Rich Christmas Fruit Cake with Garam Masala / Kerala Plum Cake

Slowly and eventually we have reached at the end of 2014. it's the time to look back and reflect on our favorite moments, also to look forward with new hope and wishes. As some wise man said, 'Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one". It's been a good year for us. We finally visited India after two years of gap, which were being cancelled or postponed for a while. We had fun with our near and dear ones, both at home and abroad. Thanks to my San Diego friends for inviting to many memorable parties and get-togethers.  When it comes to my blog, I received huge appreciations and love from my readers. So my sincere thanks to all of you who made my year so colorful and exciting. 

During the last month I baked several types of Christmas Cake and cookies following different recipes.  Few of them are for our tea time snacks and others were for the parties in our friend's places. Both me and my family love to have these cakes. The Christmas time is a great excuse for preparing and having cakes. Today I will share the recipe of a Christmas Cake that I tried first time this season. What is special about this cake is that I have added garam masala with the traditional method of making a Rich Fruit Cake. The combination makes it more delicious. There was a time at our home on the Christmas day when my mom used to prepare a cake with the small electric cake oven and everybody used to be so delighted when it came out of the kitchen. I can't recall its taste now but can remember the smell which used to make the whole house aromatic. Other than that, Christmas in our childhood was not complete without orange and the Fruit Cake ordered from Park Street's bakery Shops. 

Christmas cake is a tradition that started way back in nineteenth century. Originally people used to eat a type of porridge on Christmas Eve. After a day's of fasting on Christmas Eve, it was the dish to fill their stomachs. Gradually people added dried fruit, spices and honey to the porridge mixture together. Christmas cakes are made in different shapes with frosting, glazing, a dusting of confectioner's sugar or plain. There are different variations with very little difference in the process. Christmas cakes are generally made in advance. Many people make the cake in November and keep it up side down in an airtight container, Then they poke the cake and brush it with sherry or whisky every week until Christmas. Interestingly the method is called "feeding" the cake. 

Recipe of Rich Christmas Fruit Cake with Garam Masala / Kerala Plum Cake ( one 8 inch round cake )

Ingredients :

Unsalted butter : 1 stick and 1/2 stick, at room temperature 

Brown Sugar or white sugar : 1 cup and 1/2 cup 

Eggs : 3
vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon 

All purpose flour : 2 cups

Salt : a pinch

Baking Powder : 1 teaspoon

Mixed dry fruits ( dates, cherries, orange peel, cranberries, tutti fruity ) : 1 cup

Chopped Cashew nuts, black raisins : 1/2 cup

Rum : 1/2 cup ( optional )

Spice mix ( garam masala )

Cinnamon : 1 inch

Cloves : 2

Cardamom : 2 

Grated nutmeg : a pinch

Method :

1. Chop all the dry fruits, raisins add rum to it. Cover and let it soak for a day or two and give stirs a few time during the day.

2. In a dry grinder, take the whole spices and grind it into a powder. Keep it aside.

3. Take a pan, add 1/2 cup of sugar and melt it slowly on medium heat. Keep stirring and let it change color into deep dark brown. Turn off the heat and add 1/4 cup of water. The sugar will harden. Turn on the heat again. Slowly heat it up until the mixture dissolves. It will take 5 to 8 minutes. Once done, set it aside. 

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C.

5. Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and powdered spice mix. 

6. Take a mixing bowl, add butter and 1 cup of sugar and beat it until it becomes fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat again. Add vanilla extract and mix it. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. 

7. Add the fruits and nuts, add the caramel and gently fold in. 

8. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and decorate the top with almonds. Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

9. Remove from the oven and let it cool down on a wire rack. Once it is at room temperature remove from it from the pan and dust with icing sugar.

Note :

Use Rum only if you like your cake to have a boozy flavor,  Otherwise make it alcohol free. You may make the cake a month ahead and keep it up side down in an airtight container, Then poke the cake and brush it with rum / sherry or whisky every week until Christmas. 

You can serve the cake the day it is baked, better it is stored a day or two before serving, it helps to mingle the flavors.

You can cover and store this cake for about one week at room temperature.

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Oreo Mug Cake

After a week’s break, I am back with a new recipe of a Mug Cake. World cup ended with a sad note for our family. Because my husband is an old Argentina supporter and I liked Messi because of his innocence look. We got an opportunity to watch the match in a big screen organized in their office and first time I saw my husband so excited. Though my son started with supporting Messi, he changed his mind once Germany won. Because he has to always win! Anyway, besides that life was good in the peak of summer vacation. We had a road trip to Big Sur on Labor Day weekend, enjoyed some breathtaking views, long-drive on US-1 and eating out in different places on the way.

I am going to share the recipe of Oreo Mug Cake. It’s perfect if you have busy schedule and have no time to try any complex recipe. I love the concept of microwave mug cake. Stir a few ingredients in a mug and put it in the microwave for a minute or two and it’s ready to serve. When I tried the mug cake first time, I realized that microwaves can be used for other purposes than heating frozen meals or making popcorn. It’s not so new concept but I came across this easy recipe of making Mug Cake in microwave very recently.  My temptation got stronger when I saw that it needs only three ingredients to make. It's full of chocolate flavor and has a great texture. 

The end product came out really tasty, but not so spongy and not overly sweet. This recipe is flexible enough to be built with other flavor combos. You can make fun additions like chocolate chips, marshmallows or nuts or Nutella spread to the recipe. Or serve it with a topping of peanut butter or chocolate sauce or with a scoop of ice cream. I promise this would be your new favorite mid-night chocolate snack.

Recipe of Oreo Mug Cake : for one Mug cup 

Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 2 minutes, Total time: 7 minutes 

Ingredients :

Oreo cookies : 9 pairs 
Baking powder : 1/2 teaspoon 
Milk : 1/2 cup 
Sugar : 1 tbsp ( If you do not like overly sweet can skip it, I do not add any sugar )

For toppings : Ice cream and chocolate sauce  (or whatever you like )

Method :

1. Crush the Oreo cookies(do not remove the cream of the cookies) roughly. You can use food processor or blender. Or take a Ziploc bag, put the cookies into it. Take a rolling pin and gently press it. 

2. Take a bowl transfer the crushed cookies to it. Add the baking powder and combine well. Add milk and mix the batter until incorporated. 

3. Grease a microwave safe cup with oil or non-stick cooking spray. Transfer the batter into the prepared cup. Microwave for 2 minutes. ( in regular microwave mode )

4. Let it cool down for 10 minutes and serve with a scoop of ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

Related Recipes, you also might like :

Skinny Strawberry Ice Cream

Oreo Cheese Cake

Mango Yogurt

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Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting

I am not very pleased with the pictures that I have taken for today’s post. The decoration was not perfect as I made them in hurry for a party in my friend’s house. It could have been done much better. But since I won’t make them again anytime soon, thought of posting it anyway in the blog. Hope you would still like it.

 I know some of you may avoid cupcakes for its high calories, but I would suggest trying this out in moderate quantity. You will love it for sure. For me, who loves cupcakes and smell of coffee, would be very hard to resist from having it. Today I will share the recipe of Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting. You can call it the recipe of popular Starbucks beverage in the form of cupcakes.

 I love to make cupcakes because they always come out beautiful just like a piece of artwork. You can decorate as your heart wants and make them adorable, pretty and delicious. Though this time I knew I won’t get enough time for decorating it, still it was in my mind since I had a delicious mocha cupcake at a local cupcake shop a couple of months ago and decided to whip up my own version. The base cake is a rich coffee infused chocolate cake and is topped off with a creamy, sweet espresso butter cream. As they were not decadent enough, I had to finish them off with a sprinkle of chocolate dust. Obviously this cake has two delicious flavors, chocolate and espresso, heavenly combination for them who love chocolate and coffee both!  And what we can say about buttercream frosting which is always smooth, melt in mouth texture and dreamy in every sense. It makes the overall taste sinful, decadent and irresistible. The making of these cupcakes are as simple as making the same with any box-mix. Just few minutes of effort but totally worth it.

Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso ButterCream Frosting : 12 cupcakes

Ingredients :

For Mocha cupcakes :

All-purpose flour : 11/2 cups
Unsweetened Cocoa powder : 1/3 cup
Baking Soda : 1/2 teaspoon 
Baking powder : 1/2 teaspoon 
Salt : 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar : 1 cup 
Oil : 1/4 cup
Eggs : 2 
Vanilla extract : 1 tsp 
Coffee Powder : 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder 
water : 3/4 cup

For Espresso Buttercream Frosting :

Unsalted Butter ( at room temperature ) : 2 sticks or 1 cup
Powdered sugar : 13/4 cups
Pure vanilla extract : 11/2 teaspoons
Instant Espresso coffee powder : 2 teaspoons

Method : 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners. 

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set it aside.

3. Take a large mixing bowl, add oil and sugar to it and whisk it. Add eggs and vanilla extract and coffee powder and mix well until they are well combined. 

4. Add the flour-cocoa mixture in 3 additions and alternately add water. Mix it well and scrape down the sides if needed. 

5. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin.

6. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of a cupcake, comes out clean.

7. Let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

To make Frosting : 

8. Whip the butter on a medium-high speed for 5 minutes. (You can use a stand mixer or electric hand-mixer.) Scrape the sides of the bowl. 

9. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix it well on low speed. Wait till sugar is mostly incorporated before adding more. Once the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and mix it well for 1 to 2 minutes, until it becomes fluffy. 

10. Add vanilla extract and coffee powder and mix it until it becomes well-combined and smooth. 

11. Frost the cupcakes with butter Knife or pipe the cupcakes with espresso buttercream frosting. Sprinkle some chocolate dust. 

Related Recipes :

• Red Velvet cupcakes
• 
  
• Chocolate Ganache Cake
• 
  
• Black Forest Cake

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Pistachio Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

Today I am very glad and excited that my site is no longer a newbie. It’s bit difficult for me to digest the fact that I have been blogging for a year now. It feels like yesterday when I recall the excitement of initial days when I was wondering if I am right for this job and would be able to continue. Thanks to all of my friends who insisted me to start this food blog and still inspiring me. It’s been a nice journey with new learning experiences every day. Now I am totally hooked on food blogging, styling and photography, though it takes good amount of time from everyday life. I have lots of pending works to make this space beautiful, which I will hopefully finish soon. Let me sincerely thank all of you who visits, reads,  pins, tweets my post and regularly follow me and to my friends who still encourage me through their good words.  Finally big thanks to my hubby and my little one whose appreciation is my inspirations and help me to keep my passion alive.

To celebrate my blog's anniversary I made one simple and but bit uncommon cake, Pistachio Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze.  I got the idea of making this cake from Pinterest. This is a basic pound cake flavored with pistachios; the ground pistachios give the batter a very distinct flavor and a nice green tinge.  I have glazed the cake with cream cheese that makes the cake wonderfully moist. You can use the glaze as per your choice. Chocolate ganache or whipping fresh cream will also go well with this cake. I have tried those options too but it would more delicious when it is drizzled with cream cheese icing and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. My sister always complains that it’s so difficult to make any yummy cake from my blog, like the Black Forest Cake that I made last month. So I had a plan to post the recipe of something simple and no-fuss cake. I had some pistachios in my pantry since the Diwali time which I well utilized by making this cake.  

Recipe of Pistachio Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze : (for an 8 or 9 inch round cake)


Ingredients :

Flour : 3 cups
Salt : 1/2 teaspoon 
Baking powder : 2 teaspoon 

Butter : 2 sticks 

Sugar : 1 cup + 1/2 cup 

Egg : 4 large 

Vanilla extract : 1.5 teaspoon 

(Unsalted ) Pistachios : 1 cup (soaked and grounded into a paste )

Whole Milk : 1 cup 

For Glaze : 

Cream Cheese : 4 ounces, room temperature 

Powdered Sugar : 1/2 cup or little less 

Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon 

Milk : 3-4 tablespoon 

For decoration :

Unsalted Pistachios : a handful ( chopped ) 

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F / 190 degrees C. Grease an eight or nine inch round pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment, spray the parchment and dust with flour. 

2. Shift flour, baking powder and salt and set it aside. 

3. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add sugar and continue to mix it at medium to high speed.

4. Add vanilla extract to the sugar- butter mixture. Add eggs one at a time and mix it at medium speed until well combined. 

5. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and alternately add the the milk. Mix it well and scrape down the sides if needed. 

6. Mix the pistachios paste and mix to combine. 

7. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread it evenly and bake it for 60 to 70 minutes or until the skewer or a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake, comes out clean.

8. Let it cool in pan for around 20 minutes. Once it is completely cool, take it off from the pan and remove the parchment.  

9. For Cream cheese glaze : Beat cream cheese until very creamy, add the powdered sugar and mix it well until well combined. Stir in vanilla extract. Add the milk and mix it well. Check the desired consistency. If glaze is too thick, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time. 

10. Transfer the cake on a cake stand or a serving plate, drizzle the glaze over the cake. Let it run over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios and serve. 

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Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake which is also popular by the other name Black Forest Gateau, it's a German dessert, made with chocolate, cherries and whipped cream. A Classic German black forest cake is one of the easiest cakes to make and oh so impressive . Typically Black Forest Cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then the cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, cherries and chocolate shavings. If you want to make it in traditional way, Krischwasser, a liquor from cherries is must added to the cake. But you can make it without alcohol too, which is most often prepared in the Untied States. Same thing with in using the cherries, either you can use black cherries or maraschino cherries, both way I tried and it is equally good.

Last week it was my husband's birthday, I was thinking which cake I could make for him. Then it came to my mind, in our early married days it was the black forest cake, we used to bring from the cake shop to celebrate any occasion. :-) So to revive some good memories revisited the Black Forest. This is not the first one, couple of years ago I tried my first Black forest, so I had little confidence, that it could become a mess but will taste no doubt delicious. And the process of making this cake is not so difficult, rather you can say easier than any other decorative cakes. But you need little penitence and it is better to make it one or two days before you serve. and always chill the cake for 3 to 4 hrs before serving. It tastes better when you serve this way.  I love Cake decoration as well as baking, it is my favorite field, but sometimes, due to my health consciousness, avoid making this frosting stuff, but I am sure this one does have a quite high calorie as it contains no butter, this cake at least seems much lighter than other cakes.

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Recipe of Black Forest Cake : (for an 8 inch round cake)


Ingredients :

For the Chocolate cake :

1.     Dutch-processed Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup

2.     Boiling hot water: 1 cup

3.     All-purpose flour - 1-1/3 cups

4.     Baking powder- 2 tsp

5.     Salt- 1/4 tsp

6.     Granulated White Sugar - 1 cup

7.     Unsalted Butter - 1 stick

8.     Eggs - 2 ( large)

9.     Vanilla extract - 2 tsp

For the filling : 

1/4 cup Kirsch ( cherry brandy )

Cherry pie filling : 1 can

Heavy Whipping cream : 16 oz.

Confectioners Sugar : 1/3 cup or to taste

 For garnishing :

Maraschino cherries : drained ( a handful )

Semi sweet chocolate : 4 oz  ( for curls or shavings ) 

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 176 degrees C. Grease an eight inch cake pan with nonstick vegetable spray.

2. In a small bowl, take the cocoa powder and the boiling water and stir them until it becomes smooth. Let it cool down to room temperature.

3. In another bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt and whisk it. Take butter and sugar in another bowl, beat them with a hand mixer or with a spatula until they become light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one by one and beat until it becomes smooth. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat nicely until incorporated.

5. Now add the cocoa mixture and mix the whole thing till it becomes well combined. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake it for about 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes clean.

6. But make sure don't over bake. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Once it is completely cool, remove it from the pan.

Assemble and Frosting : 

7. With a serrated knife, cut the top swelling part off and then cut the cake into half horizontally. To cut the cake into two even layers, use a ruler. Even layers help the cake to be steady. 

8. Drain cherry pie filling in a colander to remove most of the thickened juices. 

9. Sprinkle kirsch over both cake layers. Handle the layers with utmost care. 

10. Chill electric beater and a large mixing bowl. Beat the cream until it thickens slightly, gradually add the sugar and beat just until stiff peaks form. Immediately cover it and refrigerate it. 

11. Using a vegetable peeler, shave chocolate and refrigerate it until ready to serve. 

12. Place one layer on serving plate and spread its top with 1/2 inch thick layer of whipped cream and put the cherries over the cream, leave about 1/2 inch margin around border of cake with on cherries. 

13. Put other layer on top of cherries and spread the remaining cream on the top and sides of the cake. 

14. Make some decorative swirls on the top and gently press the chocolate curls on the sides of the cake.

15. Decorate the top with drained  maraschino cherries and remaining chocolate curls. Black Forest Cake is ready, serve chill. 

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Do you love chocolate and moist cake? Do you already have some ripe bananas on your kitchen counter top? If the answers are yes, then this recipe is for you! Today I'm going to share the recipe of Double Chocolate banana bread. Chocolate Banana Bread combines the sweet flavor of ripe bananas with chocolate. Generally Banana Bread is our favorite snacks with tea/coffee, though we are not against for breakfast either. Off late I started baking the banana bread or regularly and always got excellent result. Most of the time I bake the regular banana bread, the one I already shared in this blog, ( click here for the recipe of regular Banana Bread )but for a change I tried other versions too. It was a fun to change the regular banana bread recipe. Earlier I used to add coffee flavor or some chocolate chips but never thought of adding unsweetened cocoa powder to it. This is the first time I added the same and it was awesome.

Double Chocolate Banana bread is cake-like bread with rich chocolate flavor, yet retains the sweetness and moistness that makes the banana bread popular. I had a New Year resolution this year that won’t make any sweet dish or dessert for the first month (just trying my best to keep the weight under control. I kept my promise and neither had I made it nor did I have bite at them even in weekend parties!! Since the first month is towards the end, now I can make my first sweet dish of the year. To make Banana bread, you need fully ripe bananas that means their skin color would turn into brown and its flesh would become very soft. At this stage, many people throw these bananas in the garbage, without realizing how delicious they would be when they are baked with bread. Every week I buy banana for my kid’s breakfast but a few of them will turn brown before we finish them. Instead of throwing them, I put them in a plastic bag and keep it into the refrigerator. Then wait until I have enough for baking.

This recipe is very easy one and takes hardly 10 to 15 minutes to prepare before baking. You can serve it as breakfast with a glass of milk or as a snack or dessert with a scoop of icecream!

Recipe of Double Chocolate Banana Bread : ( for one loaf ) 

Ingredients :

Vegetable oil : 1/2 cup

White sugar : 1 cup

Eggs : 2 

Ripe bananas ( mashed ) : 3 medium sized 

All purpose flour : 1 cup and 3/4 cup

Baking powder : 1/2 teaspoon 

Baking soda : 1 teaspoon 

salt : 1/2 teaspoon 

Unsweetened Cocoa powder : 1/2 cup

Milk : 1/4 cup 

Chocolate chips / chocolate chinks : 1/2 cup

Chopped toasted pecan or walnut : 1/2 cup ( optional ) 

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C and lightly grease a 9- by 5- by 3- inch loaf pan and set it aside.

2. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and salt into a medium bowl and keep it aside.

3. Cream the oil and sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle or with a hand mixer add eggs one by one and beat until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the mashed bananas and mix well. 

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, mix in with a rubber spatula, until incorporated and alternately add the milk.  Mix them together nicely.

5. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans. 

6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of loaf comes out clean. 

7. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Take it out of the pan when it is completely cool. Banana Bread is best if it is served the next day! serve it as breakfast with a glass of milk or as a snack or dessert with a scoop of ice cream! Enjoy!

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