Chocolate Orange Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups APF
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• zest of 1 orange – Approx 1 tsp
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Sift together the dry ingredients – APF, baking powder , baking soda , cocoa powder and a pinch of salt.
• In another bowl, mix together oil and curd to get a smooth emulsion.
• Add sugar and orange juice ; Whisk well.
• Add orange zest and mix lightly.
• Fold in the dry ingredients gently.
• Pour into a greased pan dusted with cocoa powder. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the top , if desired.
• Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg for 35 mins or till the skewer comes clean.
• cool for ten minutes before removing from pan.

Masala Cookies

Cookies always hold their place for munching and snacking. Teatime is associated with sweet cookies but savory cookies are special, more so when you get a “kick” from the taste. These cookies turned out well and were good “anytime” munchers .

 

Ingredients (makes about 30 cookies)

All purpose flour 1½ cups

Semolina 2 tbsp

Milk powder 2 tbsp ( I used gulab jamun mix and it gave a good texture)

Butter 1 brick (US measure =113 g) or 100 g; cubed and at room temperature

Sugar 2 tbsp

Salt ½ tsp

Yogurt (chilled) 3 tbsp

Baking powder ½ tsp

Baking soda ½ tsp

 

Spices

¦  Finely diced chillies (green/red) 3

     ¦   Fresh coriander leaves cut fine ¼ cup ( 3 tbsp)

¦ Black pepper powder ½ tsp

Method

• Sieve together APF, semolina, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
• Add the butter, yogurt and sugar and mix well to get a crumbled texture. You can use a hand blender too but make sure to blend at low speed and just enough to get a crumbly texture.
• Add the spices and mix well to get a fluffy dough that is moist enough but not wet.
• Divide the dough into half and roll the dough into two cylindrical logs of 3 cm diameter .
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap film and leave in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours to get a moderately stiff dough
• Preheat the oven to 170° C  (336°F) and line the baking trays with parchment paper.
• Remove the cling wrap from the rolls and slice them into disks of ¼” thickness and place them in the trays 1″ apart.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and transfer to cooling tray.

Chef’s Note

• If you want the cookies to be spicier, you can add ½ tsp of red chilli powder to the mix.
• If you want to indulge with  cheese, add ¼ cup grayed cheddar cheese when you add the spices to the mix.

Orange-Lemon Eggless Cake

 

 

 

 

The simple thought of citrus oil gets one ecstatic and if it were to combine with the juices and go into a cake  it can only be divine!

Ever since the Hall of Fame Contest was held in the Forum “HomeBakers Guild” I have been planning to bake orange cake as I saw some members post lovely eggless versions.  It took me so long to finally act and make my version based on the inputs from other bakers, to mention cookwithpriyankavarma being one such.  Where orange gives flavor the cake tends to be sweet and I wanted  a tangy kick too with the flavor of orange. I decided to added lemon juice and its zest and ended up with a cake that was simply bursting with flavors. While baking the aroma was so wonderful that I could not wait for the cake to rest after baking!!! Despite my haste the cake (though it lost its swelled look) was spongy, nice crust on the outside, and absolutely moist and soft inside.

 

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

All purpose flour  1¼ cups

Baking powder 1 tsp

Baking soda ½ tsp

Table salt 1 pinch

For the wet part

Sugar ¾ cup (preferably powdered)

Condensed milk 1 tbsp

Yogurt ¾ cup

Butter 2 tbsp (at room temperature)

Corn/Sunflower oil ¼ cup

Fresh Orange juice ½ cup

Fresh Lemon juice 2 tbsp

Orange zest ½ tsp

Lemon zest ¼ tsp

 

Method

•  Sieve together the dry ingredients into a bowl to get a smooth mix, if needed a couple of times.
• In a small bowl whisk the yogurt and condensed milk to get a smooth consistency. Mix orange and lemon juice as also the zest in another bowl and keep it ready.
• Whisk the sugar, oil, and butter with a  spatula to get a smooth flowing consistency.  No need for heavy whisking; it is enough till the mix looks smooth. Add the milk-yogurt mix to the mix and blend well.
• Fold in the dry mix gradually and gently  to get a smooth paste. Add the juice-zest mix  in portions and fold gently to get a smooth batter of flowing consistency.
• Preheat the oven at 180°C while preparing the cake batter so the oven is ready for baking

• Transfer the batter to a well greased loaf tin or a cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or till the toothpick comes out clean. Do check the cake after 20 minutes to ensure it is not overdone.
• Wait for the cake to rest and cool before transferring on to a wire rack even if the aroma is overpowering and irresistible!! 🙂

 

 

 

• Slice as per your choice and store in airtight container if any slice remains!!

 

Chef’s Note

If you like to get a stronger flavor of lemon add another pinch of zest to the juice but do not add add more lemon juice as it is likely to give a sour taste.

A sprinkle of sugar on the baked cake while it is cooling gives it a lovely glaze.

For those who need a tip on collecting zest: wash the orange and lemon before grating the fruit for the zest.. Hold the fruit in your hand and gently grate the orange part of the skin and yellow part of the lemon till you reach the white area. Ensure you do not grate the white part of the skin