Multigrain waffles

Waffles are my daughter's favorite weekend breakfast. She loves it topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream and honey or maple syrup.  As for me, though I like waffles, I cannot imagine starting my day with something sweet. So, though it might sound sacrilegious to most people,  I usually top my waffles up with something spicy. In the pic, I've spread some karuveppilai thokku (Curry leaves pickle) on my waffle.

What you need:
1 cup multigrain pancake/waffle flour (I used Trader Joe's Organic Waffle mix)
3/4 cup cold milk
2 tbsp. oil

Mix the ingredients to a smooth batter. Brush some oil on your waffle iron. Heat it and pour enough of the batter to cover the lower surface of the waffle iron. Close and cook. Wait for a few minutes before opening to check if the waffles are done.
Serve with toppings of your choice.

This post is the second in a series of posts on Food from the USA for the Blogging Marathon. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

Eggless donuts

There was a time when a cup of coffee and a jam filled donut from a popular Donut chain here would make my day. The love for donuts continues into the present day. However, the chain store I like does not have a presence in the city I live in. I decided to try my hand at making these at home and found, to my surprise, that these are not at all difficult to make. A little kneading and deep frying later, you will be able to produce these perfect donuts which are bound to make people think that you spent hours slaving over a hot stove.

What you need:
Oil - for deep frying

For the donuts:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Butter (melted) - 2 tbsp.
Sugar - 3 tbsp.
Salt - a pinch
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Instant yeast - 1 tsp
Warm Milk - 1/4 cup

For the chocolate glaze:
Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1 tbsp.
Heavy cream - 1/3 cup

Mix all the ingredients for the donuts into a smooth, pliable dough and let it rest in a warm place until doubled. Once doubled, punch it down and divide into three equal balls. Roll each out into a thick circle and cut into circles using a donut cutter. If you do not have a donut cutter, you can use a cookie cutter to cut out a large circle and then use a small bottle cap to cut out the center portion to make a donut hole. Keep the donuts under a moist towel to prevent them from drying out.

Heat oil in a large pan and deep fry the donuts over a medium flame until golden brown.

The donuts can be eaten with a plain sugar glaze or with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top. You can also fill it with jam/jelly to make a jelly donut. I tried glazing the donuts with chocolate ganache.
To make the ganache, boil the cream over a low flame. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Stir in butter and keep mixing until the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes smooth and shiny.
Dip the donuts into this and set on a rack with a cookie sheet or large plate under it to catch any drips. You could also add some colorful sprinkles at this stage, while the ganache is still wet.
These taste best fresh, but will stay good for a couple of days at room temperature.

This post is the first in a series of posts on Food from the USA for the Blogging Marathon. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

The best eggless whole wheat banana walnut bread

If, like me, you buy bananas every time you go to the grocery store and end up with a few over ripe ones, this is a great way to use them up. This is a fail-proof recipe that yields the perfect loaf every single time. You can use whole wheat flour, all purpose flour or a combination of the two. The bananas make the loaf naturally sweet. So you don't have to add a lot of sugar into the batter. Every time I make this, the kitchen smells wonderful and it gets over in no time at all.






















What you need:

Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups (Can be substituted with APF or a combination of APF & WWF)
Butter - 1/2 cup, melted (Can be substituted with oil)
Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Bananas - 3 (very ripe ones, mashed with a fork)
Powdered cinnamon - 1 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Chopped walnuts - 1/4 cup
Raisins - a handful (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the mashed bananas, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Gently stir in the walnuts and raisins.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and then slice using a serrated knife.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

Eggless whole wheat strawberry cake

One of our favorite activities to do together as a family is strawberry picking. We love to drive down to the farm early in the morning and pick and taste strawberries. We usually come back with more strawberries than we can eat. So for a few days it is strawberry milkshakes and various kinds of bakes using these berries. I also freeze a good amount of strawberries and use them in fall and winter, and that brings a little bit of sunshine to the otherwise cold days.

What you need:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp.
Butter -  1/2 cup, softened at room temperature
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Strawberries - 1/2 cup, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and line with parchment paper, a 9 inch cake tin. Sieve the flours, baking powder and baking soda together.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the dry ingredients, milk, vinegar
and vanilla extract. Mix well and pour into the prepared pan. Top with the chopped strawberries. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the strawberries. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

Whole wheat cranberry tea cake

Fall is one of the most spectacularly beautiful seasons where I live. Every time I see the vibrant red and yellow hues in nature, I am awed. Of course, it is a precursor to the cold, dreary winter that is to come, but while it lasts, I love the crisp, cool air and the many sights and smells of autumn. Cranberries usually make an appearance in the markets around this time and I have used dried cranberries (also known as craisins) to make an eggless tea cake. Despite using no egg and no butter, this cake has a beautiful texture and is perfect with a hot cup of coffee/tea.

What you need:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup *
Oil - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
White vinegar - 1 tbsp.
Milk - 1 cup
Dried cranberries - 1/2 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, add the oil and milk. Whisk the sugar into this. Add in flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Add vanilla extract and white vinegar. Whisk quickly. Gently mix in the cranberries. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Cool completely and use a serrated knife to cut into slices.

This is my first post for Blogging Marathon #82 under the theme Fall fruit desserts.
 Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

Black forest cake (Eggless)

When I was growing up, cakes were not very common. There were plum cakes for Christmas, but other than that, we hardly ever ate much cake. For birthdays, the standard fare was always payasam and a sadya - very rarely did the celebration involve cutting a cake. The few birthday cakes I remember eating were all iced with flowers that looked bright, colorful and beautiful, but were really hard to bite into. Now, with a profusion of flavors, frostings, toppings and fillings to choose from, I find that I prefer simple flavors and minimal frosting.
For the last few years, I have been baking the new year cake for the get-together that me and my friends host on new year's eve. This year, I made a crowd favorite - an eggless black forest cake.

What you need:

Basic chocolate cake - 1
Whipped cream ( 1cup of heavy whipping cream + 5 tbsp. of sugar beaten at high speed till stiff peaks form)
1 jar of canned cherries
Chocolate shavings

With a serrated knife or a cake leveler, cut the cake into two layers. Place the bottom layer on the cake board. With a pastry brush, apply some of the canned cherry syrup all over the cake. Alternatively, you can use sugar syrup too. Evenly spread a layer of whipped cream on this layer and top it with some chopped cherries. Place the second layer of cake on top of this. Apply cherry syrup over it and then spread whipped cream on top of it. Frost the sides of the cake and smooth the icing with an offset spatula. Top the cake with some cherries and chocolate shavings.

This is my second recipe for Blogging Marathon #72 under the them Kids' Delight - Cakes & Cookies. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM
This recipe also goes to Kids' delight event hosted by Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen and run by Srivalli – Spice Your Life!

Basic chocolate cake (No egg - uses egg replacer)

A basic chocolate cake recipe is a must have in every baker's repertoire. This recipe is one that I use frequently as the base for my cakes. It tastes great as it is, and even better dressed up with whipped cream, ganache or chocolate buttercream. With a few modifications, it can also be turned into a delicious black forest cake.

Basic chocolate cake frosted with chocolate buttercream

What you need : (Makes one 8 inch cake)

Cake flour - 3/4 cup

Sugar - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp. (heaped)
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Ener-G egg replacer powder - 1.5 tsp (Mix this powder with 2 tbsp. of warm water and blend till frothy)
Oil - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Warm water - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease and line an 8 inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add in the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan and once completely cooled, slice and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

I am beginning this year by participating in the Blogging Marathon. This week, I will be posting recipes under the theme Kids' Delight - Cakes and Cookies.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM
This recipe also goes to Kids' delight event hosted by Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen and run by Srivalli – Spice Your Life!

Khaliat Nahal - Honeycomb buns

Khaliat Nahal, which in Arabic means bees' hive, derives its name from the typical honey comb like pattern in which this bread is baked. It can be made either sweet or savory. I have made the sweet version with its traditional cream cheese filling, and coated it with sugar syrup after baking.
This recipe makes 17/18 smallish buns. The buns are baked close together in a round pan, giving it its characteristic honey comb shape. The recipe is one I'd bookmarked when I was part of the We Knead to Bake group and thanks to Blogging Marathon #64 where I'll be posting three different shaped yeasted breads this week, it is finally moving out of my bookmarks folder and seeing the light of day.

Khaliat Nahal - Honeycomb buns

What you need:
All purpose flour - 2.5 cups
Sugar - 3 tbsp.
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Instant yeast - 1.5 tsp
Melted butter - 3 tbsp.
Lukewarm milk - 1 cup
Cream cheese - for filling
Some milk for brushing on top of the buns

For the sugar syrup:
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Mix the melted butter, flour, sugar, salt and yeast using your finger tips. Add the milk, a little at a time and knead until your dough is smooth, pliable and elastic. You may not have to add all the milk.
Coat with a little oil on all sides, cover and leave aside in a warm place to rise. It should double in size in about an hour.
While the dough is rising, you can make your sugar syrup. To do this, bring the sugar and water to a boil and then let the mixture simmer on low heat for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Keep aside to cool until needed.
Once the dough rises, divide it into two parts. Roll each part into a rope that is roughly 9 inches long. Cut each rope into nine parts, so that you have eighteen parts in all. Flatten each part of dough a little, place a little of the cream cheese inside and close the seams and smoothen the dough into a round ball. Place the balls of dough in a well greased 9 inch round pan, arranging them in concentric circles, filling the base of the pan. Cover with a wet paper towel and let it rise for about an hour. Brush the tops with milk.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes or until the tops are well browned.
Remove from the oven and while the buns are still hot, pour the sugar syrup on top of them. If you want your bun to be only mildly sweet and not sticky, you could just brush the sugar syrup on top of the buns. Let this sit for a bit so that the sugar syrup sets a little.
Serve warm.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

Eggless no food colour red velvet cupcakes

Red velvet cakes and cupcakes, with their bright red color and cream cheese frosting on top are stunning to look at and popular with adults and kids alike. I have shied away from making these because of the huge amount of artificial food coloring that is used to give the cake its vibrant red hue. In my search for alternatives to artificial food color, I stumbled upon this recipe which I recreated in my kitchen. Pureed beets are used in this recipe to give the cupcakes a natural red color.

What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups
Beet - 1 (medium sized, boiled with skin, cooled, peeled and pureed)
Sugar - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cocoa powder - 4 tsp
Curd - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

In a large mixing bowl, take the oil, sugar, beet puree, curd and vanilla extract. Mix well until sugar dissolves. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix. Spoon the batter into a lined muffin pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree F for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely and frost, if desired.

Verdict:
While the color of the cupcakes was gorgeous,(The photo doesn't reflect how beautiful the color is as I used my mobile camera) there was a slight smell and taste of beets in them and though the spouse and I didn't mind that too much, the child was put off by it. The quantity of beets and using other ingredients that would probably mask its smell is something I am planning to experiment with and will update on this post.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Whole wheat eggless apple walnut banana squares

Some days back, I went apple picking. Apples, fresh off the tree, are so delicious, so crisp and so juicy - the store bought ones cannot hold a candle to these. Seriously, they are so juicy that even if you were to accidentally scratch one with your nails, you can see the juice spurt out. I came back home with a huge bag of apples that we picked and other than eating them as is, have been trying them out in various bakes. This week's theme for the Blogging Marathon is baking with veggies/fruits and this healthy apple square fits the bill perfectly.

What you need : (Recipe adapted from here)
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups, leveled
Apple -  finely chopped(with peel), 2 cups (I used about one and a half medium sized apples)
Walnuts - 1/2 cup, chopped
Over ripe banana - 2, mashed well
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup * (see notes at the bottom)
Baking soda - 2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

In a mixing bowl, mix together, the mashed banana, oil, sugar, yogurt and vanilla essence. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt to this.  Mix in the chopped apple and walnuts. Pour into a 15x10x1 cookie sheet, spread evenly with the back of a spatula or wet hands and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees farenheit for 20 -25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once cool, cut into squares and store in an air tight container.

Note :
The apples I had were sweet in themselves. Plus, I do not like my bakes to be overly sweet. One cup of sugar makes these squares only moderately sweet. Add up to half a cup more of sugar if you want it to be sweeter.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Eggless oats cookies

Recipe source : Nirmala's kitchen
What you need:
Oats - 1.5 cups
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup

Mix all the ingredients together to a soft dough. I had to add about 2-3 tbsp more of flour to get a smooth mixture. If you find the dough too dry, add a little milk while kneading.
Pinch out small balls of dough. Shape into round cookies and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the cookies start to brown on the edges.
This is my 5th post for the blogging marathon and my theme for the day is eggless baking.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#6 hosted by Srivalli

Eggless Mango banana muffins

The mango season is upon us and the variety of mangoes that is available in the market leaves me confused as to which one to buy. I end up buying a different kind each time.
On a recent trip to Coorg, I saw a stretch on the Bangalore-Mysore highway filled with street carts that were laden with different types of mango. The foodie in me had to stop and take a closer look. What I liked best about these vendors is that they give nice juicy chunks of mangoes as samples.....you can taste the mango(es) before you decide which one you want to buy.

These vendors from whom I bought mangoes were very happy to pose for a photo.
The mangoes I bought from them have nothing to do with this post because they were eaten up in almost no time.
I recently (as in this morning) bought a silicon muffin pan and immediately started scouring the web for a good muffin recipe. The search led me to Vaishali's mango cupcakes. I made some minor changes to incorporate ingredients that were in a "use-or-perish" state and the end result is a moist, soft and delightfully yellow cupcake.

What you need:
All purpose flour/maida - 1.5 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Mango - 2 medium sized ripe ones
Banana - 4 small, over ripe ones
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Oil - 1/4 cup

Mix the maida, salt, baking powder and cardamom powder together.
Puree the mango and banana. The quantity I used gave me two cups of thick puree. Take sugar, oil and vanilla essence in a bowl. Add the puree to this and beat till well blended.
Stir this into the flour making sure that it is well mixed but take care to not beat too vigorously.
Pour into the muffin pan until 3/4th full. With a silicon pan, there was no need to grease and the baked muffins were extremely easy to pop out of the pan. I made a few in paper muffin cups as well.
Bake at 175 degree centigrade for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool completely and then dig in.

This post goes to Divya's Show Me Your Muffin event.

Dulce de leche brownies

Remember the dulce de leche I made in this post??? While eating spoonfuls of it, I've also been thinking of other ways in which to use it up. That is when I saw this eggless brownie recipe of Divya's. I decided to make it with one major change.....a whole cup of dulce de leche went into my brownie.....and I must say this is one of the best brownies I have ever made. It turned out soft, chewy and just right.....even a non-chocoholic like me cannot stop eating it.

What you need:
Maida/all purpose flour - 1 cup
Fresh curd - 1 cup
Milk - a ladleful (if needed)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Dulce de leche - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Cashew - a handful

Take curd in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, baking powder and baking soda to it. Let it bubble for a minute or two. Now add vanilla essence and oil to this. Mix well. Slowly stir in the maida and cocoa powder little by little to make a smooth, lumpless batter. Add the dulce de leche and mix well, breaking lumps if any with the back of a spoon. If you find that the mix is too thick, add milk. I had to add a ladleful of milk at this point. Stir in the cashew nuts.
Bake at 200 degree centigrade for 10 minutes....then reduce the temperature to 150 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes or till done.
Grease a square Let the brownies cool completely.
Slice and dig in.

This goes to Divya who is hosting the Best Brownie event to celebrate her third blog anniversary.

Eggless almond cookies for Sweet Punch

This month's A Sweet Punch features eggless almond cookies The recipe has been chosen by Ria and is from Manjula's kitchen.
The recipe is very simple and the cookies turned out to be melt in the mouth good. It is really hard to stop eating these cookies. Though the original recipe says that you will get around 24 cookies, I got only 17 medium sized ones.

What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Almonds - sliced, 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Butter - 100 gms softened to room temperature
Milk - 1 tbsp (if needed)
Cardamom powder - 3/4 tsp

Take all the ingredient except butter and milk in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and knead well to a smooth dough. If needed, add some milk to make a soft dough. Pinch out medium sized balls of dough, shape it into a circle and flatten slightly between your palms.
Bake at 175 degrees for 18 minutes or until the bottom turns golden brown. Let it cool for 2 minutes in the pan and then remove on to a cooling rack.
Store in an air tight container.









Check out the bloggers doing the Blogging Marathon, along with me..30 Minutes Meals:Priya Mahadavan, Pavani,Seven Days of Salad: lla, Divya Vikram,For Ongoing 7 Events: Priya Suresh, Suma Gandlur,Harini,Kids Friendly: Vatsala, Jay,Kamalika

Microwave chocolate cake for MEC-Celebrating bloggers

Ever since I saw this eggless chocolate cake on Sowmya's blog,it has been on my must-make list. Finally, MEC-Celebrating bloggers which is being hosted here this month gave me just the nudge that I needed to get into baking mode. I made a few minor changes to Sowmya's recipe. The cake is moist, soft and really,really good. It fills the house with the wonderful aroma of warm cinnamon and oh...... did I tell you just how easy and quick it is to make????

What you need:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Dried fruits and nuts - 1 cup (I used almond,cashew,raisins,and candied fruits)
Milk - 1.5 cups
Overripe bananas - 2
Cocoa powder - 3 heaped tsps
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Chopped walnuts - a handful

Soak the dry fruits and nuts in hot milk for 30 minutes. Grind this in a blender till smooth. Add the bananas, oil and sugar and blend again.
Transfer this mixture to a large bowl. Add baking powder and cocoa. Mix well. Add the flour little by little and beat until well mixed. Mix in the chopped walnuts.
Pour this into a greased microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 6 minutes. Timing will vary depending on the wattage of your microwave. So keep checking to make sure it doesn't get burned.
Let it rest for a minute in the microwave. Let it cool completely. Ease it out of the bowl, slice and dig in!!!

Reminder : Do send in you entries for MEC-Celebrating bloggers before the 31st of this month.

This is my entry to MEC-Celebrating bloggers, an event started by Srivalli and hosted by me this month.