Simple Chocolate Cake

I know, it's been a long time since I updated my blog. The posting is getting postponed for one or other reason. As I started working now I became little busy to concentrate on my blog. Or may be that's just an excuse. Sometimes we need break from any work, don't we? But it seems I've taken a long break, so decided to make a fresh start with fresh recipes.

I wish to start my fresh journey with this amazing yet simple cake recipe. My daughter made this cake all by herself with no help from me. She made it for her little sister's 9^th Birthday party that happened last Saturday. She decorated the cake so well that everyone at the party loved the decoration and of course the taste. Isn't it pretty?

Here is the recipe:

Recipe Source: About.com

Ingredients: 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (We used Whole Wheat Flour) 2 cups granulated Sugar ¾ cup unsweetened Cocoa 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda 1 tsp Salt 2 Eggs  1 cup Milk  ½ cup Vegetable Oil 1 ½ tsp Vanilla 1 cup Boiling Water Preparation: Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla to above mixture and beat well with electric mixer or an egg beater. Then stir in boiling water and mix well. The batter should be thin. Take two cake pans (8-inch), grease them well with a non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter until ¾th of the pan is filled. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Then place both the cake pans on the middle rack side by side Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. When done, remove the pans from the oven and place them on the cooling rack to allow them cool for 10 minutes in pan. Then remove from pan and cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired.

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Eggless Chocolate Cake

I made this for my daughter’s birthday. It came out so good and yummy. But I didn't decorate the cake, I just dusted it with fine sugar.

Recipe Source: All Recipes

Ingredients: 2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 1 ½ cups white Sugar ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder ½ cup Vegetable Oil (I used Olive Oil) 1 ½ cups Water 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Baking Powder ¼ tsp salt 1 ½ tbsp Vanilla Extract ¼ cup semi sweet Chocolate Chips Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan. Add sifted flour + cocoa powder + sugar + soda + baking powder + salt to a large bowl and mix well. Add vanilla + water + oil to the above mixture and mix well again.  Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the above cake batter into the greased cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Take the cake pan out of the oven carefully (it will be hot) and leave it for some time until it cools down. When it becomes cold, run a knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it. Transfer the cake to a serving plate, decorate as you like and enjoy the taste.

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Simple White Cake

Yummy, Spongy Cake

Last Saturday, I was taking a nap after lunch. Suddenly a touch of sweet, aromatic and delicious smell awakened me.  I instantly felt hungry! I rushed downstairs to find out that my daughter made a delicious cake to surprise me as that day was my birthday. She made the cake without taking anybody’s help. It turned out so soft and moist and of course delicious. She even took snaps for my blog. Isn’t she cute?

Here is the recipe:

Recipe Source: All Recipes

Original recipe makes 12 cupcakes or 1- 9x9 inch pan but my daughter took a small heart shaped pan that didn’t hold all the batter. So she poured the remaining batter into a cupcake pan that gave her 16 small cupcakes. (See the picture above)

Ingredients: 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour ½ cup Milk 1 ¾ tsp Baking Powder 1 cup White Sugar ½ cup Butter 2 Eggs 2 tsp Vanilla Extract A handful of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (My daughter added these as her own special touch) Preparation: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, grease a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, cream the sugar and butter together. Then crack the eggs, add them to the bowl, beat well and stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the above mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk and chocolate chips and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. If using muffin pan spoon in the batter. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.  For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the cake and the cake springs back when touched. Remove the cake from the oven and leave aside until it becomes completely cold. Then cut into pieces and enjoy. Yummy!

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Eggless Fruit Cake

Yummy, Eggless Fruit Cake for Christmas

First let me talk about the big change I told you about in my previous post. Many of you have guessed correctly!! Yes, I am going to get my own domain from the New Year. I am so happy about it. But I am still working on it and I will give you more details soon.

I’ve been thinking to bake a fruit cake for Christmas, but most of the recipes I found on the net contain rum/brandy in them. As I want kids also (of course us too) to eat it, I wanted to omit it. I know true Christmas Fruit Cake means we have to prepare it traditionally, but hey, nothing wrong in trying this simple and yummy cake too!! It tasted so delicious and I had the satisfaction that I baked some fruit cake for this Christmas.

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Microwave Apple Upside down Cake

Ever since Srivalli of Cooking4allseasons has announced the MEC: Cakes theme, I have been digging through all my recipe collection. Finally I found this cake that is done easily in microwave. I clearly don’t know why I forgot about it till now! Thanks to Srivalli, I could bring this recipe to the front and make it. I was surprised how easily this was done in a microwave. I made little changes to the original recipe, though! Actually it was pineapple upside down cake, but as I don’t have pineapples on hand, I replaced them with apples. And for pineapple juice as suggested in the original recipe, I used apple juice. That’s it!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp Apple Juice
• ¼ cup Sugar
• 1 Apple (any kind)
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 2 Egg Whites
• 3 tbsp Butter
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp Baking Soda

Preparation:

Peel the apple and core out the seeds. Then slice into thin rounds like in the picture below. Keep aside.

Place butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 1 minute or until the butter melts.

In a different bowl mix apple juice with sugar and beat well with a spoon. To this, add all the other ingredients except the apple slices and beat well either with a manual or electrical mixer until the mixture turns smooth. Keep aside.

Coat a microwave safe bowl (I used a 2-quart glass bowl) with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange the apple slices in a circular pattern at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the prepared batter on top of these slices.

Place the bowl in the microwave on an inverted saucer. Microwave for 6 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back when touched lightly.

Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes until the cake cools down. Then invert onto a serving plate. Cut into pieces and serve. It tasted delicious.

This goes to Srivalli’s MEC: Cakes event.

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