Eggless Hearty Jam Biscuits

I baked these biscuits last week and these biscuits were a instant hit at home. I had valentines day in mind so planned for this post in advance :) Will you believe I took around 500 pics in 3 schedules and most of them dissatisfied me, but finally selected these....:)

U want & u get, that's luck,

U want & u wait, that's time.

U want but u compromise, that's life.

U want & u wait & u don't compromise that's LOVE!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

Eggless Hearty Jam Biscuits Recipe

Recipe Source : Divine Taste

Makes 25-30 biscuits

Ingredients:

• Maida - 1 cup
• Custard Powder - 3/4 cup
• Thick Curd - 1/4 cup (adjust according to the dough consistency)
• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Cornflour - 1 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
• Mixed Fruit Jam - As required

Method:

1. Mix maida, cornflour and custard powder, keep aside.Soft butter, add sugar to it and cream well. Then add curd, vanilla essence and beat well until creamy.



2. Then add custard powder mixture to the butter sugar mixture and make it to soft dough. If your dough is sticky add little maida to make it a soft pilable dough.



3. Roll the dough on a flat surface using chapathi roller for about 5mm thickness. Then cut out shapes using cookie cutter. Collect the remaining dough and repeat the process.



4. Preheat oven to 180 deg C for 10mins. Meanwhile make a small dent in the middle of all the biscuits using a small round lid and apply a very thin layer of jam in it.Arrange it in a baking tray with aluminium foil lined.



5. Bake it for 12-15mins at 180 deg C. Allow it to cool and store them in airtight container.

My Notes:

• As I reduced the butter and replaced it with curd, the biscuits slightly puffed up, oozing out jam. So in the next batch I applied a very thin layer of jam.



• Though the butter is reduced, the crispness is perfect. The only difference I found with reducing butter was that the biscuits started to soften after 3 days. I'm sure it will stay crispy for more time when the orginal mentioned quantity of butter is added.



• I used mixed fruit jam, you can use your favorite flavour of jam. But mixed fruit went well with the custard powder flavour.

I am sure this is a kid pleaser as my lil one enjoyed it to the core. Though she first licked only the jam, later she liked the taste of the biscuits too.

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake | Step by Step Eggless Basic Cake Recipe

I've always been looking out for a basic egg less version of vanilla cake as I've already posted a egg version of vanilla cake. And this recipe from Nita Mehta cookbook is sure a keeper. It comes out perfect every time. I made this before new year eve and could reserve only 2-3 pieces for click sake after the distribution to neighbors and friends.

Ingredients:

• Maida - 1 and 1/2 cups (225 gms)
• Thick Curd - 1 cup (250 ml)
• Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup (200 gms)
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 and 1/4 tsp
• Cooking oil - 1/2 cup (125 ml)
• Vanilla essence - 1 and 1/2 tsp
• Milk - 1 tbsp (just for brushing the top)

Method:

Sieve maida twice and keep aside.Cream sugar and curd until sugar completely dissolves. Add baking powder, baking soda to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Leave aside for 5 mins and you can see the bubbles appearing. Now add vanilla essence,cooking oil and mix well.

Next slowly add maida in portions at a time and blend with wet ingredients. Beat well with a whipper until creamy and thick.Preheat oven to 200 deg C for 10mins. Meanwhile grease a butter paper, lay it in the cake tin or loaf pan and pour the batter to the tin and keep it ready.

Bake in preheated oven at 200 degree C for 10 mins, then reduce temperature to 180 deg C and bake it for 30-35 mins or till a fork inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Just brush the top of the cake with 1 tbsp milk, 10mins before the ending time to get a nice polishing glaze. Allow the cake to cool down for 10mins, then invert and remove the butter paper. Then cut/slice them into pieces and enjoy!

Have updated the pics with stepwise. I baked this cake in a round cake tin for hubbys bday as this is his favourite cake :) You can use a loaf pan and bake the cake too.

The cake is moist and very soft , which keeps the same softeness and moistness for a week.

My Notes:

• Do not try to reduce oil and curd, I tried once to reduce oil and the cake was a great flop ;) But still there is one way add 1 and 1/4 cups of curd and 1/4 cup oil, I assure you with the same results.

• Also after the batter is ready, dont allow the batter to sit for more than he preheating time as baking soda reacts faster. I have a reader who gave me this tip as her cake went hard as she kept the batter for 30mins after mixing.



• And while inserting fork or toothpick try checking in the center if its cooked completely or not.If suppose even after the specified time, the center of the cake isnt cooked and is slightly sticky?! dont worry just cover the top of the cake with butter paper and bake it for 5more mins,it will be perfect. The butter paper covering will avoid more browning on top at the same time the center will be cooked perfectly.



• Dont doubt on using curd, the taste of curd is totally not shown in the cake. You can use homemade curd or use nestle curd which is very thick and works good too.



• You can use icing sugar too, I used normal sugar only. I felt 3/4 cup of sugar was enough but the orginal recipe called for 1 cup. If you have a very sweet tooth then use 1 cup of sugar.



• As I always mention select a pan such that the batter is close to 3/4th of it or slightly above 1/2 of it. And the time for baking depends on the cake pan and oven too mine got baked in exactly 35mins.

Celebration Chocolate Cake for New year 2011!

Chocolate cake is my fav so love to try different versions of it, though this moist chocolate cake is always my fav and only now I have perfected it after so many tries.

This chocolate cake with eggs is the recipe I saw from Nithis space and bookmarked it. Having confirming it with her twice(becos most of my choc cake attempts fail for the first time), I baked it for my friends before leaving Chennai. This cake is a keeper as this is the first time I am getting a perfect chocolate cake in my first try...I gave her link to my sisinlaw, she too tried it and gave me good feedback. So to me this is sure a no fail recipe and as her caption says it is perfect chocolate cake.

The first time I remember calling Nithya was to ask about the muffin pans and never felt I am talking to her for the first time. I've always admired her presentation skills the area I struggle so much. And I'm glad to have known such a creative and friendly person.The strain she takes for every post OMG I can never imagine to go that extra mile anytime. Kudos to you Nithi!

Ingredients:

• Maida - 1 and 3/4 cups (250 gms)
• Eggs - 2
• Milk - 1 cup (250 ml)
• Cooking Oil - 1/2 cup (125 ml)
• Boiling water - 1 cup (250 ml)
• Powdered sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups (250 gms)
• Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup (100 gms)
• Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
• Baking soda - 1.5 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

Method:

1. In a bowl, sift together maida, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder atleast twice to ensure even spreading.



2. In a seperate bowl,Beat eggs till fluffy, add milk, oil, boiling water and vanilla essence and beat well using a whipper or electric mixer.



3. Now add the maida cocoa mixture in parts to the egg milk mixture and mix well making sure no lumps are formed. The batter is little runny.



4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour the baking pan and pour the batter and bake it at 180°C for 30-35mins. Check if a fork inserted comes out clean, then your cake is done.



5. Cool on wire rack for 15 mins and then slice it into pieces. The cake is ready to have it as such or frost it.

My Notes:

• I dont prefer frosting so made frosting just for a piece of cake alone with 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp cocoa powder and 2 tsp sugar.



• This cake measurement is actually for a layer cake type with 2 cake pans but since I wanted it plain and small I measured with a small cup accordingly. So if you are planning to use 200gms as 1 cup then you may need 2 cake pans.



• The batter is runny but after getting baked its perfect. The cake was very soft and did raise well.

The texture and softness of this cake is simply stunning that you cant stop with one piece. And I am sure this would be close to the bakery ones if made layers and frosted. Have in mind to give it a try but dono when?!

New year is fast approaching and it seems to me like 2010 went so fast. I pray for good health and prosperity for all in the coming year too.

Wishing you all a very happy new year 2011 !!

Eggless Vanilla Chocolate Chips Cupcakes

Its really nice to see the blog world flowing with christmas recipes. It sure creates the festive mood within us. Here is my treat for christmas : Eggless Vanilla Chocolate Chips Cupcakes. Ever since I got the muffin pans after a great search, hubby was complaining that I didnt put it to good use after the Eggless Dates walnut muffins. So looked out for a basic eggless vanilla cupcake recipe and this one was apt for my search. Needless to say the taste, it was yummy! My little one enjoyed it to the core and my happiness knew no bounds :)

Ingredients: [ Recipe Source : My Diverse Kitchen ]

• Maida - 1 and 1/2 cups (225 gms)
• Cornflour - 1 tsp
• Butter - 1/4 cup (50 gms)
• Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup (185 gms)
• Milk - 3/4 cup (180 ml)
• Vanilla essence - 3/4 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp (if using unsalted butter)
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Chocolate chips - 1.5 tbsp

Method:

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, cornflour and salt together atleast twice to make sure they are evenly distributed. Keep aside.



2. In a wide bowl, cream the butter and sugar using a whippe r(yayy finally I own one too) until the sugar is completely dissolved, Keep aside. Add vanilla essence to the milk, mix well and add the milk to the creamed butter sugar mixture. Beat it well until its light and creamy.



3. Now add the flour in 2 parts to the above creamed mixture and mix well. The batter will be very creamy like shown in the below pic. The consistency is inbetween thick and runny.



4. Add in the chocolate chips reserving half a tablespoon alone for the topping. Just fold in gently, dont overmix.



5. Arrange muffin liners in the pan and spoon the mixture to fill 3/4 of the muffin pan. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and bake it for 25-30 mins until a fork inserted comes out clean. The top will be lightly golden brown, and mine got done in exactly 27mins.



6. Allow it to cool on wire rack for 10 mins and then enjoy your cupcakes.

This is sure a kid pleaser. I just halved from the orginal recipe otherwise I followed almost the same. The result was fluffy and soft cupcakes studded with chocolate chips, it was pretty as well. The cupcakes are slightly crusty on the top and soft inside as perfect as the bakery plain cakes.

This can be used as a keeper for basic eggless vanilla cake too. Next time I am planning to try a vanilla sponge loaf cake with doubling the measurements from this. I got 7 large cupcakes since my muffin pan holds only 6 I used a mini tumbler like cup for the 7th one. My OTG can only hold medium sized cake tins and muffin pans so my 1 cup measures accordingly as I dont have the patience to bake in batches :)

This is the first time I am very happy with the outcome of an eggless vanilla version of a cake. Last time when I tried with curd as egg substitute it was a super flop but guess I might have gone wrong in measurements, sure waiting to try and get it right next time atleast.

Hubby always teases me when I half the cake like this to click, he says why do u dissect the cakes ;) But I have the habit of doing this to see the texture inside and to show it to you :)

My Notes:

• The orginal recipe called in for cake flour. So if we are using normal flour, it asked to add cornstarch as substitute.But I didnt have cornstarch or was not aware of it, so went ahead with cornflour and it succeeded too.



• Adding chocochips is purely your choice, If you want just use them for topping alone.



• The cake will rise up fluffy in the first 15mins itself. The top turns to golden brown only in the last stage may be after 15-17mins.



• The cupcakes were soft even the next day, infact more softer and tastier.



• You can even frost the cupcakes or make it plain like what I did. If you are making frosting for the cake reduce the sugar in the cake or dont add sugar in the frosting.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Easy Homemade Chocolates - No cook version

I know most of us love chocolates, but I like sweets more than chocolates. I had seen this recipe in video format so wanted to give a try and for this reason got a tin of condensed milk....hmm ok I agree, I had few eggless cakes in mind too :) Christmas is round the corner and so here I am with these easy no cook homemade chocolates as a first treat.

I like and respect the way each festival is celebrated with their own customs and traditions.Been brought up in a Christian institution Christmas was also a part of me. I am fond of watching the crib decoration , the christmas tree, the santa clause, the star being tied outside each house, the yummy cakes and the elaborate meal which includes the special biriyani and what not?! I used to even visit churches with my close friend during our college days and have special lunch served at her place. Last year we even hanged a star in our home and am planning to do it this year too :)

Ingredients:

• Milk Maid - 1/4 cup
• Drinking Chocolate - 2.5 tbsp
• Icing Sugar - 2.5 tbsp
• Coco Powder - 3/4 tbsp
• Milk Powder - 2 tbsp
• Mixed nuts - 1 tbsp broken [optional]

Method:

1. First mix drinking chocolate, coco powder, milk powder and icing sugar well till all are evenly mixed.



2. Next add the condensed milk little by little to the above milk powder mixture and mix well. It will form a slightly sticky dough.



3. Grease your palm with little butter, Pinch a small portion from the dough and roll them into balls or required shapes. You can add nuts inside and roll them into balls too. Garnish few nuts on top for the extra crunchy taste.



4. Refrigerate them for an hour or two and your chocolates are ready to be served. Enjoy eating!!

These homemade chocolates are very easy to make which takes only around 30mins for the whole process excluding refrigerating time. To be frank these were not exactly like the shop bought ones but sure did not fail to please any chocolate lover. Proof is my daughter who was wandering around the fridge till the chocolates got emptied. Since this is the first time I am trying, I halved the recipe and got around 8-10 small chocolates....It depends on size and shape we make too.

Isnt that easy?! Just mix, refrigerate and your chocolates are ready in no time. It is as simple and easy as it sounds there is no complicated steps, so anyone can try this. I luv the nuts in chocolates so all my share of chocolates had nuts in it both inside and outside :)

Eggless Choco Chips Yogurt Cookies

Cookies are always very special to me, as my first baking experience started with them. Since the day I bought choco chips, I wanted to try a eggless cookie version with it and finally these cookies caught my eyes from Sunitas site. I've always admired her low fat yet delicious looking baking goodies. I didnt make any modifications just very small adjustments and they turned out good.

Ingredients:

• Oats - 1/4 cup
• Wheat flour (Chapathi flour) - 3/4 cup [You can substitute it with APF/Maida too]
• Baking soda - a pinch
• Coconut - 4 tsp
• Chocolate chips - 3 tbsp
• Yogurt(Thick Curd) - 3 tblsp
• Honey - 4 tblsp
• Cooking oil- 3 tblsp
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method:

1. In a wide bowl, mix together the flour, oats, baking soda, coconut and chocolate chips. In another bowl, mix yogurt, oil, honey and vanilla essence.



2. Now make a well in the centre of the oats flour mixture and add in the yogurt mixture. Just fold in no need to knead or overmix it.



3. Line a baking tray with silver foil. Now pre-heat the oven at 170 deg C. Make equal sized balls of the mixture and place them in rows, slightly apart from each other.Flatten the balls with the back of a fork which will give the lines for the cookies.



4. Place the tray in the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 15- 20 mins or till the tops are very slightly brown.



5. Remove from the oven and Let them cool on the tray for a minute and then transfer to a rack to cool completely before storing in air tight containers.

Note : I am sure this would taste great when made with APF(maida) also though I havent tried them myself.

Tutti Frutti Cake

I should say this is the best softest cake I've ever baked...Thanks to Parita for such a wonderful recipe for sure its a keeper. I've adjusted the recipe a little bit with the quantity of eggs and butter. By now I have tried/experimented the cake 3-4 times and this is the only cake that withstood all my experiments ;) Because when baking the same cakes with same procedure which had turned out perfect the last time, I have flopped the cake. I feel the batter consistency is the most impt, for this reason I used to think, to take stepwise for baking atleast but laziness wins me :) But I have tried my best to explain it in detail for beginners like me.

This one so far all the times it came out perfect....*touchwood* it has got me so many credits and appreciations from my neighbours and family esp my hubby. I am planning to get it baked and take it to my office collegues as I am confident with this cake.

By now I have started experimenting using flax powder as egg replacer, and it works out perfect each time. Only thing is that I am able to find out even the very mild smell it leaves out, but trust me only I could identify it and I was surprised to see everyone else enjoying every bite.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour/Maida - 2 cups (300 gms)
• Granulated Sugar - 1 and 1/4 cups (300 gms)
• Tutti Fruitti - 1/2 cup
• Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 3/4 cup (200 ml)
• Egg - 1 at room temperature
• Flax seed powder - 1 tbsp [I used one egg and flax powder as another egg replacer. Flax seed powder substitute for 1 egg - Mix 1tbsp with 3 tbsp of water leave it for 3mins till a sticky mixture is formed. ]
• Baking powder - 2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1 tsp
• Vanilla essence - 3 tsp
• Cashews - 2 tsp [just to sprinkle on top]

NOTE :

• If you dont have flax seed powder just substitute egg with it. So totally 2 eggs for this cake if you are not using flax seed powder.

Method:

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda twice atleast and keep aside.



2. Combine butter and sugar until creamy, it may take around 2 to 3 mins. If you are using 2 eggs add one egg at a time and beat well. If you are using flax powder water mixture just strain it and add it to the butter sugar egg mixture.



3. Add in vanilla essence and mix well. Now add in the milk beat well till all is combined.Next add the flour, baking powder, soda mixture.



4. Finally fold in tutti frutti's , mix gently, do not overmix. Pour the batter in the pan and pat it on floor to ensure the batter is even on all sides of the loaf.



5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a loaf/cake pan. Bake for 35-40 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool completely and then slice.

The soft cakes with the tutti frutti in each bite hmm it was heavenly.

My Notes :

• The batter is lil watery and running close to dosa batter dont panic like me :) it would be perfect after baked.



• I have tried it with one egg(with no flax seed powder replacement) too and it worked fine....It was super soft like the one I got in the pics and tastewise no compromise at all. The only difference I found was it didnt raise as the one with 2 eggs, tastewise texturewise no difference at all.



• If you are adding flax powder after mixing it with water - while adding it to the cake filter it using a strainer else the brown color would spread all over the cake.This is also done to avoid the domination of flax seed powder flavour to the cake.



• Check after 30 mins because mine got baked in 35mins. Do not overbake, it may harden the cake the next day.



• Make sure you select a cake pan/tin which holds only till half level of the batter else the center part will take more time to bake.

I have loads of tasks to complete this weekend, writing the todo itself took me more time hope I complete half of it as I planned. Happy weekend and have a achieving week ahead!

Basic Vanilla Sponge Cake for a celebration!

Hurray! A new cocoon for sharmispassions....Yes from blogspot, sharmispassions has moved to its own domain www.sharmispassions.com...It almost took 2 weeks for me to get convinced to go ahead with this name for .com....becos reading more about SEO (Search Engine Optimisaiton) confused me to opt for a change....I was with around 20 names to shortlist....but then finally I felt this name was my identity in this blog world and wanted it to remain the same :) so went ahead with it! This is the final post with 'blogspot' watermark :)

It was my long time thought to move to my own domain but something or the other took more priorities that stopped me from doing it.But I was particular not to delay further and this should happen in June as its a special month for me....yes my lil one is nearing her 1st bday on June 19th.... its even more special as she was born on my fathers bday....What more blessing can I ask out of life?!

And finally here I am with my dream come true :) Thanks to all my friends and readers for all ur encouragement and support....wishing for the same in future too!! Waiting to hear ur feedback or suggestions. The transition and redirections are not completely over....its in process but that doesnt affect anything on the front end...But do let me know if you have any problems!

Its celebration time with this yummy vanilla sponge cake....this is hubby's favorite. To be true I made this for his bday and it was lying in drafts for a long time....dusted it out for this celebration :) Okay now going on to the recipe:

Ingredients:

• Maida or APF - 200 gms
• Butter - 200 gms (at room temperature)
• Eggs - 2
• Powdered Sugar - 200 gms
• Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
• Salt - one pinch (optional)
• Baking powder - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Sieve maida and baking powder twice and keep aside. This is for evenly mixing of baking powder with the flour.



2. Beat the eggs till soft and fluffy with a blender or mixer. The egg should be almost doubled in size showing the frothy texture on top.I blended using the normal mixer till fluffy.



3. Next, lightly beat butter and sugar together till nicely blended [The butter should be at room temperature before mixing it with sugar] Add the beaten eggs to this.



4. Mix the egg butter sugar mixture well, add vanilla essence and mix well. Now add salt and mix well again.



5. Gently add the flour little by little(may be in 2-3 parts) stirring continuously. Make sure no lumps are formed. I started first with a spatula but ended up with my hands for mixing :)



6. Preheat the oven at 180 deg C for 10 mins. Meanwhile transfer the batter to a greased tray and bake it for 30-35 mins.

Needless to say the aroma and taste. The cake comes out so soft and moist!! This is the only piece of cake I could reserve to click and test for the next day :)

Moist Chocolate Cake(With no eggs & butter) - Step by Step Recipe

I googled & googled for a very basic chocolate cake recipe and there were soooo many....But my constraint was no eggs, butter and it should be very simple. Trust me, any beginner can try this and I guarantee it wud turn out perfect without any flaws. But the quantity and mixing need to be noted down very carefully as it may be turn sticky and not cooked inside if inaccurate.The picture may not be all that great but taste is no lesser than a brownie.



I've recommended this recipe to few friends, cousin they too tried & agreed with me about the taste. And finally it was certified by my niece, she liked it soo much, and when I heard that she took it to school daily till it got over I was on top of the world!! Am waiting for my lil one to taste it too.....though have given her few pinches of this cake, she was licking & didnt leave my fingers :)

Dry Ingredients:

• All purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups (225 gms)
• Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp
• Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
• Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup (200 gms) [Increase it to 1 cup if you dont use choco chips]
• Chocolate Chips - 1 tbsp

Wet Ingredients

• Water - 1 cup (250 ml)
• Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
• Lemon juice / Vinegar - 1 tbsp (I used lemon juice)
• Oil - 1/4 cup (60 ml)

Method:

Take water in a bowl, add vanilla essence, sugar, lemon juice and oil. Mix well till sugar completely dissolves . Keep aside.

Now take flour, baking soda, baking powder and coco powder and sift together twice atleast to make sure the flour, soda and baking powder and coco powder is evenly spread out.Then slowly add the the sifted flour mixture to the wet ingredients mixture may be in 2 parts.

Gently mix in one direction until no lumps are formed, then add half of choco chips and gently mix it. The batter is runny like you see in the pic.Preheat oven to 180 deg C for 10mins. By the time grease the cake pan with few drops of oil and pour the batter into the cake pan and top it with remaining choco chips. Bake it at 180 deg C for 35-40mins check if a fork inserted comes out clean.

Make sure to cool completely say 10-15 mins and then invert carefully and cut into pieces and enjoy.

My Notes:

• The mixing and measurements matters the most for the perfect moist cake. Have updated the recipe again with measurements after 2-3 trials.



• Select the cake pan accordingly as the batter should be atleast half of the pan when you pour it. Also I've halved the measurements from the orginal recipe.



• Using chocochips is purely optional but I recommend adding it. Also if you dont add chocochips increase sugar to 1 cup