No icing on the cake

CHENNA  PODA   / PANEER CAKE /INDIAN CHEESECAKE _ It literally means burnt or caramelized cheese . It's a very popular sweet of Odisha ,India , the home of Lord Jagannath at Puri . It is said that it is his favorite sweet . Infact ,   it's offered as an offering to him in the temple and thereafter to the devotees  as Prasad          It is made by mixing home made cream cheese ( Chenna) with sugar or jaggery , ghee ( clarified butter) ,  Semolina, dry fruits  and traditionally baked in angithi ( mud ovens fed by dry leaves ) . So it is also called the Indian cheese cake. Now ovens  and even microwaves are used to make this delicious sweet . The flavor of the caramelized sugar or jaggery is the star of the Chenna poda .        Chenna is made by curdling boiling milk with little lime juice till the milk separates . The cuddled milk is strained through and the white residue left on the strainer is the...

CUCUMBER CARROT CAKE This delicious cake is a take off on the famous Goanese cake , ' Tavsoli' or 'Tausali' . It's   primarily made of Semolina ( Suji), eggs , sugar or sometimes jaggery and  shortening . I have made an eggless version of this cake .You can also use  1 cup of grated fresh or  dessicated coconut instead of carrots . ( I have made both the versions ) INGREDIENTS Mix together in a big bowl till there are no lumps Semolina (Suji  )                        1cup Curd.                                           1cup Milk                           as needed to make a smooth batter Grated cucumber                      1 cup Grated carrot.    ...

GAJAR kA HALWA CAKE ( CARROT PUDDING CAKE) (A cake  🎂  made with left over carrot pudding ( gajar ka halwa)  . This is another of my successful experiments ).         GAJAR kA HALWA ( Indian carrot pudding) is a popular and relished winter dessert made by cooking grated carrots with milk , sugar and  milk solids ( khoya ) along with other ingredients as given in the recipe below MAVA ( MILK SOLIDS) _ Made by cooking milk on low flame patiently, stirring continuously,till it evaporates and becomes a solid mass .  It can takes whole lot of time, energy muscle power and patience to make mava .  It's used in making of many varities of Indian sweets and desserts .          For a long time,  I wanted to bake a Carrot Cake and also a Mava Cake .         The opportunity came  when one day  about 2 cups of halwa made for dessert  was left  .  I thought why not ...

NANKHATAIS (INDIAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES) These are popular eggless Indian cookies enjoyed by both adults and children alike. They are mostly made during Diwali and other festive occasions primarily in Northern parts of India . The unique nutty aroma of the cookies is just so tempting that you   just can't stop at one . INGREDIENTS Flour (Maida) _ 1cup Semolina ( fine) _ 1TBSP Chickpea flour ( Besan) _ 1/4cup Baking soda  _  1/4 tsp Ghee ( clarified butter).at room temperature _ 1/2 cup Powdered sugar _ 1/2 cup Yoghurt (curd) _ 2Tbsp Milk _ 1_3 tbsp Green cardamom powder Slivers of pistachios/ almonds METHOD Preheat the oven to 180degree celcius for 10 minutes Grease and line a baking tray with butter paper Cream sugar and ghee well till light and fluffy Mix the dry ingredients ( maida,Suji, Besan, baking soda) Mixture will resemble bread crumbs at this stage Gradually add yoghurt and cardamom powder Add milk if and as needed to make a smooth do...

Coffee cupcakes decorated with jam, chocolate sauce and gems Chocolate cupcakes cooling on the wire rack      Chocolate   and coffee cakes Though I don't like the smell of bananas, especially ripe or overripe ones , I don't mind having banana cake, banana bread or cupcakes. Moreover, I use bananas as egg replacers , as I bake only eggless cakes and puddings .         COFFEE / CHOCOLATE / CAKE /       CUPCAKES WET INGREDIENTS Bananas     2 Sugar.          3/4 cups ( powdered in your coffee grinder) Vanilla essence  _ 1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder _ pinch METHOD TO MAKE THE WET BATTER Beat 2 bananas Add 3/4 cup powdered sugar and mix Add cinnamon powder , vanilla essence and mix DRY INGREDIENTS Flour ( Maida )/ whole wheat flour (atta) - 1.5 cups Baking powder -1/2 TSP Baking soda- 1/4tsp METHOD TO PREPARE THE DRY INGREDIENTS Sift all ingredients listed under...

This sugar free, gluten free and dairy free, yet moist, spongy and healthy cake was baked by my younger sister on Christmas. You don't need any occasions to bake cakes. Make any day a special occasion by baking delicious cakes and surprising your family and friends! DRY INGREDIENTS Almond flour - 1 1 / 2 cup Coconut flour - 1/2 cup Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup Coconut flakes (optional)  - 2 tbsp  Baking soda - 2 tsp salt - pinch Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup WET INGREDIENTS (Cream together these wet ingredients in a separate bowl)   Oil - 1/2 cup Honey - 1/2 cup ( Feel free to adjust the honey to your preferred sweetness ) Coconut milk(if needed) - 1/4 cup Vanilla extract or essence  - 1/4 tsp Eggs (at room temperature) - 3 Large very ripe bananas - 2  PREPARATION STEPS:  Preheat the oven to 180 °C . Lightly grease a baking dish and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients except Chocolate chips. In a bl...

      🎄 💐 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL 🎄 💐 No Christmas is complete without the Christmas cake. Usually these cakes are made of dry fruits and nuts w(raisins, cashew nuts, almonds , pistachios,prunes, apricots,candied Orange and lemon peels, tutti frutti, lemon and Orange zests etc) in alcoholic drinks months or even a year ahead of Christmas. But my family being teetotalers, I soak them in orange or mixed fruit juice a couple of days in advance in the fridge.  I remember helping my mother soaking up the chopped dry fruits and nuts when I was a kid 😂.            I have used apples as an egg substitute to bake this cake. Here goes the recipe of my soft, spongy, egg-less, butter less(except for greasing the cake dish), teetotaler Christmas fruit cake DRY INGREDIENTS Refined flour - 2 cups Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup Baking powder - 1.5 tsp Baking soda - 3/4 tsp Caramelized sugar - 1 tbsp ( For the method to caramelize suga...

I remember my mother used to make awesome bread puddings . Of course she used eggs , as that time  I was a hard core non vegetarian who couldn't survive without her daily dose of eggs , meat and fish . But after I turned a vegetarian ( only odd one in the family, for no specific reason) . I looked up google  and experimented  with several eggless versions of this classic dessert . After many trials and errors and several failed efforts ,I finally succeeded with this one.          This is one of  my son's favorite desserts .  I have made the  bread and butter pudding with  a few changes in the original recipe which calls for using eggs .I have even made this delicious pudding  in individual bowls . Though   the authentic recipe doesn't call for it ,I have ventured out  to use  powdered oats  .I didn't regret  it as my experiment clicked and the outcome was a super success .  I use mala...

Here's a recipe for you that I started off as an experiment which turned out great! It was a much loved and frequently requested indulgence by the kids. I hope your children will equally enjoy this delicious cake. DRY INGREDIENTS Glucose biscuits - 20 to 25 Semolina Rusks -  8 to 10 Sugar powdered 3 to 4 tbsp Dry fruits of your choice (coconut flakes, raisins, cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios) Eno(fruit salt)- Without any flavors (Plain regular) WET INGREDIENTS Milk as needed to make the batter PREPARATION STEPS: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Powder the biscuits and the rusks separately in a grinder. Mix them up in a big mixing bowl. Add enough milk to form a smooth batter. Add dry fruits, reserving some for garnishing. Add Eno and mix the batter lightly. You can add milk if you feel that the batter is too thick. Grease and line a cake tin with butter paper. Pour the cake batter into the cake tin. Sprinkle the reserved dry fruits. Bake f...

  Enjoy this no bake pinwheel cookies with your family and friends this holiday season! To make these, I have used orange flavored cream cookies for the outer layer and plain milk cookies for the inner layer. I removed the cream from the orange cookies and mixed dry fruits powder in the cream.  I used water to make dough. Happy Holidays to you and your families in advance!! 🎄💐 Enjoy these tasty bites with your loved ones and let me know your feedback. INGREDIENTS Orange  cream cookies -15 to 20 Vanilla cream cookies - 15 to 20 Cocoa powder - 2 to3 tsp Sugar - 2 tsp (optional) Dry fruits powder - 2 to 3 tsp PREPARATION STEPS: For the Orange Outer Layer Open up the orange cream cookies and remove the cream and keep in a bowl. Powder the cookies in a mixer and keep aside. Now in a big mixing bowl, put the cookies powder. Add a little bit of water and make a dough Wrap in cling foil and keep in fridge till it is to be used. For the Chocolate dou...

  Christmas and New Year holidays, the most wonderful time of the year, is just around the corner! It's a time when family and friends get together to enjoy this amazing festive season with beautiful decorations, mouthwatering food and new clothes. As the festive fervor has also caught on me, I felt an urge to come up with a quick n easy yet delicious recipe that would make a wonderful memory of this joyous occasion. Follow my quick and easy oven-free recipe (yes, you read that right!) to enjoy this nutty, fudgy holiday season. DRY INGREDIENTS Glucose biscuits - 20 to 25 (crush roughly) Dry fruits n nuts(cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, pistachios ) - Chopped roughly Cocoa powder - 3 to 4 tbsp WET INGREDIENTS Honey  - 2 to 3 tbsp Vanilla essence Water  - 2 to 3 tbsp PREPARATION STEPS: Mix the Cocoa powder, Honey, Vanilla essence and water in a bowl to make chocolate sauce. Cook the sauce ingredients while stirring continuously on low flame till t...

Eggless, oil less & butter less cake.....yet so spongy, fluffy & delicious!  I steamed this cake in my Momo maker instead of baking it. It so happened that just after I prepared the batter, the electricity played truant. Wondering what to do, as there was no surety when the electricity would return, I suddenly remembered I had once seen the host of a cookery show steam the cake batter in a Wok filled with water. She placed a perforated plate in the Wok on which she placed the cake dish. She then, covered the cake dish with an aluminum foil and put a lid over the Wok. The result was amazing! So it struck me why can't I do the same in my Momo maker! Ta-da! the result was a steaming beauty relished by the entire family 😋 DRY INGREDIENTS Whole wheat flour (Atta) - 2 cups Powdered Sugar - 1cup Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Baking soda - 1/2tsp Cinnamon powder - pinch Chopped seedless Dates - 1/2 cup Raisins - 1/2 cup Dry fruits of your choice WET INGREDIENTS ...

I always enjoy baking a marble/ zebra cake as I can experiment with the flavors. Of course also for the mystery of the  marble effect which unfolds only when the cake comes out of the oven and is sliced. The design on the star cake was a totally unexpected one, which I could not recreate again, though there has been no compromise on the taste and texture.          I have treated my colleagues to the zebra cake and it had been highly appreciated. The recipes for both the cakes are same, but for the methods, as mentioned in the recipes. I hope you enjoy baking this recipe and share your experience. DRY INGREDIENTS Refined flour - 2.5 cup Baking powder - 2 tsp Baking soda - 1.5 tsp Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp Custard powder - 1 tbsp Cornflour - 1 tbsp Dry fruits like Tutti Frutti, Raisins, Cashews, Coconut flakes, Almonds, Pistachios WET INGREDIENTS (Cream together these wet ingredients in a separate bowl) Sugar - 2 cups Oil -1 cup Vanilla e...