Carrot Cake - tasty low calorie baking recipe

Carrot Cake
If you have been wondering how to get your little bundle of joy to eat carrots without a fuss, here's the answer. This easy to make carrot cake recipe is one that is absolutely irresistible(tested and certified to be child friendly). My daughter who is a real fussy eater just loved it and the cake was over before I knew it. With absolutely no butter added this definitely is one that would interest you too.

Carrots are known to be very rich in beta carotene (that's where they get their colour from), Vitamin A, antioxidants, dietary fibre and minerals. High in nutrition and great in taste this quick and easy baking recipe is one that you would love.
Ingredients:
Flour - 1/2 cup
Grated carrots - 1/2 cup (dry over a kitchen towel or tissues to remove the excess water content)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Oil- 1/2 cup
Eggs -2
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp(not heaped)
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Walnuts - 1/4 cup (optional) (I did not add)

Method:
1- Sieve together the flour and the baking powder. Add in the sugar, oil, eggs(one after the other), vanilla essence, baking powder and the grated carrots. Mix well to form a smooth batter.
2- Grease the baking dish and pour in the batter.
3- Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 mins at 180 deg celsius(or between 4 and 5).
4- Cool on a wire rack and cut into slices.
5- Serve with sweetened cream or plain.

This carrot cake goes out to my event "Baking for Beginners-II". Looking forward to all those delicious baked goodies.

Baking for Beginners Event - Part two

The food blogging scene is definitely buzzing with activity and more so with the festive season here. I have so many recipes on my to-try agenda that sometimes it becomes difficult to choose which one to try. With my oven in the "ON" mode and me trying a hand at baking these days, thought this is the best time to announce the second part to the "Baking for Beginners Event". Don't think there can be a better time than this with Christmas and New Year just round the corner.

The rules for Baking for Beginners' event part two are simple (just as before):
1- You can submit as many recipes as you wish to.
2- Please do link back to the event and add in the logo too in your post.
3- Please do forward me the below mentioned details at my email id vandanarajesh2@gmail.com marked "Baking for Beginners -II"
a) Blog name and url
b) Blogger's name
c) Name of the dish
d) Picture of the dish
e) Two lines about the dish (would definitely be helpful for those who plans to begin baking).
4- The event is also open to non-bloggers too.
5- The last date for the event is 02 Feb, 2011.

Happy baking and looking forward to all those wonderful recipes. Let's put on those mittens and get started!!

Baking Ladi Pav - a beautiful experience

By now you know that I have been venturing into the baking world every now and then to find recipes that would help me improve my skills. On one such trip I came by this beautiful blog and Aparna's ladi pav recipe and the pictures were just too hard to resist. I just had to try it.

Baking pav was not one that I had ever contemplated and this is probably attributable to the ease of access. All I had to do was step out of my home and I could easily get my supply of freshly baked pav. Why then take the trouble of doing it all on your own? Guess you realize the value of things when it is not available. My tastebuds desirous of biting into some fresh pav and homemade bhaji, I decided to give the recipe a try.

I must admit that bread baking is not one that I had ever tried and so was comfortable doing a set of mini pavs first. Also had heard and read a lot on how yeast can play a spoilsport if not handled by experts. The step by step recipe provided the perfect guide and I decided to go on. The recipe suggested 3.5 to 4 cups of flour for 15 beautiful golden pavs. I decided to give it a try with 1 cup and make a batch of mni pavs. To my amazement it was really simple and can't describe in words the aroma of freshly baked pav that filled by home. I was so excited to see the small balls grow in size and merge so perfectly into one another like siamese twins. A golden crispy outside and a soft netted inside...I got it right the first time...yeah!!..and can't explain how happy and elated I felt at this success.

I went on to try on the larger version and Aparna's recipe is just perfect...the right place for a baking beginner to get started with some home baking.
You can check out Aparna's recipe here. For my pavs I used sugar and not honey. Made my second lot of larger pavs with 4 cups of maida/all-purpose flour. The yeast that we get here is the powdered form of instant dry yeast and so I added 1/2 tsp(not heaped) for every cup of flour. Above are some of the pictures from my baking ladi pav project...didn't get a chance to photograph the larger pavs as I baked them for hubby's birthday party and they were gone before I could say "click".

Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake

Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake
Baking is what is on my mind these days. In fact, so much so that I have added improving my baking skills on my "to do" list for this year(a new year resolution in advance). As part of a tasty step towards my resolution I decided to begin with Madhuram's absolutely irresistible vegan chocolate banana cake. I had bookmarked it egglesscooking.com a few days back and just had to bake it. There was no way I could hold on any longer.

The baking experience was truly amazing with my entire house coming alive with the aroma of freshly baked cake. Chocolate is definitely my favorite and thus, this beautiful chocolate cake recipe with a lovely picture did catch my attention. The dash of banana in it truly added the spectacular twist that made it a wonderful treat. Thanks Madhuram(and congrats on the arrival of your little bundle of joy), it was absolutely wonderful and my family loved every bit of it.

I liked it so much that I went on to bake it a second time. Practice makes perfect is so very true. It turned out even better the second time and proof for that was it got over even before I could think of clicking a few snaps:). This can also be adapted as a chocolate cupcake recipe with or without frosting. This is surely a great addition to my repertoire of simple cake recipes that taste heavenly. My oven is surely going to be working overtime with so many cake and other baking recipes that I have bookmarked in the recent past.

Coming to the recipe, this is a treat for the vegans too with no milk. I used allpurpose flour instead of whole wheat flour. From the quantity of hot water mentioned in the recipe, I took out a little to add to my banana for a smooth puree. For the rest, I stuck completely to Madhuram's recipe.

Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake Recipe
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Cocoa Powder - 2/3 cup
Baking Soda - 1 1/2 tsp
Oil 1/4 cup
Hot Water - 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Bananas(puree) - 1 cup (I used one whole large banana)

Method:
1- Sieve all the dry ingredients together. Now slowly add in the wet ingredients one by one to ensure a smooth lump free batter.
2- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Let the cake bake for approximately 45 minutes. The time would differ from one oven to the other, thus, inserting a toothpick around the time is the best way to check if your cake is done or not.

Lemon cake - all that I could save

Summers and lemons sure have a strong connection. The bright yellow is one colour we do associate with summers and the refreshing fresh lemons are in plenty this time of the year. For squashes, pickles, drinks, puddings and satisfying several other creative urges is the yellow and vibrant lemon. The lemon cake is what I decided to make the other day. This is not one that I make regularly as I was a little apprehensive of how my little chef my daughter would accept the taste of lemon in a cake.

Cakes she loves but watching me grating the lemon zest into the cake batter was not one that she could digest easily. However, once the cake was baked she couldn't resist trying it. And yes, She loved the cake. She said "Amma , I like this lemon taste that comes right at the end". OOH was I relieved or happy:)
I too loved the lemon flavor and the taste that came in between the vanilla flavor. The cake came out moist and perfect. The only thing was by the time I decided to click a snap I had only this one slice left:(

Again was I happy or sad? Happy yes, the happiness and satisfaction that you get from seeing that your family loves what you cooks is truly something else. So cheers to the lemon cake it is. will get to baking one sooooon...the response at home has been truly encouraging.

Ingredients:
Flour- 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp(not heaped)
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Eggs -3
Butter - 1/2 cup (about 60 gms)
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Zest of lemon - 1/4 tsp (be careful while grating that you take only the yellow and don't grate in the white portion under the yellow)
Yellow colour - 2 drops (optional) (I prefer not to use colour)

Method:
1- Sieve all the dry ingredients together.
2- Cream the butter and sugar and slowly add in the dry ingredients.
3- Add the vanilla essence, colour(optional) and the lemon zest. Fold.
4- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes till done.

Marble Cake and end of the baking event

Have had a great time receiving all the entries for the baking for beginners event. Each one of them has made me droll over them and truly inspiring to put on those mittens and get baking. I am sure the round up would be of great help and get many like me waiting like me to actually take the plunge and begin home baking. To bring a sweet ending to the event I decided to give the Zebra Cake at Passionate about Baking a try and was amazed at the results. Firstly, I must admit that I have been just admiring the huge variety of baked dishes and the lovely pics on this blog. The Zebra Cake or Marble cake as I prefer to call it(as I didn't get the Zebra stripes so well but the taste was amazing and the cake disappeared in no time).

I made the cake with half the measure of the ingredients given in the original recipe as I wanted to make it in my rectangle cake tin and the original recipe would turn out too big for my tin.
Ingredients:
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Self-raising flour - 1 cup (I used plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder)
Dark cocoa powder - 4 tbsp

I omitted the salt and used 4 tbsp of drinking chocolate instead of dark cocoa powder. With the drinking chocolate got the dark cocoa color and the taste did appeal to my daughter too.

Method:
I mixed together all the ingredients with a beater in a bowl. Divide it into two halves and to one portion add the cocoa powder and mix till well blended. Pour the cake batter in a pre-greased cake tin in alternate layers. Pour the white mixture in the centre of the tin, then pour on top of it the chocolate mixture. Alternate. The first time I made it in my excitement tried to mix it with a fork to get the stripes. Do not mix the batter it spreads on its own and turns out beautifully.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes in the oven. Take out and cool on a wire rack. They would go well with tea or coffee and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream it is yummy.

Baking For Beginners - put on those mittens!!

Have been wanting to put together a baking event for sometime now. With the festive season on, thought it is the best time to take out those freshly baked goodies right out of the oven. I have been a very cautious baker, by that what I mean is that baking has really not been my forte but would definitely like to take a step ahead. Baking to me was always get everything perfect, have to do it all right, probably that's one reason that has kept me away from it. However, beginning my food blog and interacting with such marvelous bakers has given me that much needed strength to put on those mittens and get started. Although I do have a really long way to go.

I thought there are probably many like me who have been watching the wonderful goodies come out of the oven and wished quietly that some day they would do it too. This event is a step towards that. A place where beginners can set their first foot into the baking world and of course then plunge in head long. You can send in your simple, easy recipe for any of your baked delights be it the popular cake, muffins,au gratins or just about anything you feel is a great way to get started with baking.

All you have to do is:
1- Send in a mail to vandanarajesh2@gmail.com with details -your name, blog name, blog url, post url and a pic of your baked goodie.
2- You can send in as many entries as you like till the end of Jan in fact Jan 31, 2009.
3- Make a mention of the event on your blog and link back to this blog post and you are on your way to inspiring many others to get started with "Baking".
Looking forward to ringing in the New Year with some yummy treats:)
Here are some of my recipes that would surely be of help to beginners
1- Tasty Vanilla cake
2-Delicious apple cake
3- Easy banana bread
4-Hommade pizza

Easy and simple banana bread

I have been wanting to try a banana bread for long. And so here it is an easy way to bake your very own banana bread. It was really yumm and hardly took any time putting together. A wonderful tea time snack.

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas(I mashed it with a spoon so that it is not a fine paste and there are a few small pieces of banana left as it is)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or maida
1 egg, beat well
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tbsp melted butter
3/4 to 1 cup sugar(I used 3/4 cup, you can adjust depending on the sweetness you prefer)
3-4 drops of vanilla essence
8-10 raisins,finely chopped (you may also add a few walnuts if you please- the combination of bananas and walnuts is great)

Method:
Mash the bananas and keep aside.Take a mixing bowl and add the butter and sugar. Mix well. Now add the bananas, egg and the baking soda. Add in the vanilla essence too and mix well. Fold in the flour little by little so as not to form lumps. Mix and blend all ingredients well. Take a pre-greased cake tin and pour in the mixture. Bake for 45-50 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius. Take out cool on wirerack. Cut into slices and serve.