  evenly from top to end. Roll from one end to another (like a  Swiss roll).

Now the roll is cylindrical in shape (gently make a perfect cylindrical shape) and cut into 9 pieces.

4th stage:

Grease small metal cup cake / muffin pans with 1 teaspoon butter.

Arrange the prepared rolls in a greased cup cake / muffin pans. 

Preheat oven (OTG) at 400 * F or 200 * C.

Apply little milk; brush over rolls. Bake at 400° *F or 200 *C for 20 22 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. Gently apply butter on top the buns when it's very hot. Serve with any accompaniment of your choice.

Eggless Banana Cake

Eggless Banana Cake

Tips

Please  use same measuring cup to measure to  measure flour, powdered sugar, mashed bananas and oil.

Be sure to use ripe bananas; their peels should be bright yellow, with no green showing at all, and beginning to turn brown. For more pronounced banana flavor, use extra-ripe bananas, ones whose peels are mostly black-brown.

An easy way to mash bananas is to peel, cut into chunks, and place in a zip-top plastic bag, leaving about 1/4" open at the top of the bag for air to escape. Gently knead/flatten/squash the banana chunks with your fingers.

Ingredients

1 cup / 200 ml / 8 oz (Indian standard measuring cup) all purpose flour (maida)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup powdered sugar

½ cup  oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

¼ cup well ripe mashed banana (1 big size banana or 3 small size bananas)

1 tablespoon milk

6 cashew nut splits

6 raisins

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 * F or 180 * C.

Grease baking dish / loaf pan with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 2 teaspoons flour (sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ) or greased butter paper.

Sieve flour and baking powder twice.

In a wide bowl, beat powdered sugar and oil together until creamy and smooth (use electric beater).

Add vanilla essence and beat again.

Add mashed banana and beat again until creamy (without any lumps).

Add sieved flour in 2 batches. Mix it with thick tablespoon until smooth and creamy (without any lumps).

Pour the banana mixture (decorate  with cashew nut splits and raisins on top of the cake mixture if required) into a paper - lined and greased or greased loaf pan / baking dish and bake at 180 * C or 350 * F  for 30 - 35 minutes or a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and also it leaves from the sides of the pan. 

Cool for a while before turning out onto wire rack. Keep aside to cool for 20 minutes and cut into slices or desired shapes.

To cut banana cake into very thin slices, warm the bread knife a little before slicing the cake.

Shrewsbury Biscuit

Shrewsbury Biscuit  - Basic recipe from Modern Cookery Vol 2 by Thangam E Philip  and Tarla Dalal !!

Makes – 30 - 35

Ingredients

225 gms plain flour (maida)

85 gms  butter

85 gms sugar

1 lemon rind, grated

1 egg 

Method

Sieve the flour.

Grease baking tray with 1/2 teaspoon butter.

Cream the butter (@ normal temperature) and sugar very well until light and creamy.

Beat the egg and lemon rind.

Add the sieved flour. If required, add a little milk to make a dough.

Turn the mixture on to a floured board. Knead until smooth.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 170* C or 325 * F.

Roll out thinly. Prick all over with a fork. Stamp into rounds or cut biscuits with the help of a cookie cutter.

Place the biscuits on a greased baking tray.

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and keep aside to cool for half an hour. Store in an airtight container.

Fruit Cake (made of Demerara Sugar)

Fruit Cake (made of  Demerara sugar)

All the ingredients should be at room temperature and please use  Indian standard measuring cups and teaspoons. Use same measuring cup to measure flour, sugar, chopped dry fruits  and unsalted butter. Ratio is 1: 1: 1: 1, equal amount of flour, powdered sugar, chopped dry fruits and butter.

Ingredients

For the flour:

1/2 level cup (100 ml) all purpose flour ( maida ) (please use fresh all purpose flour)  Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz capacity.

½  level teaspoon baking powder

One pinch salt

¼  level  teaspoon clove powder

¼ level  teaspoon cinnamon powder

¼ level  teaspoon nut meg powder

Method

Sieve thrice flour with above ingredients. Keep aside in a separate container.

Other ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted soft butter (cooking butter). Keep aside to cool for half hour. Then it will become soft (weight measurement is 50 g)

1/2  level cup (100 ml) Demerara sugar (Blue Bird brand available @ all super markets )

2 eggs, (net weight of 2 eggs are 110 g)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sieved flour

½ cup  / 100 ml chopped dry fruits (a mix of chopped dried orange peel, tutti fruitti, raisins, chopped cashew nuts - loosely fill in ½ cup)

1 tablespoon caramel sugar (sugar syrup)

Extra 1 teaspoon butter ( to grease baking dish)

 How to Caramelize Sugar?

 ( An easy  home style  preparation)

Short method - Heat a heavy bottomed kadai on a medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon sugar. When it melts (smooth solution) color changes from yellow to dark brown. Switch off the heat. Wait for 3 minutes. Maintain a safe distance from the gas stove and add 3 tablespoon water and gently mix  with a thick tablespoon. Keep aside for 10 minutes.  A clear 2 tablespoon thin sugar syrup is ready now.

Method

The cake needs to be sturdy enough to support the weight of the fruits and nuts. Not using enough flour in your recipe will make the dried fruit sink to the bottom. To prevent this, dust the dried fruit in flour before adding to the mixture. Source – thekitchn.com and ehow.

Dust fruits (cashew nuts, tutti fruitti,  raisins & orange peel) with 2 tablespoons of flour (maida). Mix well with a thick tablespoon. Flour should be well coated on fruits and there won’t be any water content. Cover and keep aside for 1 hour.

Grease baking dish with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour (sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ).

Preheat oven (OTG) at 170 *C or 325 *F.

In a big bowl, beat  soft unsalted butter (@ room temperature) until creamy with the help of an electrical beater.

Add Demerara sugar and beat until soft and well combined with butter.

Add egg one by one and beat until smooth and creamy / light golden color (use electric beater).

Add  1 teaspoon vanilla essence.  Beat well.

Add sieved flour and dusted fruits (do not use leftover flour)  in batches (2 batches) and gently mix with the help of a thick tablespoon (do not use electric beater at this stage) until well blended / smooth cake mixture.

Add 1 tablespoon caramel syrup (caramel sugar) and mix well.

 Please do not add milk, water, leftover caramel syrup  … If the cake batter is too thin, it won't bake properly.

Final procedure:

Transfer this cake mixture into a greased baking pan - loaf pan / ring /  square or round (or paper lined ).  Spread it evenly with a spatula (decorate with cashew nuts or almonds on the top of the cake batter if required) and bake at 170 * C or 325* F for  35 - 40 minutes or till golden brown or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean / leaves from the sides of the pan. 

Remove from the oven and transfer the cake into a cooling rack. Keep aside to cool for one hour. Once it reaches normal room temperature, cover cake gently with a butter paper / cling film / aluminium foil and store in a refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Then it will be very easy to make perfect slices.

Cake cutting tip:

Heat a knife first before cutting a cake for crumble-free slices. To heat the knife, you can run the knife under very hot water (or heat knife directly in a gas flame) then wipe dry with a clean towel.