Wednesday, July 03, 2013

The Reluctant Cook's Chocolate Cake outing [UBC Post 3]

I have often said that I am a Reluctant Cook. To cut the long story short, I don't enjoy cooking but I know how to cook. I even love doing it sometimes for the two most special people in my life - my husband and my son.

Cake is something which all of us love, and this is my son's birthday month. Though we love cake, I don't make it too often because it is laden with calories. But now since we are nearing the little one's birthday, I want to practice a little before making the Birthday Cake.

I was going to make Smita's Rainbow Cake (since I am planning to make that for my son's birthday), but my nephew (who is visiting) declared he loves chocolate cake. So, I thought, let me try that first. I sent a message to Smita to check on how much coco powder should I add for a 200 gm flour cake. She sent me a few website links to refer. I finally settled for this recipe on Gayathri's blog. Let me add what an awesome blog it is! I drooled for quite a while before setting on to the task at hand. 

I am reproducing her recipe with the minor modifications I did.

Recipe for the Eggless Chocolate Cake (without Milk, so Vegan too)


Ingredients:
Flour (Maida)-1 cup
Baking Powder-3 tsp (I put 2.5 tsp, but it has come out melts-in-your-mouth soft, I thought probably a tiny bit less would have been better)
Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup (Next time I would put slightly less quantity of this as it turned out too chocolate for me)
Water -1/2 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Oil - 45 ml
Melted Butter - 45 ml
Castor Sugar (or powdered sugar) - 3/4 cup
[Note: You must refer her conversion chart because cups and spoons can really confuse sometimes]

Procedure:
1. In a bowl add melted butter, oil and sugar.
2. Whisk well until sugar dissolves.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder.
4. Add water to the butter mixture and whisk well. (I usually don't put the entire quantity at one go but eventually that much was needed)
5. Add the flour mixture and mix it gently using a wooden spoon.
6. Pour the batter into silicon moulds or a 7"cake tin.
7. Preheat oven to 160C.
8. Bake the cake for 15minutes if using small moulds and 25-35 minutes for a single tin.
9. Check with a tooth pick. When done transfer to wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
10. Serve and Enjoy.


You can see the end result in the pictures. I would not say it turned out perfectly but that is the thing with making dishes by referring recipes. You learn to perfect it after a few trials. It was strictly OK this time, but a few modifications will do it justice. You may hop on to Gayathri's blog for awesome recipes of cake. 

22 comments:

  1. Where do you live? I mean can I come over and have some of those? Please :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. WOW! Loos lovely. liked the receipe and this is low fat.will try this. I love to bake cakes and cookies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :)
      Yes, it has no milk. Try it out. I love eating cakes more than baking them :)

      Delete
  3. Yes, yes it has happened with me too. Although i am not a frequent visitor to CCD, but i observed almost all the times the coffee was cold. Me too, love their Cappuccino :) May be, is it a problem with this particular outlet you visit or universal...Don't want to be more negative about them since the cappuccino taste is still in my mouth.

    BTW thanks to you, i am undertaking the UBC challenge too. Hope i can make it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad that you have joined too :)
      Even after several such experiences, even for me that is the go-to-place for coffee. One of the reasons is also that they are on every nook and corner.

      Delete
  4. Milkless cake! Wow! Did you grease/powder/paper the tin before pouring the mixture into it? Does it leave sides easily?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes of course. Forgot writing that. I just grease that's it, and it comes out well.

      Delete
  5. wow! That was quick!!! And it looks good to me :)

    And ya her blog is quite good!! I love it especially because baking their is eggless!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always check out the recipe when I have to bake the cake ha ha.
      I like egg-wala cakes more but half the days one of us don't eat non-veg, so eggless is safer.

      Delete
  6. I loved the look of the cakes and since I have a sweet tooth like Bhavya, I too would like to pay a visit to your place to have these. I don't bake at all and rely completely on the ready made stuff and prefer the non creamy ones as well...so this was a visual treat for me :) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Come over. I am in Pune. But this time, it is over :)
      Replying to you after it got over, was not intentional, trust me! But it is really easy these days to refer recipes online and bake a cake.I don't like bahar ka cakes. I love these home-made ones. I have banned those creamy ones which have become sacrosanct on all occasions. I tell my husband very clearly not to waste money on those for my birthday or our anniversary. I am not going to eat them.

      Delete
  7. Yummmmm it looks.,.. I love to Bake..It is my stress reliever..and this eggless Vegan Cake is currently making me drool on my laptop....
    So where do you live Reema :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! I love the fact that so many of you liked atleast the look of it. I don't bake regularly but I looooooove cakes - homemade ones. I don't like those with creams.
      I live in Pune by the way :)

      Delete
  8. and you say you are a reluctant cook ??? O_O...those cakes look like a treat :D :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't enjoy cooking that's why the reluctant cook! But yeah, I love making few things once in a while like I am excited about the rainbow cake I will attempt soon.

      Delete
  9. Oh sorry, that comment was for the CCD post. But yes, the cake do look yum, good for a first timer :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What matters is you took time to comment :)
      Though it does look like a first timer's attempt, I have baked cake before ha ha!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:27 AM

    oh yumm!! :)
    I will try this one out for sure!!
    I love chocolate cake!! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't forget to share the picture when you do :)

      Delete
  11. My affinity towards cooking is kind of seasonal..Some days, I am too worked about cooking that I just want to grab the right ingredients and start cooking...

    Some days, I find it very tedious and wonder how other people manage to cook 3 times a day..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here. I would rather spend my time cleaning and scrubbing ha ha

      Delete
  12. Looks great and can do with one piece now. Just had dinner! :D

    ReplyDelete