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.

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.

Strawberry chocochip cake

• Maida - 250gm
• Butter - 250gm
• Sugar - 250gm(powder)
• Egg – 4
• Choco chips – 50gm
• Fresh strawberry – 100gm
• Sugar – 3 tsp
• Salt - a pinch
• Baking powder - 1tsp
• Vanilla essence - 1tsp

1.     Sieve maida and baking powder, twice or thrice. Keep a side.

2.     Chop the strawberry roughly.

3.     Now take a pan and put the strawberry and 3 tsp sugar, heat it till all the juice come out if the berry and mash it nicely and keep aside.

4.     Greece the baking tray and apply maida over it and remove the excess maida from the tray. Keep a side.

5.     Take all the dry fruits in a small vessel and to that add 2tsp of maida and mix it and keep it a side.

6.     In a big vessel take butter and wipe it nicely. Now add sugar little by little 3 times. Keep some sugar.

7.     Now add maida to the above batter.

8.     Add the strawberry mixture and mix it nicely.

9.     In between switch on the oven so that it will be pre-heated.

10. Separate egg white and the yolk, in another vessel put the egg white and beat it nicely, when it become fluffy add the remaining sugar to that. If you hold the vessel upside down also the egg white should not fall down.

11. Add the egg yolk to the butter batter.

12. Now do cut and fold method and put the egg white in the butter batter.

13. Now add the essence in the batter. And pour this in the baking try and keep it in oven 250 degree for 20 min.

14. Check it by putting a knife in to the cake if the knife is clear, then it is done other wise keep for some more time.

Idly

• Idly batter – As required
• Oil – to grease
• Idly vessel or cooker

1. Take the idly batter.
2. Grease the idly vessel nicely.
3. Now pour batter 3/4^th full.
4. Steam cook idles on medium for 10 min.
5. Use the back of spoon to remove the idlies.
6. Ready to serve with Green chutney (or) Mint Coriander chutney, Peanut chutney, Coconut Chutney, sambar etc