Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red velvet cakes are always a rage irrespective of age.  And especially in Kerala, it is raining red velvets in form of pastries, cupcakes, dessert jars, cakes, cookies, and even icecreams after the craze of the Premam movie.  I would call it the #Premam effect with so many people craving for the red velvets nowadays here.

The red velvet as its name says is velvety in texture and has a balance of vanilla flavor and the chocolatiness I would say.  They are the best when made with the right texture, good cocoa powder, and proper vanilla flavoring.  With the combination of a tinge of cocoa, buttermilk, and vinegar and the mild soury-sweety cream cheese frosting, it is heavenly to relish it.

This recipe is adapted from Joy of Baking and Fondbites.

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter - 70 gm

Powdered Sugar or Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup

Egg - 1

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Fresh Thick Curds - 1/2 cup (to make buttermilk)

Liquid Red Food Color - 1 tsp

Red Color Gel - 1 tsp

All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup

Corn Flour - 1/4 cup

Cocoa Powder - 1 tbsp

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - A pinch

Vinegar - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp


Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2.  Grease a 6 inch round cake pan with butter or oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.  

3.  Sift together all-purpose flour, corn flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

4.  Add butter in bowl and and beat with a hand mixer for about 1 to 2 minutes until soft, pale, and fluffy.

5.  Add the sugar to the butter and beat for 4 to 5 minutes until creamy and fluffy.  If you use icing sugar, the sweetness of the cake is milder.  If you want your cake to be sweeter, use powdered sugar at this stage.  However, you can use half icing sugar and half powdered sugar to have a balance of sweetness - not too sweet or not too mild in sweetness.

6.  Break egg and pour contents in a cup and mix the yolk and white together with a spoon and then add this to the butter-sugar mixture and beat for 1 minutes on medium speed until the mixture becomes soft and creamy.  A general rule is to beat the batter on medium or low speed only, after the egg is added to the mixture.

7.  Add the vanilla extract and beat just until well combined.

8.   To make buttermilk, process the thick curds in the small jar of the mixer/blender on low speed for about 10 seconds.  It will be a thick but liquid form of buttermilk which works best in baking.  To this buttermilk, add the liquid and gel red food colors and mix well.  Keep aside.  

9.  With the mixer on low speed, add half of the sifted flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated.  Then, add the buttermilk mixture and beat until well combined.  Now, add the remaining half of the flour mixture and beat at low speed until just incorporated.  Do not over beat at any step.

10.  And now comes the most important part of the procedure to make the cake velvety.  Keep your cake pan ready and also check if the oven is almost preheated.  When all set, add the baking soda in a bowl and pour the vinegar and stir immediately as it fizzes up.  Quickly fold the vinegar mixture in the batter and combine everything together with your spatula.

11. Pour the batter into the greased baking pan immediately and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

12.  Once the cake is baked, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert to remove the cake from the pan.  Allow to cool the cake (on the wire rack) completely.  Once done, cover the cake with a plastic cling wrap and then aluminium foil and freeze for at least an hour or overnight.  You can keep in the refrigerator also.  This makes layering, filling, and frosting the cake easier.


Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Homemade Cream Cheese - 100 gm

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 cup

Method:

1.  Add cream cheese, icing sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer or an electric mixer for about 2 minutes on medium speed.

2.  Add heavy whipping cream and beat rigorously on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

3.  Chill this frosting for about 1 hour in the refrigerator and then use for filling and frosting the cake.

Cream cheese frosting is ready to be spread on the cake.


Assembling the Cake:

Remove the cake from the freezer or refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.  With a long serrated knife, slice the cake horizontally into 3 layers.  Keep each layer aside separately.  On a cake board, apply about a teaspoon of cream cheese frosting or softened butter in the center and spread a little so that the cake does not move away from the board.  Place the topmost layer of the cake first on the board.  Brush off the cake crumbs and have a clean cake layer.  Sprinkle sugar syrup all over this cake layer and spread around 1 to 2 tbsp of cream cheese frosting over it evenly until a thick layer is formed.  Place the mid layer of the cake over this and repeat the process of sugar syrup and cream cheese frosting layer.  Finally, place the bottom most layer of the cake with the bottom side facing up so that a smooth and leveled top is achieved.  Apply sugar syrup and then a thin layer of the cream cheese frosting on top and then on the sides evenly to form a crumb coat.  Chill in refrigerator for about half an hour.  Then, decorate the cake as per your choice and serve chilled.  I used a star nozzle to pipe mini  rosettes as a border and sugar sprinkles and the cake crumbs in the center.

This cake stays good at room temperature for a day.  Store in refrigerator for a longer shelf life.

Look at the perfect layers.  Yumm..yumm..

Notes:

I made cream cheese at home and used for the frosting.  You can choose to use the store bought ones.

The cream cheese frosting is per my taste.  You can add or reduce the cheese cream and heavy whipping cream according to the sourness or the sweetness you like.

Use heavy whipping cream that whips easily to stiff peaks.  I used non-dairy whipping cream (Tropolite).  Dairy whipping cream with more than 30% fat content can be used for the extra creaminess.  If heavy whipping cream that easily forms stiff peaks are not available, then whip the cream separately to peaks and then add to the cream cheese mixture and whip together.

Vinegar and cocoa react together to give a rust color to the cake.  If you do not use red food color also, you will still get a reddish tinge to your cake.  They will still taste good and velvety.  The amount of color you add depends on how deep color or shade of red you would want.

Tomato red, x-mas red, raspberry red, red red, super red or any other red food color can be used to suit the shade of red you need.

If you choose to avoid artificial colors (as I personally prefer), use natural food colors viz., extract of cooked beetroot for the pinkish red color of the cake.

You can replace butter of the cake ingredients with oil either in full or half and half (half of butter and half of oil).  I have tried both ways and they are pretty good either ways.

Cream cheese frosting can be made with butter, icing sugar, and cream cheese as cream cheese butter frosting too.  For this, beat 100 gm butter to light and creamy, add vanilla extract and cream cheese 50 gm and beat again lightly, then add icing sugar approximately 200 gm and beat until creamy and stiff peaks form.

Homemade Cream Cheese

I first knew about cream cheese through a cookery TV show on Star Plus in which a famous chef demonstrated eggless red velvet mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  At first, I tried out just the mini cuppies but left off the cream cheese part as it is not easily available in my place and just topped them with whipped cream.  But then, when I heard so much of cream cheese, I browsed through the internet for recipes that would help making cream cheese at home.  Also, cream cheese available in stores are pretty pricey.  It is really economical to make it at home.  Homemade is anytime good, isn't it!!  Of course, actual cream cheese making involves culturing and other technical things.  This homemade cream cheese is just a substitute but works really well for cheesecakes, cream cheese frosting, cheese crackers, etc.



Ingredients:

Milk - 1 litre

Thick Curd/Unflavored Yogurt - 1 tbsp

Lemon Juice - 1½ tbsp or Vinegar - 2 tbsp


Method:

1.  In a deep pan, boil milk.  When it starts to boil, add the lemon juice or vinegar and keep stirring continuously until the milk curdles and separates into cheese and whey water.  Switch off the flame.

2.  Take a clean muslin cloth and pour this mixture into it and drain off the whey water separately.  You can save the whey water to be used in your recipes since it is very rich in protein.  Do not discard it.

3.  Wash the cheese in the muslin cloth at least 2 times by pouring cold water to get rid of the lemon or vinegar flavor.  Leave it aside for 10 to 15 minutes with a container under it for the whey water to drain completely.  Do not squeeze.

4.  Transfer the strained cheese to a bowl.  Add curd and mix well.

5.  Grind this in a mixer to make a smooth, creamy paste.

6.  Transfer this again to the muslin cloth and tie the ends with a knot and hang it on a cupboard handle with a container underneath to collect the dripping whey water.  Leave it aside for 5 to 6 hours for the liquid to drain completely.  Open the pouch and collect the cream cheese in a bowl.  Refrigerate it for 8 hours or overnight.  Your cream cheese is ready to be used.

Store in refrigerator until use.  It stays good in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.  When using it, bring it to room temperature and use for your cheese cakes or crackers or for frosting your cupcakes.

This recipe makes about 250 to 300 gm of cream cheese.

The picture shows only the left over cream cheese after I had used some for my cream cheese frosting for red velvet cake.

Notes:

To get extra creaminess, use full cream milk if available.

Also, fresh cream 100 mL can be used for the extra richness and creaminess.  If using fresh cream, add it to the boiling milk and continue the process.  I used Amul fresh cream.

No Bake Mango Cheesecake

With the mango season set in and summer at its highest, I thought it would be fun to beat the heat with this wonderful, easy, and quick recipe overloaded with mangoes.  My daughter was at home with her holidays set in, getting bored and wanted something interesting to have.  So, both of us set in on this recipe.  On our way from Coimbatore, we could get some really good mangoes and so we could do this immediately.

Then came the hunt for a good recipe to work on.  I explored so many sites and suddenly I remembered of a recipe from the bake along group I am a member of and checked on it.  To my surprise, it was the simplest one and easy of all and could be done with the ingredients that I had at home in stock. y Luckily, I had them all with me.  With all things ready, we set off to work in a jiffy.  But lo, we didn't think of the electricity factor and just when the mango cheese layer was put in the freezer to be set, there was power failure and we had to patiently wait for it to be back.  Thank god, it just turned back in an hour's time and we could get back to work without much hassles.

Cheesecakes can be of either the baked variety or the no bake type.  We chose to do the "no bake" type for this time.  No bake cheesecakes are done in different ways in most recipes on the web using gelatin or agar agar as the setting agent ideally.  In most cheesecake recipes, cream cheese is used - either homemade or store bought.  It is also equally acceptable to use cottage cheese or paneer as well along with hung curd.  In this recipe, a combination of paneer and condensed milk is used and it gave a really good yummy taste.

As I was in the process of doing the no bake mango cheese cake, I suddenly got a call from a client turned friend from Bangalore for a delicious treat for her mom (who is in Palakkad) on her birthday who is very fond of mangoes in any form.  Immediately, I told her about me doing this recipe and she was wonderstruck about this idea and approved of it though cheesecakes are not very popular in our place.  I went ahead and doubled the recipe and made one for the order and one for us.  I also made a white chocolate collar for the birthday cheesecake and left ours plain.  My friend's mom just couldn't believe of mangoes in this form and just loved it to the core.

This cheesecake contains of 3 layers, viz., the base biscuit layer, the center cheesecake layer, the top mango jelly layer apart from the mango pieces over the top layer and the chocolate collar.  The decor is of your choice.

Any seasonal fruits like blueberries, strawberries, etc. can also be used instead of the mango for this recipe.  Chocolate cheesecake is also an option.

Ingredients:

Base:

Digestive biscuits – 200 gms

Butter – 60 gms, melted

Cheesecake Layer:

Cottage cheese/paneer – 200 gms

Condensed milk – 400 ml

Fresh cream – 200 ml

Mangoes – 400 gms, chopped

Gelatin/Agar Agar – 2 tablespoons

Water – 1/4 cup

Topping:

Mango – Puree of 1 Mango

Gelatin/Agar Agar – 1 tablespoon

Water – 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with butter. 

If you do not have a springform pan, a tart pan from which you can get the base of the pan away from the sides can also be used.

If you do not have both of these, line the inside of a normal 8-inch cake pan with aluminium foil and have excess foil hanging from the sides so you can pull it out once the cheesecake has been set.  To the sides here on the foil-lined pan, cut strips of acetate /OHP sheet and butter the sides and position the sheet inside of the foil in your round pan.  This is literally to pull out the cheesecake easily from the normal pan and yet have neat, smooth sides.

2.  Process digestive biscuits in a food processor and add melted butter to it.

3. Mix butter and crushed biscuits well and cover the bottom of the prepared pan and press it tightly and evenly.  Keep in freezer to set until you continue doing the rest of the recipe.

4.  Grate or crumble paneer.  Add it to a food processor along with condensed milk and grind on high speed for a couple of minutes until it has pureed really well and smooth.  Add the mixture to a bowl and mix together with fresh cream.  Keep aside.

5.  Puree mangoes into a smooth fine paste and heat it up in a heavy bottomed saucepan until it is just hot.  Do not let it boil.

6.  Add gelatin/agar agar in a microwave safe bowl and mix it with water.  Let it bloom for 2 to 3 minutes.  Microwave on high power for 40 seconds and mix well until gelatin/agar agar granules have melted.  Add this mixture into the mango puree and mix well until combined.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

7.  Now, add the mango mixture into the paneer mixture and mix well.  Take the pan which is lined with biscuits and is freezing.  Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the biscuit lining and tap few times to get rid of any air bubbles.  Again, put it back in freezer until you prepare the topping.

8.  Topping:  Puree mango and heat it up in a heavy bottomed saucepan until just hot.  Add gelatin/agar agar in a bowl along with water and let it bloom for a 2 to 3 minutes.  Microwave gelatin/agar agar for 40 seconds on high power and add it to the mango puree and mix well.  If desired, add 2 drops of yellow food color to the gelatin/agar agar mixture for a bright colored topping.

9.  Check if the cheesecake has set, and once set, pour the mango jelly on top and tap it once to release air bubbles, if any; and again, put it back in freezer to set firm.

It might take an hour or more to set completely, and once done, it is ready to be relished.  You can also let it set overnight.  Before serving, make sure you release the sides of the pan.  Also if using acetate strips to the sides, peel it off before slicing.  Always keep it refrigerated and serve chilled.

Finally, I melted some white chocolate and did chocolate lace to decorate the sides of the cheesecake to add glamour to the yummy dessert.  Also, I placed loads of chopped mango pieces on the center of the cheesecake for the mango lover.  Here goes the fully loaded mango cheesecake for you to relish..yummilicious...slurp...

This one went for the order with the white chocolate wordings as given by the client turned friend for her lovely mom "Celebrating You - Kuttikal"... Just Amazing to love your mom so much!!

My Notes:

1.  I used Marie digestive biscuits.  Graham crackers if available can also be used.

2.  Condensed milk can be homemade or store bought.  I used 1 standard tin of Amul mithaimate.


3.  Amul fresh cream was used in this recipe.

4.  If you do not have a microwave to dissolve the gelatin/agar agar after it has bloomed, place the bowl in a bigger vessel of hot water and heat up in medium flame until the gelatin/agar agar dissolves (double boiling method).

5.  You can use a cake layer also as the base layer instead of the biscuit layer.  Ideally, a vanilla or mango plain cake would be the best as the base layer.

6.  Individual servings can also be done by setting them in layers of the same pattern in ready-to-serve bowls or shot glasses.

Rava Kara Pidi Kozhukkattai (Rava Dumplings)

Pidi kozhukkattai is a simple, easy, and traditional recipe of South India.  Generally, raw or par boiled rice or rice flour is used to make these kozhukkattais.  Nowadays, ragi flour is also used to make these Indian dumplings to enrich the nutritional value.

I have used rava along with the dhals to make these kozhukkattais.  In this recipe here, white rava is used.  The wheat rava can also be used to enhance the fiber content of the dish.  Also, vegetables have also been incorporated into this so that they are also included in our food intake.  A steamed dish is never an hazard to your stomach and is easily digestible.  Such is the advantage of indian cooking.

I almost regularly watch Mrs. Revathi Shanmugam's cookery shows on TV channels and this recipe is one amongst those I got to watch.  Most times, my mother-in-law, who is very fond of cooking and an expert too, notes the recipes down in her book and suggests me to try them when I become blank on what to do for breakfast or dinner.  So, that's how we tried doing this recipe, and needless to say, all of us in our family liked this simple and easily digestible kozhukkattai.  Even my daughter, who is not very fond of the old traditional recipes, accepted it to be good.  Yay, I have another addition in my breakfast menu list that can be done anytime and with great ease that is healthier too.

And, here goes the recipe...

Ingredients:

White (Bombay) Rava - 1 cup

Bengal Gram Dhal (Kadala paruppu) - 1/2 cup

Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup

Oil - 4 to 5 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Carrot - 1 (chopped) 

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Cabbage (shredded) - 1/2 cup

Rock Salt - 1 to 1-1/2 tsp (or as needed)

Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp

Red Chillies - 6

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


Method:

1.  Wash and soak the dhals separately for a minimum of 1 hour in just enough water.

2.  Drain the excess water from the soaked dhals.  Grind each of the soaked dhals separately to a coarse paste sprinkling little water for easy grinding.

3.  Just before grinding the dhals, soak rava in just enough water.  After the dhals are ground, drain excess water from rava and give a quick run in the mixie.

4.  Grind together red chillies, turmeric powder and salt.

5.  Mix together well the coarsely ground dhals, rava, and the ground red chilly paste to a batter.  The batter should be of an adai batter consistency.  Add water if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.

6.  Heat oil in a kadai.  Splutter mustard seeds and then add the chopped onions, carrots, and cabbage and fry for 2 minutes.

7.  Add the rava-dhal batter and keep mixing until all the moisture is absorbed.  Make sure no lumps are formed.  When it starts to leave the sides and comes together to form mass, switch off the flame.  Allow to cool.

8.  Grease your hand with little oil.

9.  When the mixture is warm, take small portions and press between the palm and fingers into cylindrical shapes to form pidi kozhukkattais.  Repeat the same for the entire mixture.

10.  Arrange the kozhukkattais in a plate and steam in a cooker or a vessel (with water in the base of the vessel) for 10 to 15 minutes in medium flame.

11.  Serve hot with a desired chutney or pickle of your choice.

This makes a healthy breakfast dish that is steamed and is a well-balanced diet containing carbohydrates, proteins from the dhals, fiber content and vitamins and minerals from the vegetables.  It makes a great evening snack too for the kids back from school.  The rava dumplings can be made for dinner also when you want a simple, steamed, easily digestible menu just before going to bed. 


My Notes:

1.  Drumstick leaves can be used instead of the vegetables.

2.  A pinch of cooking soda can be added in the batter to get more softer kozhukkatais.  I did not use soda.

3.  Any vegetables of your choice can be added, viz., green peas, capsicum, beans, etc.

4.  I served this dish with a garlic chutney.  Onion or tomato onion chutney is also a good accompaniment.

Pineapple Gateau (Pineapple Fresh Cream Pastry Cake)

Come April and it is a month of celebration.  With the onset of April, I start getting busy with celebrations of Telugu New Year (Ugadi), Vishu, and my daughter's birthday which keeps me on my toes with her wishes to be fulfilled.  This year, I decided to make a fresh cream cake which is an all-time favorite for all of us at home unlike the buttercream/fondant ones which are a bit too sweet.  The fluffiness of the cream and the just-right sweetness of the cake with the softness of the sponge cake inside always makes it our favorite one.  I suddenly remembered that I had canned pineapple tin in my kitchen which I had picked up with all other baking stuff and had not opened it for quite some time.  In spite of my husband hesitating on the pineapple flavor of the cake, I went ahead to make this cake, and at the end, he was fancied by its look and taste and competed with our daughter to finish it up.

While I was googling for a good recipe of a pineapple gateau, I found so many good recipes.  This cake recipe is adapted from "Cook like Priya" as that was the one which had a fatless sponge cake incorporated in it and the recipe has been adjusted according to my choice of taste and looks.  Totally, this cake, though it looks creamy, is a low-fat dessert as I have used a fatless sponge and non-dairy whipping cream.

I used a fatless (i.e. no butter/no oil) sponge cake base to make this cake.  Any sponge cake (viz., normal or eggless) base of your choice can be used.

Fatless Sponge Cake

Yield:  An 8 inch cake cut into 3 layers

Servings: 10 to 12 generously

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida) - 1-1/4 cups (150 gm)

Sugar (granulated/powdered) - 3/4 cup (150 gm)

Eggs (large) - 5

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp (2.5 gm)

Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Salt - 1 pinch

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp


Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.

2.  Grease an 8" baking tin with oil and line the sides with parchment or butter paper about an inch higher than the cake tin and also line the base with the same.  Set aside.

3.  Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until well incorporated.  Set aside.

4.  In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and pineapple essences.  Beat for about 5 minutes until soft peaks form.

5.  Gently add the sifted flour mixture little by little into the beaten egg mixture until well incorporated.  Take care not to over mix.

6.  Pour the cake batter into the greased cake tin and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C.

7.  Remove from oven and allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes.  Later, invert the cake onto a cooling rack and let the butter paper remain intact.

8.  Once the cake is completely cooled down, remove the butter/parchment paper.

9.  Cling wrap the cake and refrigerate until use.

10.  When about to use, remove the cling wrap and cut into layers.  I sliced into 3 perfect layers and placed them separately on plates.


Pineapple Soaking Syrup


Ingredients:

Pineapple Syrup - 1 cup (the syrup in the the tinned pineapple can)

Powdered Sugar - 4 to 5 tbsp

Pineapple Essence - 2 tsp

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until assembling process.


Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

Cold Non-dairy Whipping Cream - 2 cups

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp


Method:

1.  Freeze the bowl with whisk attachment for at least half an hour before making the whipping cream.

2.  Beat the cream at high speed for 2 minutes and then slowly add the essence and the icing sugar.  Beat until stiff peaks are formed.  Keep refrigerated until use.


Assembling the Cake

1.  Take the cake out of the fridge and unwrap the cling film.

2.  Place on a cake stand and mark a line with a colored toothpick tip (dipped in a bright food color) from top to bottom or vice versa at any of the points of your choice.  This helps in placing back the layers after filling in the same style as the original baked cake so that a uniform level is achieved.

3.  Slice 2 or 3 layers of the cake horizontally and place them on different plates aside.

4.  On a cake board, apply about 1 tsp of the cream in the center and then place the topmost layer of the cake on it.

5.  Drizzle one-third of the prepared pineapple soaking syrup liberally all over this cake layer and let sit for a few minutes until the syrup is fully absorbed.

6.  Now, add a big dollop of whipped cream on the soaked cake layer and spread with a spatula all over uniformly.  Place chopped pineapple (tinned) chunks all over the spread whipped cream.

7.  Place the middle layer of the sliced cake over this and repeat the process of soaking, spreading the whipped cream, and placing the pineapple chunks.

8.  Finally, place the bottom most layer of the sliced cake with the bottom side facing upwards.  This technique of placing the layers is called upside down technique.  Drizzle the soaking syrup all through and allow it to absorb.

9.  Then, spread the whipped cream all over the top of the cake and also on the sides and decorate with pineapple (tinned) pieces.  I used some store-bought marshmallows also to frost and decorate the fresh cream pineapple pastry (gateau).

10.  Refrigerate the pineapple gateau for at least 30 minutes to set.

Once ready, cut, serve, relish, and enjoy!!!

This is a classic cake and just can't be stopped with one bite, so yummilicious it is.  The softness of the sponge cake, the lighter cream, and  makes it a lip smacking dessert.

My Notes:

1.  I used non-dairy whipping cream for this gateau.  You can opt to use dairy cream (viz., Amul Whipping Cream).  Getting stiff peaks is difficult in indian climatic conditions.  So, the cream can be stabilized with gelatin or agar agar powder to get stiff peaks.  Dissolve 1 tsp of gelatin/agar agar powder in 2 tsp of water and leave it for 5-10 minutes.  Once bloomed, add while whisking the whipping cream to stabilize it.

2.  I used the whipped cream itself to frost the cake.  Buttercream can also be used to frost the cake.

3.  If using fondant toppers, place them on the cake just before use.  They tend to run out of colors or become soggy and out of shape because of the cream.

For your reference, I used this non-dairy whipping cream as I felt comfortable working with this whipping cream.  Any other brand of non-dairy cream or the dairy version of the whipping cream can be used.

Happy Baking!!!

Masala Tomato Pickle

I always prefer to make pickles or thokkus at home mainly for health and hygienic reasons.  Though consumption of pickles is very less by me and my daughter, we cannot forego them totally.  When we don't find anything better to go with curd rice, dosas, chappathis or even bread, we turn back to the pickles at home.

This time, we got tomatoes in abundance from my aunt's vegetable farm and I immediately got the thought of doing a pickle.  When I turned the pages of Mallika Badhrinath's Naa Oorum Oorugaaigal book, this recipe caught my eye and I quickly set to make this.  It did not take much time to do this as all things were readily available at home and was an easy process to do this recipe.  The original recipe calls for mustard oil to be used.  I used gingelly oil to make this pickle as the pungent smell of the mustard oil is not preferred by us.  You can all for sure try with the mustard oil if available in your proximity.

You can use either the local variety of tomatoes or the hybrid ones.  The local ones are more juicy and tangy.  It may take more cooking time comparatively.  A mix of both the varieties of tomatoes can also be used.

Ingredients:

Ripe red tomatoes - 1 kg

Oil (Sunflower/Mustard/Gingelly) - 1/2 kg

Aniseeds (Sombu/Saunf) - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds (Vendhayam/Menthulu/Methi seeds) - 1 tsp

Carom Seeds (Omum/Ajwain) - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds (Jeeragam/Jeera Seeds) - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds (Kadugu/Rai) - 1 tsp

Green Chillies - 8

Ginger - 4 inch piece (peel skin and chop)

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida (Perungayam/Hing) - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 2 tbsp

Grated Jaggery - 1 tbsp


Method:

1.  Wash and pat dry the tomatoes and chop them finely.

2.  Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai.  Add aniseeds, fenugreek, carom seeds, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds and fry.  Add chopped ginger and green chillies and fry.  Cool and grind.

3.  In a kadai bigger enough to hold the entire contents of the pickle, add half of the measured oil.  When hot, add chopped tomatoes and fry well.  

4.  Add ground mixture to this and fry well until moisture is absorbed completely.

5.  To this, add turmeric powder, coriander powder, asafoetida, and salt.

6.  Keep mixing until oil separates.  Remove from fire, cool, and transfer the pickle to a clean, dry glass container.

7.  Heat the remaining oil and allow it to cool.  Pour over the pickle in the bottle and use after a day or two.  

This masala tomato pickle can be stored up to 6 months.  Transfer in small quantities to a smaller container for use.  Directly using from the stored container can spoil the pickle sooner.  This pickle is a great accompaniment for curd rice, dosas, rotis, etc.  This is a travel friendly dish too, goes well with chappathis while you are on the go.  This can be used to make instant tomato rice, just add seasonings, fry onions, and add this pickle and cooked rice and your tomato rice is ready.


The spiciness of this pickle is moderate.  If you want it more spicy, add more chillies as desired.

The quantity of oil can be reduced if you are using the thokku within a few days.  For longer shelf life, use the said quantity of oil though it would be seem more oily when the pickle is done and transferred to containers.

Lavender Almond Cake

Have you ever heard of a cake that is fragrant as a flower?  Yes, this cake has the sweet smell of lavender and has a fragrance indeed so different from the regular cakes or special ones of berries or fresh fruits or chocolate and so does the flavor too.

As a member of a bake along group, I received some lavender seeds just enough to bake this cake as a gift from our tutor who shares her recipes with a promise to bake this recipe within the week of receiving the goodie bag of lavender seeds.  To keep up the promise, though the courier guy delayed (as usual), I rushed to bake this wonderful lavender cake with the richness of almond meal (flour/powder).  It was a real lo(i)vely time doing this whole process and my house was heavenly with the sweet fragrance of lavender plus the aroma of a good cake baking in the oven.  It is a saying that baking is therapeutic and this is double therapeutic.  I am sure anyone would be eager to try this cake if they had their hands on lavender seeds.  No issues if seeds are not available, the lavender oil/extract (edible) would also help.

My daughter and I generously shared the cake with our friends and had our collars up when good compliments poured in.

Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Butter (unsalted) - 115 gms

Granulated White Sugar - 1 cup (divided)

Eggs - 2

Almond Meal (Almond powder) - 1/4 cup

Dry Lavender Seeds - 1 tsp

Dairy Fresh Cream - 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp

Vinegar - 2 tbsp

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

All purpose Flour (Maida) - 1-1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp


Glaze:

Dry Lavender Seeds - 1 pinch

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 3 tbsp


Method:

1.  Grease cake pan with butter and dust with powdered sugar on all sides.  Preheat oven for 10 minutes to 170 degrees C.

2.  Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp lavender seeds, and almond meal in the small jar of the mixie or food processor.

3.  On medium speed, process for a minute until all the three have combined well.  Do not process for long.

4.   Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Keep aside.

5.  Add vinegar to fresh cream in a bowl.  Keep aside.

6.  Add butter into a bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until soft and fluffy.

7.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar to the butter and beat on high speed for about 5 to 7 minutes until they are well combined, creamy, light, and fluffy.

8.  Add in the lavender almond mixture and beat for about a minute on medium speed until combined.

9.  Add the eggs one at a time beating on low speed for a minute after adding each egg.

10.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and beat for a minute until everything is combined together.

11.  Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Do not over beat.

12.  Add the cream-vinegar mixture and again beat on low speed until just combined.  Make sure you do not over beat.

13.  Mix in the remaining flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Do not over beat.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix well.

14.  Pour the cake batter in the prepared pan and tap to release any air bubbles.

15.  Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 40 to 50 minutes until the cake has risen, looks soft, and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

16.  For the glaze, boil lavender seeds and water for about 5 minutes on low flame.  Switch off and close the lid to let the flavor seep into the water.  Filter the lavender seeds and add the flavored water to icing sugar and make glaze.  Adjust icing sugar or hot water to get the proper pouring consistency.

17.  Pour the glaze over the cake and let it set for 1/2 an hour.

18.  Your cake is ready to served, gobbled up, grabbed, and lo you can see it vanish in no time.  It has such a good aroma of the lavender seeds and the cake with all the richness of almond meal and the whole house smells divine while baking it that you start gasping to catch the sweet smell of it.

Not getting the dry lavender seeds should not stop you from baking this cake.  There is always an alternative.  You can use edible lavender oil or lavender extracts or essence to make this cake.  It is a sure try.  Do not miss it.

Happy Baking!!!