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.

Whole Wheat Focaccia

I made this Focaccia bread for the fourth time last week and realized that I never posted about it. I usually buy Focaccia from the farmers market and it is one of the best I've had, but its all white flour and has lots of oil. This one on the other hand is a much lighter and healthier bread and I don't feel so guilty if I have one extra serving. Plus, baking your own bread is so much fun!  This one makes a wonderful sandwich, pizza and is great with curries and even on its own!.

Whole Wheat Focaccia

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 packet active dried yeast

1 1/4 cups warm water

1 tsp cumin seeds

6 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped

1tsp salt

3 tbs olive oil

Toppings:

cumin seeds

thinly sliced onions

Method:

Combine warm water and yeast. Stir in olive oil, cumin seeds, chopped garlic, salt and flour and mix to form a dough. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for a few minutes in a folding motion until the dough is smooth.

Grease a large bowl with olive oil and plop the dough into it. Roll around a few times to coat the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with a warm cloth. Place the bowl in a warm spot and let the dough rise for about an hour.

After the rise, punch the dough once and place it on a floured surface and knead gently for a few minutes. Roll out the dough to about 1" thickness. 

Place dough on a greased baking sheet. Poke holes all over the surface with your finger.

Brush the top of the dough generously with olive oil. Top with cumin seeds and sliced onions.

Cover with the towel and let rise again for 20 minutes, in a warm spot.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree F oven for about 30-35 minutes or until you see a light brown crust. Check the bread for firmness with a toothpick. Cool for a few minutes before slicing.

Sending this to Yeast Spotting.
Recipe adapted from Healthy Happy Life.

Wheat and Jaggery Cake (Eggless)

Happy 2012 everyone! My first post of the year is this wonderful snack cake. I was blog hopping looking for something, when I saw this cake at Spicy Chilly. Jaggery and wheat flour are amazing together and they make a very delicious moist cake, plus kind of guilt free too. I added a little cardamom to enhance the flavor. This is definitely one of my favorite cakes now, so easy to make and perfectly suited to our Indian tastes.

Wheat and Jaggery Cake

Ingredients:

200 gms wheat flour

1/3 tsp cardamom powder

1 cup jaggery, (grated and loosely filled)

1 cup milk, plus a little if the batter is too thick

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350F/ 180C. Grease a small bundt pan.

Sift the flour, cardamom powder, baking soda and baking powder three times. Add the jaggery and combine gently.

Add the milk, vanilla and oil and mix gently with a spatula. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean.

Sending this cake to Bookmarked Recipes, Vardhini's Bake Fest hosted by Pradnya 

Fruit and Nut Cake - Lowfat and Vegan

Only four days left and I couldn't wait any longer to eat some fruitcake. I do have a batch of fruits soaking in the fridge for a cake I plan to bake in a couple of days and ship to my brother. This cake I made just for us. What I love about this recipe is that there's no oil or butter and there's jaggery and whole wheat flour and tons of fruits and nuts and they don't really have to be soaked in advance. The only labor involved is the chopping of the nuts and fruits. The flavor of the cake gets better as it matures, but I had to take pictures so we cut the cake the same day, yet it was rich and moist. This cake is a wonderful guilt free treat!

Recipe from Jugalbandi.

Vegan Lowfat Fruit and Nut Cake

Ingredients:

100 gms dark raisins

125 gms mixed dried fruit, chopped

225 gms mixed nuts, roasted and chopped 

1/2 cup rum

1 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup applesauce/ oil

1/2 cup grated jaggery

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 tsp nutmeg powder

1/3 tsp cinnamon powder

1/3 tsp cloves powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp orange/ lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

Take the dried fruits, water, rum, applesauce, sugar, jaggery, spice powders, salt and orange zest in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Take off from heat and add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C and grease a 12 cup bundt pan.

Whisk the flour and baking soda together. As soon as the dried fruits mixture comes to room temperature, fold in the flour and nuts. 

Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 35 - 40 mins or till done in the center of the oven.

Cool in the pan for 10 mins and then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

Brush the cake with some rum if desired and store covered in the fridge. The flavor of the cake improves after a couple of days.

Notes:

1. Use dried fruits and nuts according to your taste. I used 50 gms currants and 25 gms each of dates, apricots and prunes. I also used a mixture of almonds and walnuts.

2. If whole wheat pastry flour is not available, use half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.

3. I used jaggery for better color and taste. You could also use all brown sugar.

4 For an alcohol free version skip the rum and use orange juice instead.

Sending this to  Cakes for Christmas, Let's Cook-Baked Goodies, Cooking Concepts-Holiday Baking, Christmas NewYear's Eve 2011, Bake Fest, Only Cookies and Cakes, Serve it Baked Sweet, Jingle All the Way.

      

   

    

Whole Wheat Honey Pancakes

I have a big bottle of honey in my pantry, that's just begging to be used. Any suggestions??? I've been trying out a few dishes and these pancakes are my favorite so far. Pancakes are one of the easiest dishes to prepare, and we just love them. Even Anushka, who is other wise a very picky eater, doesn't turn her face away...so we have pancakes almost every weekend, or atleast she does!
I tried this recipe from Simplebites for the first time last month. The pancakes are fluffy, moist and just plain delicious. There's only a little butter and I think buttermilk does the trick. I doubled the amount of honey and yet they are not really sweet. So feel free to dunk them with your favorite syrup...I always use pure maple syrup, you can also checkout some great syrup recipes out here.

Whole Wheat Honey Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tbs butter, melted
4 tbs honey

Method:
Whisk all the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
Whisk all the wet ingredients in another bowl until well combined.
Add the wet to the dry and whisk only until just combined, lumps are okay, do not over mix.
Heat a griddle over medium heat and grease lightly with oil or butter.
Spoon batter about 1/3 cup at a time. Cook till the edges are set and you see lots of bubbles on the surface, 3-4 mins. Flip and cook until golden brown, about two minutes.
Serve warm with your favorite syrup.