Chocolate Yogurt Cake

*Adapted from Fauzia's Kitchen 

Pre-heat your oven at 175 C and grease/line an 8" round pan.

TIPS:
• Make sure everything is at room temperature when you start.
• Sift the flour with the self raising flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda two or three times just to aerate it, makes the cake very light and fluffy.
• If the yoghurt you are using is too watery, you can thicken it by pouring it into a cheesecloth/muslin cloth, and tie it in such a way that it can hang for a while, all the excess water will drain out and you will be left with a lovely thick yoghurt.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar, grinded to a powder (200gm)
½ cup butter or margarine (112gm)
1 cup all-purpose/plain flour (120gm)
½ cup self-rising flour (60gm) ( or 1/2 cup flour+3/4 spoon baking powder and a pinch salt)
½ cup cocoa powder (60gm)
1 cup heavy thick yoghurt (200ml)
½ cup milk (100ml)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 ½  tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt ( if using salted butter skip it, I skipped)

Instructions

1. Add the grinded sugar to the butter/margarine, and cream together until light and fluffy. Don't rush past this stage, it is the one that will determine the texture of your final results, so do it for at least 7-10 minutes. I use grinder for it mostly

2. Now add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla essence. Add the yoghurt and milk and beat well, then remove the mixer/machine and take a wooden spoon to do rest of steps.

3.  Add in the flour ingredients in two or three additions, folding it in after each addition. Do not over mix, just fold until everything is well incorporated. Pour into your pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave the cake in the pan for about 5 minutes, then turn it over on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the ganache, I didn't want it too thick because I wanted some of it to be absorbed into the cake.

Ingredients

½ cup whipping cream (100ml)
150 gm. dark cooking chocolate, chopped and at room temperature ( I used normal dark chocolate+ milk chocolate in market)

Instructions

Heat the cream until it almost starts to boil around the edges. Remove from the heat and add in the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth.

Slice the cake in half, add half of the ganache to the center place the second half of the cake and pour the rest over the top, letting it drip down the sides. Garnish if you want with nuts or chocolate flakes. I used some strawberry and almond flakes on top.

Marble Cake

*  2 cups all-purpose flour
    * 2 teaspoons baking powder
    * 1/2 teaspoon salt
    * 1 cup white sugar ( I used 1 cup granulated sugar and then grinded it)
    * 1/2 cup butter, softened
    * 2 eggs
    * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    * 1 cup milk
    * 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Grease and line an 8" round pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

2. Beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Now add a third of the flour and beat until combined, then add half the milk. Again beat the batter until milk is mixed in. Add another third of the flour, mix it in, and then add the remaining milk. Finally add the last of the flour and the vanilla essence. Beat just until everything is well combined.

4. Stir cocoa into the 3/4 cup reserved batter and mix well

5. Pour the vanilla batter into prepared pan then pour the chocolate batter on top of it. Using a knife, swirl everything together to create a marble effect. 

 6. Bake in a regular preheated oven at 180 C for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Remove from pan and let it cool completely before icing and slicing.

I decorated with powdered sugar but once can frost with butter cream frosting too. 

Zebra Cake

INGREDIENTS
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (8 oz / 250 g) granulated sugar ( I added bit more)
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) milk, at room temperature
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) oil (corn, vegetable or canola is fine)
2 cups (10 oz / 300 g) all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 tablespoon (equals 3 teaspoons) baking powder (if not available, substitute with 1 teaspoon baking soda)
2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder (make sure it is not very bitter) such as Dutch-processed ( Dark zebra patterns won’t stand out with light cocoa powder)

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Using a hand-held electric mixer or wire whisk beat until the mixture is creamy and light in color

2. Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.

3. In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour, vanilla powder and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.  (DO NOT OVERBEAT to prevent air pockets from forming in the batter.

This is the consistency of the batter: neither very thick not too loose. If the mixture is too thin, add a little more flour.

4. Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cocoa powder into another and mix well.

5. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

6. Lightly grease the pan with oil. If you don’t have non-stick baking pan, grease whatever pan you have then line it with parchment paper (baking paper).

7. The most important part is assembling the cake batter in a baking pan. This is what you do. Scoop 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter (you can also use a ladle that would hold 3 tablespoons) into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter. IMPORTANT! Do not stop and wait until the previous batter spreads - KEEP GOING! Do not spread the batter or tilt the pan to distribute the mixture. It will spread by itself and fill the pan gradually. Continue alternating the batters until you finish them. The pictures below will guide you through.
his is how the cake will look before it goes in the oven.

8. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Do not open the oven door at least the first 20 minutes or the cake will shrink and will not rise. To check if the cake is ready, insert a toothpick into the center. It should come out clean when ready. Remove from the oven. Immediately run a small thin knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert the cake onto a cooking rack. Turn the cake back over and let cool. You can sprinkle the top of the cake with some powdered (confectioner’s) sugar or leave it plain.

I coated it with chocolate ganache recipe from here

And some strawberry and white chocolate drops ( Using piping bag is better for this as my experiment was messy)

Cappuccino Bundt Cake

* Adapted from Fauzia's Kitchen

Tip: Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature for best results

Ingredients

1 ½  cups self-rising flour (or 1 and 1/2 cup flour and 1 1/2 + 2 pinches spoon baking powder) after measuring this out, remove 2 tbsp. of flour and put it back in the flour bag. Replace it with 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder to bring it back to the original measurement) 180gm
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tbsp. instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tbsp. hot water
2 large eggs (use 3 if you have small eggs)
½ cup milk (100ml)
1 cup sugar (150gm)
½ cup butter/margarine (112gm)

Instructions

Grind the sugar to a powder and set aside.

Sift the flour with the cocoa twice and set aside.

Grease and line an 8" round pan or grease a medium bunt cake pan and set aside. What I do is mix equal part of oil, flour and shortening ( or butter) and then grease and then dusted with cocoa ( or flour if white cake)

Preheat oven to 170 C.

Beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Now add a third of the flour and beat until combined, then add half the milk. Again beat the batter until milk is mixed in. Add another third of the flour, mix it in, and then add the remaining milk. Finally add the last of the flour, coffee and the vanilla essence. Beat just until everything is well combined.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Remove from pan and let it cool completely before frosting.

Tip:  For an extra intense coffee flavor, once the cake has cooled, poke holes into it with a toothpick, then mix another 1 tsp. of instant coffee with 1 tbsp. hot water or hot milk, and using a brush, drizzle this coffee into the cake.

I made white icing by mixing sugar and milk and butter but I feel white chocolate frosting is better

For the white chocolate frosting one uses:

Ingredients

115 gm. white chocolate, broken into pieces
55gm butter, softened
3 tbsp. milk
175gm icing sugar

Instructions

Place chocolate, butter and milk in a bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water and stir until chocolate has melted. Remove the bowl and sift the icing sugar into it, beat until smooth and creamy. Then quickly spread over the cake and dust the top with cocoa powder. Let it set before cutting.

ENJOY! :)

Chocalate Banana Muffins

Influenced by Nigella's recipe 

Ingredients 

3 very ripe or overripe bananas

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

 1/2  cup soft light brown sugar ( I think I used 1 cup since I prefer sweeter) 

1 1/2 cup  plain flour

3 tablespoons best-quality cocoa powder (sifted)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line muffin tins with papers. 

2. Mash the bananas by hand or with a freestanding mixer. Still beating and mashing, add the oil followed by the eggs and sugar.

3. Mix the flour, cocoa powder and bicarb together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared papers.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded and peeking proudly out of their cases. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.

P.S. This recipe was my first in the new convention oven and came awesome so I loved it :D

Date Walnut Cake

Inspired by Fauzia's Kitchen

Ingredients

1 cup self-rising flour (120gm) or For every cup of plain flour, add 1 and a half tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Sieve together and use. ( I used plain)

½ cup all-purpose/plain flour (60gm)

150 gm. chopped dates (de-seeded then weighed) (three-quarter cup)

1 cup of very hot water or milk (200ml) ( I used milk)

1 ½  tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla essence

2 tbsp. soft unsalted butter (30gm)

1 egg, lightly beaten

¼ cup sugar (50gm) ( I used 1 cup as I prefer sweet)

¼ cup crushed nuts (optional) ( I used walnuts) 

Instructions

1. Put the chopped dates in a bowl, sprinkle the baking soda then add the cup of boiling water. Mix together, then cover and set aside for about 15-20 minutes until the mixture thickens and cools.

2.Grease a loaf pan/  and line with baking paper. You can also use an 8" round pan ( I used cake pan)

3.Sieve the two flours together, then add the nuts into them if you are using. Toss together so that the nuts are well coated with flour.

4.Mix the sugar and butter until creamy (you can use a machine or by hand), then add the egg and mix until the egg is well combined. Add the vanilla and beat for a few more minutes. Now add the dates mixture and stir using a spatula or wooden spoon. Add the flours with the nuts, and fold into the mixture until well-combined.

5.Pour into the prepared pan, and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Lemon Orange Cake

185g (3/4 cup) butter, softened (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon fine table salt with the butter)

190g  caster sugar ( I used 1 cup granulated sugar and then refined it) 

3 large eggs at room temperature 

1 teaspoon finely grated zest (lemon and/or orange)

185g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour ( or 1 1/4 cup flour and about 1 1/2 and pich of baking powder) 

4 tablespoons (80ml) citrus juice (we use 2 tablespoons orange juice and 2 tablespoons lemon juice)

Citrus Icing

150g (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon) icing sugar

30ml (1 1/2 tablespoons) citrus juice (either lemon or orange or a mixture of both)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (150 degrees Celsius). 

2.Grease the side and base of a 8'' round cake pan. I used heart shaped but  springform pan for easy removal of the cake can be used. If so, line base and side of the pan with non-stick baking paper. 

3.Using an electric mixer or electric hand-held beaters, beat butter and sugar until very pale and creamy. This could take a bit long. Some say 20 minutes but depends.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a few minutes after each addition. Don't rush the addition of the eggs as the mixture will be more likely to separate and develop a curdled appearance. Add the zest with the last egg. 

5. The butter, sugar, egg and zest mixture should be pale and creamy.

6. Add half the flour and stir until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour. Mix in juice.

7. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly.

8. Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until a thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed in the centre.

9. Sit pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool. When cooled, remove cake from pan and ice with citrus icing (also can turn the cake over and ice the base of the cake for a smoother finish).

* though I did ice but I think I somehow would prefer a non iced cake

Citrus Icing

Stir icing sugar and juice together in a small bowl until smooth.

Recipe Inspired© exclusivelyfood.com.au