Marvelous Marble Cake

I am not a big fan of chocolate cake but i do want it in my cakes in one way or the other.This is a simple cake which can please both chocolate and vanilla lovers like me.A bite of chocolate and a bite of vanilla goes into my mouth when i eat this cake and i am so happy about it.

Ingredients

- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar(you can make it to 3/4 cup if you dont like it very sweet)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter/vegetable oil

Recipe

- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Sift together flour,baking powder,salt so that they are well blended.
- In a bowl whisk together sugar,butter/oil,eggs and vanilla extract.
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.Divide the batter into two parts.
- Stir in the cocoa powder into the second half of the divided parts.
- Pour the first half of batter(without cocoa) into a greased baking pan.Now pour the second   half(Cocoa batter) of the batter into the same pan.Run a knife through  the batter,cutting the batters together to create a marble effect.
- Place the baking pan into the pre-heated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes ,until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool,Invert the cake into a stand or plate,slice and serve. 

Yummy Apple Strudel

My husband is very found of any dessert with apple stuffing be it apple pie,apple strudel or apple turnover.I have tried couple of recipes and narrowed down to this amazing recipe which makes wonderful apple stuffing and you can use this stuffing to make  apple pie or a strudel or an apple turnover.

Apple Strudel

Ingredients

- Pastry puff sheets thawed(2 )
- 3 medium apple peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 tsp rose water(optional)
- 3 Tbsp sugar(as per your taste)
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 egg

Recipe

1. Heat the butter in a nonstick pan and raisins to it.Cook the raisins for 2 minutes until they rise and are browned well.Now add the apples,sugar and cinnamon and saute for 2 minutes and cook them covered for 5 minutes.
2. Shut the stove off and add the rose water and blend it to the mixture.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
4. Place the pastry puff sheet on a baking try and roll lightly with a rolling pin.
5. Place the apple filling in the middle of the sheet lengthwise.Fold the sheet around the mixture lengthwise.Seal the edges by using bit of water on your fingers.
6. Whisk egg and brush it on top of the pastry sheet.Make horizontal cuts on the top side of the sheet.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.

Holiday Biscotti(apricot , white chocolate,nuts and raisins)

Holiday Biscotti

I made this awesome biscotti for the holidays with the ingredients from my pantry.
Biscotti is an amazing snack with tea/coffee or a perfect holiday gift if you are visiting family and friends.I made few batches of this recipe and wrapped them up in beautiful packets and took it to my friends place as a holiday goodies. They all loved it a lot and i am sure you are gonna love me for this recipe :).

This recipe makes about  3-3.5 dozens of biscotti.

Ingredients

- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar(I used 1/4 cup more  as i like them little sweet)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil(replace it with softened butter for even tastier recipe)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup finely chopped dried apricot
- 1/2 cup raisins/dried cranberry
- 1/4 cup sliced pecans/almonds/walnuts
- 1/2 cup semi sweet white chocolate chips

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until well blended. Combine the flour ,cinnamon powder and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough.
3. Combine all the nuts ,dried fruits and chocolate chips into the dough.
4.  Divide dough into three pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2 inch thickness.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When The cookies are cool enough to handle, slice each one crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to 10 minutes on each side. Slices should be lightly toasted.

Basic Sponge cake turned to Pineapple cake

I wanted to make a very spongy soft and delicious pineapple cake for my daughters 5th month birthday (Yeah we do celebrate it monthly as she is precious and not an year old yet :P) .

I had to make it by evening and i knew this would take quality time.So i wanted to reach out to few of the cake experts
Option 1: Google ofcourse as its always handy and by my side .So i googled for some recipes and to my surprise i always found eggless cakes.Huh are eggless cakes in most menus these days ???So not much help out here to nail down a specific recipe

Option 2: I called up a friend of mine who bakes awesome cakes.I love the cakes she bake and there i go!Yippeee!!! i got to make this awesome cake with her help.

If you wanna bake a cake for a party,you gotto try this recipe! Trust me it turned out awesome and if you grow up in india this tasted quite like the soft pinapple pastries you find in Bakerys.My husband and guests savored it till the last bite.

Ingredients

- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs(at room temperature preferably not mandatory)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt

Pineapple cake Ingredients
- 1 medium sized pinapple cut into small cunks
- pinapple essence (optional)
- 1 cup pinapple juice
Icing
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup sugar(as per your taste
- 2 tsp Hersheys chocolate syrup

Notes :Incase you need to make a black forest cake,use 1 Tbsp cocoa powder in your basic sponge cake

Recipe

Step 1: Separate the egg whites and whip the egg whites with a electric blender until a thick froth forms.You should able to make cones on the froth.

Step 2 : Now add the egg yolks one by one to the egg whites and blend for another minute.Add sugar and blend for 2 minutes.Now add vanilla extract.

Step 3: Sift together flour,baking powder and salt.(Please dont skip this step as its very important to sift the dry ingredients so that there are no lumps).I missed it once and actually ended up a small lump uncooked all the way at the end.

Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients .Add flour mixture little by little and stir in a single direction.
Pour the batter in a greased baking tray and add half cup of pineapple chunks to the batter.

Step 5: Preheat oven to 350F.Place the cake in the middle rack of the oven and bake the cake for 35-40 minutes or until done.(the cake is fully baked if you insert a knife/toothpick and it comes out clean)

Step 6: Cool the cake and cut into two halves.Let the cakes cool completely.
Now sprinkle some pineapple juice on the cake halves.The cakes should be just wet and not very wet.So pour the pineapple juice with a teaspoon.

Step 7: Beat the whipping cream with sugar and pineapple essence/vanilla extract and keep aside for icing.
Spread some whipping cream on a cake half and top it with pineapple chunks.

Step 8: Place the other half of the cake on top.

Step 9: Spread the remaining whipping cream on the cake and decorate as needed.

Almond and cranberry biscotti

Biscotti is one of my favorite snack to dunk in my coffee and relish it till the last bite
The name originated from italy and it translates to twice baked biscuits.
I always thought it is very complex to make biscotti.However its the most easiest thing to bake with less calories.

If stored properly in airtight bags/baskets they go a long way and stay crispy.I am planning to bake lots of them and gift wrap them and gift them to some of my friends visiting home over the weekend.

Ingredients

- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup sugar(increase if you like them more sweet)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
- 2 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 1/2 cups almonds(blanched and thinly sliced)

Recipe
- Preheat oven to 325 F
- In a large bowl , mix together oil, sugar, vanilla, almond extract until well blended.T hen beat in the eggs.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and combine with the wet Iingredients.
-  Mix in cranberries and nuts with hand
- Divide dough in half. Form two logs(12X 2) on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.Dough may be sticky ; wet hands or use some flour to handle it.
- Bake for 35 mins or until logs turn light brown.
- Remove from oven and cool for 10 mins.Reduce oven heat to 300 F
- Cut the logs diagonally Into 3/4 inch slices.lay them on sides and bake on each  side for another 8-10 mins or until crispy.

Cool them and store them in airtight packs.

Low fat Eggless Mango Cake

I happened to eat mango cake at one of my friends place during a summer barbecue party.I was hesitating to eat it but to my surprise it tasted very good.Ever since I wanted to give it a try and found this recipe

eggless mango cake

Ingredients
1 cup fresh mango puree(I used store bought mango puree)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina/sooji/rava (fine)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Pinch of salt
Raisins/nuts(optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a baking tray.
Sift all purpose flour , baking soda,baking powder, salt and keep aside.
Blend together yogurt, mango puree, sugar, oil, cardamom powder.
Combine all dry and wet ingredients together.
Fold in raisins/nuts of your choice
Pour the batter in the greased baking tray
Bake the cake for 35-40 mins or until golden brown
Cool the cake and slice it

Besan Laddoo

Semiya aka vermicelli

Tring Tring
Tina:: Whats up?
aisha :: Planning to make semiya today.
Tine:: awesome..Can you teach me as well.
aisha :: Whatttttttttttt!!!Dont you know how to prepare semiya ???huh

Were you in this situation before?I was very well in this situation.The only time i entered kitchen was to eat food all those 17 years i was at home.Girls should not be pampered so much was what my granny used to spill the beans on my mom :)

Hmm but i always argued with granny that its no big task.i shall learn when needed.Yes folks for all those who are new to cooking...It is very easy to cook anything in the Internet world.

*****Semiya***

I never thought i would post a recipe for semiya.But i am dedicating this to all those amateur cooks who are completely new to cooking :)..
Also i try to cut down the calories in it a lot by?....wait and watch how?

Ingredients

1/2 cup Vermicelli (thin long vermicelli would be best)

sugar to taste

2 cups milk( use 2% fat milk to reduce calories)

nuts(cashew,almonds,raisins)

1.5 tsp ghee

Usually people tend to use lots of ghee to fry the dry fruits(nuts) .But that is not really required.Talk a little ghee and heat it in a pan.add the raisins to the ghee and keep the flame on low.wait until the raisins are puffed .Now add the remaining dry fruits and roast them an low flame.Once they turn brown all the vermicelli(we also get roasted vermicelli these days.I personally find the thin long vermicelli more tastier than the mtr vermicelli).once the vermicelli appears to turn brown in color add the milk immediately and increase the flame to medium.Add sugar as per your taste.

Cook the vermicelli until done.It should not be too liquid with milk nor too thick.Maintain a semi solid consistency as it would get think and hard upon cooling.

Kalakand/Milk burfi

soo Yummy was my chocolate walnut cake

*****Chocolate Walnut Cake*****

Its Thanksgiving evening and i baked this yummy chocolate walnut cake which is one of the first postings into my Blog.Starting my own food blog has been on my list from long time.This request came from my sweet cousins back in India.Everytime we spoke,i used to narrate some recipes to them on the phone so that they can try them later.But i wonder if at all they ever got the ingredients right nor did they try them out.Why would they without knowing how it would turn out.I would not if i were them.Do you ever know how would a dress look on you without wearing it?So is the outcome of a recipe.I never try out any recipe without seeing the photo of how it would turn out.So the recipes i am posting today are all dedicated to those loving cousins out there.

Ingredients required to make the cake

1 cup all purpose flour(maida)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup (oil/butter/ghee)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

handful of walnuts

1/2 tsp orange zest(optional)

pinch of salt

Now the Question is How to make it

Well its really simple.Whisk the eggs in a large bowl and combine the oil or ghee or butter into it.Now add the sugar and beat the mixture well.Add vanilla extract,baking powder,orange zest,salt,cocoa powder and combine the mixture well.Finally blend in all purpose flour and mix all the ingredients well.The batter should have a consistency similar to dosa batter.

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease the baking pan with a little butter and pour the batter into the baking pan.Place it in the middle rack of the oven.After 30 minutes prick the cake with a toothpick or knife and see that it returns clean.If it is not clean and has some batter around it,it would require another 10-15 minutes.Keeping checking until done.

There it is finally this delicious cake.I am sure it will fill in some amazing aroma in your house and a delight in your heart :)