ChristmasCakes – Page 2 – The Secret Ingredient

Baking

Persimmon Rum Cake

By anshu January 11, 2015

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Some days back the food groups on facebook were infested with posts to guess this new kind of fruit ultimately revealed as Ram Phal, Japani Phal and in English Persimmon. I couldn’t restraint myself when I saw these babies in the market. They were at a throw away price so I bought them a kilo. Now after eating a few I was thinking where else can I utilise them. I found this incredible recipe to make a spiced cake with persimmon, just perfect for the cold weather.

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The persimmons were sitting on my shelf for a few days now so they had become super ripe just the way they are needed for this cake. The cake came out so moist and delicious that my husband declared it the best cake baked by me so far.

Directions:

1. Wash and Cut the persimmons into half.

2. Scoop out the pulp with the help of a spoon and throw away the peels.

3. Put the pulp in a blender and make a smooth puree. Set aside.

4. In a small saucepan pour some rum and raisins and bring them to a boil on medium low heat. Remove from heat and cover. Let them come to a room temperature.

5. In a bowl add All purpose Flour, Cinnamon powder, Baking Soda and salt.

6 . Also add nutmeg powder for that extra spice.

7. In the same bowl add castor sugar and mix everything. Set aside.

8. In a different bowl crack eggs and add the persimmon puree and also add rum soaked raisins.

9. Also add to this vanilla extract. Combine everything making sure everything mixes evenly.

10. Grease a ten cup pan spring pan or bundt pan. Also preheat your oven to 175 degree Celsius.

11. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients into it.

12. Also add melted butter. Also add toasted walnuts or pecans.

13. Combine everything using a spatula till everything is moistened. But do not overmix.

14. Transfer it to a greased pan and even out from the top by tapping the pan.

15. Bake in preheated oven between 40 minutes to 1 hour or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from Oven and let it cool completely. Invert the cake into a serving plate.

Slice it like that only or you can top it with Cream Cheese Icing.

You can even try Persimmon Sorghum Cup Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Pumpkin Cake Rolls and Spiced Raisin Cake.

[whohit]PersimmonCake[/whohit]

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Baking

Pumpkin Cake Rolls | Halloween Special Pumpkin Rolls

By anshu October 8, 2014

Honestly, my love for Pumpkin was never sudden. Infact I always considered pumpkin as a vegetable to make Indian cuisines or my Grandmother’s delicious Kaddu ka Halwa . Until Mexico happened and that is were I discovered that pumpkin is more than we think it to be. My respect for pumpkin grew overnight as I started experimenting with Pumpkin Puree. I learnt to make this Puree at home which made it a ready to make ingredient which can be used to make Pumpkin Rolls, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Bread and much much more.

In the west Pumpkins are symbolic to Halloween, a famous festival to remember saints, martyrs and all departed souls. Pumpkin is used to make feasts and even used for carving. The warmth of Pumpkin Puree along with spices makes the winter cozy and comfortable. So how are you celebrating your halloween. Treat or Trick? 😉

Directions:

1. Line a Large rectangular baking tray with Parchment Paper and brush it with Vegetable Oil . Set aside. Pre heat the Oven to 375 Degree Fahrenheit. Learn more about Oven Temperatures and Conversions.

2. Sift All Purpose Flour, Salt, Baking Powder and Pumpkin Pie Spice (Learn to make homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice) using a sifter, so that the flour becomes lump free.

3. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and sugar so that the mixture becomes thick and pale in colour.

4. Add in Pumpkin Puree and Vanilla essence together to the egg mixture and combine together. You can make Pumpkin Puree at home or you can use canned pumpkin puree.

5. Add the sifted flour mixture to it and combine to get an even batter. Do not over mix.

6. Spread the batter on the baking sheet lined with Baking Sheet. I have used Oddy Uniwraps Parchment Paper, because it makes baking a breeze. It ensures the cake bakes perfectly without sticking to the paper or tray and makes cleaning hassle free.You can use spatula to evenly spread the batter.

7. Bake it in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the cake has cooked thoroughly.Let it cool for 5-7 minutes.

8. On your counter spread a kitchen towel and dust it with Confectioner’s Sugar generously. Remove the cake from the baking tray along with parchment paper and place on kitchen towel with parchment paper facing upwards and cake downwards. Now carefully remove the parchment paper.

9. Roll up the cake along with towel into a jelly roll starting from the shorter side. Let it cool completely for an hour or so.

10. Now for the filling you need butter and cream cheese at room temperature. Cream them together using a whisk. Add to it confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar and little vanilla essence.

11. Add zest of orange or clementine to it and mix.

12. Now unroll the cake and spread the cheese filling on top using a spatula.

13. Now roll the cake again but this time without the towel. Try not to crack the cake. But if you get cracks never mind. 🙂

14. Wrap this with the kitchen towel from top and let it set in refrigerator for couple of hours. You can even do it over night.

15. After refrigeration for several hours unwrap the cake roll on a tray .

16. Cut it diagonally into half from the center.

17. Keep slicing it on an angle into smaller pieces.

18. Serve with your favourite cup of Coffee or simply like that.

Other things you can try with Pumpkin are: Pumpkin ka Halwa, Pumpkin Puree Buns.

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[whohit]PumpkinRolls[/whohit]

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Baking

Spiced Raisin Coffee Cake | Raisin Cake with Walnut Streusel Topping

By anshu November 15, 2013

I always say baking is so therapeutic . I love to bake whenever I am low or I am happy or I have nothing else to do. I always wanted to learn baking but there was no one in my family who had prior experience in baking. So I started searching internet and after a lot of hit and trials I can say I can bake a perfect cake once in a while 😛 Sharing this recipe of Spiced Raisin Coffee Cake with you which surprisingly came out so well.

Update: Last I had made this Spiced Raisin Coffee cake when I had just started blogging. I hadn’t posted step by step pictures of the recipe but since then the taste of the cake and this thought had been haunting me. Yesterday when I had some family people visiting us I took the opportunity to bake this for dessert. It certainly was loved. The flavour of Pumpkin Pie Spice, lemon zest and vanilla made everything very aromatic and divine. The texture of the cake was absolutely gorgeous and the credit goes to inclusion of organic eggs from Eggee. They are the best quality eggs I have come across. If you like in Delhi, NCR get yourself a pack and try them out!

Directions :

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, (Know more about Oven Temperature and Conversions) grease a 8 inches Springform with non stick cooking spray. You can buy this spring foam pan from our online store The Gourmet Shop.

2. In a large bowl, add All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder and Pumpkin Pie Spice. You can make your own pumpkin pie spice. Get the recipe here. Mix everything and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix raisins with about ½ cup of the dry ingredients and toss well until all the raisins are covered in the flour mixture, set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for about 1 minute.

5. Whisk in eggs, vanilla and lemon zest

6.Add milk and buttermilk and mix everything until it’s a nice smooth batter. You can make Buttermilk at home. Just follow this simple recipe.

7. Add the dry ingredients and mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened but not over mixed.

8. Fold the raisins mixture in the batter, pour batter into the prepared pan making sure to smoothen out the top.

9.In a small bowl, mix add castor sugar and brown sugar. Add chopped walnut and cinnamon powder .

10. Also add cold butter cubes and mix it with your fingers or a fork until its has sand like texture.

11. Spread it evenly over the cake and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

12.Let cool for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Other Naked Coffee Cakes you can try are: Eggless Black Grape Cake with Strawberry Jam Glaze, Festive Orange Blueberry Pound Cake , Peach Upside Down Cake, Vanilla & Pomegranate Cake, Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake , Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze ,Chocolate Vanilla Marble Cake, Eggless Orange Cake with Candied Orange Peel Filling , Surprise Heart Inside Cake, Eggless Almond Vanilla Cake.

Spiced Raisin Coffee Cake

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