Poached Apple Cinnamon Cake (Eggless and Whole Wheat)

After a long hiatus, I baked again and I baked a lot. I wanted to share an awesome new recipe that I tried out – Poached Apple Cinnamon Cake. This cake apparently is the best cake I have ever made.

I modified the recipe for Spiced Pear Cake from Passionate About Baking, who is in turn had gotten the recipe from Food Network Canada.

There are two parts to this cake – the poached apples and cake itself. You can place whole poached apples into the cake, but I cut mine up into quarter slices and spread them around. Next time, I cut an apple into 4 quarters and further slice each quarter into 2 to 3 pieces so that you can get pieces of apple in each bite.

As I am writing this up, I realized that I used WAY less water than was stated in the original recipe for poaching, but it worked out fine!

Next time I am going to try making this without sugar (using honey instead) to make it a sugar-free, vegetarian dessert!

Here is my eggless version:

Poached Apple Cinnamon Cake
Makes 2 – 4 X 8 inch cakes make in a loaf pan

Ingredients

Poached Apples

• 2 medium apples (cut into quarter slices, cut further after poaching)
• Juice of 1 small lemon (mine was a circular lemon about 1.5 inches in diameter)
• 1 cup water (original recipe says 4 cups of water)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick

Cinnamon Cake

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup ground almonds / walnuts
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 apple puree

Directions:

Poached Apples

1. Peel the apples and slice into quarters.
2. Place the apples in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Set aside.
3. Place the water, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Add the apples and the remaining lemon juice.
5. With the syrup barely simmering, poach the apples until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.
7. Return apples to cooled poaching liquid.

Cinnamon Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and flour pan.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, cream the butter with the brown sugar. Add apple puree and mix until smooth.
4. Measure out 1/4 cup of the poaching liquid.
5. Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the poaching liquid.
6. Pour the batter into the pan. Place poached apple pieces in the batter.
7. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake between 2 apples comes out clean.
8. Let cool on a rack and unmould gently.

Vegan Mini Whole Wheat Chocolate Heart Cake with Strawberry Topping

Through some random clicking through links on my list of food blogs, I came across Red Chillies' Vegan Chocolate Cake, which is originally from Allrecipes and was submitted to Madhuram's eggless baking with vinegar event.

I wanted to make some easy and quick cake to take for some friends I was meeting after a long time and decided to give it a try. Unlike Red Chillies' experience, I found this cake to be quite moist. I made it in my bundt cake pan and perhaps did not grease it properly so ended up with lots of cake with no shape. I've made vinegar chocolate cake before and my opinion is that they are more like brownies than cake (that might also be because I used whole wheat flour, so they are denser..)

BUT since it was moist, it was very easy to shape with my hands without the addition of frosting or anything else. Inspired by Priya's Hearts for Valentine's Day event, I came up with these heart shaped mini cakes. These of course are being submitted to the event and is my first submission to a food blogging event =)

So I made 1cm thick circles and used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. Layered two hearts together with some frosting (not too much as generally people find its addition to be too sweet here) and topped with strawberry topping I made a day ago. It's the perfect size for a dessert without being too much or too little. I would perhaps next time also cover with a chocolate ganache.

Great thing about this recipe is that you can make it all in one flour or even the pan (if using a cake pan)

Note: I predominantly use whole wheat instead of all-purpose flour (or maida in India). Everything tastes delicious though it may be denser. This was no exception. I would recommend the switch. It's healthier =)

Mini Whole Wheat Chocolate Heart Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• (vegan) frosting as needed
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Take a loaf pan and grease it thoroughly.
• Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
• Now add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
• Remove from tray and crumble together. Make 1 cm thick rounds that are larger than cookie cutter. Cut out hearts, using excess from the side to make more.
• Top one heart with frosting and place another heart on top of it.
• Serve with strawberry or any fruit topping.

Fresh Strawberry Topping

Its technically spring, but winter like weather and fruit season in India. Lots of sweet strawberries, kiwis (well they are almost gone), pears, chickoo, pineapples and more. I tend to buy strawberries every time I go to my fruitwalla. Sometimes though, I dont get around to eating them.

I had a 200g carton of strawberries that needed to be used up, so I decided to make some fresh strawberry topping that I could use sometime in the next week or so, as long as I kept it in the fridge/freezer. I've actually kept this in the freezer for longer in the past. As long as you can prevent freezer burn, it should keep.

Ingredients

• 200grams fresh strawberries, chopped
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  

Directions

• Chop all strawberries and set aside 1/3 of them.
• Place remaining 2/3 strawberries along with sugar and vanilla on medium heat until bubbly. Reduce to low and cook for additional 10 minutes. Be sure to stir regularly to prevent sticking.
  
• Transfer cooked strawberry mixture to blender and puree.
  
• Add the uncooked strawberries to puree. Allow mixture to cool on counter.
  
• Serve over ice cream, pancakes, cakes and more or keep in fridge for use within week, freezer for longer storage.

I ended up using this on the vegan mini chocolate cakes.

Pineapple Free Vegan Carrot Cake (Eggless)

It's carrot season in India so we have these wonderfully sweet carrots readily available. For a long time I have been thinking to bake my a carrot cake and today, I had a lot of carrots that needed to be used up so thought why not. Unfortunately all the recipes I came across needed eggs and/or pineapple juice and I had neither. So I looked around some more, mixed and matched to come up with this Pineapple Free - Vegan - Eggless Carrot Cake made in typical fashion with whole wheat flour. It was so moist and delicious to eat. You could see the pieces of carrots. Did not need any frosting. Definitely a keeper.

(Pineapple free) Vegan Carrot Cake
makes 1 - 9in bundt cake + 6 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (can used all purpose)
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp applesauce (unsweetened)
  
• 1/4 cup oil (used saffrola)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter and flour bundt pan thoroughly.
  
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
• Add the sugars to applesauce, vanilla and oil. Blend well.
• Mix in the flour mixture. [It may seem a bit dry here, but don't worry] Stir in carrots and mix well.
  
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until surface of cake bounces back upon touch. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

A super easy recipe that is delicious and quite healthy. You can mix and match the fruit according to the season or use frozen fruits for a tasty treat that can be dessert or an appetizer. Works best with a mix of atleast 3 fruits

Ingredients

Note: Feel free to mix and match with whatever fruits you wish.

• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced
• handful of seedless grapes, cut in half
• 8 ounces strawberries (or any fresh or frozen berries, thaw before using)
• 100 g pineapple, diced
  
• 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (cherry, orange or apricot jam or marmalade work well- try a different flavour from the fruits used)
• 8 ounces raspberries or peaches or blueberries (fresh or frozen, thaw before using) - optional
  
• 2 apples - peeled, cored and diced (optional)
• mangoes or any soft fruits (optional)
  

• 10 (10 inch) flour tortillasbutter flavored cooking spray or butter, melted
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix fruit and preserve. If using apples, add them last to minimize browning. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Coat both sidse of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Cut into wedges. Put the cinnamon mix into a large ziploc bag and add the tortilla wedges. Seal and shake to coat the buttered chips well. Remove and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
   
4. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Carrot Souffle

I bake when I am in the mood to bake (which generally happens around 10 or 11pm) or if its someone's birthday or special occasion. I try to pick stuff that doesn't take hours otherwise I would be more consumed with the baking than practice or other work and of course, practice takes priority.

I had an itch to bake or cook over the last two days, but was warned against it, given the hours that were spent on the birthday cake(s) the previous week. I was going back and forth about whether or not to bake and one big con was that I didn't have much saltfree butter, no milk and not much flour - yep that really limited what I could do and I didn't have the time to go get stuff. BUT I did have a bunch of carrots. While searching for a carrot soup recipe, I found a carrot souffle recipe. Modifying looking at other recipes, here is what I did. It turned out to be a great dessert, not too sweet and great with ice cream. It was a great dessert for new year's eve dinner.

Great thing about this is that you can do the main stuff in the morning or night before. An hour or two before dinner, add the flour, eggs and baking powder and bake it for an hour. I boiled and pureed in the afternoon and kept it in the fridge for about 3 hours. You can keep it in the fridge overnight.

I took pictures.. or so I thought. I didn't have the memory card in my dslr.. oops

Carrot Souffle

Ingredients

• 500grams carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (maida)
• 1 egg + 1 egg white (or 1.5 eggs), beaten
• 2 - 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened - i only had around 2.5 tbsp

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the carrots until very tender. Drain and add to mixer.
3. Puree carrots with butter, vanilla extract and sugar. [Careful mixer will be hot if its a metal one like mine]. Transfer to bowl, allow to cool slightly and refrigerate.
4. Mix in the flour, eggs, and baking powder. Transfer to a 1 quart baking dish.
5. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until top is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

[Note: this is not a picture of my souffle - mine was consumed before it could be photographed. But the texture and look was the same =)]

Eggless Pineapple Coconut Cobbler

Its birthday season in December. Time for birthday number 2.

Things to keep in mind:
- he doesn't really like sweet stuff or chocolate
- something with pineapple or coconut would work well

After some head scratching, I settled on a pineapple coconut cobbler. I modified this recipe by simply adding coconut. And as are many of my kitchen adventures, it did not go without its hiccups. I did not have a deep pan, only my 2 1-inch deep cake trays, so the first question was what to bake it. I ended up using deep metal bowl type tray that I had, which meant longer baking time as its 4-inch deep and the recipe filled the bowl to the rim. So baking took a lot longer than expected. The shredded coconut widely available here is unsweetened, so to me the cobbler was lacking in that department, but everyone was happy and I think the side of vanilla ice cream did the trick. In the future, I would probably not make this with pineapple though, unless they are canned and/or mixed with another fruit. I think peaches, pears, apples, cherries are better suited for cobblers.

The recipe itself is very easy and you can omit the coconut and replace the fruit.

Pineapple Coconut Cobbler

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup white sugar [can increase to 1 1/4 cup if using unsweetened coconut]
  
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 4 cups sliced pineapple (or any other fruit)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
  

Directions

1. Melt butter or margarine in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
   
3. Stir together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix in milk and vanilla. Pour batter over melted butter. DO NOT MIX OR STIR. Spoon fruit with juice over the batter. [Since I used a deeper dish, I poured half the batter then added half the fruit and repeated].
   
4. Bake for 55 minutes if 9 x 13 in pan, I baked for 1 hour 20 min.
5. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
   

Chocolate Orange Mousse Cake (Eggless, Sugar-free)

Everyone here loves Terry's Chocolate Oranges. Its the no-brainer gift to bring from North America. Taking inspiration from the chocolate, I ventured into making my first mousse, eggless of course and made from fresh cream, sans preservatives. Its tasted great and looked pretty good. I used a slice of orange, cut into four, a Lindt dark chocolate thin and some orange pulp for decoration.

The mousse would have been more fluffy and light, but I made the mousse in the morning, when I didn't have biscuits for the base and put it into a bowl in the fridge (stupid.. i know). This of course set the mousse by the time I returned to it 4 hours later, but in the wrong shape. So I melted it all again using a double boiler. Then poured it onto the base (made blended parle-g's and makhan - saltfree butter), let it cool for a bit in the fridge before attempting to re-whip it while it was on the base. It still tasted fab - just like the chocolate oranges.

Ps. I used the wrong lens on my dslr, but you can still see how pretty it was =)

There are two ways to make this - one with Terry's Orange Chocolate for the orange flavour, the other with orange rind. I didn't use sugar, though you can.

Terry's Orange Chocolate Mousse Cake

Ingredients:

• 150 g Terry's Orange Chocolate (I forget how many slices this is)
• 19 Parle-g Biscuits
• approx 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (more or less)
  
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 20g unsalted butter (makhan) - optional
• 200 ml heavy cream

Directions:

1. Crush the biscuits (I blended them using the chutney blender)
2. Add 3 tablespoons of butter to biscuits until you get a workable biscuit, add more butter if needed. Line the bottom of 7in springform pan with biscuit dough to make a crust.
   
3. Pour cream into a bowl and beat till the cream fluffs up and forms soft peaks. Keep aside.
4. Put the chocolate pieces, 3 tbsp of cream and butter (optional) in a bowl and melt the chocolate in double boiler. Once the chocolate has melted, whisk (by hand) the mixture so it is blended.
5. Slowly fold the cream into the chocolate mixture till well blended, trying to keep as much of the fluffiness in it as possible. Pour onto biscuit crust and chill in fridge for several hours.