Tag Archives: eggless cake

Easy Ladle Cup Cake – No Eggs/No Butter

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ladle cup cake (eggless)


  

Necessity is the mother of inventions… Any gender bias here?? But that doesn’t matter – as inventions in Indian kitchens can be attributed to mothers – mostly. So, when the urge to create something quick to be consumed quick, without left overs to cling on to the waist or bulging tummy -this ladle cake came up.

It’s certainly not my invention, it’s just a discovery and learning from various other bloggers who have done easy microwave mug cakes and brownies. I’ve followed their expertise with the slightest changes according to my needs and my family’s. As I don’t believe in microwave cooking, I opted for oven baking, to make just 6 quick cup cakes with minimum work load, no eggs and no butter too. As usual all my cakes are whole wheat cakes and this one too is.

Why I call this Ladle Cake is that the measurement used here for the basic ingredients is a ladle. Quick, easy, minimal effort and no left overs is a boon for those days of unsustainable sweet craving.
  

Ladle Cup Cake (whole wheat, eggless, butterless)

the ladle I used

  


  

Ingredients (makes 6-7 cup cakes or a small cake))

  • whole wheat flour – 3 ladles
  • Sugar (I used unrefined cane sugar) – 2 ladles
  • Olive oil – 1 1/2 ladles
  • Thick yogurt – 1 1/2 ladles
  • Cocoa powder – 1 ladle
  • Baking powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Baking soda – 1/4 tsp
  • Water – enough to make right consistency of the batter – 3 ladles appr.
  • Choco chip – 2 tsp (optional)

  
Method of Preparation


  

  1. In a bowl, start by mixing sugar and yoghurt
  2. Mix olive oil to sugar and yoghurt
  3. Mix 2 ladles of wheat flour little by little

  

  

4. Add little water to make the batter thinner to accommodate the other ladle of flour
5. To the other one ladle of flour, add baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder- and mix to the batter
6. Add more water to bring batter to consistency
  


 

  

7. Mix the chocolate chip at the end if using. Choco chips give a moisturous texture to the cake.
8. Pour batter into greased cup cake moulds or non-greased cup cake paper moulds.
9. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 15-20 minutes, till a tooth pick comes out clean.
10.Sprinkle powdered sugar and enjoy.
  


  

Or enjoy with chocolate ganache.
  

Eggless Whole Wheat (No Butter) Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Carrot Cake is something special for various reasons-  it is a healthy one as it has carrots and has a distinct spicy flavor with cinnamon and nutmeg. I remember baking carrot cake once or twice when I was young, when I didn’t know it was a winter cake. I also firmly believe climate and craving can be diagonally opposite to each other.

Now, how can I bring in winter/snow to Chennai to bake my carrot cake… then I would never have tried this wonderful cake. Remember, I come from Tamilnadu,a state where thaathas (grandpas) and aachis (grandmas) use their mufflers and pull overs for their early morning walks or temple walks, only in Maargazhi Maatham (the tamil month of Maargazhi) – mid December to mid January, when the early morning temp. would be just below 20 degrees.

This report a couple of years might summarise the actual climatic condition of Chennai, Tamilnadu –

 

A report recently released by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, said the actual minimum temperatures fall below 20 degrees Celsius during January and February. At times, the actual minimum temperatures varies 2 to 4 degrees Celsius below normal values. Records of the past 25 years show there is a gradual rise in minimum temperatures over Chennai ranging between 17 and 20 degrees Celsius.

The Met office recorded the lowest temperature in the last 28 years on January 27, 1982 (15.6 degrees Celsius), followed by 16.2 degrees Celsius on February 3, 1982. In 2010, the minimum temperature range went up to 17.5-23.4 degrees Celsius, with a monthly mean temperature of 21.2 degrees Celsius. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-19/chennai/28356276_1_lowest-temperature-degrees-celsius

 

This is what winter means to us the Tamils! For more on our seasons – see dosaikal.com/thai-pongal-the-harvest-festival/.

Now, with global warming there is a decrease in temperature levels – where aachi has to stay with her sweater for the whole night. Now, Phnom Penh –
‘Citizens Warned to Wrap Up Against Cold Snap’

read the headlines of Cambodia Daily.

 

While the ministry’s website put temperatures in Phnom Penh at 21 degrees last night, Oum Ryna, director of the ministry’s meteorology department, said in some areas of the country temperatures could drop as low as 14. degrees.  http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/citizens-warned-to-wrap-up-against-cold-snap-48739/

 

So, Carrot Cake justified!!
The FLOP STORY and The JOY OF SUCCESS

 

too watery… not good

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When I tried as usual to make this cake a 100% whole wheat, eggless, butterless cake, it was a heart breaking flop consecutively 4 times. My desperation has no words to express that I even tried baking twice a day the same cake (of-course wasting nearly 200 gms of flour and other things twice in the same day . Thanks to my better half who never mentioned a word on wastage!). And that I tried converting the flop carrot cake into carrot cookies is another story.

The cake looked great from the outside – but was pudding like in the inside. Tried with crushed pineapple and once without the pineapple. One thing became sure – the cake was becoming too moist with yoghurt as substitute to eggs. Mixing all the wet ingredients – oil and yoghurt to sugar as first stage was making the mix more watery. So, adding pineapple created more problems.

Then I came across a few recipes – some vegan, some with all purpose flour and a few egg-less but with butter. A very few had a difference – where the dry ingredients were taken first and then the wet ingredients were added one by one to be immediately spooned into the cake tray and baked in the oven. By this the batter remained intact and didn’t let sugar and yoghurt and oil to become watery. I decided to give this a last try. Hurray!! This method worked well and my long awaited Carrot Cake was delivered in great shape!

Because of the continuous flops, I went in for a smaller cup size.
100% Whole Wheat Egg-less (No Butter) Carrot Cake

 

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Ingredients

dry ingredients

  • whole wheat flour – 1 heaped cup – 125 gms
  • brown cane sugar – 3/4 cup – 100gms
  • salt – a pinch
  • cinnamon powder – 3/4 tsp
  • nutmeg powder – 1/2 tsp
  • baking powder – 1 tsp – 4 gms
  • baking soda – 1 tsp – 4 gms
  • chopped walnuts – 1/4 – 1/2 cup

wet ingredients

  • grated carrots – 1 cup – 125 gms
  • refined oil – 1/2 cup – 75 ml
  • thick curds – 1/2 cup – 100 gms
  • grated ginger – 1/2 tsp
  • vanilla essence – 1 tsp

 

Method of Preparation

  1. Preheat oven at 175 degrees Celsius
  2. Grease a baking tray or place greased baking sheet, ready for the batter to be spooned in
  3. In a large bowl, take all the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, baking powder and baking soda one by one except chopped walnuts
  4. Start adding the wet ingredients one by one  – carrots and ginger first
  5. Next, add oil and last thick curds/yoghurt and mix well
  6. Incorporate well as the baking powder and baking soda with the flour should dissolve completely, yet make it quick as the yoghurt and sugar doesn’t make the batter watery
  7. Fold in the chopped walnuts
  8. Spoon the batter into the baking tray
  9. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or till a tooth pick comes out clean.

 

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Carrot Cakes look great with Cream Cheese Frosting – as a family we would prefer a plain carrot cake and avoid the sweet frosting. Still for the great experience of making a frosting and my latest culinary interest – please do bear with me.. my dear friends!
Cream Cheese Frosting

 

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Ingredients (Less quantity for the above small cake – I had some left over frosting too)

  • cream cheese (I used Philadelphia cream cheese) – 115 gms
  • unsalted butter – 60 gms
  • icing sugar or confectioners sugar – 110 gms
  • vanilla essence – 3/4 tsp
  • chopped almonds for topping

Method of Preparation

  1. Keep the cream cheese and butter out of refrigerator and bring to room temperature
  2. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth
  3. Add vanilla essence
  4. Spoon in sugar and mix well till a spreadable texture is achieved
  5. Amount of sugar can be altered to individual preference – (this was a bit too sweet for us)
  6. Spread on the cake with a blunt knife or spatula
  7. Arrange chopped almonds or any other nuts of your choice or decorate as you wish.

Egg-less Whole Wheat Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is ready!

(100% Whole Wheat, Condensed Milk) Eggless Choco Walnut Cake with (trial attempted) Dark Chocolate Ganache

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I have already posted a basic eggless chocolate cake previously with yoghurt (dosaikal.com/eggless-chocolate-cake/). This one is also 100% whole wheat, no butter and no eggs – but with condensed milk for a richer, more moist texture.  I wouldn’t term it as a very healthy cake – this time I give it up for a little indulgence. Of course, helps my daughter not to be tempted to the best bakery in town for white flour buttery chocolate cake.

Except for a few alien souls on this earth, most of us would relish chocolate cakes or even more chocolate frosted/iced cakes and pastries. With home made vanilla, banana, carrot or chocolate cakes – such cakes from the baker have not been really a hit at home these days – thanks to my little one’s magnanimity accepting my version of cakes! Now, what next when you go to a coffee shop for a break for Ice Chocolade,  the choice is from donuts, croissants or choco frosted cakes or pastries. Donuts are a big NO and Croissants are once in a while alright – but with Choco Frosted Cakes – I am lost myself!! Then, the little one has the best company of the mother and we indulge together – then the guilt is only mine. The little one’s inbuilt innocent mechanism digests it so well!

 

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That’s what happened last week – A break with Ice Chocolade and Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache! Then, I promised her I shall try at home. I strongly believe icing is for those ‘yogic souls’ with great concentration. Icing is not my cup of tea or my piece of cake – though the piece of whole wheat cake is mine. But melting chocolate blocks and pouring on top of a cake is easier, the only problem being the finishing touch of perfection. I have tried more than a couple of times with melted chocolate topping on my cakes – tasted wonderful but not good with its looks.

Well, to achieve something you need to sacrifice something is a common phrase in Indian films and soaps since decades and no doubt that can be one of the heaviest truths of life too! So, I chose to achieve the goodness of chocolate icing not bothering about the looks of the finished product. I have also vowed to learn frosting swirls for my cup cakes. The warning signal has already been passed over to the ‘Tasting Duo of my Home’ – Father and Daughter Combo!

First the Cake.
EGGLESS CHOCO WALNUT CAKE (100% whole wheat, no butter) WITH CONDENSED MILK

 

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Thanks to these websites from which I could get an idea of the quantity of condensed milk – but I have altered the ingredients to make the cake with whole wheat – butterless and less sweeter too-

http://www.thatslife.com.au/Article/Food/Reader-Recipes/Condensed-Milk-Chocolate-Cake

http://www.love2cook-malaysia.com/2012/03/eggless-condensed-milk-chocolate-cake.html

 

Ingredients

  • whole wheat flour – 1 cup – 150 gms
  • cocoa powder – 3 heaped tbsp – 50 gms
  • baking powder – 1 tsp – 4gms
  • baking soda – 1 tsp – 4 gms
  • hot milk (diluted if full cream)  – 1/4 cup – 50 ml
  • refined oil (sunflower oil) – 1/2 cup – 75 – 80gms
  • condensed milk – 1/2 cup – 150 gms
  • chopped walnuts – 1/4 cup – 30 gms
  • vanilla essence – 1 tsp
  • extra warm milk – 1/4 cup – 50 ml (only to be used if batter is too thick)

 

the dry ingredients

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Method of Preparation

  1. Preheat oven at 175 degrees C and grease a round baking tray or place greased parchment paper in the dish as you wish
  2. Mix the chopped walnuts in very little flour so that the nuts do not settle in the bottom of the cake; Keep aside
  3. Combine whole wheat flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and keep aside
  4. Combine condensed milk, oil and vanilla essence in a wide bowl
  5. Mix baking soda and hot milk and it would become frothy, add this to the wet contents
  6. Fold in the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into the wet batter
  7. If the batter is too thick, add the extra milk that is kept;  the batter need not be pourable consistency – it is right if it is a spoonable consistency
  8. Mix the floured walnuts to the cake batter
  9. Spoon the batter into the cake tray/dish
  10. Bake for 30-40 minutes (mine took even more) depending upon the oven, till a tooth pick comes out clean

 

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For the Ganache –

Now, what I learnt about Ganache –

 

Ganache is a French term referring to a smooth and velvety mixture of chocolate and cream. Its origin is a little unclear, but it is believed to have been invented around 1850. Some say it originated in Switzerland where it was used as a base for truffles. Others say it was invented in Paris at the Patisserie Siravdin.

To make Ganache, hot cream (cream with a 35-40% butterfat content) is poured over chopped semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, and the mixture is stirred until smooth. The proportions of chocolate to cream can vary depending on its use, but the basic form is equal weights of chocolate and cream. Dark, milk, or white chocolate can be used to make ganache and different flavorings can be added such as liqueurs and extracts. Butter, oil, or corn syrup can also be added when a dark shiny glaze is desired. http://www.joyofbaking.com/ganache.html

 

I went in search for the basic dark chocolate ganache recipe with butter and framed these two..

http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/08/simply-glorious-chocolate-ganache-recipe-3-ways/ and

http://www.chow.com/recipes/28649-basic-chocolate-ganache

and chose to stick to the second but learnt from the pictures of the first!

I took the 1:1 ratio for chocolate and cream and added butter for the extra shine and glaze of the icing.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE

 

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Ingredients

  • Chocolate Bar (used 52% cocoa which is not bitter) – 200 gms
  • whipping cream – 200 gms (mine was 30% milk fat)
  • unsalted butter – 100 gms

Method of Preparation

  1. If your chocolate bar is in the freezer as mine, place it outside and bring it to normal temperature or atleast less cold to cut into small pieces and keep in a heat proof dish
  2. Bring the butter to room temperature
  3. Heat the cream in medium stove position and bring to boil
  4. Pour the cream over the chocolate pieces and let it melt – this might take 5 minutes
  5. Stir well so that the pieces are completely melted
  6. Mix the butter to choco-cream mixture
  7. Chocolate Ganache is ready to be poured and spread on the cake.

cut chocolate and pour hot cream into it

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add butter and the ganache is ready to be poured

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NOTE:

  1. This quantity of ingredients for ganache gives about 3 to 4 cups of pourable consistency.
  2. It took less than half for the above chocolate cake.
  3. The rest that I have stored – can be stored for months.
  4. I plan to make choco-swirl icing or choco truffles too!  I might try the swirls on a choco-chip vanilla cup cake!!

 

thickened ganache in fridge

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Now, I forgot to take a picture when the ganache was ready on the cake. Then, I started thinking of ways to decorate it – which as I said earlier – not my cup of tea still. I decided on chocolate curls and tried but turned out to be grated chocolate!

So, I spread the grated chocolate on top of the ganache… not really pleasing- but truly tasted good.

 

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Then I thought again of any other means of making my daughter happy –

I had already kept the ganache in the fridge and it was set well. I took it out and spread it on the cake pieces and ended it like this!!

 

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with sprinkles

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Believe me, the taste of Ganache was truly awesome.. just like the ones in those glass doored -wi-fied  pastry shops!!

100% Whole Wheat Banana Cake (Butterless, Eggless)

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100% whole wheat cake
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A long line of festivities and longer line of sweets and snacks have been in display at homes. Why not start a CAKE SERIES… while Santa is on his way!

I have always wanted to increase the list of cakes in dosaikal. The main reason is not simply a passion to bake – but to bake HEALTHY as much as possible. So, how about having a favorite snack without the guilt of adding more empty calories?!

And especially for those little ones who are always tempted towards donuts, pastries, french fries and many more in the same category of junk with white flour – why not let them have their share with fewer restrictions – with these cakes made of 100% whole wheat, without butter and mostly without eggs too!

 

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And for adults too – these butterless delicacies can certainly help reduce those extra calories! So, don’t control your cravings.. just indulge!!

The recipes have reached this stage after a series of trial and error experimentation and I have also tried to follow a few recipes from fellow bloggers and converted the butter, egg and flour into oil, yoghurt and wheat as the previous cake recipes.

Let’s start with Whole Wheat Banana Cake, adapted from the recipe of one of my friends. The cake she had made was made to ‘Bakery Perfection’, with the flavor and aroma of banana. For me, after a few flops, this combination of ingredients turned out to be good and almost perfect for an experimentation.
100% Whole Wheat Banana Cake (Butterless and Eggless)

 

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Due to continuous flops, I preferred to experiment with a very small cup measurement. The cup I chose was a small bowl which measures 75gms of wheat flour, equivalent to a small tea-cup.  The proportions of flour, sugar and oil can be done with any cup measurement, but calculating the quantity of baking powder and baking soda might be difficult with cup measurements. Hence, the weight in grams is also given for perfect ratios.
Ingredients

  • whole wheat flour/gothumai maavu/atta – 2  cups/150 gms
  • brown cane sugar – 1 cup/100 gms
  • refined oil (I always use sunflower oil) – 3/4 cup/75 gms
  • yoghurt – 1 cup levelled – appr. 80-90 gms
  • well ripen bananas – 4 no.s small – 1 cup/125 gms when mashed
  • baking powder – 1 tsp/4 gms
  • baking soda – 1 tsp/4 gms
  • hot milk – 1/2 cup
  • banana essence – 1 tsp (can also use vanilla essence)

 

had a lovely brown colour in the bottom – thanks to the gas oven

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Method of Preparation
Keeping things ready

  1. Preheat oven at 170 degrees C or if gas oven keep the knob at 4
  2. Grease the required cake tin
  3. Sift wheat flour and baking powder and keep aside
  4. Mash the bananas with spoon (original recipe); I blended in a blender

Preparing the Batter

  1. In a wide bowl, mix oil, sugar and yoghurt
  2. Then, add banana essence and mashed bananas and mix well
  3. Dissolve baking soda in hot milk – this will form into a foamy white mixture and add this to the above batter
  4. Fold in the sieved flour-baking powder
  5. Spoon the batter in the cake tin. Smooth top with a spatula
  6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, depending upon the oven – till skewer comes out clean. A bigger cake would need more time.

 

and the upper crust soft and lighter in colour

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