Zebra stripe cake

A cake could look stunning by the way you decorate it, but this is the first time I have seen a cake look beautiful from the inside. There are multiple versions of zebra cake on the net, I chose to go with Farida's recipe, and it turned out beautifully.
I initially tried making it with whole wheat pastry flour and the stripes totally did not stand out. Though I am not a fan of a.p. flour, I had to stick with the recipe one more time. I did use skim milk (I know that only does not constitute healthy eating), but this is one indulgence that compensates with its beauty. I might try dividing the recipe in half and use whole wheat pastry flour for the chocolate part of the batter next time. It is a lot of work, but I am curious to see if that would work. Or maybe a different kind of flour...
I added vanilla essence only to the chocolate batter since it dulls the white if added to the entire mixture.
I used Dutch-processed cocoa and unsweetened cocoa powder on two different occasions. The unsweetened cocoa gave a very light color to the chocolate stripes. I would definitely go with the Dutch kind. The black and white contrast is very prominent, just the way it should be.
After baking my cake cracked on the surface a little bit, but was not structurally damaging or anything. If yours breaks on the top, do no panic. All is beautiful inside!

This is probably one of the most elaborate posts I have done so far. So, here we go!



Zebra stripe cake

Ingredients:

Dry:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Dutch-processed Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp

Wet:
Canola/Vegetable oil - 1 cup
Large eggs - 3
Sugar - 1 cup (Sugar is considered a wet ingredient, don't ask me why)
Skim Milk - 1 cup
Pure vanilla essence - 1 tbsp

Method:

Sift the all purpose flour and baking powder together and set aside. This is to aerate the flour.



In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer combine oil, eggs, sugar, milk for about two minutes till creamy. Do not add vanilla essence.



Divide the mixture into two equal halves and to one half mix the cocoa powder and vanilla essence and mix using a hand mixer. Do not add vanilla essence to the white half of the mixture.



Grease a 8" round cake pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
Use separate equal size ladles for each half of the batter. Ladle the white batter first, then immediately add the brown batter as shown in the picture. It should automatically spread out in the pan, there is no need to wait or tilt pan.



Keep alternating batter until you have exhausted both batters.



Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for about 45 min or till a toothpick when inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let it rest for about 15 min in the pan.



Invert and cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy the cake with your favorite frosting/whipped cream or just keep it plain. It is gorgeous the way it is.

Whole wheat Rotini with roasted veggies and feta in basil pesto sauce

There is no "one" way, right way or a wrong way to make pasta. It is so versatile, the kind of pasta, the shape of pasta, the long array of sauces, vegetables, the list and combinations are endless.
This is just one way of making it. I like to use whole wheat hearty pasta (if you have not tried it yet, you totally should give it a go), and with homemade basil pesto sauce, and mixed fresh veggies it makes it my ideal wholesome meal.
As much as I would like to say that I prepared my sauce from scratch... I did not. Did I mention I killed my lush basil plant by letting it sit outdoors in the cold weather for weeks together?
No more plants till I can promise myself to take care of the next one.

So, getting back to the pasta dish, my favorite, no over-the-top sauces. Just plain, simple but packs a lot of heart.

Whole wheat Rotini with roasted veggies and feta in basil pesto sauce

Ingredients:

100% Whole wheat rotini - 1 box (Use any kind of pasta you like, I would not recommend the flavored ones for this recipe)
Fresh basil pesto sauce - 1/4 cup
Fresh veggies - 3-4 cups (Carrots, Snow peas, Asparagus, Bell pepper, Water chestnuts, Cremini Mushrooms)
Spring onion - 1/2 cup chopped
Fat free Feta cheese - 1/2 cup
Olive oil - 2-3 tbsp
Garlic - 4-5 pods
Salt - To taste
Red chilly flakes - 1 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Method:

Cook pasta according to package directions. I like mine a little al dente. Reserve half-a-cup of pasta water. (Do not rinse pasta in cold water.)
Transfer to a large bowl and set aside away from the heat.

Simultaneously, stir fry the veggies in olive oil, season and add to the pasta.
Pan roast the mushrooms with garlic, season and add to the bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients - salt, pepper flakes, feta cheese, spring onions (I do not like to saute them), and the basil pesto. Toss together with light hands. Remember to add the reserved pasta water to bring it all together.
This recipe will make plenty of pasta. Halve the recipe if it makes things more manageable.

Microwave Mango Ricotta Kalakand - Back to blogging

Seven months! That is how long I have stayed away from blogging. In retrospect I should have at least posted about the break, but really I did not intend to stay away for so long from what I love to do. Cook and blog.
Speaking of cooking, that has taken a backseat as well, for here comes my priority, all packed into one tiny bundle of joy... my baby girl who was born last year, just around the time I started the break. During this time, there are a few things I have learnt to appreciate much much more. One of them being the time I oh-so-easily spent cooking or baking at the kitchen perfecting every single dish. Now, things are not so elaborate. It almost seems like I would be a good host for semi-homemade cooking!
Well, that is not a bad thing right? Shortcuts. We all need them at some point or the other. And reserve from-the-scratch dishes for leisurely weekends and holidays.
I may not have time to post as frequently as I did before, but I am surely willing to try and keep some good recipes coming.

Kalakand, I have seriously no idea how it is made originally, but here is my take on a quick version of it. That lovely yellow color comes from adding mango pulp. Speaking of mango pulp, I used a canned product. But if you are lucky enough to get some juicy ripe mangoes and if you are able to make a pulp out of them... I SO ENVY YOU!

Before I start on the recipe, thanks thanks thanks to all those who missed me and sent me those lovely emails. It meant a lot to me! And yes, most of you guessed it right :) I have been spending a lot of time making baby food!



Microwave Mango Ricotta Kalakand

Ingredients:

Part skim ricotta cheese - 1 1/2 cup
Mango pulp - 2 cups
Butter - 1 tbsp
Fat free milk powder/Khova powder - 3 cups
Sugar - 2 tbsp (add more if needed, the mango pulp has plenty of sugar already)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron and Slivered almonds - To garnish
Yellow food color - If needed (for a brighter yellow color)

Method:

Very simple - Combine all the ingredients (except the garnish & food coloring) and microwave for 4-5minutes for about 6-8 times stirring in between. It might take longer.
Stop when the mixture has a thick curd-like texture and when you can form a small ball between your fingers.
Pour onto a greased plate, garnish, let it cool and then cut into desired shapes.

You could use a fun cookie cutter and cut out cute shapes for your little one or your neighbor's little one. Mom eats the scraps! End of story.

Fat-free & Whole wheat Angel Food Cake with Easy Chocolate Frosting

As much as I like the dense moist rich cakes, it takes a lot of rich ingredients that make it the way it is. For a light airy cake, today I tried to make one of my favorite cakes which has absolutely no fat in it. It is as light as a cake can get, and is called the Angel food cake. The main ingredient in this is egg whites which have been carefully separated from the yolks. Even a little bit of yolk, will mess with the whipping process. To ensure that, I separated one egg at a time in a small bowl, checked for shells/yolks that may have contaminated the egg white and then transferred it to a bigger bowl.
Use a very large bowl, since the egg whites tend to triple in size when whipped up.
Sifting the flour twice (once before adding to the wet mixture and once while adding to the wet mixture) is very crucial. Folding in the dry into the wet should be done gently or the whites will completely deflate and you will get a very sticky dense cake.
Normally Angel food cake is done with cake flour or all purpose flour. I substituted half of that with whole wheat pastry flour just to make it a little healthier.
The cake turned out awesome, it was still airy in spite of deviating from the traditional usage of A.P flour entirely.
The chocolate frosting was just a second thought. I had some cream leftover in the fridge and decided to make a simple frosting which turned out the perfect topping for this cake.
Though the frosting is entirely optional, I would certainly recommend slathering on a little bit.
Tube pans are ideal for this kind of cake, but since I did not have one, I used a spring form pan, and had absolutely no issues with it. I did grease it before pouring the batter in.

One thing to keep in mind before you make this cake is, USE a hand mixer for whipping up the egg whites, and NEVER use a hand mixer while mixing the flour into the egg whites. Only fold gently with light hands just until combined.



Fat-free & Whole wheat Angel Food Cake with Easy Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

For the Angel food cake:

Egg whites - 8 large at room temperature
Cream of tartar - 1/4 tsp
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/3 cup
All purpose flour - 1/3 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Pure Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Almond essence - 1/2 tsp

For Chocolate frosting:

Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Whipping cream - 1/4 cup
Splenda - 2 packets
Pure Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Almonds - Chopped to sprinkle

Method:

For the Angel food cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift baking powder, whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour and powdered sugar with the help of a sieve.

In another bowl take the egg whites, cream of tartar and whip using a hand mixer till soft peaks form. It will almost triple in size.
Now add the granulated sugar and whip again till you get stiff peaks. You wont need the hand mixer from now on.
Add vanilla and almond essence.

Now divide the dry ingredients that have already been sifted into three equal parts.
Take each part again in the sieve and sift right on top of the egg whites. Fold the flour using a rubber spatula. DO NOT beat the mixture.

After combined, add the other two parts one by one and fold very gently. Make sure not to deflate the egg whites.

Transfer to a greased baking pan, I used a spring form pan (for lack of a better one.)

Bake for 30 minutes or till lightly brown/cracked on top. Test with toothpick for doneness.

For Chocolate frosting:

Whip cream and sugar using a hand mixer till creamy, you may also use store bought whipped cream.
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave with a dash of milk for a few seconds. Mix well till there are no lumps and the chocolate is silky and cool to touch.
Add the chocolate and vanilla essence to the cream. Whip again till well combined.
Refrigerate the mixture for 30 min to allow the frosting to thicken.

Spread the frosting over the cake, sprinkle the almond bits on top and refrigerate for about 15 min. Cut and serve.