Egg less Red Velvet Cake

Past few days in India has been hectic. I had been hoping to be able to blog from here, but was caught up with so many different things that, in the end blogging took a back seat. Today, I decided to give my blog a visit and found there are a few drafts which could be posted with a little effort. Of course, I do not want you guys to forget me while I am away from this space.

While I know I am posting two decadent sweets one after another, I really cant help it. The cake I am sharing today is the one I baked for my DH's birthday last month. I was hoping I would be able to post it sooner, but couldn't. I decided to post it on my birthday which was a couple of days back but, couldn't.really manage to do even that. So, today to break my long absence from blogging, I want to virtually treat you all with this Red Velvet Cake!

Birthdays are special. So, I like to bake something special. This Egg less Red Velvet Cake is also a result of such efforts. The cake was not as red as I would have like and I later felt I could another table spoon of the red colour. But, after it was iced and cut, the red looked reasonably good in contrast with the white icing. I actually forget to take a picture of a slice, so pardon me for that.

This article on wiki gives a synopsis of the history of this special cake. Since this cake is egg less I have deviated a lot from the way that cake is traditionally make. But for an egg less cake, the results were pretty good. Lets see how I made it.

Ingredients:

11/2 cup + 2tbsp plain flour +1tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1tin condensed milk
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp red colour (add another tbsp for a brighter red colour)
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp apple cider vinegar

Process:

1. Preheat the oven at 160 C. Line a 9" round tin. Please note that baking time may vary if you choose a smaller or larger tin. So, adjust accordingly.

2. Shift the flour, baking powder and baking soda twice. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl whip the condensed milk and butter till the mixture is creamy. Add the red food colour and whisk again.

4. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in 2-3 parts. Keep stirring while adding flour mixture. Add butter milk, vinegar and whisk for another 2 minutes. The batter will have a pouring consistency. Don't over do it

5. Pour the batter in the prepared tin and bake it in the preheated oven for 30 minutes at 160 C. Then lower the temperature to 150 C and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

6. The cake is done when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for at least 15 minutes before turning the cake out of the tin.Cool completely before icing the cake.

Mascarpone Cream Icing:

280 gm mascarpone cream
225 gm whipping cream
3/4 cup icing sugar

Pour all the ingredients in a large bowl and whip it till it is creamy and has a soft peak consistency. Chill it in the fridge for half an hour.

Assembling the cake:

Slice the cake in 3 layers. In a cake plate place the top most layer and spread the prepared icing in an even layer. Top it with the second and third layer in the same way and cover the whole cake with rest of the icing. Get creative with decorating the cake. I used piped border, glace cherries and chocolate hearts. You can do it the way you fancy!

I will definitely try to blog more often. I have read a few books and I will post the reviews soon. Stay tuned.
Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Celebrating one year of 'Pages' with Eggless Black Forest Cake!

Time flies. It really does. Some times this realization hits me with a bang and makes me nervous as each seconds trickles away. On other occasions, it is a time to rejoice, to celebrate. Today's occasion falls in the later category. It is my blog's birthday! It was sometime in November last year I created this blog but, it was the 22nd of November when I wrote the first post. So that is the day for me.

So here are my wishes- 

Happy Birthday Blog! I am so glad I created you. 

Through you, I am able to show case to the world what I love to do,

Through you, I have come to know so many like me,

Who like to seek happiness in the simplest things,

Like sharing thoughts on books, food or everyday tales,

Through you I have discovered a new world. 

So, thank you dear blog and I hope we continue on this journey for years to come.

To celebrate this special occasion, I have something special to share today! Black Forest Cake! I had prepared it for by DH birthday, but didn't get to post it. Today is the perfect day to share this sinfully delicious cake. To know a little history of this German dish read THIS. This is off course not a very traditional recipe as it is tweaked to be made egg less. I have made it a couple of times and have  followed the recipe from a Nita Mehta's cook book.

Typically, Black Forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream decorated cherries, and chocolate shavings. So first we need to prepare a chocolate cake.

Eggless Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients:

400gm condensed milk.
1 cup milk.
2 cup AP flour.
½ cup powdered sugar.
½ cup cocoa powder.
1 cup oil.
2 tsp baking powder.
1 tsp soda bicarbonate.
2 tsp vanilla essence.

Process:

1. Grease a 9 inch round baking tin and dust it nicely with flour. Preheat the oven at 175 C for 10-15 minutes.

2. Sieve flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda bi-carb together. Keep aside.

3. Beat oil, sugar and essence till well mixed. Add condensed milk and milk. Beat well till well incorporated.

4. To this mixture add flour mixture in 2-3 batches, mixing well all the time. Beat well for 4-5 minutes till the mixture is light and fluffy and of a soft dropping consistency. Add a few spoons of milk if needed.

5. Transfer the cake mixture to the prepare tin. Level it.

6. Bake it at 175 C for 50-55 minutes.

7. Insert a clean knife in the middle of the cake to check if it is done. If it comes out clean, switch off the oven and take the cake out. Remove from tin after 10-15 minutes, by inverting on the wire rack.

For the black forest cake we will need.

1 chocolate cake (From above).
150 gm glazed cherries.
1 tbsp rum (Gives the flavour, I encourage to use it or use rum essence).
2-3 tbsp sugar.
¼ cup water.

Cream Icing:

300ml double cream- chilled.
4 tbsp sugar or to taste.

Chocolate Decoration:

200 gm milk or semisweet chocolate, as per your taste.

Process:

1.   Chop the chocolate bar into small chunks and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes in 4 steps of 30 seconds each. Stir every 30 seconds just to make sure chocolate doesn’t get burnt at the bottom and is evenly melted.

2.   Keep a parchment paper spread over a baking tray. Make sure it sticks to the tray, if needed use adhesive to make it stick. Spread the melted chocolate swiftly and evenly on the parchment paper. Let it rest for4-5 minutes is a relatively cool place so that the chocolate is firm enough to touch but not hard. Slice them into bars of equal sizes using a sharp knife. It is better to measure the height of the cake before spreading the chocolate and slicing it. Once sliced keep it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes till it is well set and gently take them off the parchment paper and store them in the fridge in an airtight container till needed.

Cream Icing and Assembling the cake:


Process:

1. Slice the chocolate cake evenly into 3 equal layers or more if you like. Place one half upside down on a flat plate.

2. Beat cream with sugar till the cream is thick and stands soft peaks. Keep it in the freeze till needed.

3. Dissolve sugar in water with rum. Thinly slice the cherries keeping aside 5-6 for decoration.

4. When the cake is completely cooled down, brush the sugar and rum syrup generously over the cake. The cake will soak it and will be moist. Spread a layer of cream over it evenly. Now spread a thin layer of sliced cherries.

5. Place the second layer of the cake. Brush with syrup generously and repeat the process of spreading cherries and then place the third and final layer and brush the syrup generously. Cover the whole of the cake with cream icing evenly.

6. Cover the cake sides with the prepared chocolate bars. Decorate the top with cream and cherries as desired.

7. Keep the cake in the freeze and take it out 15 minutes before serving

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Celebration Chocolate Cake With Fudge Frosting (Eggless)

Chocolate has a special place in my heart. The very thought of it sets my mouth water and so when it comes to baking a special cake, a 'Chocolate Cake' comes to mind at the very first instant. I have made it quite many times and it has always been a hit. I love this recipe because it is eggless (it has to be) and infact vegan(with no butter or dairy product, I mean just the cake not the frosting). I am not vegan, so I didn't go all the way to make a vegan frosting.

This cake recipe was passed on by a friend and I had jotted it down in a paper.I don't where I kept it but I know its somewhere safe ;-). So, I googled for one and found this. It is a very easy recipe with no fancy ingredients, even beginners can try it. I made it for our 3rd marriage anniversary and needless to say, it was a hit!

Here is the recipe:

(Click here for the printable version)
Ingredients:

11/2 cup AP Flour.
1 cup sugar.
3 tbsp cocoa powder.
1 tsp baking soda.
1/2 tsp salt.
5 tbsp oil ( I use sunflower oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract.
1 tbsp white vinegar.
1 cup water.

Process:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 C and grease two 8 inch round sandwich tins.

2. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients and shift so that it is well mixed and uniform. Make a hole in the centre.

3. Add the oil, vanilla extract and water and whisk it to combine it all. Add the vinegar and very quickly blend it lightly. Immediately pour the batter equally in the greased tins and bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes.

4. To test if its done insert a skewer in the middle and if it comes out clean, cake is perfectly baked.

5. Take it out and run a knife through the sides of the cake and let it rest for 15 minutes to half an hour before taking it out of the tin.

6. Cool it completly before proceeding for the icing.

For the fudge frosting:

100 g milk chocolate (or dark chocolate or a combination of both)

1 cup icing sugar.
4 tbsp butter soft
5 tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Also required:

Sugar syrup made with a teaspoon of sugar and water

Process:

1.  Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Pour all the ingredients into a heat proof bowl and place it over a pan containing boiling water. Stir the ingredients as it melts. The bowl should not touch the water. Alternately, you can microwave the chopped chocolates till it melts.

2. Take it off gas once nicely melted and beat well. Once the cake is cooled completely, place one half upside down and brush it nicely with the sugar syrup. It will keep the cake moist.

3. Pour the freshly prepared icing and cover it quickly. Place the second half and pour rest of the icing working it quickly before it is cooled and starts settling.  With a warm palette knife smoothen it as quickly as possible.

For the decoration I used:

Grated chocolate, cocoa powder, chocolate hearts and chocolate lace border. That's a lot of chocolate I know but for a chocoholic like me its GREAT! :-) (huge grin)!!

For chocolate hearts, I made outlines of little hearts on a parchment/greaseproof paper and turned it upside down. In a handmade cone made from parchment paper or plastic, I filled melted chocolate and closed the other end. I cut a small peice of the pointed end off the cone and filled the heart oultines with melted chocolate and left them to set. Once set, I lifted them and kept them in refrigerator till needed for decoration.

I got the idea of lace border from here. Deeba's PAB is an inspiration for me and I am always awestruck by her pictures. This time the lace border was not that perfect, but I am sure it will be with practice.

Notes:

1. After adding the vinegar, do not beat the batter much or else it will not rise. You have to be real quick at this stage.

2. It can be baked in 1 large 8 inch line and then slit it in the middle. But, I prefer to bake it separately.

3. Greasing the cake tin properly before baking and letting the cake cool down before taking it out it is very important.

4. The cake tastes great with or without frosting. It can also be served warm (30 secs in microwave) with a scoop of vanilla icecream and chocolate sauce!

Here is a piece for you. ;-)!

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!