Cake Recipe

Sometimes, you just don't want to fuss, but you still want something a little sweet and homemade. At times like that, I sometimes make this simple cake. It combines two of my favorite foods, apple and crumble topping; the cake part is a simple mix-and pour affair; and it can be served warm, or at room temperature. And, the sweetness of it doesn't hit you in the face. The only mildly fiddly part is peeling and cutting up the apples. It's a perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee.

* 4 to 5 medium or small apples - about 4 cups worth of cut up apple, but you can do it with a bit more or less
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 1 'large' egg, beaten
* 1/3 cup melted butter, or a combination of melted butter and neutral-tasting oil such as safflour or canola

For the crumble mixture:

* 3/4 cup of raw cane sugar, muscovado sugar, or regular light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 Tbs. butter
* 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F.

Grease a standard square cake pan (20cm x 20cm x 5cm, or 8" x 8" x 2") with butter.

Sift the flour and baking powder together, and mix in the granulated sugar. Add the milk, beaten egg and melted butter or butter/oil combo; mix together just until there are no huge lumps. Pour into the pan.

Make the crumble mixture: melt the butter in a pan, add the flour, sugar and cinnamon, and mix well until it become crumble.

Peel, core and cut up the apples, and put on to of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with the crumble mixture.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve warm plain or with whipped cream. You can nuke this to warm it up quite successfully. Also nice at room temperature, such as in a lunch box.

A scrumptious, traditional chocolate cake that just happens to be fortified with beets. A fabulous alternative to the usual birthday cake!

INGREDIENTS
Batter:

* Nonstick cooking spray
* 1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
* 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil, or trans-fat-free soft tub of margarine spread
* 1 large egg
* 2 large egg whites
* 3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
* 1/2 cup beet puree
* 1/2 cup lowfat (1%) buttermilk
* 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1/4 tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Frosting:

* 1 (8-ounce/250g) package reduced-fat cream cheese
* 3/4 cup confectioners/icing sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar with the oil or margarine until creamy. Add the whole egg and egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate, beet puree, buttermilk and vanilla. It will be very runny at this stage.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and beat until smooth.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool 5 minutes in pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese with the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth. Slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread the frosting over the top and between layers of the cooled cake.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

This three-dimensional lop-eared bunny cake is ambitious, but a lot of fun to make. Color your bunny pink—or any other color you like—by coloring the icing and white chocolate with food coloring. Color the white chocolate with oil—or powder-based food coloring to prevent it from clumping. The chocolate shavings can be prepared a few days in advance, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For quick-and-easy fur, use shredded sweetened coconut instead of chocolate shavings. Either way, make sure to pat on while the icing is fresh. If you wait too long, the icing will form a crust and the fur won't stick.

Visit the Global Gourmet's Easter page.


1 standard white cake mix
3 cups Cream Cheese Icing
1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate morsels
2 blue, pink, or black jelly beans or Junior Mints
1 mini marshmallow
1 large marshmallow
Red or black licorice strings, cut into six 4-inch lengths
Cornstarch for rolling
5 ounces ready-to-use rolled fondant (for the ears)
Pesticide-free fresh or sugared flowers (optional)
2 sheets tissue paper


Make the cake batter and divide among one 9-inch round cake pan and two 6-inch round cake pans. Bake as directed and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Using a long, serrated knife, cut the 9-inch cake round in half to form 2 half-moons. Spread the top of 1 half-moon with about 1/3 cup icing and sandwich the halves together. Place on a 12-inch round or oval platter, cut side down. This will be the bunny's body. Using a small offset spatula, frost the body with a very thin coat of icing to seal the cake.

For the bunny haunches, cut one of the 6-inch cake rounds in half to form 2 half-moons. Stand 1 half-moon on its cut side so the rounded side is on top. Cut a small V-shaped notch from the far right of the rounded cake top to create a rabbit haunch. Repeat with the second half of the cake. Attach one haunch to either side of the bunny cake body with a little frosting, and give each haunch a thin coat of icing to seal the cake.

Using a 4-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out a round from the remaining 6-inch cake layer. (Or create a cardboard template and carefully cut from the cake with a serrated knife.) This will be the bunny head. From the remaining cake, cut out a 2-inch round for the tail. (If it isn't perfectly round, don't worry; it will be covered with frosting.)

On the bunny body, slice a narrow sliver of cake 2 inches from the center of the rounded top, going toward the bottom of the cake, to form a ledge for the bunny head. Spread the 4-inch cake round with a thin coating of icing and place in this ledge. Give the 2-inch tail a thin coating and press onto the back of the body, resting it on the plate. Frost the entire cake with a thicker coating of icing, covering completely, but allowing the indentations of the bunny's form to remain distinct.

Place the white chocolate morsels in a heatproof bowl placed over barely simmering water or in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat or microwave until smooth, stirring as needed. Pour the chocolate out onto the back of a large aluminum baking sheet or onto the inside bottom of a rimless baking sheet. Using a long (12-inch) offset, or icing spatula, spread the chocolate evenly about 1/16 inch thick. Let firm up, but not become completely hard, about 5 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a countertop and brace it against your body. Hold the blade of an 8-inch long metal icing spatula in both hands and scrape the chocolate off the pan, toward you, in large curls. As the white chocolate continues to harden, the curls will break and become large shards. This is fine, as the white chocolate fur looks great when it contains different sizes of curls and shards. Your cake will resemble a fluffy angora bunny.

Press white chocolate curls and shards all over the bunny's face, body, and tail to form the fur.

Press the 2 jelly beans or Junior Mints into the face for the eyes. Use a mini marshmallow for the nose. Cut 1 large marshmallow in half and press the cut sides into the frosting right under the nose to form cheeks. Pierce each marshmallow cheek with three 4-inch licorice lengths to form the whiskers (if necessary, pierce holes in the marshmallow cheeks to ease the way for the whiskers).

To make the bunny ears, dust a work surface and rolling pin with cornstarch. Knead the fondant until smooth and pliable, and roll out into a 10-inch round. Cut out a cardboard template of a 6-to 7-inch bunny ear, with a nice pointed tip and squared-off bottom. Or be daring and cut the ear free-hand. Using a sharp paring knife or pizza wheel, cut the ear out of the fondant. Lay the first fondant ear over the remaining rolled-out fondant, trace a second ear, and cut it out. Discard any remaining fondant. Carefully pinch the squared-off end of an ear together and position the ear—pinched corners face down—on the head to resemble a lop-eared rabbit. I find it is best to pierce a small indentation near the center of the top of the bunny's head to position the ear. Attach the second ear, leaving a 1/4-inch space between them. Pinching the ends of the ears gives them a little height and helps them better resemble the real thing. If using, place 1 or 2 fresh or sugared flowers in the space between the ears for balance and decoration. To prevent the ears from drying flat, and to give them a little expression, crumple tissue paper into a ball and position it between the drooping ear and the side of the cake. Allow to dry completely before removing the tissue.

If using, surround the base of the bunny cake with fresh or sugared flowers to give the illusion that the bunny is sitting in a flower bed.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour 1/4 cup
Whole Wheat Flour 3/4 cup
Baking Powder 1/2 teaspoon
Baking Soda 1 teaspoon
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 6 tablespoons
Granulated Sugar 3/4 cup
Unsweetened Applesauce (you could use oil too) 1/2 cup
Canola oil (Only if using applesauce) 2 tablespoons
Hot Coffee 1/4 cup
Milk (Omit it if using zucchini/bottle gourd) 1/4 cup
Yogurt (I used plain non fat, measured it with dry measuring cup) 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon
Bottle Gourd, grated (Optional. You can use zucchini too) 1 cup

Yield: One 8-inch or 9-inch cake.

Frosting Ingredients:

Margarine/butter at room temperature (I used Promise, Heart Health) 3 tablespoons
Powdered sugar (I used Ovaltine) 1 and 1/2 cups
Unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 cup
Milk, fat free 3-4 tablespoons

Yield: About 3/4th cup of frosting, enough for one 8-inch or 9-inch cake

CAKE PROCEDURE:

1 Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan and dust it with cocoa powder.

2 Grate the bottlegourd/zucchini, if using. After grating I also coarsely chopped it with a knife. Measure 1 cup and transfer it to a bowl. Let the water secrete from the gratings. If using the water you may omit the 1/4 cup of milk later.

3 In a large bowl sift together the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and sugar. Make a well.

4 Add all the wet ingredients one by one.

5 With an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed for 2-3 minutes until the dry and wet ingredients are well combined. Do not over beat it.

6 Add the grated bottle gourd/zucchini, if using. Mix together.

7 Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Tap the pan a couple of times so the batter is spread evenly and there are no air bubbles.

8 My cake was ready only around 38 minutes. I think it took longer because it was a dense batter with the whole wheat flour, applesauce and the bottle gourd. So start checking from about 20 minutes, depending upon the ingredients you are using. Toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake should come clean.

9 Once out of the oven, transfer the pan to a wiring rack to cool. After about an hour remove the cake from the pan and let the cake cool completely before frosting.

My Notes:

I think my cake had too much moisture content because of the milk, hot coffee and the water from the bottlegourd. I think that’s also one of the reasons it took so much time to bake. Also when I removed the cake from the pan I found that it was very wet. I had to use a couple of kitchen paper towels to blot the water. So I also refrigerated the cake for a couple of hours before frosting it. That’s the reason I have mentioned to omit milk if using grated bottle gourd or zucchini.

FROSTING:

1 In a medium size bowl add the margarine, ovaltine (powdered sugar) and cocoa powder. Start beating with an electric mixer on low speed. At this stage it may seem to be very dry. Don’t panic. Wait until you add the milk.

2 Add milk little by little and continue beating the mixture till you get a nice spreadable consistency. I used around 3 tablespoons of milk.

3 Now transfer the cake to a plate and start frosting it. I’m very lousy at it. Somehow managed to cover the cake with the frosting. But it was easier this time when compared to my first attempt. The frosting was in the correct consistency.

4 I saw this technique of using the back of a spoon to create swirls on the frosting. Tried it and I think it looked somewhat close. Create an indentation on the frosting with the back of a spoon close to each otheR.

My Notes:

1 The recipe for the frosting is from 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes. The original recipe requires margarine or butter. I didn’t have both. So I used the Promise blend which we have it on our toast. I was worried if it would work or not, but was so excited to see that the frosting came out beautifully.

2 There are 2 types of Ovaltine available. I used the Ovaltine which is fortified with 8 vitamins and minerals. I used Ovaltine because I didn’t have confectioner’s sugar at home, but in a way it worked out for the best. 4 tablespoons of Ovaltine (ie) 1/4 cup has 15gms sugar whereas the sugar content in 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar is 29gms. I checked it in the grocery store. So I think this frosting is even better and healthier than the original one. Even though Ovaltine has lesser sugar content than confectioner’s sugar, I found the frosting was a bit too sweet for my taste. Then imagine how it would have been had I used powdered sugar.

3 If you are going to try the ovaltine frosting, I would recommend decreasing the quantity of sugar in the cake to even 1/2 cup. I think this cake is a pretty healthy cake but for it’s sugar content.

I made this cake today. I used 110g of brown sugar instead. It taste quite nice and not too sweet. I think this recipe is more healthy version for children.

Here's the recipe for the Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients:
(makes one 9" cake)

1 1/2 cup (161g) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (61g) natural cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups (332g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) safflower or other neutral vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk (I used low fat milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (240ml) boiling water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degF. Grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 3 inches round cake pan. Dust the pan with flour and set aside. (I lined the bottom with parchment paper.)
2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add in sugar and mix at low speed until blended. (I used a spatula to mix in the sugar). Add in the oil and mix a few seconds until the dry ingredients are crumbly. (I used a spatula to mix in the oil).
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs until blended. Whisk in the milk and vanilla extract until blended. With mixer at low speed, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl necessary. (I used a manual whisk to do the mixing. The batter will be very thick at this stage).
4. Add in the boiling water gradually and mix just until blended and smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. (The mixture will become very thin and watery.)
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 mins until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 20mins before unmoulding. Let cool completely.

To assemble this 20cm rainbow chocolate cake:
- Place pouring cream (I used one tin of Nestle's pouring cream) and 150g dark chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Set aside for 10mins before frosting the cake.
- Slice two large bananas, lengthwise into halves. Squeeze some lemon juice over.
- Slice chocolate cake into 2 layers. Spread one layer with the chocolate frosting, arrange the sliced bananas (cut side down) on the cake layer to form 2 concentric rings. Cut the bananas as necessary in order to form the two rings.
- Spread the other cake layer with chocolate frosting, flip over and layer it over the banana slices.
- Coat the top and sides of the cake surface with the remaining chocolate frosting. Decorate with colourful cereals and marshmallows as desired.

Cake Ingredients:
1.5 sugar
1 stick slightly softened butter
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/3 cups flour
2 TBSP cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1.5 TBSP red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp distilled white vinegar

Frosting Ingredients:
1 stick softened butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar (to your taste)
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Mix butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time until each is fully blended in. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In a third, bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.
Now add a fourth of the dry ingredients into the buttermilk mixture
Next, add a third of the wet to the buttermilk mixture.
Slowly add some of the dry and then some of the wet ingredients into the buttermilk mixture, blending completely after each addition
Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Now make the frosting-
Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes.
Add vanilla extract and mix.
Add powdered sugar gradually, continually tasting to get to desired sweetness.
Spread onto cooled cupcakes.