Easy Sponge cake !!!

Hi All,


It's been a real long break for me. We were moving again , then had friends visiting and staying with us. Then the bigger surprise was my Dad who had not seen his granddaughter from her birth decided to make a trip to see her (not to see his daughter but his granddaughter.. poor me). So 2010 came to an end with Dad leaving back to India :(. Hmmm i really do miss my parents ..... the downfall of living in the USofA i guess !!!!!


So let me begin this post wishing everyone a very Happy New Year (though a month late)!!!! The New Year brought a never before seen snowstorm in Atlanta and it was a nightmare having to sit at home for 5 days as the roads were not cleared ..... !!!! After having lived in New Jersey this was a new experience for us ... to stay cooped at home !!! 


Here i was ..sitting at home , with nothing to do ...as in could not go out. And my daughter hated being cooped up continuously .  My daughter loves it when the oven light goes on and stays close to it for the entire duration that something is being baked in the oven. So i decided to bake something that would go with the evening coffee.


The sponge cake recipe was given to me by a good friend Ramya of http://ramyaacooks.blogspot.com/ even before my daughter was born and its always turned out excellent. Every time my Hubby feels like having cake this is his first choice. It is also a hit with my DD :). But this time for a change instead of using a normal square or round baking pan i decided to put to use my brand new Bundt pan. And boy did it turn out good !!!! Or rather should i say great ;).

The above photo if you notice has been cracked on one end :(. This is because i did not allow the cake to cool once i removed it from the oven and in a mad rush turned it over. As they say i think i have to practice patience when it comes to a cake cooling down..... :).

The photo above is after cutting off the part where it was cracked ;).. and such a big piece went into the tummies of me and my DD !!!!!


Coming to the recipe ...


Ingredients :


1 stick  unsalted butter( room temperature)

1 3/4 cups cake flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 cup sugar 
3 large eggs( room temperature )
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
2/3 cup buttermilk( room temperature )


To make the cake :


Grease a square or round or in my case a bundt pan with butter and flour and keep it aside.
Also preheat the oven to 350F.


Now sieve the flour , baking powder and salt and keep it aside.


In a bowl beat together butter and sugar till its all fluffy. To this add eggs one at a time and beat each egg till its all well mixed. Now add the vanilla extract and mix it together with the butter and eggs.


Now add the flour (3 parts) and buttermilk ( bm , 2 parts)  in parts to the wet ingredients starting with flour and ending up with flour ( flour + bm + flour + bm + flour ).


Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl as you beat the mixture.


Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for 40 mins . 


Normally it takes me 40 mins but when i baked it in a bundt pan it was all done in 30 mins.
To check if the cake is done insert a toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean you are all set !!!!


Cool the cake for 10 to 15 mins , invert , slice and enjoy !!!!!!


It goes well as a coffee time cake and my family loves to eat it with ice-cream and strawberries as a after dinner dessert !!!!


Let me know if you like it too :)

Chocolate Custard - and it is Eggless !!!!!!!!

Custard has always been an all time favourite dessert for me. If i have short notice of friends dropping by for lunch or dinner , then this is the one i prepare. I normally use Brown & polson Custard Powder and i always have an extra packet in stock in my pantry :).
Custard served with a good helping of any combination of fruits is a way to make kids eat fruits too :). And rather than plain custard , custard served with fruits is a better way to go about it.
The other day i was browsing through various blogs and i happened to chance upon Chocolate Custard - made from scratch. I was so tempted with the photos on the blog and with the recipe that i had to definitely try it :). Best of all , for all those veggie lovers out there , this recipe is eggless .
I made a couple of changes since post my daughter i prefer less chocolate in my desserts , and this from a person who has a big sweet tooth :P.
The source for the recipe is from DivineTaste.Since i wanted the custard more creamier i increased the quantity of cream.

Ingredients : 


1.5 cups milk
1.5 cups cream 
1/2 cup sugar
less than 1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornflour or cornstarch ( i had cornstarch and so i used it)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Extra cocoa powder for sprinkling ( i skipped this)


To go about making the custard :


Take a saucepan and mix 1 cup milk with the cream and set it in medium flame. In the meantime in a bowl mix the remaining milk with sugar , cornstarch and cocoa powder and set it aside. Make sure there are no lumps.
Once the milk + cream mixture comes to a boil , bring the flame to low and add the chocolate mixture to it. Keep it in low and keep stirring the mixture ensuring that no lumps are formed. Once the mixture starts thickening add the vanilla extract , stir it and remove from the flame.
Allow the mixture in the pan to cool , transfer it to custard bowls and refrigerate. 
I allowed the mixture to chill for almost 6 hrs ( made it in the morning , in time to serve it as dessert over lunch) before serving. 
As the original recipe suggests you can sprinkle with cocoa powder before you serve. I skipped this as like i already did say , i am not much a fan of too much chocolate in my desserts and hence the reduced cocoa powder in my recipe too :).


Your yummy chocolate custard is now ready to be served !!!!!!


try it out and let me know if it was a hit at your home too !!!!!

Tiramisu

Hmmmm Tiramisu...even telling it out makes my mouth water. Yummmmm!!!!! From the time i came to the US post marriage my favorite restaurant has always been "Olive Garden". The unlimited breadsticks and the minestrone soup are more than enough to fill up your stomach that i hardly have the space to eat the entrée ordered.By default the dessert that i order is always Tiramisu. I love the dessert so much that i decided to try making it at home. So on a fine weekend i left my daughter with her dad (telling my hubby it was dad-daughter bonding time) and decided to try it out.

There are people who would do the whole Tiramisu from scratch but with a 8 month old i do not have too much time on my hands , so i normally buy the necessary ingredients.

I have two recipes i follow - one with eggs and one without.  Today i will give out the one without eggs. This is easy to make and if you are gonna have friends over for dinner , then you can make it in the morning and push it into the refrigerator to chill. Its ready to serve in time for dinner :).

So what exactly is a Tiramisu??? The below is a source from my best friend the Wiki :)

             Tiramisu (Italian: Tiramisù; Venetian: Tiramesù " [tirameˈsu]) is one of the most popular Italian cakes. It is made of savoiardi (otherwise known as lady finger biscuits) dipped in espresso or strong coffee or rum, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, and sugar, and topped with cocoa.

          The original recipe called for the following ingredients: savoiardi biscuits, eggs, sugar, mascarpone, cocoa powder, honey, and carbonated water.In the original recipe, there was no liquor as the cake was originally aimed at children and the elderly, and the original shape was round. The phrase tirami su literally means "pick me up" or "pull me up" in reference to the effects of the sugar and espresso.

Please bear with the photo for now as i am still practicing on the aspects of these photos. Will put up a better one soon :)

The source for my recipe is from the Betty Crocker Website which you can see here.

Prep Time : 30 mins

Total time : 4h 30 mins ( 4hrs to refrigerate)

Servings : Depends on how big or small a piece one cuts :)

Ingredients :

8oz softened Mascarpone cheese or cream cheese if one does not have Mascarapone ( leave the cheese out at room temp , if not microwave it for a min)

4oz powdered sugar

2tbsp light rum

8oz heavy whipping cream

1 package ladyfingers (some would say 12 would do , but i use all 24 from the package. I buy it from Trader's Joe as these are of better quality)

4oz  prepared espresso or strong coffee ( should be chilled)

4tsps baking cocoa

Chocolate shavings for serving

Preparation :

1. In a large vessel (comfortable  for you to beat in) beat the mascarpone ( or cream cheese) and sugar on medium speed.

2. Add in the rum and beat all together.

3. In a separate bowl beat the whipping cream till you see stiff peaks being formed.

4.Now mix both the mixtures together and beat them together (only on medium speed).

5.Slightly dip the ladyfinger's in the espresso ( dip it very lightly as otherwise they will turn soggy) and in any pan of your wish ( i used a 8*8*2 square pan) arrange the ladyfingers horizontally ( i used 12 on each layer).

6.Spread half of the cheese mixture evenly over the ladyfingers and sprinkle cocoa powder on top.

7.Now once again on top of the cocoa arrange another layer of espresso dipped ladyfingers , spread the remaining cheese mixture , sprinkle cocoa powder.

8.Wrap up the pan in foil or plastic wrap and allow it to refrigerate for 4 hrs.

9. When you want to serve remove the pan , cut slices , drizzle chocolate shavings and your Tiramisu is ready to eat.

Note: Please remember to leave it covered in the refrigerator.