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

This Oreo Milkshake is the bomb! Its perfectly thick and not super sweet and that's because of a secret ingredient : SALT. Yes , Salt. As weird as it may sound , it elevates the chocolate flavour to another level and balances the sweetness. I usually use my Oreo Icecream for this so i skip the additional coffee but vanilla works great too ! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS 

SERVES 2

10-15 oreo biscuits

2 cups chilled milk 

4 scoops vanilla/oreo ice cream 

1/2 tsp instant coffee powder 

pinch of salt (optional)

METHOD

 Simply blend everything together and you're done!

03:45:00

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

People tend to make ice cream with double cream and I usually do too but this time I decided to make it with some fresh cream that I had lying around. It's from a local brand and I never thought I would be able to whip it to peaks as I've tried it before and it has never worked out. 

So this is the second time that I've made this ice cream , the first time I made it at my grandmothers place. It's eggless and that was important as she doesn't eat eggs which are usually used in ice creams that have a crème anglaise base. So I started whipping my cream and ten minutes just went by and my cream didn't have any visible change. My heart sank, Maybe i can't always do what I feel like doing. But then I decided to go at it again for another ten minutes before ditching it and it worked ! I was elated , the texture was gorgeous and it was the first time I'd made eggless ice cream. 

It's so easy and I'm going to use a lot of variations with this recipe for sure ! And the best part is that you don't need an ice cream maker for this.Enjoy!

Ingredients 

Makes about 1.5 quarts 

40-50 Oreo biscuits ( slightly crushed) 

5 tbsp granulated coffee

1 ltr cream ( fresh or double ) 

1 can of condensed milk ( 14 ounces ) 

2 tsp vanilla essence 

2 tsp coffee liqueur ( optional ) 

Method 

First place a large bowl and your whisk attachment in the freezer 15 minutes before you start making the ice cream ( I use a hand mixer but you can use a stand mixer too ) 

Then whip your cream to soft peaks. Once this is done , whip in your condensed milk ,  coffee and vanilla. 

Gently fold in the Oreos and pour the mixture in a tin pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and make sure that the wrap touched your mixture  Freeze this for about 6 hours. 

11:11:00

Ok , I was super confused as to what to upload this weekend as I have two fabulous dessert recipes, one is a cake and one is a cupcake. And as you can see I've decided to go with the cupcakes.

This is another recipe from Pooja Dhingra's Big Book Of Treats , which has now become my favourite book for dessert recipes by an Indian ! Also, I can't wait for her next book to come out , it's gonna be amazing.

 So these cupcakes are incredibly moist and have a wonderful flavour of chocolate. I always tweak the recipes I use a little when I feel the need to , so if you want,  add a tsp of coffee to the milk to give the cupcakes a hint of coffee flavour. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

100gms butter

100gms brown sugar

2 eggs

80gms flour

25gms cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder

40ml milk

1tsp instant coffee powder ( optional )

METHOD

In a bowl whisk together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add the eggs to the mixture and whisk till combined.

Add the milk and coffee if using and mix thoroughly.

Soft together the flour , cocoa powder and baking powder and fold into the mixture with a spatula.

Line a cupcake mould with liners and scoop the batter into each liner till 3/4 full

Bake at 175c for 15 minutes or till a skewer ,when inserted in the centre of the cake , comes out clean.

07:51:00