Cake Decoration

For all those who want to surprise your valentine with a lovely baked cake, here’s quick version of mine to do it.

I have used my basic chocolate cake recipe as the base. Poured chocolate fondant and buttercream icing for decoration.

For poured chocolate fondant:-

Ingredients:

Powdered sugar – 2 cups

Water – 50ml

Cocoa powder – 3 tbsp

Corn syrup – ½ tbsp

Veg oil – 1 tbsp

Almond extract – ¼ tsp

Notes:

Instead of corn syrup you can use either glucose syrup or sugar syrup. Take 2 tbsp of sugar and melt it using as little water as possible to make it a thick syrup.

Instead of almond extract you can use vanilla essence.

Method:

In a bowl mix powdered sugar and water until it forms a thick paste.

Add corn syrup – mix – add cocoa powder – mix – add oil – mix – lastly add almond – mix

At this stage the fondant will be thick. Microwave this for 1min and 35sec. the fondant will be glossy, dark and of pourable consistency.

Now pour this mixture into a piping bag and pour it onto your cake. Make sure you do this procedure while the fondant is still warm coz the mixture will set once it cools down!

For buttercream icing:-

Ingredients: 

Veg shortening/dalda – ½ cup

Butter – ½ cup

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Icing sugar – 4 cups

Milk – 2-3 tbsp

Method:

Cream shortening and butter until creamy.

Add vanilla and beat again.

Now add 1 cup sugar at a time until they are incorporated well. It might seem hard to beat as you keep adding sugar hence make sure you add the next cup only after they have combined well!

Once all the sugar has been used up, slowly add milk 1tbsp at a time and beat well. Add more or less milk according to your desired consistency. If you want your icing to be runny you might want to add upto 5tbsp. but if you want it to be thick then 3tbsp would do fine.

Have fun decorating!!

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Basic chocolate cake

Who can say no to a chocolate cake? Yes….that’s right…no one!!!! Everyone’s loves a piece of moist rich chocolate cake. Well here’s a quick and simple recipe for making the most never fail chocolate cake. The best part is you don’t use any butter!!

Ingredients:

Flaour/maida – 1 ¾ cups

Cocoa powder – ¾ cup (make sure you use a branded one as this plays an important role in your final product)

Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp

Vanilla essence – 2 tsp

Hot black coffee – 1 cup (add 2 tsp of instant coffee powder to 1 cup of boiling water)

Baking soda – 1 ½ tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Milk – 1 cup

Sugar – 2 cups

Oil – ½ cup

Eggs – 2

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease your cake pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt a couple of times until they are well combined.

In a separate bowl, beat together sugar and eggs with a hand mixer. Gradually add in milk, oil and vanilla essence.

Now slowly fold in the flour mixture. Once they are combined add the coffee and mix well.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-40mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

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Apple and Cinnamon Cake

With the amount of sweet stuffs I bake, I was am worried about my hubby’s health, which is why I thought this time for his birthday I might bake a very simple and fat free cake for him.

I love the combination of apple and cinnamon. I have had loads of apple and cinnamon muffins but never a cake. So this time I thought of baking an apple and cinnamon cake for hubby’s bday, fat free style!!

Ingredients:

Flour/maida – 1 cup

Ground cinnamon – 2 tsp

Baking soda – 1 tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp

Sugar – 1 cup

Eggs – 2

Veg oil – 2 tbsp

Apples – 2 (peeled and chopped not more the size of a pea)

Youghurt – ¼ cup

Honey – 3 tbsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C. Grease your cake tin. 

Sieve together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt for a couple of times. Add sugar and apples and mix until they combine well.

In another bowl whisk together eggs, oil, yoghurt and honey.

Now gently fold the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. They might seem a bit difficult to combine but don’t worry, the mixture gets wetter as you keep combining them.

Pour the batter into your greased pan and bake for 30mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let it cool. Best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Yum!!

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Cupcakes Without A Muffin Tray

I love eating cupcakes. I remember as a child my grandfather used to always get me a box of goodies when he returned home from work and in that box cupcake was a constant goodie!

Yesterday when I went to bake some cupcakes I couldn’t find my muffin tray anywhere and I was craving for them so badly and I had to make them at any cost. You know how they say ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’, well I found out that you could actually bake cupcakes without using a muffin tray!!

This recipe is the simplest way of making classic cupcakes.

Ingredients:

Butter – 125gms (melted & cooled at room temp)

Egg – 1 (beaten)

Milk – ¾ cup

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Self raising flour – 2 cups

Tea cups – 12 to 13

Note: you can make self raising flour at home. For every 1 cup of all purpose flour add 1 ½ tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp of salt.

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C

Sift the self raising flour couple of times. Add the flour to a bowl. Make a well in the center. 

Add the butter, milk, egg and vanilla essence to the flour and mix well with a spoon until well combined without any lumps.

Place the cupcake liners on top of the tea cups. Add dollops of the batter into each liner. (Every time you pour the batter be careful as the liner will sink into the tea cup coz of the weight. So pour it carefully.)

Arrange the tea cups with cupcake batter onto a tray and bake it for 15mins or until when a skewer inserted comes out clean. When done top it up with frosting.

Well they might not be pretty but tastes good!

Simple Frosting:

In a bowl mix 1 cup of icing sugar with 1 to 1 ½ tbsp. of water and a drop of color of your choice (if you want). Spoon it over the cupcakes.

This is a great technique for those of you who bake cupcakes only occasionally don’t want to spend money on buying a muffin tray.

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Tutty Fruity Choc Chip Cake

Baking this cake is so simple, as it doesn't require you to pull out your electric beater! All you need is a whisk and you are ready to bake this simple cake with no fuss at all. This is by far the simplest cake I have baked.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Granulated Sugar - 1 1/4 cups

Tutti Fruity - 1/2 cup

Choc chips – ¼ cup

Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp

Milk - 3/4 cup

Egg - 2 at room temperature

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Vanilla essence - 3 tsp

Chopped Cashews - 2 tsp (or any other nuts of your choice)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside. Combine the butter and sugar; it will look somewhat like breadcrumbs.

Mix tutti fruity and the choc chips with little flour say 1-2 tbsp, set aside.

Add eggs one at a time to the sugar butter mixture and beat well.

Add in vanilla essence and mix well. Now add in the milk beat well till all is combined.

Next add the flour, baking powder, soda mixture. Mix until a creamy batter is formed without lumps. Fold in tutti fruity – choc chip mixture. Grease your cake pan with butter and flour, tap to remove off excess. Pour the batter in the pan.

Add in the chopped nuts on top. 

Bake for 35-40 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Once baked leave it in the oven for 5mins. Then leave the cake upside down on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely and then slice it.

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