Eggless Custard Powder Cake - Recipe

I  wanted to try this cake for a very long time...it made rounds in the cooking blogs  sometime ago :) I referd here and here
Iam in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy..which I would say is kind of mixed phase...
So baking has taken  backseat ..but anyday its my stress buster...
 mixing up the batter, curiously looking through the Microwave Oven window for the cake to rise , smelling the freshly baked cake and eating the it hot hot...nothing can beat this :drool:
No Rants...this is post is about a lovely cake...
Actually i baked this cake to give it to our friend who cooked a huge feast just for me :)

This cake is dense and yummy...perfect for snacking

Sorry for the bad pics.. I was in a rush to take this cake..so couldn't take pics properly


So here goes the recipe

Maida(APF) -1 1/2 cups
Vanilla custard powder - 3/4 cup (if not add 3/4 cup of cornflour and 2tsp of vanilla extract)
baking powder - 2 1/4 tsp
sugar - 3/4 cup
butter - 150 gm
milk - 250ml

Method:
Sieve maida, vanilla custard powder and baking powder

Now take a bowl beat the butter and sugar to soft consistency and add milk to this.

Mix both wet and dry ingredients and make it into a batter without lumps

Grease and flour an 8" cake tin and pour the cake batter.

Bake for 45mins to 60mins at 180C

Check whether the cake is baked by inserting toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean...

Let the cake cool and enjoy :)

Love,
Varshini

Diabetic Cookies - Eggless

My dad has diabetes...Ever since he was diagnosed with diabetes he loves sweets even more...
So i though why not try something healthy, sweet(sugar substitute), low calorie too..

I took the recipe for yo yo cookies from sharmi's passion...do check out sharmi's blog...she has absolutely beautiful collection of recipes with lovely photos .

I transformed that recipe to make healthy cookies with sugar substitute :)

Here is my recipe :)

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Sugarfree natura - 4 tbspn
Amul lite butter - 125 gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Vanilla flavoured custard powder - 1/4 cup



Method

Bring the lite butter to room temperature
Cream the butter with sugarfree natura and mix vanilla essence
shift custard powder and whole wheat flour and add it to the butter mixture
Now chill this dough for 20mins
Take it out and make it into small balls and flatten into 1/2inch thickness
Preheat the oven at 170C
Bake the cookies for about 15 mins.
Cool them in a wire rack and enjoy :)


I added apple green color to the cookies :P
Trust me my dad loved these cookies to the core...These are for sure lite and healthy too :)

Love,
Varshini

Its time to celebrate with Eggless Chocolate Almond Cookies

Yes its my Dear Bloggy's Birthday :) Haiya..Finally the day has come to celebrate.... When i started this blog i was all passionate and everything..but then i wasn't regular..I should say last year i posted just 4 posts 3 recipes and my Welcome Post. Only this year that too after March i was kinda regular... I started this blog for my passion for cooking so named it "COOKING WITH LOVE AND FOR LOVE "  This one year i have learned so many things but first and foremost be Regular and Patient to reap the result :) Just like every other blogger i want my blog to be famous but for that i need to be dedicated and regular...which iam trying to achieve ... I would really like to take this opportunity to thank my hubby a lot...Seriously without his encouragement and help..I would have never continued posting at all..seriously..coming back from work everyday at 9:00 PM and then cooking dinner is a big task for me(Lazy Lazy) ....I try to do most of my relaxed cooking/baking on Saturdays/Sundays... Also I received The Versatile Blogger Award from dear Ikky and Rids too :) Thanks to all my fellow bloggers for the encouragement ,who never miss to leave a lovely comment in my blog every time a new post appears..That gives so much motivation for the next post :) So i have decided not to find reasons to be lazy and be regular and make my blog Famous someday :P Also take better Photos.. Soon :D So here is my treat for the anniversary :) I took the recipe from dear priti 's Blog :) Ingredients: All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 Cup Powder Sugar - 3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp Butter - 1/4 Cup [at room temperature] Yogurt - 1/4 Cup Baking Powder - 1 tsp Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp Almonds - Chopped 1/4 cup Method Whisk Yoghurt, Powdered sugar and Butter till creamy Sieve flour, cocoa and baking powder Now add the flour mix to the butter mix and fold well such that there are no lumps Now add the chopped almonds and vanilla essence. Preheat the Oven at 180C Bake the cookies for about 10 - 12mins Yummy cookies are ready :) Love, Varshini

Eggless Blackforest Cake

Its time to Celebrate ...
Today is my dear Hubby's Birthday also my 55th post....What more i want to Celebrate...

I started out this blog, the very same month last year and i posted about guess just 3 recipes and then just forgot the blog...I was very busy with work...Didn't have much time to do anything...felt really guilty....Then i wanted this blog space to be all about my favs...So then included my makeup & skincare addiction...But then i started out proper blogging only in the month of March and renamed my blogspot with a relevant name ...So i can call it a roller coaster ride with it shares of both ups and downs....So from now on i will be a regular and plan for the 100th post atleast before this year end :)..
So wish me goodluck..Coming back to the cake

I wanted to make Blackforest cake for my hubby's birthday...because that is the first ever layered cake i tasted :D

So i actually used the recipe for Eggless chocolate cake from here Also saw so many videos on you tube about assembling the cake and referred VegBowl


And I bought heart shaped cake tin just for this :) ...It was perfect :D

Ok now to the recipe


Ingredients

For the Cake

condensed milk - 1/2 tin (200 grams)
self raising flour -125 gms
cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp levelled Spoon
baking soda - 1/2 tsp
melted butter - 60 ml
vanilla essence - 1 tsp
water - 100ml


For the frosting:

dark chocolate - grated 2 cups
fresh cream - 400 gm
Sugar - 5 to 6 Tbsp

For the filling:

cherries - 1 cup pitted and chopped
Full cherries for final decoration - 10

To be mixed into a soaking syrup:

sugar - 4 tbsn
water - Sugar


Method

For the Cake

1.Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda bi-carb together.

2.Mix the condensed milk, flour mixture, 100 ml. of water, the vanilla essence and melted butter thoroughly.

3.Pour the cake mixture into a greased and dusted 150 mm. or 175 mm. (6" or 7") diameter tin.

4.Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 180 degree C (350 degree F) and bake for a further 15 minutes.

5.The cake is ready when it leaves the sides of the tin and is springy to touch. When ready, takeout from the oven and leave for 1 minute. Invert the tin over a rack and tap sharply to remove.

6.Cool the cake.


For the Frosting

1. Cool the Bowl and the Hand Whisk in the freezer for about half hour
2. Now pour the chilled Fresh cream , Vanilla essence ,now add the sugar and whisk till peaks are formed
3.Refrigerate till use

For the Syrup

1. warm the water and dissolve the sugar and keep aside

Final Assembling

Now Cut the cake horizontally either 3 or 4 layers .

Take one layer and put it on the Plate and then sprinkle some 3- 4 tspns of sugar syrup .

Now spread the Cream on that layer and add some pitted and chopped cherries evenly

Now place the next layer and repeat the above steps till you place the last layer on the top

Finally decorate by applying cream all over the cake and decorate with the chocolate shavings/Strands and cherries..

And refrigerate overnight so that the syrup soaks the cake well :)



Can you see the layers..and the chopped cherry peeking out ?

Happy Birthday Dear Hubby :)
Thank you so very much...Without your support this cake would have never been possible...:D

Love,
Varshini


Info: I was unable to grate the chocolate due to clumsy hands...So i decorated with Chocolate Strands/Rice :)

Perfect Eggless Strawberry Cookies - Piped Cookies

I am always in search of Melt in Mouth cookies....I still remember some years back my mom got me some lovely yummy biscuits which just melted in my mouth...
Here in India Cookies are referred as biscuits...:)

As usual..I was blog hopping to find one...I found some hundreds of recipes..So I let dear google choose...I landed in Anushruthi's Divine Taste...Just as the name of her blog , Its a one divine place for all the foodies..well written ,lovely photography & lovely flowers...I have almost read all her post I can say..Please do check it out...Its Addictive

She has the recipe for the perfect eggless cookies...I modified that into a perfect recipe for Eggless Strawberry cookies...I know i can't stick to any recipe...

So here goes my recipe...

Ingredients:

APF/ Maida - 3/4 cup
Cornflour - 2 tbspn
Icing sugar - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Strawberries - 2
Milk - 2 tbspn
Strawberry Essence - 1 tspn


Method

Preheat the oven at 180C

In a Mixie Jar/Blender blend the two strawberries with a 2tbspn of milk and make it into a paste.

Now take a big mixing bowl ,whisk the butter and icing sugar to a creamy consistency

To this add the strawberry paste and strawberry essence, blend well

Sieve Maida and courflour

Now add the flour to the wet mixture and mix well such that the consistency is smooth, creamy and lump free

Now put the cookie mixture into a piping bag a fit in your favourite nozzle(I used both star as well as drop flower) and pipe it in a greased baking tray . else you can make the usual round shaped cookies




Bake the cookies for about 12 - 15mins at 180C

Bake until top of the cookies turn slight golden brown...



can you see the teeny weeny bits of strawberry ? :D
Now let the Cookies cool and enjoy it with a cuppa Tea...

Tip :
Don't over bake the cookies as they might become little hard.


Love,
Varshini

Apple Pie /Tart with Chocolate Chips- Eggless

"An Apple a day keeps the doctor away" Who doesn't know this quote
I had so many apples lying in fridge for a very long long time....I wanted to use them up ..i dint wanna eat them as it is...

So i went through my copy of " The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking" by Tarla Dalal

I saw Apple Pie and started preparing the dough...but then i can never stick an recipe..so i prepared the filling in my own way....And it was a Huge hit So sharing it with you all..

So here is the recipe

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

Plain Flour/ Maida - 1 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup & 1Tbsp
Cold Water - 2 to 3 Tbsp
Sugar - 1 Tbsp

For the Filling :
Apples - 5
Butter - 2 Tbpn
Milk - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tspn
Chocolate Chips - 1/4 Cup (Optional)

Method

For the Filling:

Peel, De seed and Cube the apples

In a sauce pan add the butter and saute the apples until the juices come out

Now add in the sugar and saute for a minute

Now pour in the milk and cook until the milk is absorbed and now turn off the heat and add in the vanilla essence, mix well.


For the Crust:

Mix Flour and Sugar in a large bowl

Now add in the Cold Butter and rub into the flour with your finger tips

Gradually add ice cold water and make it into a dough similar to poori dough (Rolling Consistency)

Now divide the dough into two parts

Dust the rolling board with some flour and roll out one part

Cover your pie/tart tin so that the flute tin is covered properly

Now bake the pie/tart for about 8 - 10mins at 150C

Take out the half baked shells and Add in the Filling as well as chocolate chips

cover the filling with the other rolled out dough and prick it with knife

else you can roll out and cut it into strips and make a Crissy cross pattern

Bake it for 12 to 15mins at 180C or until you the Pie/Tart Turns Golden on the Top



Yummy Pie/ Tart is ready
Serve it with Vanilla IceCream

Can you see the chocolate chips peeking ?

I used Small Tart tins instead of Pie Dish :)

Love,
Varshini

Eggless Whole Wheat Butter Cookies

Cookies...Cookies...Cookies
"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." -Robert Fulghum

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was sitting in my balcony and gazing....saw the roadside biscuit seller ..When he saw me drooling at his biscuits & cookies ..he came towards my home with handful of samples....I thought what a lovely day..free cookies...but then my hubby has warned me not to let anyone in....especially these sales people..so i had to ask him to leave immediately...finally i was tempted...so rushed into the house...browsed through for eggless cookies.....

I wanted to bake(read eat) some immediately...So when i saw eggless butter cookies in Divya's Blog i had to make(read eat) them rightaway ...But then i ran out of All purpose Flour(Maida), so i replaced APF with Whole wheat flour ( Healthy snacking i thought...indeed forgot about dear butter)


So here is the recipe

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Cornflour - 1/2 cup
Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 3/4 cup(
Vanilla extract- 1 tsps
Milk - 2 tbspn(optional)

Method :

Preheat the oven at 180C
Sift Wheat flour, icing sugar and cornflour
Beat the softened butter with vanilla extract
Now mix the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
if the dough is very dry add little milk and make it soft


Divide them in to balls and flatten them with your palm
Place the them in a greased baking tray and bake it for about 18 - 20 mins or till golden brown

(I made the pattern using the table spoon :D)
Cookies are ready...your house would be filled with the lovely aroma :)




Love,
Varshini

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Cakes have changed through times....Oh don't get me wrong i am not wee bit Philosophical...In those days say about 10 to 15 years ago i never had anything called Layered cake..Moreover never knew they existed ...I knew only those plain vanilla cakes covered with huge dollops of so called butter cream which i used to relish because i dint have a choice then...

But once i started having layered cakes with fresh cream ..I am unable to go back to those lovely plain cakes...Moreover i once had a plain cake which was smelling eggs ..Made me hate plain cakes ....So i thought if at all i bake it should be smell free( read egg smell free ) else i shall bake eggless

So when i was browsing through Divya's Blog...She has a lovely blog ..do check it out I came across recipe for eggless vanilla cake

As always i can never stick to the recipe i made some changes also halved the amount of ingredients...

Original recipe used refined oil but i replaced it with butter...I know i am still working on my waistline..:P

This was one of the best vanilla cakes i ever baked...yummy...My hubby loved this cake so much..he has asked me to bake this again...

Here it is :

Ingredients

Maida/ All purpose flour – 3/4 cup
curd – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Butter – 1/4 cup
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
Baking soda – 1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp
Cocoa Powder (Optional) - 1 Tbsp


How to ?

First Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a mixing bowl whisk curd and sugar till sugar dissolves

Add baking powder and baking soda , vanilla essence to curd mixture , mix well and leave it for 2 mins

Now slowly add in the flour and mix well without lumps to a smooth batter

Now grease a baking tin with butter and dust it with some flour

Pour in batter into the baking tin




If you want add Tbpn of Cocoa powder and swirl it to get a marbled effect


Bake it for 25 to 30 mins at 180C



Tada cake is ready ...yum yum..the aroma ...



Can you see the marble effect ?




Lessons Learnt:

Check the cake but inserting a toothpick/ knife in the center and if it comes out clean , your cake is ready.

Don't invert the baking tin immediately put it on a cooling rack for about 10- 15mins before removing cake from the baking dish else you will get a cake crumble just like mine...:p


Love,
Varshini