Presto Chocolate Cake

I remember scarfing the biggest possible pieces of this cake as an adolescent when my mum used to bake it. i loved the richness of it and the chocolate-sticky crust (i still do). now that i've started baking this was my first chocolate cake recipe. it's the quickest i've come across and i love to have it cold.

eggs-2
cocoa powder-1/2 cup
butter-1/2 cup cut up
maida-2 cups
sourless curd-1/2 cup
vanilla essence-1 tsp
soda bicarb-3/4 tsp
powdered sugar-2 cups
lukewarm water-1/2 cup

Beat the eggs lightly with a fork. add all the ingredients in their order; mix well with your hands and bake till done. yes, you read right. it's just this much and believe me the cake will surpass you expectations. you don't have to mess your beater (personally i love hand-mixed batter). i never even followed the order but still it came out so good!

Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sauce

I crave, right now, a huge chunk of this delectable cake. but most of the times i bake it, it goes out to someone else OR once i lavish the sauce on it and watch the dribble trickling down i become calorie-conscious! sigh, strange is the female species. i've taken this from a local Christian magazine and of the handful of chocolate cake recipes i've tried my vote goes for this.

flour-11/2 cups
cocoa powder-1/2 cup
sugar-11/4 cups
soda bicarb-11/2 tsp
eggs-2
butter-185 gm
vanilla essence-1 tsp
cold milk-1 cup
synthetic vinegar-1 tbsp

Strain the flour along with the cocoa powder and soda bicarb and keep aside. powder the sugar and mix it with the flour combo. add the vinegar to the milk and let it stand. beat the eggs lightly and keep. melt the butter; cool it and add it to the flour-sugar mix along with half the milk. beat for two mins. add the eggs, remaining milk and vanilla essence and beat for another two mins. pour the batter into a nicely greased cake tin and bake till done.

The cake is really soft. so don't try and heap the entire batter into one cake tin. distribute it in two. it yields 900 gms.

The chocolate sauce recipe is already given in my Christmas menu spread. ideally use the ring cake pan so that the final effect is of an over-sized doughnut. jab the cake at different points with a slender stick (i use toothpick!) and let the sauce seep in. dribble the sauce when it is hot. slice a chunk and steal its richness before you turn calorie-conscious like me:)

The Variation

OK, it's safest to avoid experiments with cakes but i've started this nasty habit! i know thomas will gum it down as long as it tastes good. i tried this with my standard carrot cake recipe and won accolades.

grated carrot-11/2 cups
finely chopped pineapple-11/2 cups
cocoa powder-1 tbsp
instant coffee powder-1/2 tsp
nutmeg powder-11/2 tsp
cinnamon powder-11/2 tsp
and all the other ingredients mentioned below in the carrot cake recipe

I did not finely chop the pineapple. i ran it quickly in the chopper once. it's not the ideal thing to do as it becomes a sticky mass but nothing suffers.

You can add tutty fruity and cherries and use drinking chocolate powder instead of cocoa. it's voila again but consider the sweetness of the chocolate powder while adding the sugar. if you use drinking chocolate powder add 2-3 tbsp of it and reduce the sugar quantity to 21/4 cups.

Carrot Cake and Variations

I've baked this cake God knows how many times and i can still bake it and enjoy it like i have never had it before. my friends have tried other carrot cake recipes and by popular poll this is rated the best.

grated carrot-3 cups
maida-2 cups
sugar-2-21/2 cups powdered
eggs-4
refined oil-1-11/4 cups
baking powder-1 tsp
sodabicarb-1 tsp
salt-a pinch
cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves-1 tsp each ground
cocoa powder-2-3 tbsp (absolutely optional)

Sieve together the maida, baking powder, sodabicarb and salt two or three times. beat the eggs ligtly with a fork adding the sugar. using your hands mix all the ingredients well. pour into a cake tin and bake till done.

Yes, it's as simple as that. you don't have to take out your beater and believe me this cake can't be softer. it yields around 1 kg. slice it and refrigerate the third or fourth day on. it only tastes better when cold.

Use two cups sugar if you want it only mildly sweet. i found the two and a half cups sugar a nicer fit for the cake though i don't generally like anything too sweet. use only one cup oil if you like your cake dry (my mum in law likes it that way). i use 11/4 as i like it moist (daughter in law vs. mother in law!). if you find it difficult to cut put it in the fridge for a while and cut it cold. it's yuuummmmmmm...mmmoooooo.

Apple Cheese Cake

Can anyone resist a cheese cake...the original and the not-so-originals? i know sheba cannot ;). nor can i. nor can you after trying out this recipe. it's really quick, cost-effective and makes a great dessert when topped with ice cream. this is up especially for sheba whom i invite to try this out, eat and add some pounds! well, well, "how mean"...that's a cliche. for this you need

apples-4 big
milkmaid-1 tin
eggs-3
lemon peel-1 tsp
lemon juice-2 tsp
marie biscuits (desi graham crackers!)-50 nos (21/2 cup powdered biscuit)
butter-150 gm
cinnamon powder-to taste

Core and slice and puree the apples with 21/2 cup water and 2 tbsp sugar in a pan. the water should be almost eaten up by the apples and heat; the resulting apple sauce will be around 11/2 cup. flavour it with cinnamon powder. thomas gets put off by its taste; i don't know why. i guess baked apples can almost never be imagined without cinnamon. melt the butter in a pan. reduce the flame and add the powdered biscuit and turn off the flame. take off the biscuit-butter mix and measure 3/4 cup and keep aside. press the rest of the biscuit to the bottom of the cake dish and refrigerate for 10 min. separate white from the yolk of the eggs. beat the white till fluffy and keep aside. mix the apple sauce, milkmaid, yolk, lemon peel and juice and beat till well blended. fold the white gently into this bigger mix and pour the whole mix completely on the biscuit base of the cake dish. sprinkle the remaining powder atop. level the mix with a spatula and bake at 160 C for 50-55 min. cool, cut and relish.



The sweetness of this cheese cake recipe is just right (for Indians). i admire Lakshmi Nair for the accuracy of her measurements.

Courtesy: Lakshmi Nair

Mum's Special Coconut Milk Pidi

At times i feel the best moments in my life begin and end in a cup of coffee. that sounds like the beginning of a mumbo-jumbo. so let me snip it off right here. over to this wonderful...hmm..tea time delicacy (as it is in Kerala). but i would prefer it as a breakfast dessert; not the cold dessert but the hot one. why a breakfast dessert...i don't know. maybe as most of our traditional breakfast is rice/rice powder-based. if you have the coconut milk ready nothing can be simpler than this. and it looks so...naive and adorable when you finally get it into a bowl. it tastes wonderful only for those who like coconut milk-based dishes. and i'm yet to see someone who doesn't.

rice powder-1 cup + 1 tsp
salt-1/2 tsp
boiled water-3/4 cup (close to)
ghee-1 tbsp
grated coconut-11/2 cup (to extract the milk)
first milk of the coconut (thala pal)-1 cup
second milk-11/2 cup
sugar-1/4 cup
cardamom powder to flavour-1/2 tsp

Boil the water and add the boiling water to the rice powder. add the salt and the ghee and knead softly to make a smooth dough. make tiny balls with it (comes to around 40 balls). you can either steam the balls by way of cooking it or drop the raw balls directly into the second coconut milk and cook them in the milk. if you steam and cook then you can use the first milk alone which reduces the labour of extracting milk (that is if you're not using the readymade coconut milk to begin with). when it is almost cooked add sugar; stir to dissolve and add 1 tsp rice powder to thicken the stuff. add the first milk and a pinch of salt. do not let it boil too much as the taste reduces. after the intial boil switch it off and flavour with adequate cardamom powder. serve hot or otherwise.

You can buy readymade rice powder which is fried and stored for use. same goes for coconut milk. readymades are available and pretty good ones but for this i suggest you extract the milk by...well, breaking the coconut, grating and then extracting the milk...too cumbersome? OK then go for the readymade one and use on discretion :)

Baji Chilli Vindaloo

The dish is a great accompaniment to biriyani along with the raita. i guess the recipe works out fine with brinjals too though i haven't tried it. my mum made it. otherwise i would have had to make the vindaloo the previous day. the whole combo is a pricey package. when i start my own stall later, later in life, God-willing, the biriyani will come along with a modicum of vindaloo and raita!

baji chilli-1/4 kg
salt and turmeric powder-as reqd
oil-3/4-1 cup (don't frown; read the whole thing)
chopped onions-1/4 kg
ground garlic-1 tbsp

mustard seeds-1 tsp
red chilli powder-1 tbsp
cumin (jeera)-2 tsp
fenugreek seeds (methi)-1 tsp (grind this combo)

chopped tomato-2 big
ground ginger-1 tbsp
salt-reqd
sugar-1 tsp
vinegar-1 tbsp

Cut the baji chilli lengthwise or slit the tips and marinate in salt and turmeric powder for fifteen min. fry this in oil and keep aside. brown the onion in this oil nicely and keep aside. fry the ground garlic in the same oil followed by the ground mustard-chilli powder-cumin-methi. fry well. add the tomato and ground ginger and fry really well till the oil separates. add the already fried onion to it together with adequate water and salt. when this boils add the fried chilli, sugar and vinegar. stir and remove from fire.



This is a spicy (not too spicy) dish. If you have doubts about the baji chilli you can de-seed them and reduce the red chilli powder. it goes well with roti, plain rice and pulao.