Cinnamon Chocolate Squares

It's the first week of November and here in Karachi, we have just felt the stirrings of the winter season. A small drop in temperature - a little bit of wind in the mornings and in the evenings.  The popping up of billboards displaying the many different types of textiles & designs that are oh so important for Karachi winters. My cats preferring to go outside instead of spending the night on the cold tiles. Lastly, the beautiful fresh produce in the markets - pomegranates, apples & oranges and of course the vegetables -fresh tomatoes, carrots, peas & more. 

Winter is also a great time for food - not only does the kitchen stop feeling like a furnace but the cold weather is all about comfort food & hearty meals with the entire family gathered and enjoying food together. Hot soups with garlic bread on the side, Kashmiri Chai being served at weddings, Hand whisked coffee and and shelling peanuts or chilgozay/pine-nuts on the side, Degh ka Haleem & Baazar ki Nihari, they all spell winter & family. 

For me, there's one spice that screams winter and that is cinnamon. I have always loved cinnamon, and I would keep grinding up "daalchinni/cinnamon bark" to make fresh batches of the powder & add it in just about everything. But its in winter desserts where this spice truly shines - apple pie with loads of cinnamon served with fresh vanilla ice-cream; carrot cake specked with walnuts & spice with a rich cream cheese frosting. This time going with the cinnamon theme, I decided to try out a new recipe from one of my favorite books - Cinnamon Squares from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.

It's a rustic looking tea-cake, with a gorgeous swirl of cinnamon, chocolate & espresso. The chocolate ganache (which I didn't do this time) would just be that extra element to turn into a delicious fit for a party cake! 

 

Cinnamon Squares
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Cake
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
1 1/2 teaspoons coffee powder
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Frosting
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

*Note: Cinnamon is made by grinding daalchinni/cinnamon bark in a spice grinder till its powdery. Keep it in an air-tight container in a cool place or in the refrigerator to preserve the flavor. Make a fresh batch every 2-3 months for the best flavor. 

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper. Place the pan on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake: Stir 2 tablespoons of the sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon and the espresso together in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, the baking powder, salt and the remaining 1 tablespoon cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and gently whisk until you have a homogenous batter. Now, using the whisk or a rubber spatula, fold in the butter with a light touch, just until the butter is absorbed. You'll have a smooth, shiny batter.
Scrape half of the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter and dust with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover with the rest of the batter and smooth the top again.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is puffed and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan; a thin knife inserted into the center will come out clean. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 15 minutes before unmolding it onto another rack. Peel off the paper, invert it onto the first rack, and cool to room temperature right side up.

To Make the Frosting: Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring gently and often, just until they melt. Be careful not to overheat the mixture so much that it thins out; the chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and spreadable. (If it thins, leave the frosting at room temperature for a bit, until it thickens a little.)
Using an offset metal icing spatula or a table knife, spread the frosting in generous sweeps and swirls over the top of the cake. Allow the frosting to set at room temperature, then cut the cake into 9 squares, each about 2 1/2 inches on a side.


Serving: Serve the cake as is or, if you would like, with whipped cream.
 
Storing: Wrapped in plastic, the cake will keep at room temperature for 2 days. It can be frozen for up to 2 months, but it's best to put the cake in the freezer unwrapped and then, when the frosting is firm, to wrap it airtight; defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator. 
 
Playing Around
Cappuccino Squares: If you like the cappuccino flavor combination of coffee and cinnamon, you can easily switch the balance in this recipe by adding a jolt of coffee flavor to the batter. Just mix 1 tablespoon instant espresso into the milk and warm the milk in a microwave oven until it is hot enough to dissolve the coffee. Cool the milk and carry on.

Classic Victoria Sponge

Eid-ul-Adha or Baqra-Eid is just around the corner, and it usually means a lot of meat. I am sure that everyone must be facing an excess of recipes all focusing on meat as the main course, so contrary to the norm I decided to post about dessert, specifically a quintessential British classic - the Victorian Sponge. 

This delicate sponge cake filled with jam and cream was named after Queen Victoria, who used to favour a slice with her afternoon tea. Though it may pale in comparison to the chocolate cakes that are so popular nowadays, its simplicity is what makes it perfect, not just as a snack for evening tea but also as a delicious dessert to end a party. 

I have tried a number of sponge cakes over the years, with varying levels of complexity leading to different results. The general rule was that the more complicated the instructions, the better the results, however, the number of pots & pans used would put me off making the recipe unless for very special occasions. So I have always been on the lookout for a sponge cake that is relatively simple but also delicious and this recipe fits the bill. The sponge cake light & fluffy and has a beautiful crumb which is just further enhanced the cream & jam filling. 

Victoria Sandwich with Cream & Jam Filling

Ingredients:
175 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
175 g caster sugar (ground the local granulated sugar for about 30 seconds in a spice till the texture is fine) 
3 eggs(approx. 175 g) - room temperature 
175 g self-raising flour (1 cup flour + 1 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp = 1 cup self-raising flour) 
3 tbsp whole milk
Note: Caster sugar can be purchased from the supermarket for convenience, however, it can easily be substituted with local sugar ground in a spice mill/grinder. Make sure the grinder is clean, and does not have any residues of local spices, else the sugar will be flavored accordingly. Icing sugar/Confectioners is NOT a substitute as icing sugar is ground much more finely and also has cornstarch in it. 

Filling:
Cream - 1 cup/200 grams
Icing Sugar - 2 tbsp, plus extra to dust (can be increased depending on taste)
Vanilla essence (optional)
Strawberry Jam - 4-5 tbsp

Method:
1. Grease 2 9-inch round baking papers with butter. Line with parchment/baking paper and grease with butter properly. Alternatively one 9 inch round pan can be used to make one cake adjusting the baking time accordingly. The cake would then need to be cut into two equal halves.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180 C.
3. Put the butter in a bowl with the sugar and beat together until really light and fluffy.
4. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after every addition then sift over the flour. Fold in gently with a spatula or metal spoon to combine.
5. Fold in enough milk to give a smooth 'dropping' consistency.
6. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins - use weighing scale if you have it. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean. Only test one cake for this so that the top of the cake does not have holes in it.
7. Allow to cool in the tins for about 10 minutes (5 minutes under a full speed fan), then turn out onto a wire rack thats covered with a cotton tea towel/clean cloth to prevent marking. Carefully turn the cake over, removing the tea towel/clean cloth and allow to cool completely. The two halves can also be stored properly covered in the refrigerator for about 2 days and at least a month in the freezer. It is also a good idea to put the cakes in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes in our hot weather since that will make it much more easier to top with cream. 
8. Once cool, place the skewered half, bottom side up, on a cake stand and top with whipped cream. Leave about 1/2 inch space at the edges since the cream will spread when the top layer is put on the cream.Spread the cream with the strawberry jam.
9. Top with the other cake half, bottom down, then sprinkle with caster sugar before serving.

Note: Please be careful when topping it with the other half because as is obvious from my picture, it can't be moved once it sticks to the cream. It will still taste great :), but the cream will melt & leak out after a while. 

Whipped Cream:
In a large bowl, start whipping cream on slow speed with a whisk or hand-held mixer. Increase the speed & keep whisking until stiff peaks are just about to form. Mix in sugar & vanilla essence (optional) until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, as cream might separate and become lumpy and butter-like.

Note: Cream whips better if the utensils are cold, & cream is also refrigerated instead of room temperature. I keep the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes, and make sure I am as far away from the stove as possible.

Variations: 
1. Any other flavor of jam can be substituted for strawberry, however, it would be best to substitute with a dark-colored jam to provide contrast.
2. The sponge cake tastes so light & fluffy on its own, that is desired, it can easily be eaten on its own without any filling.
3. The sponge cake can also be used as the basis for a trifle or similar dessert.
4. Lastly, another type of filling that will go great with the sponge cake is a vanilla flavored pastry cream. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake

Sticky Toffee Pudding is a typical British dessert which comprises of a moist sponge cake, made with dates and covered in a toffee or caramel sauce and served warm with vanilla ice-cream or custard. The traditional method of making the pudding is through steaming, however, this recipe comprises of the same ingredients and flavor but in cake form. 

Since its Ramazan and there's an abundance of dates at home, I got to try out a recipe that had been on my to do list for a long time! The cake can be served warm or cold, depending on personal preference, but its best served with vanilla ice-cream since its quite sweet and the ice-cream provides a nice contrast to the cake, especially with a drizzle of toffee syrup!

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake
Recipe: Cooking Nook 

Ingredients:
8 ounces (250 g) pitted dates, chopped (about 2 cups)1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Toffee sauce or caramel sauce (recipe below)
Vanilla Ice-Cream - for serving (optional)
Directions:
Grease an 9-inch round metal baking pan and line with parchment paper. Alternatively, an 8 inch square baking pan can also be used.
In a large bowl, combine the chopped dates, the baking soda and boiling water. Let it stand for about 30 minutes or until it is cooled to room temperature.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Add the brown sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla to the date mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat it for 2 minutes, until blended (the mixture will appear slightly curdled). Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Mix again for 15 to 30 seconds until blended.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Set the pan on a wire rack. Poke holes all over the top of the cake with a toothpick or skewer or fork. Pour 1/2 cup of the toffee sauce over the cake. Let it cool in the pan on rack for 10 minutes.
To serve, cut the cake into squares and serve warm with ice-cream and drizzle with the remaining sauce. The cake can also be served cold, depending on personal preference. 
Store the cooled cake in the refrigerator in a cake keeper, or loosely wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, for up to 5 days. 

Caramel SauceIngredients:
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) granulated sugar
3/4 cup cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:In a small heavy saucepan, heat granulated sugar over medium heat until sugar is a dark caramel-colored liquid. Be very careful and make sure the caramel does not burn. Remove from heat and while whisking, carefully pour in cream. The caramel will sputter as you add the cold cream, so be careful when mixing. 
Stir in the vanilla.
Makes about 2 cups (500 mL)

Almond Cake

Almost everyone who bakes usually has a good plain/pound cake recipe - something that you can have with tea, or when you want a light snack and something that the whole family enjoys. This cake is my to go favourite all rounder cake; not only is it a great cake for everyday occasions, but I almost always make it as a secondary cake for parties (especially Eid) for people who would like to have something light for dessert and might not prefer fudgy chocolate cakes. It can easily be made ahead and kept for at least 3-4 days (provided there's enough left :) ). 

Almond Cake

Enough for one 8 inch or 9 inch round pan; one loaf pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2)
Recipe can be doubled for one 13x9 rectangular baking pan (this is how I usually make it because its a family favourite)
Ingredients (For reference, 8 oz = 1 cup)

6 oz flour (3/4 cup)

6 oz sugar (3/4 cup)

5 oz vegetable oil (1/2 cup + 1/8 cup) - don't use olive oil 

3 eggs

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

4 tbsp coarsely ground almonds (can be reduced - my family loves almonds, so I add more)

(I have a manual nuts mill which I use to coarsely grind the almonds - I like the crunchy texture in the mouth so I coarsely ground the almonds but can be processed more finely based on personal preference)

Almond essence - 1/4 teaspoon (can be increased to 1/2 teaspoon if a stronger almond flavor is preferred)

Vanilla essence - 2 drops

Sliced Almonds - about 1/2 cup (I prefer slicing them with the skin on, since it creates a better contrast with the white cake, but its easier to slice them if the almonds are blanched in hot water and skins removed) 

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C. Line baking pan with parchment paper and grease well with oil/butter.  

2. Sift flour and baking powder together.

3. Beat sugar and oil together till mixed - about 2 minutes. 

4. Add eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. 

5. Add ground almonds, almond essence and vanilla essence and mix well.

6. Add flour and baking mixture and fold with a spatula or wooden spoon.

7. Pour into baking tray

8. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top for garnish - they will get toasted in the oven and get crisp. If you prefer the almonds untoasted, then you can add them in the end after taking out the cake. 

9. Bake at 200 C for 25 - 30 minutes till skewer comes out with moist crumbs. If recipe is doubled for 13x9 inch pan, then it needs to be baked for about 35 - 40 minutes.

10. Cool on a wire rack.

11. Once cake is cooled, it can be glazed with an almond syrup which adds a light crunchy & sweet texture to the cake. 

Almond Glaze

1 cup icing sugar/confectioner's sugar

1/2 - 1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon almond essence

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the almond essence and enough water to create a glaze with the consistency of light cream (should coat the back of a spoon). Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake.
Note: It is essential to sift the icing sugar, otherwise there will be lumps in the final product. 

Fudge Brownies - Guest Post

Hello everyone!

So for those who have been following my Facebook updates, they would know that today I am doing a guest post over at Mama, Baby & Diapers - a hilarious blog on the rantings of a MamaBaby aka AmmaJee, who is a self-proclaimed-super-mama-in-progress.

What I will be featuring is my favourite brownies recipe - the brownies are fudgey combined with just the right amount of chocolate flavor and they are ultra-moist. Best part – there is no chopping or melting of chocolate required which makes them so easy to make.

Please go to Mama, Baby & Diapers for the recipe.  

Also, these days, a lot of readers are not getting notifications and were asking me why I hadn't posted - I think it could probably be due to Facebook settings, so please like my page, and add me to your interest lists so that you get notifications.

One Bowl Chocolate Wonder

For me baking has always been very therapeutic from the entire process of selecting a recipe then gathering the ingredients to finally presenting the finished product to friends and family - creating something with basic ingredients and some kitchen gadgetry and then hoping that everyone will go "oh, that's so delicious" - that just makes all the time and effort that's put in seem so worthwhile.


People who have eaten baked stuff made by me are so used to me randomly adding ingredients like a dash of cinnamon or a bit of coffee powder or maybe some zest (depending on whats in season); I know that baking is an art and you are supposed to follow the recipe exactly, but while I will always follow the methodology I have this habit of always changing the recipe just a little bit. I always taste the final batter and adjust if required. It's become so habitual that nowadays when I don't do this random tweaking, I usually get a response that something seems to be missing.

One of my favourite cakes to make, also the most requested is this one bowl chocolate cake; I think I found this recipe in some magazine and it was titled "Magic Cake" and it was a pretty magical cake in terms of how easy it was - first add the dry ingredients then the wet ingredients then beat it for 2 minutes and bake: no creaming, no separating of eggs, no folding in the dry ingredients just dump it all in and your ultra-moist & chocolatey cake is ready to serve.

Later when my horizons for recipe searching increased (specifically in the days of broadband internet), I found out that this recipe is actually by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) known as Beatty's Chocolate Cake and is similar to the Hershey's Chocolate Cake

Beatty's Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients

Oil, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pans
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken (1 cup milk + 2.5 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice; leave for 10 minutes till the milk curdles)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature 
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup coffee (1 cup hot water + 1.5 tsp coffee powder)            
For Random Tweaking: I recommend adding a teaspoon of cinnamon powder; or a teaspoon of orange/lemon zest depending on what's in season; increase the flavor of coffee by adding 3 tsp of coffee powder instead of 1.5 tsp

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 13-inch by 9-inch rectangular cake pan. Line with parchment paper, then butter and dust the pan using cocoa powder.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a big bowl. Use a fork to mix all the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add all the wet ingredients. Use a spatula or a spoon to just barely mix the dry and the wet ingredient; the reason I do this is so that when I beat the mixture, it doesn't splatter. Beat for 2 minutes, using a spatula to scrape the bowl. Please note that the batter will not be thick as regular cake batters, but will be a bit liquid.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Frost with your favourite ganache topping or dust with icing sugar and serve.

Note: The texture of this cake is ultra-moist, hence I find it unsuitable for mold pans; similarly, I prefer icing it with a simple ganache or a glaze on it; 

New York Cheese Cake

And I am back .... I was busy travelling due to office work for about a week, first to Lahore and then to Singapore; was initially really excited about the travel because I was like great, once I get done with the official work, I will be able to do some sightseeing and probably try out new cuisines and get ingredients in the meanwhile. But what wishful thinking that turned out to be; thanks to the weird temperature change in Karachi, I fell sick which basically majorly ruined the domestic travel, and ensured that I was so tired and sleepy for the Singapore travel that it was all I could do to maintain my energy level for the training that I was attending. Once I was back in the city, all my friends are like so how was the trip? It must have been so much fun, but honestly, while the trip wasn't boring or anything, but with office work from 9:00 - 6:00 pm combined with after work socialization from 6:30 - 10:30 is definitely not a relaxing trip. I am really glad I have this weekend to recuperate and also get back to my blogging and cooking/baking schedule.

To start off, one of my favorite recipes - Baked New York Cheesecake. I love baking desserts, and I have experimented a lot and keep trying out new things, but I have never tried cheesecake because cream cheese is usually so expensive that I was always worried about something going wrong and all that cheese going to waste. Finally managed to get some cream cheese on sale and made this a few weeks ago and it was just one of the best desserts ever. So easy to make, and the taste was just so much better than what you get at a store. All that you need is some sauce to drizzle over the cheesecake to make it even more delicious.

New York Cheese Cake
Ingredients for Crust:
15 graham crackers, crushed (Substitute McVites Digestive biscuits in Pakistan)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Ingredients for Filling:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (It has to be softened, so before adding the sugar, mash it up with a fork; it becomes softer and creamier and its easier to add the sugar and beat both ingredients together) - the best brand is Philadelphia cream cheese, but Kiri can be substituted though the flavor will be slightly different 
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream (substitute 1 cup greek yoghurt or strain yoghurt in a muslin cloth till water is drained and yogurt is thick) 
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Note: The above quantity makes a lot of cheesecake filling, and it can easily be halved to make two separate cheesecakes, or one medium sized cheesecake. 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Put two layers of aluminium foil around the bottom spring foam pan in order to ensure there is no leakage.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of spring form pan. These can be pre-baked for 5-10 minutes for a crisper crust.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust. Don't over-beat otherwise it might crack.
4. Pour water in a roasting pan and make sure it is big enough to put the springfoam pan inside. Put the cheesecake batter in the water bath and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 1 to 2 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours until serving.

Almond Biscotti

I remember the first time I had biscotti. I remember being so impressed by the look of the biscuits and the chunks of fruits and nuts, however they were just a bit too difficult because they were so hard when compared to traditional biscuits. But later on, I discovered the trick to eating biscotti; you need to dunk them in tea or coffee whereby they become just soft enough to eat, but not so soggy that they crumble and break. 

Biscotti is a bit similar to the traditional "cake rusk" in terms of it being a crunchy tea biscuit which is not as sweet as a chocolate chip cookie. The recipe I chose was from joyofbaking and I made traditional almond biscotti. Next time though, I would add one less egg, and add unblanched almonds since the skin give a nice contrast to the white biscuit.

Recipe:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/biscotti/AlmondBiscotti.html

Angel Food Cake

The idea of an angel food cake has always fascinated me though I have never attempted it due to the large number of egg whites required. It's very easy to finish left-over egg whites, but the amount of cholesterol in egg yolks makes it highly unlikely that I will be making scrambled eggs for breakfast with them.

But the coconut custard cake that I made in the last post required 12 egg yolks leaving me with enough egg whites to experiment. The recipe that I tried was Cook's Illustrated (since it had exactly 12 egg whites) and the cake turned out beautiful. It rose up just right, and while the idea of putting the cake to cool on a bottle sounded absurd, it ensured that the cake did not sink once it was out of the oven. The crumb and texture of the cake was really light, however, the taste itself could be improved since it was bland. The next time I make the cake, I would either add more sugar, or pour sugar syrup or a simple glaze over the cake to add some much needed sweetness.

The Best Angel Food Cake
Recipe taken from: 

The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition by Cook's Illustrated Magazine, John Burgoyne, Carl Tremblay and Daniel J. Van Ackere (Oct 15, 2004)

The New Best Recipe

1 1/2 cups egg whites (about 12 egg whites), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided in 3/4 cup and 3/4 cup
1 cup sifted cake flour (3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp cornflour)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp almond essence (or any other flavouring)
zest of 1 small lemon
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice 

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to325 degrees. Have ready an ungreased large tube pan (9-inch diameter and 16-cup capacity), preferably with a removable bottom. If pan bottom is not removable, you must line it with parchment or waxed paper, but make sure you don't grease or the batter won't be able to climb the sides of the pan and you will have a very flat angel food cake.

Whisk together the flour and half the sugar in a small bowl. Place the remaining sugar in another small bowl near the mixer.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer at medium-low speed until just broken up and beginning to froth. Add cream of tartar and salt and beat at medium speed until whites form very soft, billowy mounds, 2 to 3 minutes.

With the mixer still at medium speed, beat in half the sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar is added and the whites are shiny and form soft peaks, another 2 to 3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and almond extract and beat for about 30 seconds at highest speed.

Resift the flour/sugar mixture and spoon it over the egg whites, about 3 tablespoons at a time, folding in gently with a large spatula.

Gently scrape batter into pan, smooth top with spatula, and give the pan a couple of gentle raps on the counter to release any large air bubbles in the batter.

Bake on lower-middle rack at 325 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, until cake is golden brown and top springs back when pressed firmly.

If cake pan has feet, invert pan onto them. If not, invert tube of pan over neck of bottle (or two stacked wire cookie cooling racks) so air can circulate all around it. Allow cake to cool completely for 2 to 3 hours.

To unmold, run a thin serrated knife around the edges, being careful to dislodge as little of the crust as possible. Pull cake out of pan and use the same technique on the bottom, or peel off parchment or waxed paper if using. Place cake, bottom side up, on a platter. Cut slices by sawing gently with a serrated knife. Serves 10 to 12.

Coconut Custard Cake

Again, I know, it's been a while but sporadic posting seems to be a habit of mine which is mostly dependant if I actually had time to take pictures of the food I made; and not just random pictures, but like good pictures.

As is obvious from the message on the cake, I made this for a close friend to celebrate her wedding; Again following my trend of wanting to do something yet not chocolate, this is what I decided to make. The cake has sugar, egg yolks (a total of 12 egg yolks), milk and coconut all mixed up together and poured into a glass dish and baked in a water bath.The coconut in this cake "magically" becomes this really delicious bottom crust, providing a wonderful contrast to the custard on top.

Next time I bake this, I will make it in individual ramekins to be served with whipped cream on the side. An additional side benefit to the cake is that it left me with a total of 12 egg whites, which is the exact number needed to make an Angel Food Cake, which I will be sharing in the next post.

Chocolate Cake with Coffee Filling

I know I have been on a really long hiatus from blogging .. I haven't had time to bake in so long .. all I have done is make a pile of recipes to try which hopefully I plan to try once I am free from this long and busy wedding season ..

This is a cake I made for a close friend of mine on her birthday .. She absolutely loves desserts and I wanted to do something special for her .. Initially I had planned to send her at least three goodies and one cake to work (one brownies, one cookies and one peanut butter) .. the peanut butter idea fell apart due to the realization that I can't make a cake and three goodies on a weekday .. but I did manage to send her brownies and chocolate chip cookies and I made the cake for her birthday lunch with friends

This is not a cake based on a single recipe, just an amalgamation of different recipes with some tweaking .. The only inspiration behind this cake was that I wanted to do something different, by which it had to be a non-chocolate cake.  I decided on coffee as a flavor filld with a pastry cream, topped with a coffee-chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of almonds for some crunch ..
Coffee Cake

4 eggs
Sugar - 200g
Butter - 200g
Flour - 200g
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Instant Coffee - 2 tsp mixed with a bit of water

Pre-heat oven at 170 C.
Beat butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Then add flour and baking powder mixture (both need to be sifted together earlier). Beat together. Add the coffee mixture.

Bake for 40 minutes.

For the Pastry Cream
I follow the pastry cream recipe that is there at JoyofBaking (link given below). The amount of pastry cream will be quite a lot since I only used about 1 cup as it was a small cake, however, the leftover amount can be refrigerated and used for other cakes and desserts.
Pastry Cream Recipe - JoyofBaking

For the glaze
4 oz milk chocolate
200 grams cream
1 tbsp coffee

Warm cream, either on stove or in the microwave, then add chopped up chocolate. Mix both together till the chocolate melts, and it makes a smooth mixture. Add the coffee and taste the glaze. In case more chocolate/coffee is needed, then add cocoa powder or coffee powder accordingly.

In order to assemble the cake, first cool the coffee cake, then split it in half. Fill the cake with pastry cream. Then on top, spread the coffee chocolate glaze and sprinkle with almonds.

Chocolate Blackout Cake

This cake is phenomenal. There are 3 layers of dark chocolate cake, filled and topped with the most yummiest chocolate pudding and then finally topped off with cake crumbs.The pudding and the chocolate cake are pretty good on their own, however, combined together they are the best combination possible.

I remember the first time I made this cake and it seemed like the leaning tower of Pisa because I didn't cut the layers properly. However, from then with a bit more practise combined with the realization that patience is absolutely necessary when cutting a cake, I have managed to ensure that my cakes are straight.

I got the recipe for this cake from Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking.

Coconut Tea Cake

I love coconut and I love bundt cakes. The cake just looks so pretty when it comes out of the pan that it doesn't even need any extra icing/glaze or any decoration.

This cake is again taken from the book that I was talking about in this post. It's a delicious tea/coffee cake and the best part is that its open to a lot of variations. I tried the coconut lemon tea cake variation myself, but oranges could be used instead, or spices like cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg can be added to make  a coconut spice cake.
Recipe taken from Dorie Greenspan's book: Baking: From My Home to Yours

Coconut Lemon Tea Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (please stir well before measuring)
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces - about 100 grams
• 4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened or sweetened), toasted or not
• Zest of one lemon
• Juice of Half a Lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9- or 10-inch (10-to-12-cup) Bundt pan.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter is melted Add juice of 1/2 lemon to the mixture. Remove from the heat, but keep warm.
 Rub the grated zest of one lemon into the sugar till it becomes fragrant. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears.
Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a rubber spatula, just to make certain that any dry ingredients that might have fallen to the bottom of the bowl are incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan and give the pan a few back-and-forth shakes to even the batter.
Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

So What if Cinnabon isn't in Karachi? ..

I absolutely love love Cinnamon Rolls.. I remember the first time I had them and surprisingly enough I had them at Dunkin Donuts and not at Cinnabon.  A friend had ordered them and I can still remember the most amazing cinnamon smell; I tasted one bite and my first thought was that I just have to try these out at home. So I went home, looked up a recipe online and considering I had never worked with dough before, they were pretty simple to make and so delicious.However, I now use the Cooks Illustrated Ultimate Cinnamon Buns recipe which is a much better and fool proof recipe compared to the earlier one I used. The recipe can also be found in Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking.

I know it looks hard, but its really a matter of kneading the dough then rolling it out; sprinkling butter, brown sugar and cinnamon on the rolled out dough then wrapping it into a cylinder and then just baking it in the oven.

On a later note, I did FINALLY try the "Cinnabon" Cinnamon rolls, and I was unfortunately disappointed. I mean, not that the rolls tasted bad, they just didn't measure upto my expectations. They smelled amazing, they looked really really good BUT in terms of taste, they tasted more or less like what I make at home with the price differential between home and outside food being so high in this case that it was not worth it. So yeah, my expectations for Cinnabon didn't measure up and based on that, even if Cinnabon comes to Karachi, I would still prefer having Cinnamon rolls at home :).

Swedish Visiting Cake

I always used to look up recipes online. That used to be the best source available, or another option would be our cooking channels which while doing a great service of creating awareness about different cuisines & new ingredients take too much as they are shot in 'real-time'.
Based on this difficulty of finding good recipes and losing recipes because of spilled cake batter, I decided that I should invest in a baking book. So after lots of "googling" and reading about a hundred reviews/lists of "best baking books ever" I finally decided on getting the following book which turned out to be my best investment ever.
Update: I now have a bookshelf of cooking books, procured from Urdu Bazaar, ordered online and delivered through relatives abroad, or while wandering around in Sunday Bazaar.

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Green Span

I have read this book page by page recipe by recipe twice. Every recipe in this book has been meticulously explained with the author giving an interesting anecdote/story/background to the recipe with little notes on the side detailing multiple variations/playing around that can be done with the recipe. 

This is such a simple cake, but the sprinkling of almonds and sugar of top elevates it to another level.

Swedish Visiting Cake
Ingredients:
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for preparing pan (I used 100 gms of Nurpur Butter)
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
1/2 tsp almond essence (optional)
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sliced almonds; preferably unblanched, since the skins gives a good contrast to the white cake

Method:
Center a rack in oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter a seasoned 9-inch cast-iron skillet or other heavy oven-proof skillet, a 9-inch round cake pan or even a pie pan. I used a 9-inch cake pan.

Pour sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon zest and blend zest into sugar with your fingers until sugar is moist and aromatic. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Whisk in salt and vanilla and almond essence.

Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in flour. Finally, fold in melted butter. Scrape batter into prepared skillet or pan and smooth top with rubber spatula.

Scatter sliced almonds over top and sprinkle with sugar. If using a cake or pie pan, place pan on baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and a little crisp on outside; the inside will remain moist.

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Green Span

Chocolate Cake in Under 5 Minutes ..

You know those times when you are craving a piece of chocolate cake and you want it like in the next 5 minutes; well, that's actually doable and within 5 minutes. I had wanted to try making a microwave cake and when I saw this recipe at The Cupcake Project it was the push I needed to make it right away.

It's not the most amazing of chocolate cakes, but considering the time required and the ease of the recipe, its a great way to reduce a craving.
Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon white sugar
4 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I love cinnamon but in case you don't like cinnamon that much, please add less)
 4 ½ teaspoons milk
1 tablespoons butter, melted
½ egg, lightly whipped
Icing sugar for sprinkling

Mix flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger in a small bowl.Mix in milk, butter, and egg.Pour the mixture in a ramekin/microwave safe glass bowl/individual silicon cupcake liner.Make sure you do not use any aluminum/metal pan in the microwave. Microwave on medium for one minute.

Microwave again on medium for thirty seconds. Use a skewer to test if the cake is done. If there are no crumbs when the skewer/knife is inserted then the cake is done. Alternatively, the cake should bounce back when touched with a finger. If cake is not done, then microwave for 30 seconds more.

Sprinkle with icing sugar in the end.

Adapted from Chocolate Spice Cupcakes for Two at PaulaDeen.Com