Less-sweet Buttercream - Sawsen's Recipe

Recipe adapted from Sawsen's

A Less-sweet.. Buttery Buttercream. And surprisingly, quite stable too. Silky smooth and Yum...

INGREDIENTS:
Milk - 30 ml
Sugar - 50 gms (measured, powdered and sieved)
Butter - 75 gms
Essence - 1/4 tsp

Method:
1. Mix sugar and milk, stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Beat the butter light and fluffy. Then add the essence.
3. Pour the sugar-milk mixture slowly little-by-little into the butter and beat till it turns silky smooth.

My tip:
1. All the ingredients must be in room temperature.
2. Powder the sugar finely.
3. I used Amul cooking butter.
4. Tastes more better if made the previous day. Make it and refrigerate in an airtight container. For using, remove it from refrigerator and bring it to room temperature.

Eggless Cake - Using homemade condensed milk

INGREDIENTS:
Sweetened condensed milk - 200 ml
Powdered Sugar - 25 gms
Butter - 50 gms
Plain flour - 125 gms
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Essence - 1 tsp
Warm milk - as required

METHOD:
1. Beat condensed milk and sugar till light and fluffy. Add butter and essence and beat well.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add it to the condensed milk mixture. Fold gently.
3. Add warm milk little by little to make a dropping consistency.
4. Pour it into a greased and floured baking tray and bake it in a preheated 180° oven for about 30 minutes or untill the cake is done.  

Chinese Muffins

 Recipe adapted from Neetu's

Minimum ingredients... Maximum sponginess... Light n Fluffy...

INGREDIENTS:

Eggs - 2 (45-50 gms each) 

Plain flour - 50 gms

Cornflour - 10 gms

Sugar - 50 gms

Salt - ⅛ tsp

Oil - ¾ tsp

Any essence - ½ tsp

Baking powder - ¼ tsp (optional) 

METHOD:

1. Sieve plain flour, cornflour and baking powder together. 

2. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, salt, essence and oil using Bain-Marie method. 

3. Beat until it turns pale and fluffy and soft peaks are formed. 

4. Then  gently fold in the sieved ingredients. 

5. Scoop the batter into muffin tray lined with paper cases and bake it in preheated 180° oven for about 12-15 mins.

Vegan n Wacky Cake

Here is a recipe... Totally vegan yet the yummiest cake ever... No eggs, milk or butter. You can make it gluten free using GF flour... So go ahead and indulge in... 

INGREDIENTS :

Flour - 1 ½ cups

Sugar - 1 cup (powdered)

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Baking soda - 1 tsp 

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

White vinegar - 1 tbsp

Vegetable oil - 5 tbsp

Water - 1 cup

METHOD :

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Then add the wet ingredients one by one and mix well until completely combined and no lumps remain.

3. Pour the batter in a greased and lined tray and bake it in a pre-heated 180° oven for about 30 minutes or until the cake is done. 

4. Frost it with your favorite icing and just dive in. 😋. 

My Tip:

1. My 1 cup for this recipe measures 240 ml. 

2. Baking pan size - Round 8 inch. 

Instant Homemade Condensed Milk for Pennies

After doing a lot of research work with many recipes available on the internet... This recipe is damn good and tastes same like the store-bought condensed milk....just the same.

INGREDIENTS:

Milk powder - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Warm water - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp

Cornflour - 1/2 tsp

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

METHOD:

1. Add all the ingredients to a mixer jar and blend it well to mix thoroughly.

2. Transfer it to a sauce pan and heat the mixture in low flame. 

3. Keep stirring continuously till it coats the back of the spoon (turns to a slightly thick pouring sauce consistency).

4. Remove from heat and let it cool.

The mixture thickens as it cools.

Homemade condensed milk is ready in a jiffy.

My Tips:

1. Store in an airtight glass jar in refrigerator. 

2. Milk powder, full-cream...the better. 

3. My 1 cup for this recipe measures 240 ml. 

4. This recipe yields approximately 300 gms condensed milk. 

Eggless Honey Cake 🍯 🎂

Honey Cake...a cake drenched in sugar syrup with jam and coconut frosting... Our childhood special cake in bakeries. Bit over sweet yet a yummy moist cake.

This one was in my to-do cake list for a long time... As this is my Husband's favourite cake (surprisingly, he does not eat over-sweet goodies).

Now... Now... Now... It's his birthday today. So if there is a day to bake this cake... Then it is today.... Right? 😉😄

Yessssss....I baked it today...No eggs, no butter, and no beater. A simple whisk-it-all process.

Okay, how did I get this recipe? The answer is very simple. I googled and directly hopped in to one of my favourite kitchens... "Raks Kitchen ".  I believe in her recipes blindly. Last night I decided to bake this cake... And with no prior trials, I made the cake with great confidence today.  The taste was not too sweet and the cake turned out perfect.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR 🎂 😄

Fine...Now to the recipe...

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake:
Maida/flour - 1¼ cup
Condensed milk - 14 tbsp
Oil - ½ cup
Orange juice (I used water)  - ½ cup
Powdered sugar - 3 tbsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - ½ tsp
Lemon Juice (I used ACV) - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence (I used orange essence) - 1 tsp

For the syrup:
Water – ½ cup
Sugar – 2 tbsp
Honey – ¼ cup
Vanilla essence - ½ tsp

For the frosting:
Mixed fruit jam – 4 tbsp
Powdered Sugar – 1 tsp
Orange red food colour - a pinch
Desiccated coconut – as required

METHOD:

For the cake:
1. Seive maida, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl and mix well. Set it aside.
2. In another bowl add the remaining ingredients and whisk well.
3. Now add the maida mixture to it and whisk gently till everything combines well.
4. Pour the batter into a greased and lined baking pan and bake it in a preheated oven @ 180°C for about 30 mins or till the cake is done.
5. Remove the cake from the baking pan, invert it and remove the lining paper. Let it cool.

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup and frosting and let it cool.

For the syrup:
1. Mix sugar and water and let it boil till the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
2. When the syrup is WARM, add honey and vanilla essence and mix well. Let it cool.

For the frosting:
1. Mix jam, powdered sugar and food colour and heat it in low flame and keep stirring it to melt to a smooth paste. It just takes a minute. Remove from heat.

I trimmed the top and then inverted the cake for frosting

Cake assembling:
1. Maintain the cake in inverted position (bottom side as top),  as it gives a flat surface to frost easily.
2. Now prick holes all over the flat surface using a toothpick.
3. Spoon the sugar syrup slowly and generously on top, for the cake to absorb it through the pricked holes.
4. Over it, spread the jam paste and top it with dessicated coconut.

My tips:
1. My 1 cup measures 240 ml.
2. For the cake,  I didn't have orange juice in hand, so I used water and orange essence instead and avoided the vanilla essence.
3. I substituted lemon juice with equal measure of ACV.
4. For the frosting,  my jam was brown in color, so I added a pinch of orange red food color.
5. I baked ¾th of the measurements in a loaf pan for 30 mins.
6. Finally I trimmed the sides of the cake to give a neater look.

7 Cup Burfi

Yes... 7 Cup Burfi, the ingredients sums to 7 cups totally. Its taste is combo of Mysore Pak and Coconut Burfi.  A simple, humble and yummy recipe. Perfect for any special occasion and can be prepared in a jiffy.

Ingredients:
Besan flour - 1 cup
Dessicated coconut - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Nuts (cashew & almonds, powdered) - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 cup
Yellow food colour - a pinch (optional) 

Method:
Note: Maintain low flame for the entire recipe.
1. Heat a non-stick pan and add the besan flour and dry roast it for a couple of minutes. Keep stirring to avoid it from changing to brown color.
2. Add all other ingredients one by one (coconut, sugar, milk and nuts), and stir well continously. Finally add the ghee.
3. Cook till the mixture leaves the sides and when you start seeing small white bubbles, immediately switch off the stove.
4. Transfer the mixture into a ghee-greased tray and level it.
5. Using a knife, slice it while it's still WARM.
6. An instant burfi is ready.

MY TIP:
1.  For half measurement,  my tray size : 22 cm * 12 cm. 

Parsi Mawa Cake

Recipe adapted from Neetu's

Ingredients:

Flour - 1¼ cup

Baking powder - ½ tsp

Cardamom Powder/Essence - 1/4 tsp

Khoya / Mawa (unsweetened) - 100 gms

Butter - 6 tbsp

Sugar (powdered)  - 1 cup 

Eggs - 2

Milk - 6 tbsp

Almonds & Cashews (chopped finely) - To garnish

Method:

1. In a bowl add maida and baking powder. Mix well and set aside. 

2. In another bowl add sugar, butter, khoya and cardamom powder and beat till light and fluffy. 

3. Add the eggs one by one and beat it for a couple of minutes.
4. Slowly add the maida mixture little by little and milk and beat till everything is mixed well. Don't over beat.  

5. Pour the batter into a greased and lined baking tray. 

6. Sprinkle cashews and almonds on top. 

 7. Bake it for 35-45 minutes or until the cake is done. 

Note:
1. I used half of the measurement of all ingredients to make this cake.
2. My 1 cup measures 250 ml for this recipe. 

Marshmallows - The easy and best recipe

I've already posted a marshmallow recipe. But I have to frankly accept that this is the easiest, quicker and best recipe. So here comes the recipe... 

Ingredients:
Sugar - 180 gms
Water - 75 gms
Gelatin - 12 gms
Water - 60 gms
Pineapple essence - ¼ tsp
Yellow color - a few pinches
Cornflour - for dusting

METHOD:
1. Soak gelatin in 60 gms water in a glass bowl for an hour.
2. Mix sugar and water (75 gms). Bring to boil to a thick syrup consistency (soft ball stage - 240°F). Remove from heat.
3. Pour this mixture drizzling slowly into the soaked gelatin and beat with an electric mixer starting with slow speed and gradually to high speed.
4. After a couple of minutes, add the essence and color and beat the mixture till soft peaks are formed.
3. Pour this into a butter greased tray using a spatula. And let it set overnight at room temperature.
4. Remove the set marshmallows from the tray and place it on a cutting board dusted with cornflour. Coat it with flour on all sides. 
5. Cut into squares and dust with corn flour.
6. Store it in air tight containers. Stays well for 2-3 days in room temperature.

NOTE:
1. Use sharp knife to cut the marshmallows. Dust it with flour before using it.

2. Output - 230 gms marshmallows
3. For 1½ measurement : My tray size - 10 inches * 6 inches. 

Chiffon Cake

A light, airy, spongy chiffon cake.

Ingredients:
Eggs - 4 (50gms each, separated)
Flour - 120 gms
Sugar - 100 gms (powdered)
Oil - 3 tbsp
Milk - 4 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Flavouring essence - 1 tsp

Method:
1. In a bowl, add the eggs whites, essence, vinegar, salt and beat till frothy. Add in sugar little by little and beat till stiff peaks are formed.
2. In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks, oil,  milk and flour, and whisk it well to combine without any lumps.
3. Slowly add the stiff egg whites little by little (in 3 parts) to the flour mixture and fold gently. Don't beat or whisk. GENTLY FOLD. The batter should be foamy.
4. Pour the batter in a greased and lined baking pan. Gently shake and tap the pan on a flat surface twice to remove any air bubbles.
5. Bake it in a pre-heated oven @ 170° for 30 minutes.
6. Once done, remove it from oven immediately and with mild force tap the pan 2-3 times on a flat surface to avoid the cake from sinking.
7. Run a knife along the edges of the cake, and remove it. Allow it to cool.

Chiffon cake is ready.

My tip:
1. I baked in a loaf pan (¾th of the given measurement). Traditionally chiffon cakes are baked in bundt pans.
2. I prefer strong flavouring essence like pineapple to vanilla. So I added pineapple essence and yellow colour to the batter.

Easy Pan Release - for baking pans

Easy Pan Release 

Convert all your normal baking tins to non-stick with this easy homemade pan release mixture. No more greasing... No more dusting... Yay!!! 

Yes.. With this simple recipe, you can make a mixture which effortlessly releases the cake in shape. 

Ingredients:

Flour

Oil

Butter/shortening 

Recipe:

1. Take all 3 ingredients in equal ratio (1:1:1)

2. Mix the ingredients well together without any lumps. Done!!! 

 3. Just coat the baking pan with this mixture, before pouring the cake batter. 

The cake was released easily

And the pan is clean ☺️

The Cake 🎂... In Perfect Shape ☺️ 

 To save more time, this can be made in small batch and stored in fridge in an airtight glass container.