The last month and a half has been super hectic because I had my exams and that's partly the reason why I haven't posted anything in such a long time. Not being able to give time to cooking as much as you want to is so difficult ! I never realised how used to i have gotten to making something every other day ,even if it is the same thing . 

Its always fun to bake or cook something and do a photo shoot and that is exactly what i plan to do for the next month. i have some interesting recipes in mind , till then enjoy this delicious eggless chocolate cake adapted from Deeba Rajpal's blog. i have made half the recipe and I served it with a scoop vanilla ice cream and some warm salted caramel ! it was absolutely delicious. Enjoy ! 

INGREDIENTS 

11/2 cups flour 

1 cup sugar 

1/4 cup cocoa powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/4 tsp salt 

1 cup hot water 

1 tsp instant coffee powder 

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

1 tablespoon vinegar 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD 

• Heat your oven to 180c and spray a 9*2inch circular baking tin with some cooking spray.
• Whisk together the flour , sugar , cocoa powder , baking soda and the salt.
• Combine the water , oil , vinegar , coffee and vanilla together and add this to your flour mixture.
• Transfer to your baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

09:26:00

It's hard to come by amazing cake recipes and I've had my eye on this once since i first saw it on David Lebovitz's page. His recipes seem to be amazing and use the simplest ingredients which make them even better. So i decided to try this recipe out for a special  day ! and it was extremely moist and scrumptious and i think it's safe to say that I'm gonna be using this recipe a lot!

For the cake:

• 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup strong coffee (or water)
• ½ cup whole or low-fat milk

For the ganache frosting:

10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

½ cup water (or cream)

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.

4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)

5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.

6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

7. To make the frosting, melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

8. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth. Cool until spreadable, which may take about 1 hour at room temperature.

To frost the cake:

Run a knife around the inside of each of the cakes which will help release them from the pans. Tilt one cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper from the bottom and invert it back onto a cake plate. Spread a good-sized layer of icing over the top. Top with the second cake layer and spread the top and sides with the remaining icing as decoratively as you want.

Storage: Cake is best the day it is made, although it’s fine the next day. Store at room temperature under a cake dome. Just be sure to keep cake out of the sun in the meantime.

21:19:00

Okay , so this cake has been lying in the Refrigerator since last night and it has taken all my willpower not to try it. The aroma that spread the kitchen when this came out of the oven was out of this world. So you can imagine what I went through. But sunlight is important for good photos so it was worth the wait.

This is a recipe I learnt at the workshop I attended recently and I love it! I've just made a few changes like I made the recipe eggless and replaced the blueberries with strawberries since I couldn't find fresh ones anywhere in the vicinity. So feel free to use any type of berry you want,  I can assure you that anyway the cake will turn out to be amazing.

Let's come to the best part , the icing on the cake! This cream cheese frosting is out of this world! It's the best I've ever had. The cream cheese gives a wonderful tanginess and the butter just makes it super creamy. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup strawberries (chopped)
3/4 cup oil
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups hung curd
3/4 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
For the frosting
8 ounces cream cheese ( at room temperature)
3 cups Icing sugar
100 gms butter ( softened)

METHOD
Pre heat your oven to 180c , line a 9 inch cake tin with parchment paper.
Combine the milk and the vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes.
In a bowl , whisk together the oil and the sugar.
Add the hung curd to this and beat till combined.
Then beat in the lemon juice.
In a separate bowl pass the flour, baking powder , baking soda through a sieve thrice to incorporate air. Mix in the lemon zest. Add half of this to the wet ingredients and gently fold it in.
Then add the milk and stir.
Add your strawberries and the rest of the flour and mix.
Pour into the mould and bake for 40 minutes or till a skewer , when inserted into the cake,  comes out clean.
For the frosting, whip the cream cheese till fluffy. Then add the butter and beat well.
Add the icing sugar one cup at a time and best well after each addition.

08:00:00