Strawberry Cake (Egg-less)
It’s been a while since we have posted any recipe and thought that there is no better time to start before we get busy with the new year. Time to say goodbye to 2017 with a sweet note. We made this tasty strawberry cake on our little angels 2nd birthday party and everyone simply loved it. Our daughter Arnavi loves strawberries so this turned out to be perfect treat for her birthday.
Cook time: 50 min
Prep time: 1 hour 10 min
Total time: 2 hours
Recipe type: dessert
Serves: 20-25
Ingredients
For sponge :
Note: These measurements are for one sponge, you will need twice the amount for making two sponge for this recipe.
- 1 3/4 cup plain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
- 1 tin(400gm) sweetened condensed milk
- 100 gm(1/2 cup) melted butter
- 3/4 cup water/ milk
- 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2 tablespoon hot water
For Cream cheese frosting :
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 packages cream cheese( 8oz) Softened at room temperature
- 3/4 cup icing sugar
For Strawberry spread :
- 4 cups strawberries
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tspn lemon zest
Procedure :
Sponge
- In a bowl sift all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder. Mix all ingredients and set aside.
- In another bowl assemble wet ingredients butter, sugar condensed milk.
- Now mix both( wet and dry ) ingredients gently while gradually adding water. At last add vanilla essence. Mix well using whisk for a minute so that no lumps are present. At last add 2 tablespoon of hot water and for a minute.
- Pour batter into 10″ cake tin which is greased with melted butter.
- Bake it for 50 to 55 mins or till done.
- The cake is done when a knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
- Start with frosting preparation while the sponge is cooling down.
Follow same procedure to make another sponge, you can bake them together if you have two cake tins.
Frosting :
- Beat cold heavy whipping cream on high speed with whisk attachment for 1-2min until stiff and spreadable then remove to a separate plate.
- In the same mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar about 2 min until smooth and lump free, scraping down a bowl a couple times.using a spatula, fold in whipped cream.
Strawberry spread:
- Roughly blend strawberries and simmer it over low heat for 20 min. Add sugar and lemon zest.
Assembly:
- Place the first sponge on a dish which you are going to use for serving. Make sure both the sponge have cooled down to room temperature.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting on the top of sponge. Using piping bag make a well to hold on to the strawberry spread. Spread a layer of strawberry spread on this.
- Now apply thin layer of frosting on bottom of second sponge and place it over the first layer.
- Apply generous layer of frosting on top and sides using palate knife. Start working on smoothing the surface on all sides. Make sure you do it gently as top sponge might slide if you apply extra pressure. I recommend using turntable.
- Decorate cake using strawberries and melted chocolate.
– Enjoy
Ashwini
Mexican Pasta Salad
Its spring season here and farmers market is full of fresh vegetables. Best way to get most out of these beautiful veggies is enjoying them raw. After all, we spend money to get most of the nutrients.
Barbecue, Picnics, potlucks and outings on my mind. We tried this perfect Mexican Pasta Salad which is refreshing and full of flavors and is perfect for these occasions as a side. It is so easy to make and can be prepared in advance.
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Recipe type: Side
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:
For Salad:
- Lettuce blend
- 1 cup Mini Penne pasta
- 1/3 cup cooked black Beans
- 3/4 Red bell pepper
- 3 tablespoon chopped Spring onion
- 1 Mango
- 1 Ripe Avocado
- Chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
- Black/Calamenta olives
- Pickled jalapeno
- Crumbled feta cheese
For Dressing:
- 3 tablespoon yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- chili powder as per taste
- pinch of smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili sauce
- 1/2 Lemon juice
- Salt as per taste
Method:
- In a large pot take 5-6 cups of water and heat till it starts boiling. Add little salt and oil. Add uncooked pasta and cook until Al Dente.
- Pressure cook black beans. Add salt while cooking. Keep aside.
- Chop Bell pepper, Mango and avocado into 1 cm cubes. Using hands break lettuce into small pieces.
- Mix all ingredients for Dressing and beat for a minute.
- In a large bowl take pasta, beans, peppers, chopped coriander. Add salad dressing and gently mix using both hands. Top with Avocado, Mangoes, Olives, pickled, jalapeno and feta cheese.
- Serve fresh or store in refrigerator if you are making this in advance.
-Enjoy
Mandar
Mango Sheera
Sheera is a traditional Maharashtrian desert recipe. Mango gives this simple and holy dish a rich texture and tangy twist. Mango’s are in season now a days and we recently tried Mango Sheera/Halwa recipe so thought of sharing it.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Recipe type: dessert
Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
- 1 cups semolina/fine Rava
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup mango pulp fresh or canned
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup mix dry fruits finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter
- Cardamom powder as per taste
- Saffron 6-7 strands soaked in tablespoon of warm milk
Method
- Heat ghee in a large pan add Rava and roast on medium flame. Keep stirring continuously while roasting until fragrant.
- Add warm milk and mix well (if you want water then add half milk and half water, I did not use water.)
- Now add mango pulp, sugar, and dry fruits . mix all gently and neatly. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Now its time to add most important ingredient cardamom powder. I think dessert is not a dessert without cardamom powder.
- At last add some ghee for shining along with saffron and mix.
- Now our delicious hot mango Sheera/halwa is ready, serve hot.
-Enjoy
Ashwini
Black forest cake
Black forest cake has always been my favorite. Bitterness of chocolate cuts though the sweet cream and cherries in the center give perfect tangy twist. Now a days I am getting obsessed with baking. My in-laws are here, so I wanted to make something interesting for them. So I made black forest cake for their wedding anniversary. This is the first time I am making complete cake including icing.
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Total time: 65-80 mins
Recipe type: dessert
Ingredients
For Sponge:
- 1 ½ cup + 2-3 tablespoon (for dusting) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon soda bi carb
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoon fine sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened coco powder
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (around 400 gm)
- 1 cup melted unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
- 1 cup water
For Icing and garnishing:
- 2 cup whipping cream
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 baking chocolate bar
- 1 Milk chocolate bar
- Cherries with stem
- 1 can Pitted Cherries in heavy syrup
Method
- In a bowl sift all-purpose flour, coco powder, baking soda and baking powder .Mix all ingredients and set aside.
- Now add sugar and wet ingredients (condensed milk, butter). Gently mix all ingredients while gradually adding water. At last add vanilla essence. Mix well using whisk for a minutes so that no lumps are present.
- Pour half portion of batter into 7.5” cake tin which is greased with melted butter. Bake for 35 min in a preheated oven at 300F. Check if sponge is cooked properly by inserting skewer, it should come out clean. Bake for few more minutes if sponge is uncooked. Let it Rest for few minutes. We want to make sure that the sponge is cool before we start icing.
- Follow same steps for baking second batch of sponge. You can bake both the batches of sponge together in case you have 2 cake tins.
- Take unbeaten heavy cream and icing sugar in a deep bowl and beat with an electric/manual beater for 8 to 10 minutes or till the cream is thick. To make sure that cream is whipped perfectly, spoon out the whipped cream and it should not drop off easily.
- Place 1 sponge/cake on a serving plate and moisten it with the cherry syrup. With the help of a palette knife spread some whipped cream over the cake. Spread some pitted cherries. Gently place second piece of cake on top of this.
- Spread the whipped cream on top of the cake and cover it over the sides as well. Fill rest of the whipped cream in piping bag with icing nozzle. Create flower like structures on the edges of the cake.
- With the help of a vegetable slicer, slice a bar of chocolate to get chocolate curls. Place some chocolate curls in the center of the cake. Place some mini chocolate curls on the sides of the cake as well. Don’t worry if you are not able to get big enough curls.
- Place some cherries on top of the cake to make it even prettier. Refrigerate cake for an hour before slicing.
Enjoy!
-Ashwini
Baked Potato chili
Prep time 10 mins Cook time 50 mins
Total time 60 mins Recipe type: Starter
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
- 20-24 baby potatoes
- Olive oil
- garlic salt
- 2 Green Capsicum
- 1 bunch spring onion
- 5-6 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon shreded ginger
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- Red chili tomato sauce as per taste
- Salt
Method
- Wash potatoes and slit them at 5 to 6 places. Place potatoes in baking tray, drizzle olive oil on potatoes and sprinkle with garlic salt or regular salt.
- Bake potatoes at 400 C for 40-45 minutes.
- Finely chop garlic, green bell papers and spring onions.
- Heat 3 tablespoon oil in a non stick wok. Add chopped green paper, ginger and garlic and saute for 2 minutes over high heat.Add soy sauce and chili tomato sauce and cook for another minute.
- Add baked potatoes and spring onion to wok. Mix well and saute for couple of minutes. Season with salt and serve Hot.
Enjoy !
-Mandar & Ashwini
Valentine Cupcakes
Every year my husband surprises me with something special on Valentines day, so this time I decided to give a sweet treat to him and my little one. Fortunately I got chance to give them a surprise, both of them went out for grocery shopping. So took advantage of this opportunity and baked these red velvet cupcakes for my Valentines.
Both of them Enjoyed these soft and delicious cupcakes so thought of sharing this quick recipe. This time I did not get time to take photos of all the steps as I had limited time. Next time I will be more elaborate.
Prep time 15 mins
Cook time 40 mins
Total time 55 mins
Recipe type: dessert
Serves: 12-14 large cupcakes/muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup (320gm) All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon soda bi carb
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 ½ Cup fine sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened coco powder
- 1 ½ cup milk
- 12 tablespoon (3/4) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 4 ½ teaspoon liquid Red Food color
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla essence
- ½ cup Water
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method
- In a large bowl sift all-purpose flour, coco powder, soda bi carb and baking powder. Add pinch of salt, mix all ingredients and set aside.
- Make sure butter and Milk is at room temperature. In another mixing bowl add butter and sugar. Slowly pour Milk while beating the mixture using whisk. Don’t overbeat this mixture as it can get curdled.
- Now Mix all-purpose flour mixture to this liquid. Slowly add water while beating it till mixture is smooth.
- Add vanilla essence and food color and mix.
- At last add vinegar and mix again.
- Preheat oven at 350 F
- Pour the mixture in cupcakes mold and bake it for 35-40 minutes.
- Cooking time may vary by few minutes, so after 30 minutes check if cupcakes are cooked by inserting the knife, if knife comes out clean that means cupcakes are ready.
- Transfer cupcakes into serving plate and sprinkle icing sugar with the help of sifter.
Note: Because of limited time I did not do proper icing, you can use readily available buttercream frosting for icing these red beauties.
Enjoy !
-Ashwini
Ragi Dosa
This recipe comes from my sister Priya. I wanted to make something healthy and nutritious for our little one for breakfast, so she shared her Ragi Dosa recipe with me. Ragi floor also called as millet floor is a good source of fiber and also supplies phosphorus, a nutrient that helps maintain strong bones. Ragi is rich in calcium and protein and also have good amount of iron and other minerals. I am already feeling good about it 🙂
Soaking time: 10-12 Hrs
Cook time 15 to 20 mins
Recipe type: breakfast
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- ½ cup urad dal
- 1 cup ragi flour
- ¼ cup rice flour
- green chilli paste as per taste
- Ginger garlic paste 1 Tablespoon
- Salt
For Dosa:
- Soak the urad dal overnight for 10-12 Hours. Drain water and grind urad dal to smooth paste.
- Add remaining ingredients to urad dal paste and Mix well. Add water if required so that it makes a pouring consistency batter.
- Heat Nonstick pan or dosa tava, sprinkle little water on the pan and wipe it gently using a cloth.
- pour batter on the pan and spread it in a circular motion with the help of stainless steel flat base bowl to make thin crep/dosa. Keep this bowl submerged in water. Sprinkle a litter clarified butter/Desi Ghee over it. Cook on high heat till dosa turns brown color and crisp. Flip dosa and cook for a few seconds. Fold dosa and transfer it to serving plate.
5. Repeat same steps to make remaining Dosa’s. Serve hot with coconut chutney.
Ratatouille
I tried this french stew recipe first time after watching Disney’s famous “Ratatouille” movie. Just love that movie, makes me fall in love with cooking again and again. This time I did not try to make it movie style recipe, instead tried to prepare a classic Ratatouille with cilantro Rice. After all its a comfort food and it tastes as good as the good looking counterpart. This recipe is full of veggies and nutrients.
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1 Hr
Total time: 1 Hr 20 mins
Serves: 4
Recipe type: Main course
Ingredients For Ratatouille:
- 2 Zucchini
- 2-3 small Eggplant/Aubergine
- 8 ripened tomatoes
- 2 Bell pepper yellow/Red
- 1 Large onion
- 1 small Potato
- 1/2 Bunch fresh Basil
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar
- Lemon zest
- Salt
Ingredients For Cilantro Rice:
- 1 1/2 cup white rice
- Chopped Cilantro
- Mixed herbs
- Garlic salt
- Olive oil
- Black paper
- Salt
For Ratatouille:
- Slice Zucchini and eggplant. Cut onion into wedges. Roughly chop 4 tomatoes and bell peppers and potatoes.
- Cook tomatoes and chopped potatoes in boiling water for 10 min and take it out.Roughly chop cooked tomatoes.
- In a large casserole take 2 tablespoon oil and fry zucchini, egg plant and bell peppers for 5-6 minutes. Do it in batches and transfer to a bowl.
- In the same casserole add some olive oil and add chopped basil stalk, onions and fry till onions are soft and translucent. Add cooked vegetables back to casserole.
- Add chopped tomatoes both raw and cooked, salt, vinegar and good amount of crushed black paper.
- Cover casserole and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes check its consistency, it should be reduced and sticky.
- Add chopped basil leaves and lemon zest.
For Cilantro Rice:
- Boil water in stock pot and add rice and salt. Cook till its Al dente, basically make sure its almost cooked so that when we stir fry it it does not become mushy. Drain water from rice in a colander and keep aside.
- In a wok or big pan heat olive oil on medium heat. Add chopped cilantro and mixed dry herbs and chilli flakes. Immediately add cooked rice and mix well.
- Add garlic salt and black paper and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.Serve hot with Ratatouille.
Fruity Grilled Cottage Cheese Salad
We had paneer (cottage cheese) in the fridge and somehow wanted to use it in the dinner. Cottage cheese has high content of casein protein (a longer-lasting protein) while being relatively low in fat. Usually first thing which pops into mind when we think about Paneer is gravy’s, paratha, tikka, appetizer and all, but we wanted to eat something healthy. As we had this beautiful produce (romaine lettuce, strawberries, oranges :-)) in the fridge that we got for coming week, we thought why not make a delicious healthy and easy salad. Ingredients of this salad are so special that they sing for themselves.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Recipe type: Salad
Ingredients
- 200gm cottage cheese
- 4 table spoon hung curd/plain yogurt
- Garlic salt/plain Salt
- coriander leaves/cilantro
- 1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
- Spring Mix or Spinach same quantity as lettuce
- 6 strawberries
- 2 small oranges/mandarins
- 1 Large Carrot shredded
- 4-5 cherry tomatoes
- Resins
- Walnuts
For Grilled Paneer:
- Take 2 table spoons of thick yogurt in a bowl and add a little garlic salt and mix well.
- Cut Paneer into 2 cm size cubes and marinate paneer cubes with the yogurt mixture. You can skip marinating Paneer In that case directly grill them and season with garlic salt.
- Keep marinated Paneer in the fridge for 15 min. In the meantime start prepping for salad.
- In a non-stick pan take some oil. Keep it on medium heat and add marinated Paneer cubes.
- Grill till Paneer is golden brown on both sides.
- Add fresh chopped coriander and mix well. Transfer grilled Paneer to a bowl.
For Salad:
- Cut cherry tomatoes and orange segments into half and slice strawberries.
- Now let’s make simple salad dressing. In a small bowl take two tablespoon full thick yogurt. Add crushed black pepper and some dried mixed herbs and garlic salt. Mix well and keep aside.
- Now in a large mixing bowl take cut lettuce, Spring mix/Spinach and shredded carrot. Add salad dressing and mix delicately with your hands.
- Add Oranges, tomatoes, walnuts, strawberries and resins on top.
- Finally add grilled paneer on tom.
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