I love eggs where I can't see them , desserts are a good means to satiate my sweet tooth and hide things that do not make me feel guilty of stepping out of the bounds of vegetarianism . My husband on the other hand is a strict vegetarian and he doesn't fool himself or people like how I do :)
He once confessed that he loved eating cakes and pastries as a child , that point of time the awareness that it might contain eggs hadn't dawned on him , he added. The moment he learned that baked goodies might contain eggs , he shunned them completely until I began baking eggless treats for him . This Date and Walnut cake has all the elements of a cake with eggs and it is quite hard to believe that it is an eggless one. My twin girls love it and I have made it thrice since I learnt how to make it, a couple of weeks ago , my girls , my husband and my parents all love this easy , vegan and delicious cake. I thought it would be good for people who read my blogs to know of something that is Vegan , delicious and very easy to put together . Here it is ...
Serves : 8
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
1 cup sugar
1/4th teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable / canola oil
2 cups of water
1 cup pitted and finely chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
How to put it together
Sieve flour , baking powder and baking soda 3-4 times and put it aside.
In a saucepan add water , oil . dates , salt , cinnamon , nutmeg and sugar .Heat the above mix , stirring occasionally. You shall see bubbles on the side in about 10 minutes .Now reduce the flame and cook for 20 minutes.
Cool this mix completely and then fold in the flour , chopped walnuts and honey. Mix well
Grease a 9 inch cake tin and pour the batter in it.
Preheat the oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes , reduce the oven temperature to 175 degrees now and bake till a skewer inserted in the cake comes clean
Let the cake cool , serve with whipped cream . You might want to top it with some cinnamon sugar as well , while serving !
Ever since i moved to China , I have been hosting a bevy of people partly because of my husband's job and partly because I love having people and treating them with an array of home cooked delicacies. There was a time when I wasn't even a decent cook , I had been preoccupied with a career and many other things that took my attention away from cooking. I quit my job before I moved to Beijing with my husband. Now i am a Stay at home mom to my lovely twin baby girls. I have a tremendous family support coming from both sets of parents and thus it gives me ample space and time to pursue things that I really like to.
Coming back to the Apple and Cinnamon muffins , I at the risk of sounding pompous would confess that it is hard to find a match to these muffins that I bake quite often very effortlessly. The credit for the recipe goes to internet (I don't remember who posted this recipe and where , however my sincere gratitude to the person who thought of such a marvellous recipe and to the internet who brought it forward for me to see). Apple and Cinnamon makes a heavenly combination , I made it a notch higher this time when i frosted it with lemon tinted cream cheese frosting , I also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top and placed a glazed cherry to add not just to the looks but also to the taste of these absolutely irresistible muffins. If you aren't a fan of cream cheese or just wish to avoid the extra work that needs to be put in to get the frosting in place , let me assure you , these muffins standalone can be quite a feast !! i won't make you wait more now , here is the recipe ...
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups white sugar (you could tweak this based on how much sweetness you wish to add)
4 large eggs
1/4th cup orange juice
1 cup canola oil
3 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
For the apple sauce you will need
4-5 large apples peeled , cored and cut into small pieces
1 cup water
2 teaspoons of cinnamon (I love cinnamon so I add extra , you might want to avoid)
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of sugar
For the lemon frosting
1 cup softened cream cheese
2 teaspoons lemon juice ( could add more based on the tanginess that one desires)
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup of icing sugar
Cherries and Cinnamon sugar for more gorgeous looks
How to make the apple sauce
Heat the apples , water , cinnamon and sugar in a saucepan. Keep stirring for a while and after that let the apples cook till there is a very little crunchiness left. The water could be avoided completely , however if added ,please ensure that the end result isn't too runny. Add lemon juice when the sauce cools down .
How to put together the muffins
Sieve flour , salt , baking powder , baking soda , powdered cinnamon and nutmeg well and keep this aside.
Beat the oil and sugar well such that it forms a creamy mix.
Add the orange juice and mix well
Whisk in the eggs without overbeating to the sugar-oil-juice mix.
Fold in the flour-salt-nutmeg-cinnamon-baking powder-baking soda mix that we sieved earlier.
Finally add the apple sauce and mix well .
Grease/line 12 muffin tins and pour in the mix.
Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degree celsius and then bake for 30-40 minute at 180 degree celsius or until a skewer inserted comes clean.
How to frost
Beat the cream cheese -lemon juice - sugar - whipped cream using an electric beater till soft peaks are visible. One needs to beat for 5-6 minutes in order to achieve this.
Now use a flat bladed knife and top the muffins (make sure they are completely cooled) with the frosting . One could use the cake decorating equipment too.
Add a cherry on top and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar if you like an extra dash of cinnamon.
Very Berry Parfait
I had my Chinese teacher coming home for lunch on Saturday , it gets tough as many Chinese people do not prefer too much of sugar and hence Indian sweets do not work very well for desserts. I have 14 month old twin daughters and hence cooking can be quite a task. on top of that when one has to think hard and cook ,it gets tougher .I love making desserts but most of the recipes that I knew or had already tried needed a lot many ingredients and which meant rounds to the supermarket. I chanced upon a parfait recipe on the internet and modified it based on what was available in my refrigerator.
Ingredients (Makes about 6 tall glasses)
2 cups Greek Yoghurt (I used the yogurt I set at home on a regular basis , Greek Yoghurt can be quite rich and heavy on the pocket too)
2-3 tablespoons Honey or Maple syrup (I used both and this depends on taste)
2 cups frozen / fresh berries (I used frozen blackberries as I had it in my freezer , one could use fresh or frozen strawberries , cherries , blueberries ..)
1.5 cups Coarsely ground cookies/Graham crackers / Digestive biscuits (I had digestive biscuits)
2-3 tablespoons of water
Sugar (as per taste , I used about 2-3 teaspoons)
How to make
Heat the berries with water in a saucepan over medium heat , you would see the berries sizzling and making a sauce in about 10 minutes. Let this cool completely.
Take one cup of Yoghurt and mix it with honey and/or maple syrup. You could add more if you need it to be sweeter.
Take the other cup of Yoghurt and add 3 tablespoons of the berry sauce and mix well . This can be tangy and hence if needed add sugar. I added 3 teaspoons and it suited us well.
Coarsely grind the cookies in a food processor.
Take six tall glasses and add the berry sauce to its base. Layer it with the sweetened yoghurt , followed by the cookie mix , followed by the yoghurt that was mixed with berry sauce. Repeat the layers to yield a very good looking and delicious dessert which doesn't burn a hole in your pocket and is low on empty calories.
