Treating myself with a cake

Its the birthday season for our family. It was my mil's birthday on Saturday and mine on Sunday. We went to the temple and had our lunch at the nearby newly opened restaurant. We both love their rasam soup very much so this time also we ordered the same. The lunch was also good but I was full very soon.
Now coming to the cake, I thought of making a Black Forest cake to celebrate both occasions. I used Betty Crocker's SuperMoist Fudge mix for the cake and whipped cream for the icing. Previous time I used the Maraschino cherries but didn't like the smell of it so thought of using the cherries from the Cherry-pie filling. But these were slightly sour in taste. I think the first option was only better. I used only a few cherries as I made a small 2 layer cake. So the sourness wasn't noticeable. I topped it with some grated Milk Chocolate as that was the only one I had with me, though a dark chocolate bar would have given me the perfect colour for the Cake.


The cake was ready in a jiffy and was very yummy. I liked this much more than the one I made before as I used Whipped cream this time while the previous time I used a readymade frosting.

Zebra Cake

Ever since I saw the lovely Zebra Cake on Ujwal's blog I was drooling over it. I couldn't make it for New Year so was waiting for an occasion. Finally I decided to make it for my father-in-law's birthday. My fil is thousands of miles away from us and I can't even send him a piece of the cake but all I wanted was an occasion to indulge in this yummy cake.
The cake is not as difficult as it looks. It just requires some extra efforts.
I made it with half of the quantities mentioned in the recipe and got a decent sized cake.
I baked it for the time mentioned in the recipe and when the knife inserted in the center came out clean I took it out.
I was so excited to see it rise so beautifully but the moment I took it out of the oven it became flat, almost the size it was before baking.
It still tasted very good and was very nice and soft.

The plain and Chocolate batter
The cake before going into the oven

Cake just out of the oven

The final piece

This recipe is definitely a keeper. The next time I make it I will add a little more sugar as we would have preferred it to be a little more sweeter. And will try with the entire quantities.

Welcoming New Year with a sweet treat

I wanted to make a cheese cake since a long time. But I have never tasted a cheesecake in my life so didn't know what to expect. I searched for few recipes and all the recipes called for a spring form pan. That was another reason that I kept postponing the idea.
Then one day I wanted to use up half a pack of cream cheese that was lying in my refrigerator. All I could think of was a cheese cake.
Most of the recipes required sour cream along with cream cheese and the quantity of cream cheese I had was very less to follow any recipe. So I just went with basic method and didn't follow any recipe.
With the ingredients I used I could just make a small cake. Infact it looked more like a pie.
For the crust, I powdered some biscotti and biscuits and mixed them with melted butter. Also added a tsp of milk.
Lined a small use and throw kind of a baking foil pan with parchment paper. Buttered the paper and spread the biscuit mixture evenly. Then baked at 350 deg F for 15 min.

Then I took the cream cheese at room temp. and blended it with half an egg, some powdered sugar, little vanilla essence and poured it over the crust. Kept the baking foil pan in a bigger pan with some water(water bath) and baked for 30 min at 350 deg till it was set. Decorated it with some grated chocolate and coloured sprinkles.


It came out quite well and so I wanted to post this dish to refer in future. May the next time I make it I may be able to post the exact recipe.
Now its upto to you whether u call it a cheesecake or a pie or just a sweet treat.

Birthday Cake

Yesterday was my dearest hubby's birthday. I wanted to bake a cake from scratch. I dont have much experience in baking cakes and i have never prepared a frosting. In my previous Black Forest Cake i had used readymade frosting. Initially i was planning to make a pineapple cake but finally made Shilpa's Simple Egg Cake. For the Frosting i followed the Butter Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from Martha's Baking Favorites DVD.

For the Cake:
I followed Shilpa's recipe as it is and baked for nearly 50 min.

For the Butter Cream Cheese Frosting: The original recipe
Unsalted Butter - 1 stick (1/2 cup)
Cream Cheese - 8 oz
Confectioners Sugar - 1 lb
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Crushed Pecans - 1 cup

Take butter and cream cheese at room temp. (R.T.)
Add Vanilla essence and beat till soft and fluffy.
Add sugar and beat till smooth.
Then add pecans.
Chill in refrigerator.

I used half the quantities mentioned above and did not add pecans. I added 2-3 drops of yellow food colour.
I made the cake the previous day and cooled it in the refrigerator.
I cut the cake into 2 halves. Spread some butter cream mixture on one half of the cake. I added few pieces of pineapple murabba on top of it, placed the 2nd cake and spread the remaining mixture on the top and sides of the cake.


I decorated it with few chocolate coated peanuts and coloured sprinkes and added some Ready whipped cream just before cutting the cake.

The cake tastes great but has a slight smell of egg. I think i should have added 1 more teaspoon of vanilla essence to the cake batter. But the smell wasn't noticeable on refrigerating the cake.

Black Forest Cake

I wanted to trying my hand at a Black Forest Cake from a long time. But I wasn't able to find the cherries for this. Everywhere I could find fresh cherries. But for this cake I needed canned cherries which have a beautiful red color. Finally while checking out a new store I found a jar of cherries. I have used readymade cake mix for this. I had only 1/4th cake mix so I could make only a small cake.

Ingredients:

Betty Croker Super Moist Chocolate Fudge mix - 1/4 of the total quantity.
Pillsbury Funfetti Frosting (Vanilla flavor) - 1/2 of the jar
Maraschino Cherries - 10 oz jar
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Hershey's milk chocolate - 1 small bar

Method.

Heat 1/2 cup water and add 1/2 cup sugar and stir till it is dissolved. The sugar should be just dissolved in water. Don't heat for too long. Keep aside to cool.
Bake the cake as per the instructions on the box. Let it cool. The cake should be fully cooled before applying frosting. Once its cooled cut the cake horizontally into 3 equal discs.
Take the first disc. Drizzle few drops of sugar syrup on it. Apply the frosting. Spread frosting with the help of a knife. Put some chopped cherries. Then place the second layer on this. Follow the same procedure for the second one starting with sugar syrup, frosting, and cherries. Then place the final layer of the cake. Drizzle sugar syrup and spread frosting carefully on top as well as the sides of the cake covering the entire cake. Grate the chocolate on the top and on the sides. Place whole cherries on top. Refrigerate and enjoy.


This is the first frosted cake that I made. I thoroughly enjoyed making and eating it. But I was not fully satisfied with the frosting. It became a little hard on refrigerating. Next time i am planning to use whipped cream for frosting.

Update (20/Feb/2009)
Made a 2-layer black Forest cake for our Wedding Anniversary. This time I used Cool Whip for the frosting and Cherries from the Cherry Pie Filling .
I liked this icing more than the previous one but for the cherries I think Maraschino is a better choice as the Cherry Pie filling is slightly sour. This time I did not use the chocolate shavings and instead used some chocolate sprinkles.


Made another one for my birthday with the chocolate shavings.

BANANA WALNUT LOAF

As the name suggests this cake has banana, walnuts and is made in a loaf pan. This is the first cake i tried. Before this i made a chocolate cake using a cake mix. I am quite new to these ovens. Back in India i had never used any kind of ovens. When i saw the photo on Sapna's blog i knew i had to make this. We liked it so much that i have made it thrice till now. This is even a good food item to carry while traveling.
I have followed the recipe as it is. The only change i made is i added little more sugar.

Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients:

Ripe bananas - 2
Melted butter - 6tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1tsp
Eggs - 2 (large)

Dry Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 and 1/3rd cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup (original recipe calls for 2/3 rd cup)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped

Combine all dry ingredients except walnuts.
Mash bananas. Add butter and vanilla extract to bananas and mix well.
Beat eggs lightly.
Mix banana mixture and eggs till smooth. I did this with the help of my blender.
Then slowly fold small portions of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well.
Add the chopped walnuts. Reserve a few for addding on top of the cake.
Apply butter to all sides of the loaf pan and sprinkle some flour.
Pour batter into the pan. [Note: There should b ample space in the pan for the batter to rise]
Sprinkle walnuts on top.
Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 55 min at 350 F
A wooden toothpick or a knife when inserted in the center should come out clean.
Cool the cake for 10 min. Remove loaf from pan.
Can b stored at room temp for 4-5 days.

I am sending this to Mansi's Vegetarian Thanksgiving event.