Marble Cake

Merry christmas to all. Hope you all are into baking and cooking great stuff. This time I made a marble cake which is one of family favourite. It was moist and yummy. You can play with the batter to make your own designs. You can make cupcakes or loafs or round cakes. Enjoy the season.

Ingredients

• Maida (all purpose flour) - 1 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Eggs - 2
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
• Unsalted butter - 120 gm
• Cocoa - 2 tbsp
• Instant coffee - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Milk - 3/4 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method

• Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
• Preheat oven. 
• Powder the sugar. Keep aside
• Sieve together maida, salt, and baking powder. Keep aside
• In a bowl put butter and powdered sugar and beat well until soft and fluffy.
• To this add vanilla essence. Mix well.
• Add eggs one by one and blend well using the mixer. 
• Add half of the dry mix (maida & baking powder) to the above and fold in gently. 
• Add 1/2 quantity of the milk given ingredients to the batter. Fold in.
• Add the remaining dry mix and fold in. 
• Divide the above batter into 2 parts.
• Into the remaining milk mix cocoa and instant coffee. Strain it. 
• Add this to one part of the batter. Fold in slowly and beautifully well. 
• Now grease a cake tin and pour vanilla batter on to the base. 
• Pour chocolate batter on top of it. Spread and gently move a spoon through both batters in zig zag motion. Don't over mix.
• Bake at 150 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. (All ovens vary, so adjust it accordingly)

Apple Cake (Eggless)

This is a quick cake without egg and butter. It is guilt free and yummy. It is a one bowl cake and cannot go wrong how quick you make it. It tastes more better a day after the baking. Kids will love this. Mine was asking for even at 11 pm at night. So do try and pack it in their snack box for morning break. I tried making some cupcakes also. 

Ingredients

• Apple - 2 
• Maida - 1 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Refined oil - 1/2 cup
• Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Walnuts - 5 (optional) chopped
• Choco chips - a handful (optional)
• Milk - 1/3 cup
• Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method

• Preheat your oven at 150 degree centigrade
• Peel and core apples
• Take 1 and 1/2 apples and puree it adding milk. Keep aside.
• Chop the remaining 1/2 apple into small pieces
• Sieve together maida and baking powder. Keep aside. 
• In a bowl, mix together sugar and refined oil. 
• Add pureed apple to this along with cinnamon powder. Mix well.
• Add maida and baking powder mix now and fold in. 
• Mix together the chopped apple, chopped walnut and choco chips
• Mix a little maida (1/2 tsp) into the chopped apple, walnut and choco chips. (So it doesn't sink down when cake raises)
• Add this fruit nut mix into the maida batter and fold in. 
• Pour into muffin cases and bake in oven for 20 - 25 minutes. (This one takes a little longer than other cakes). 
• (Adjust your ovens accordingly). Check when it is 18 minutes. Bake until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. 

Sweet Paneer Snack

This is a very quick and mildly sweet snack which your kids will love. I was thinking of my friend's daughter while I made this. So for this time it is for Krisha who is choosy and makes her mom run after her with food. I hope this would tickle her tastebuds.

Ingredients

1. Paneer pieces - 15 cubes
2. Bread - 2 slices
3. Sugar - 2 tsp
4. Cardamom - 3 pods
5. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
6. Egg white - 1
7. Raisins - a few (optional)
8. Cashews - a few (optional)
9. Oil for frying

Method

• Crumble paneer and bread slices. 
• Beat egg white with a fork.
• Take the seeds from cardamom.  
• Mix together all ingredients from crumbled paneer, bread, sugar, cardamom seeds, grated coconut, beaten egg white, raisins & cashewnuts and combine them well with hand applying little pressure.
• Make small balls out of it.
• Heat oil in deep vessel.
• When it is hot fry the balls until golden brown. 

Eggless chocolate banana cake

Wouldn't it be exciting if your little one waited patiently in front of the oven when the cake was baking and then had 3 full ones when it was out of the oven. He didn't even let it cool. I was so happy to see this. Actually he didn't have a proper dinner but was very excited when I took the cake tray to bake. He loved this one.

Ingredients

• Banana (ethakka) - 2 medium sized
• Maida - 2/3 cup
• Cocoa - 1/3 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Milk powder - 1 tbsp
• Oil - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup (or you increase to 1 cup)
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
• Instant coffee - 1/2 tsp
• Boiled water - 1/3 cup

Method

• Sieve together maida, cocoa powder, milk powder and baking powder. Keep aside
• Puree banana and keep aside.
• Mix instant coffee and warm water. Keep aside
• In a bowl mix together oil and sugar.
• Add banana puree to this and blend well. Add vanilla essence, mix well.
• To this add the dry mix and blend well with a wooden spoon. 
• The batter will be little thick. Add the instant coffee little by little until you get a smooth batter.
• Pour into cupcake cases in tray. 
• Preheat your oven and bake at 150 degree centigrade for 15-20 minutes.