Zebra Cake

Everybody like vanilla cake and chocolate cake, but mix together is this zebra cake. Yesterday was one of my friend’s birthday and thinking of what to bake, suddenly this cake came to mind so tried this.

                                This cake is so moist just you will finish all the cake at the time, no remaining for tomorrow. This cake taste good as it is if you want you can add chocolate glaze. Anyhow you are going to have it is your choice how you want to enjoy this cake.  

  

Ingredients:-

• Eggs - 4 Nos.
• Sugar - 1 cup (200g)
• Butter - 1 cup (200 g), at room temperature
• Milk - 1 cup (240 ml)
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Flour - 3 cups (375g)
• Baking powder - 2 tsp (10 g)
• Salt - 1/4 tsp

For the chocolate batter:-

• Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp (25g)
• Milk - 1/4 cup (50ml)
• Sugar - 1 tbsp (15g)

Procedure:-

1. Grease and line with parchment paper, a 24 cm (9 in) round cake pan. Preheat oven at 180 (350 F).
2. Whisk together in a large bowl the dry ingredients, flour salt and baking powder. Set aside
3. In another bowl mix the cocoa powder with 1/4 cup milk and 1 tbsp of sugar
4. Mix butter with sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated. Add vanilla extract.
5. With the mixer on low, alternate adding gradually milk and flour mixture until all is well incorporated.
6. Remove half of the batter and mix them with the chocolate mixture
7. Use one tablespoon for each batter to create the layers of batter on the prepared pan. Begin from the middle of the pan, take one spoon of white batter then over it add a spoon of chocolate batter and repeat this steps until all batter has been used. (If you don't have the patience to make these layers just add one batter on top of the other and create swirls with a knife or fork to create the marbled effect)
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes on a cooling rack before removing from the pan.
10. Serve as it is or top with chocolate glaze.

Notes:-

• Round cake pan is the best, so that you can get the swirl shape.
• Parchment paper is compulsory so that it won’t stick down or if you are using springform pan  it will leak from down.
•  For the exact zebra or swirl pattern add equal portion of batters i.e. if one spoon each continue the same pattern till the end.
• Cool the cake before removing from the cake pan.

Aloo Laajawab

It is an North Indian side dish. It is rich side dish.This dish has a most appreciated ingredients Shahjeera or caraway seeds that import a wonderful flavor to the gravy.  To thicken this gravy we add a special ingredients i.e. cashew-nuts paste, this make the taste better.

• Potato – 2 cups (cubes, unpeeled)
• Onion – ½ cup (chopped)
• Ghee or oil – deep frying + 5 tbsp
• Cashew-nuts – 4 tbsp + 1 tsp (chopped)
• Garlic pods – 5
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Caraway seeds or Shahjeera – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Kitchen king masala – 1 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Curd – 3 tbsp
• Milk – ½ cup
• Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp (chopped)

1. Make a fine paste of 4 tbsp cashew-nuts, garlic and ginger with 2 tbsp of water. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the potatoes till golden brown. Drain a tissue paper and keep aside.
3. In the same oil, fry 1 tsp cashew-nuts till golden brown. Drain on a tissue paper and keep aside.
4. Heat the ghee in a kadai and add the caraway seeds.
5. When it starts to crackle, add turmeric powder, kitchen king masala and chilli powder and sauté for a second.
6. Now add the onion, let it be brown.
7. Add cashew-nut paste and sauté’ for 2 minutes.
8. Add the curd, milk and ½ cup water and allow it to boil.
9. Add the potatoes and simmer for 3 minutes.
10. Serve hot garnished with fried cashew-nuts and chopped coriander with rice, chapati, naan, kulcha .......
    

Multigrain idly or dosa batter

Now a day’s everyone has become health conscious. All are eating healthy food, doing exercise to keep their body fit and smart. I am not talking only others but also including me. This credit goes fully to my husband, he only told me to do. I have reduced around 5-6 kg of my weight. So I thought of posting something interesting which I had discovered by myself and also following in my house.

              Actually children don’t like to eat this kind of food. They know that if they are eating idly or dosa it should be white, but in this case it will be reddish in colour because of ragi. At first they made their faces but after tasting this they liked it.

Ingredients:

·       Idly rice – 4 cup

·       Urad dal – 1 cup

·       Ragi or Finger millet grains – 1 cup

·       Bajra or Pearl millet – 1 cup

·       Jawar or sorghum – 1 cup

·       Poha or Flattened rice – 1up

·       Oats – 1 cup

·       Methi or Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

·       Salt – as required

Procedure:

1.   Soak Ragi or Finger millet grains, Bajra or Pearl millet and Jawar or sorghum for about 5 to 6 hours.

2.   Now soak idly rice and methi for 2 hours.

3.   Soak urad dal for an hour.

4.   In another vessel soak poha and oats for ½ hours. If you are feeling board you can soak these last items all together.

5.   In the grinder first grind the millets and the pohas. It will take some time scrape the sides often.

6.   When it is grind nicely take it out in a vessel and now add the urad dal .

7.   Let the batter be smooth. Now take it out in the same vessel in which the millet paste is there.

8.   Now put the rice to grind. When it becomes a fine paste, take this also in the same vessel.

9.    Now add the salt as required and mix well. Check the consistency and keep it over night to be fermented.

10.                     Next day it will be ready to make idly or dosa.

Note:

• The consistency should be runny but not too much. When u r holding it up it should flow like a silk.
• You can soak all together except the millets because it will take lots of time.

Juan’s Rainbow Cake

         

            There is a story behind this cake, actually there are two stories one about how the cake got

this name and another making of this cake. First how it got the name, this story is about Juan, a French lady who is waiting for her lover to return from 2^nd world war were he was fighting far from her house.

                   While she was waiting, she made a strawberry cake for him in the first day but he did not return. On the second day she made pistachio cake only do get disappointment. On the third day she picked some orange from her garden and made orange cake, but he didn’t come. But the next morning he came with a surprise gift of chocolate to her. She layered the cake in order wise of the days by putting cream in between and layered them beautifully and melted the chocolate what he brought for her and mixed with cream and poured over it and served him with love.

There is no proof for this story.

It took whole day for me to prepare this cake.

The first layer i.e. strawberry, I didn’t get strawberry so I tried this cake with pineapple, we need:

Strawberry Cake

·       Strawberries/Pineapple –  200gms (chopped)

·       Water – 1/3 cup

·       Maida/All purpose flour – 1 cup

·       Baking soda – ¼  tsp

·       Baking powder – 1tsp

·       Sugar – ½ cup + 2tbsp

·       Egg – 2

·       Butter – 100 gm

·       Strawberries/Pineapple essence – 1tsp

·       Red / yellow colour – ¼ tsp

1.    Preheat the oven at 180 degree C.

2.    Grease the cake tin with butter and dust it with maida and keep aside.

3.    Add Strawberries/Pineapple with 2tbsp sugar and little water in a wok. Cook till it is soft. Let the pure’ cool.

4.    In a bowl take the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

5.    In another vessel blend the butter with sugar till creamy with the help of blender or with a spoon.

6.    Now add little flour mixture and the egg. Mix it well. And again repeat the process till all the flour is mixed well.

7.    Now add the pure’. Add essence and colour and mix all together.

8.    Pour this batter into the greased pan bake this for 35-40 min. Or till the skewer comes out clean.

9.    Transfer to wire rack till completely cool.

Now the pistachio cake:

·       Pistachio – 1 cup

·       Milk – ½ cup

·       Maida/All purpose flour – 1 cup

·       Baking soda – ¼  tsp

·       Baking powder – 1tsp

·       Sugar – ½ cup

·       Egg – 2

·       Butter – 100 gm

·       Pistachio essence – 1tsp

·       Green food colour – ¼ tsp

1.    While the first cake is in the oven we can prepare this cake, so no need to preheat.

2.    Soak the Pistachio in milk for 2 hours or if there is less time so you boil it in the milk for 5 mints. Let it cool; grind it to a fine paste with the milk. 

3.    Grease the cake tin with butter and dust it with maida and keep aside.

4.    In a bowl take the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

5.    In another vessel blend the butter with sugar till creamy with the help of blender or with a spoon.

6.    Now add little flour mixture and the egg. Mix it well. And again repeat the process till all the flour is mixed well.

7.    Add the grind paste to the batter. Add essence and colour and mix all together.

8.    Pour this batter into the greased pan bake this for 35-40 min. Or till the skewer comes out clean.

9.    Transfer to wire rack till completely cool.

Last but not the least layer of cake i.e. Orange cake:

·       Orange juice or orange – ½ cup (see note)

·       Orange rind – ½ - 1 tsp

·       Maida/All purpose flour – 1 cup

·       Baking soda – ¼  tsp

·       Baking powder – 1tsp

·       Sugar – ½ cup

·       Egg – 2

·       Butter – 100 gm

·       Orange essence – 1tsp

·       Orange food colour – ¼ tsp

1.    While the second cake is in the oven we can prepare this cake, so no need to preheat.

2.    Grease the cake tin with butter and dust it with maida and keep aside.

3.    In a bowl take the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

4.    In another vessel blend the butter with sugar till creamy with the help of blender or with a spoon.

5.    Now add little flour mixture and the egg. Mix it well. And again repeat the process till all the flour is mixed well.

6.    Add the orange juice, rind, essence and the colour to the batter and mix all together.

7.    Pour this batter into the greased pan bake this for 35-40 min. Or till the skewer comes out clean.

8.    Transfer to wire rack till completely cool.

For layering and topping:

·       Dark  or light chocolate – 250 gm

·       Whipped cream – 250 gm

·       Icing sugar – 3-4 tbsp

·       Strawberries/Pineapple essence  – few drops

·       Pistachio essence  – few drops

·       Orange essence  – few drops

·       Orange rind – 2 pinch

·       Light cream ¼ cup

·       Butter – 1 tsp

·       Sugar – 1tsp

·       Warm water – ½ cup

1.    Grate the chocolate.

2.    Heat the light cream till is starts to bubble. Now add the chocolate and butter. Switch off the gas.

3.    Stir till the chocolate completely melts and form smooth cream like a silk

4.    In a small bowl add sugar and water. Dissolve it and keep aside

5.    Take a deep bowl, whip the cream nicely till it forms stiff peaks

6.    Add the sugar and once more beat it.

7.    Take three bowls and take 3tbsp of this whipped cream and add 3 different essences.

8.    In orange essence add the rind also. Mix it well.

9.    Prick all the cake and pour the sugar water over it.

10.                     Now take the first layer i.e. Strawberries/Pineapple cake. Top it with Strawberries/Pineapple cream.

11.                     On the top of the cream place the Pistachio cake. Top it again with the Pistachio cream.

12.                     On the top of the cream place the orange cake. Top it again with the orange cream.

13.                     Dip the spatula in the hot water and smooth en it properly. And apply the cream in the side of the cakes so that no layer can be seen from the sides.

14.                     Pour the chocolate mixture over the cake and decorate it with chocolate piece.

15.                     Now keep this in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set.

16.                     After that remove from the fridge and serve it. Ready to eat.

NOTE:

o   12 whole orange = ½ cup juice

o   Grating the chocolate helps in melting fast and without any lump.

o   Add butter in the cream for glaze look.

o   It is optional to add the different essence in the whipped cream.

o   Keeping in the fridge is compulsory, to set.

o   Before layering be sure that the cakes to be at room temperature.