Banana Dates Cake

Its been a longtime since I baked any cake with banana. So today making this banana cake with a variation of adding dates...As usual dates were able to provide the sweetness..but the dates flavour was slightly overridden by banana flavour.. The smell of banana cake is heavenly...Walnuts goes very well with banana cakes... So here I am presenting my banana-dates cake which undoubtedly can be baked again for any occasion...

INGREDIENTS:
MAKES ABOUT: 8 pieces
1 big Over-ripe mashed Banana (1/2 cup after mashing)
10-12 Dates (soak in warm milk for 15 minutes and grind to smooth paste)
1/2 cup Milk (Use to grind dates)
3 tablespoons Curd
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup Wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda

2 tablespoons Walnuts (chopped)

PROCEDURE:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F for 10 mins.
2. Dry ingredients mixture:
Sieve together flours, baking powder, and soda.
3. Wet ingredients mixture:
Mash the bananas; Add dates paste, curd, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Beat well till everything is mixed.
4. Pour dry ingredients mixture slowly to wet ingredients mixture and give it a mix.
5. Grease a baking loaf pan with oil and line it with parchment paper. Spread the chopped walnuts. Pour the prepared batter in the pan. Tap the pan gently once or twice to remove any big air bubbles.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let it cool down for 10 minutes and then invert the cake over an wire rack.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake

I always wondered why people add lot more sweet to vegetables; pull out all the natural flavour to make it a sweet dish.. for example zucchini cake.. I haven't got the mood to try it yet..Then I came across this recipe.. Sweet potatoes are sweeter side.. So this should be good to try... The cake came out good and tastes good too... but was a little lesser on the sweeter side... I don't remember any sweet potato flavour in the cake..It was just a variation to the chocolate cake...

INGREDIENTS:
Makes about: 8 pieces
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Curd
1/2 cup Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/2 cup Sweet potato (Boiled and mashed)

1 1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup Cocoa powder
2 tablespoons Corn flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt

PROCEDURE:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Dry ingredients mixture:
Sieve together flour, cocoa powder, corn flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.
3. Wet ingredients mixture:
In a bowl whisk sugar, curd, oil and mashed sweet potato together till well blended. Add Vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in batches and stir.
5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared tin and bake it for 30 minutes. A skewer inserted in the middle of the cake will come out clean.
6. Let it cool down completely before slicing.

NOTES:
1. The original recipe is here - Priya's Versatile Recipes
2. Stir in chocolate chips or chopped chocolates for more chocolaty taste.

Strawberry(Jam) Cake

I always wanted to make one pink cake, what flavor would be a better match for pink colour?!! Yes..it is strawberry. So now that I have made jam, why not using the freshness of real strawberries and make a pink cake. The natural colour of strawberries will be blanched when added with flour. So I purposely added few drops of pink colour. So here is my long awaited pink cake..

INGREDIENTS:
Makes about:8 pieces
1/2 cup Strawberry Jam
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/4 cup Oil
1/2 cup Curd

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

4 drops of pink food colour

PROCEDURE:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F for 10 mins.
2. Dry ingredients mixture:
Sieve together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
3. Wet ingredients mixture:
Mix well Strawberry jam,curd,oil, and sugar.
4. Pour dry ingredients mixture slowly to wet ingredients mixture and give
it a mix.
5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared tin and bake it for 40 minutes. A skewer inserted in the middle of the cake will come out clean.6. Let it cool down completely before slicing.

NOTE:
1. The natural strawberries could not give much flavour to the cake.. Add the artificial essence to enhance the flavour.

Strawberry Jam

I had loads of strawberries this time in the refrigerator. They will get spoiled soon if kept for long. So got the idea of making jam which kids would like to eat with idli, dosa and chapatis.. Yeah.. It came out too good, even guests to our house liked it when served with dosas.. The bright pinkish red colour is eye catching.. And taste is yummy too...So simple to make, when you make up your mind to stand in front of stove for about half an hour..

INGREDIENTS:
Makes about:25oz
4 cups Strawberry juice (grind using mixer)
2 cups Sugar
1 tablespoon Lemon juice

PROCEDURE:
1. Using a mixer, grind strawberries into fine paste without adding water until you have 4 cups.
2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Lower heat to medium, bring to boil, stirring often, until the mixture starts thickening..for about 30 minutes..
4. Refrigerate next day and use upto 3 months.

Wheat flour Laddos

What would be an easier dessert for me to make for the guests who are going to visit for dinner today?! Think !!! moong daal laddoo.. Yes.. it is definitely delicious and quick.. But I have already made it several time.. This time I want something easy but different... My friend T had told me wheat flour laddoos taste good... I just rolled my eyes and started thinking...The traditional sweet which my mom, aunts make "Gulpate/ Gul pavate" is a sweet dish made with wheat flour.. So definitely wheat flour should taste good with sugar and ghee...

The results were amazing... these laddoos are no way less tastier than moong daal ones... Cheers!! Added to favourites ;)

INGREDIENTS:
Makes about:15
1 cup Wheat flour
1/2 cup Sugar (heaped)
1/2 cup Ghee
4 Cardamom
12 Cashews
Few Raisins

PROCEDURE:
1. Dry roast the wheat flour in medium flame until it turns golden brown in colour. Ensure to fry well, to avoid raw taste and flavour. Turn off the heat and let it cool down
2. Finely powder sugar in the mixer along with cardamom.
3. Melt the ghee in the same pan and fry the cashews broken into tiny pieces. I like adding few raisins as well.
4. In a mixing bowl, take the flour, powdered items and pour the melted ghee with cashews to it. Mix well with a spatula.
5. If its hot, let it wait until you are able to handle the heat and start making laddos. Grease your hands, make equal sized balls.

NOTES:
1. The original recipe is here. - Rakskitchen