Healthy Cardamom Tea Cake

It has been a month since we moved back to India. There are hundreds of things I will miss about our life back in the US, but it's wonderful to be home and meet up with family and friends. Most of all I love to see Anushka playing with and getting pampered by her grandparents. We are undecided as to where we will be settling and I've been shuttling between by in-laws and parents homes and living out of suitcases and it still feels like a vacation.

As far as blogging goes though, I'm in a rut and it took a lot of self-motivation to write up this post. I miss my boards and all the props that I had to leave behind and of course the huge oven in our apartment. Although I haven't cooked anything new in a while I have been baking quiet a lot and am finally getting used to the old O.T.G at my mom's place.

This cake, adapted from Cook Republic is the first one I baked since coming here. I love the simple ingredients and the one bowl mixing method. The batter was ready in no time and while the cake bakes, the house smells heavenly because of the cardamom. It was impossible to wait until the cake cooled and we sliced it minutes after it was out of the oven. It had just the right amount of sweetness, great texture and amazing flavor, we loved it.

Healthy Cardamom Teacake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup rice bran oil
1/2 cup milk
icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Liberally grease an 8" round pan and dust with flour.
Sift together flours, cardamom, cinnamom and salt.
Stir in sugar. Whisk together the eggs, oil and milk until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and cooked through.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool, dust with icing sugar, if using and serve.

Eggless Chocolate Pumpkin Tart

I am not a big fan of pies, especially pumpkin. But for the last couple of weeks, there were pies all over the place....blogs, TV, magazines and I was tempted to make one, but definitely not the traditional one. So I settled on making these tarts for thanksgiving. There had to be chocolate of course! The recipe is adapted from the Chocolate Walnut Bars I posted earlier...just omitted the eggs and added some pumpkin puree.

I had some difficulty rolling the dough. It wouldn't roll out smooth, I'm guessing its the walnut pieces and then there was not enough flour on the table, so most of the dough had stuck. I could cut out two circles, the rest I just took pieces and put them on the tart pan and patched them together. Though it didn't look perfect, it worked out fine and the tart was firm and didn't crack after baking. The filling is a breeze to prepare. I got six mini tarts or you can make one 9" tart. I have to say I wouldn't know it had pumpkin unless someone told me. More like a chocolate tart and that worked very well for me :)

Eggless Chocolate Pumpkin Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

55 gms walnuts

1 cup flour (I used 50-50 wheat and all purpose flour)

1/3 cup sugar 

1/4 tsp baking powder

4 tbs cold butter, cut into small pieces

pinch of  salt

few tbs of cold water 

Filling:

2 tbs butter, melted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tbs cornflour mixed with 5 tbs water

Method:

Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350F/ 180C. 

Grind the walnuts with some sugar to a coarse powder.

Combine the powdered walnuts, remaining sugar and flour in a bowl.

Add the cold butter and rub it in using your finger tips or pulse in a food processor till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add water few drops at a time and mix with your fingers until it comes together like a dough. Do not knead the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for atleast 30 mins.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/4" thickness and line your tart moulds.

Bake for about 15 - 20 mins or till set and golden. Keep aside to cool.

Filling:

Sieve the cocoa to remove lumps. Mix all the ingredients together till smooth. Divide between the cooled crusts and bake for about 30 mins or till set. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for a few hours. Remove from tart pans carefully and serve.


Sending this to The Holiday Recipe Exchange hosted by My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats sponsored by Breville.