The little one is staying home today because of a fever and that means, I have to endlessly search for means to keep her entertained. A cake seemed like a good idea...she was involved in measuring out the ingredients and stirring them for me. And then, while it baked, she stood guard next to the microwave, telling me every few minutes that it was ready.
The original recipe is from here. I tweaked it a little to use up some of the stuff that's been in my fridge for a while.
As far as ingredients go, I had all the stuff on hand. So, some dates and candied fruit were soaked in hot milk and then ground. An egg that threatened to hatch into a chick if I didn't use it up soon went into the mixture. A dash of cinnamon, some oil, sugar and maida later, into the oven the cake went. What came out is the softest, darkest, and undoubtedly the best cake I've ever made.
What you need:
Maida/All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Dates+candied fruit - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Egg -1
Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Cashew nut - a few
Soak the dates and candied fruit in hot milk for 30-40 minutes. Grind to a smooth paste along with sugar and the egg. Transfer this to a mixing bowl. Add oil. Stir well. Mix in the flour, little by little, stirring well. Add cinnamon....inhale its heady smell.....throw in some cashews....mix well.
Transfer this to a greased microwave safe cake pan. I used a loaf pan, as I wanted to cut these into tea cakes. Bake in convection mode at 175 degree celsius for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
This goes to Valli's MEC which is being hosted by PJ MEC-Favourites and to Valli's 365 days of microwave cooking.
Edited to add : People who ate this cake liked it texture, but felt that it should have been sweeter. The original recipe calls for 3/4 cups of sugar, while I used only 1/2 cup. I like my cakes to be slightly less sweet....but if you want yours sweet, please do use more sugar.
