I was scouring for a good fruit cake, I realised that most eggless versions use boiled fruit recipe, which I am not very keen on. Finally my search took me to Joy of Baking & I came across an eggless version of fruit cake. I made slight changes to suit our tastes as well as with what is available. I reduced all the spices by 1/2 as V wasn’t keen on a very strong & tangy flavor. Also, I ran out of Vanilla essence so used Almond as it was available. I also used curd in place of buttermilk & replaced currants with tutti-fruiti.

Eggless Xmas Fruit Cake

And not to forget I cajoled V into helping me out in this one as I was being too lazy. He happily obliged & we managed to put it in oven finally with lots of bickering. That’s what couples are for, I guess!

Eggless Fruit Cake -

Recipe Source – adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients -

• 1 1/2 Cups – All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup – Pitted Dates, packed
• 2/3 Cup – White Sugar, granulated
• 1/4 tsp – Salt
• 1/2 tsp – Allspice Powder (Garam Masala)
• 1/2 tsp – Nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1/2 tsp – Cinnamon, ground
• 1 tsp – Baking Soda
• 1 Cup – Curd
• 1/2 Cup – Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp – Almond Extract
• 1/2 Cup – Tutti-Fruiti
• 1/2 Cup – Raisins, golden
• 1/2 Cup – Raisins, dark

Method -

1. Pre-heat oven at 165 C. Grease & dust a loaf pan.
2. On a chopping board, spread 1/2 cup flour. Coat the dates in the flour & chop them corasely on the board. The flour prevents the dates from breaking down & becoming soft & mushy.
3. In a large bowl, place the remaining flour & dates mixture. Add spices, sugar, salt & baking soda. Stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter & vanilla extract.
5. Stir in buttermilk mixture & remaining dry-fruits into the dry ingredients. Mix well.
6. Immediately pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top & bake for 50-55 mins or till the cake is golden brown & pulling away from sides.
7. Remove from oven & allow to cool in the pan for 10 mins on a wire rack. Remove from pan & allow to cool to room temp.

As advised by Joy of Baking, this cake tastes excellent when warm or at room temp. We felt that sugar was a wee bit too much for our taste. So next time I surely will reduce it to 1/3 rd cup. The cake was soft, moist, spicy & perfect for Xmas.

Enjoy the cake while singing carols or visiting local markets.

Sending this to Jingle All The Way Event, hosted by Kavitha Iyengar of Edible Entertainment.

I’ve been MIA for last 2 months… food had become my worst enemy with me retching up with just thoughts of food, cooking or baking was out of question. Though I’ve been feeling ok for last 15 days but getting back into the tempo of kitchen was also proving very difficult. Finally I kicked myself 1000 times & got to baking a simple brown bread which I’ve tried before this as well.

I’ve been told to stay off all yeast goods some time ago. Though I haven’t been able to follow it strictly as breads available in market are made with yeast only. When this baking bug bit me, I decided to use this opportunity to bake yeast free bread for myself. I haven’t come across many recipes for yeast free bread online. However, there are many available with choco-chip & banana in yeast free version but I didn’t want sweet bread as a recipe to bake frequently.

Oats & Wheat Bread

Then I came across this post on my blog & voila, I had the perfect yeast free bread and that too a healthy version with oats & wheat flour. I still had to wait to buy a loaf pan before I could try it – you can’t imagine the process (in my mind) which went into making this. As a rule in a typical family, anything new with sweet is readily accepted but anything else is always fret with critical evaluation… one can put real food connoisseur to shame here. So with all this apprehensions, I ventured into bread making. I halved the recipe & kept everything else same. V ate the whole bread in one go on top of dinner & couldn’t stop singing praises for it. I couldn’t believe it & bit into a slice (especially left for me, how thoughtful!) tentatively… mmm mmm mmm. I felt that the bread was real nice & healthy, way ahead of breads available in supermarket as brown bread.

Oats & Wheat Flour Brown Bread -

Recipe Source – minimally adapted from Sensitive Economist

Ingredients -

• 3 Cups – Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 tsp – Baking Powder
• 1 tsp – Baking Soda
• 1 Cup – Oats
• 1/2 tsp – Salt
• 1 Tbsp – Honey
• 1 1/2 Tbsp – Butter, softened
• 2 Cups – Milk

Method -

1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease & dust a loaf tin.
2. Combine all dry ingredients. Then mix in butter using your fingers.
3. Add milk & honey, until well combined.
4. Pour batter in prepared pan, sprinkle some oats on top & bake for 45-50 mins.
   

   Oats & Wheat Bread

I made only slight changes to the original recipe as I felt it didn’t need any changes though I intend to make versions of it soon. I skipped salt as I used salted butter. Also I needed to add 1 Tbsp milk extra as the consistency was a bit more dry.

Though I need to mention that this bread won’t be like a market-bought spongy bread as it is made without yeast. But this bread tastes delicious straight out of oven. I love it with Orange Marmalade. Enjoy warm bread with butter plain or toasted.

Oats & Wheat Bread

Though it is a bit late but this is my entry for Sweet Punch – December, which was about baking what we like.

Kalyani has very aptly named her blog as Sizzling Tastebuds & really all recipes sizzle on her blog. Extensive collection of world cuisine. I was waiting for a chance to create a recipe from her space so finally the Wednesday has come to share the same. I used garlic cheese spread in stead of grated cheese, rest I kept same.

Garlic Chilli Cheese Toast

Garlic Chilli Cheese Toast -

Recipe Source – Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds

Ingredients -

• 10 Slices – White Bread
• 3 Tbsp – Garlic Cheese Spread
• 1/2 tsp – Melted Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• 1/2 – Capsicum, finely diced
• 1 – Green Chilli, chopped & pitted
• 1 tsp – Dry Basil
• 1/2 tsp – Red Chilli Flakes
• a dash – Oregano
• 1/2 tsp – White Pepper Powder, I used freshly ground
• to taste – Salt (add little only as cheese spread is already salted)

Method -

1. Mix together capsicum, green chilli, basil, chilli flakes & white pepper powder. Add cheese spread & mix well.
2. Lightly grease the slices with ghee, using your finger tips.
3. Spread a spoonful or more of cheesy mixture on slices.
4. Pre-heat oven to 200 C. Very lightly grease the baking sheet.
5. Diagonally cut the bread slices into 2. Bake for 8- 10 mins.
6. Then grill them for 2-4 mins till cheese melts.
7. Serve hot.

I had some leftover spread left which was happily confiscated by the guests as they wanted to make these Garlic Chilli Cheese Toast at their place. It was a very simple & quick recipe. I loved it.

Catch other Blog-Hoppers here to see what they have done for their blog hops. If you wish to join contact Radhika of Tickling Palates. Happy Hopping!!

I chose Creamy Spinach Pasta from Vidhya of Vidhya’s Goodeats for the special dinner. She is my blog hop partner this Wednesday. She has some very interesting & good recipes from World Cuisine on her blog. It was tough to decide what to make. V is partial towards pasta so I chose that & spinach I’ve never used in pasta before so it was going to be a novel experience. I didn’t change the recipe much except omitting eggs & garlic & using dry basil in place of fresh ones. I halved the recipe & used macaroni as I’d a packet at home.

Spinach Macaroni Pasta

Creamy Spinach Pasta with Macaroni

Recipe Source – adapted from Vidhya of Vidhya’s Goodeats

Ingredients -

• 1 packet (180 gms) – Macaroni Pasta
• 1 Tbsps – Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup – Chopped Onion
• 1/2 Bunch – Chopped Spinach
• 1 small – Tomato, cubed
• 1/2 Tbsp – Dried Basil (use fresh is available)
• to taste – Salt
• to taste – Pepper
• 1/2 tsp – Chilli Flakes
• 1/2 Cup – Cream (I used Amul – 25%)
• 2 Tbsp – Freshly Grated Cheese

Method -

1. Cook pasta as per instructions on your package or check here.
2. Saute onions in olive oil till golden brown.
3. Stir in spinach, tomato, basil, chilli flakes, salt & pepper. Cook for another 5-8 mins, stirring occasionally.
4. Add cream & cheese. Allow the gravy to come to a boil.
5. On low flame, add pasta. Mix well. Cook for 4-5 mins till uniformly heated.
6. Serve hot with garlic toast.

Usually I make pasta in red sauce or white sauce, this is the first time I made using cream & spinach. It was a wonderful & fork licking dish. Pasta won hands down. Everyone loved the pasta & V also said that this is the best pasta I ever made. Thank you Vidhya for such a wonderful treat.

Sending Spinach Macaroni Pasta to Presto Pasta Nights, a weekly event hosted by Kirsten of Kirsten’s Kitchen to Yours. This event was initially started by Ruth of Once upon a Feast. I’ve been waiting for a chance to participate in this event as I love pasta & this was a great platform to come across awesome pastas. What a virtual treat!

Catch other Blog-Hoppers here to see what they have done for their blog hops. If you wish to join contact Radhika of Tickling Palates. Happy Hopping!!

Today being the 7th of month, it’s time for some Sweet Punch. And I made my first tarts which have been on my Baking Wishlist. I usually plan & make my posts much in advance & never wait for the last day, however last 15 days saw too much baking & sweet in the household with Eggless BFC, Eggless Checkerboard Cake & Cream Cheese Cupcakes, so I kept postponing this recipe till the last day almost!

Upon researching I realized that the most essential part of tarts is to ensure that butter is chilled. I guess this is as easy as baking can get. Though Ria had chosen Jam Tarts, I had just too much tid-bits leftover from all the above experiments, I decided to use them & finish. For a change this is a recipe in which I didn’t need to worry about assembling lot of ingredients or replacing egg! Thankfully the crust of the tart is eggless, phew!!!

Chocolate Truffle with Cherry Pie Filling Tart

Chocolate Truffle with Cherry Pie Filling Tarts -

Recipe Source – adapted from Ria’s Collection

Ingredients -

• 115 g – All Purpose Flour (1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp)
• 60 g – Chilled Butter
• 1/2 tsp – Baking Powder
• 4-5 drops – Water
• 1/2 Cup – Cherry Pie Filling
• 12 – Chocolate Truffles, tiny ones
• Whipped Cream to serve
  

  Chocolate Truffle with Cherry Pie Filling Tart

Method -

1. I used a melon scooper to make chocolate truffles from leftover chilled ganache & quickly rolled them in cocoa. I placed them in an airtight container on a parchment sheet & refrigerated till further use.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 180 C. Lightly grease the tart moulds.
3. Mix flour & baking powder together.
4. Add the butter & rub the flour & butter together using fingertips to create a dough resembling breadcrumbs.
5. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts & line the tart moulds.
6. Place one truffle per tart mould. Then top it with 2 tsp of cherry pie filling.
7. Bake for 15 mins or till done. Remove from oven
8. Allow to cool completely on wire rack in the moulds. Do not de-mould when hot as you can scald yourself.
   

   Chocolate Truffle with Cherry Pie Filling Tart

I served it topped with whipped cream. With every bite, you feel molten chocolate with plenty of cherry pie filling & whipped cream. Mine didn’t de-mould very well so I let them be in the mould.

Chocolate Truffle with Cherry Pie Filling Tart

Sending these tarts to Kalyani’s 100 day Global Fest at Sizzling Tastebuds which is a part of My Mother’s Kitchen. Hop on to her blog to get some interesting global dishes

‘Only’ – Sweets & Desserts guest hosted by Gayathri of Gayathri’s Cook Spot & started by Pari.

Thankfully the cream cheese was perfectly edible as I’d frozen it. I quickly added some cornflour & chopped chocolate & the topping was ready. Pour the cupcake batter uptil 1/2 cupcake mold, then top it with cream cheese mixture & on top sprinkle some coarsely chopped almonds tossed in powdered sugar. I didn’t change the recipe except using the available cream cheese with me.

Eggless Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheese Layered Cupcakes

I made the mistake of filling the cupcake batter upto the mark of 2/3, whereas the recipe calls for filling only 1/2 with batter & rest with cream cheese topping. So the result was over flowing of the entire cream cheese layer on to the baking sheet. Due to this fiasco V didn’t want me to take these OVER THE TOP cupcakes to my friend’s house so I ended up eating almost all.

V liked them but wasn’t very keen with the cream cheese. I enjoyed them nicely chilled.

Eggless Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheese Layered Cupcakes

Sending these Layered Cupcakes to Bookmarked recipe Tuesday by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan Recipes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Priya for her encouraging comments. She makes it a point of commenting on almost all of my posts & which in turn makes me feel being read & appreciated somewhere in this world. Thank you so much Priya.

Checkerboard cake have been on my to bake list from the beginning. The first time I saw this I knew I had to make it soon & finally the occasion presented itself in the form of my b’day. I gave this cake option to V but he wanted to stick to known entity of a Black Forest Cake. I guess it’s his loss & my gain. This cake requires 2 or more colored cakes/ batter to produce the checkerboard effect upon slicing. I initially contemplated going in for girlie colors – pastels for the cake batter, but since the colors here are local versions & not as specific as Wilton, I chose to stick to chocolate & white. The trick for this cake lies not so much in baking as in assembling. If you have a special pan required for this cake then no challenge, but I wanted to make this simply to try my hands at assembling it without the special kit.

Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I googled a lot on this cake without the special tin, almost everyone used the method of cutting 3 different size rings from each cake & interchanging them. Then placing one such prepared layer over the other & voila you have a checkerboard pattern when you slice it. There was one more method used by only few – which works if you bake the cakes in square pan. For this method, you cut strips of each type of cake & then assemble them alternatively first in 1 layer & then on top of the first layer. I chose to work with ring method for my first attempt.

Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I baked Hershey’s Lavish Chocolate Cake & an Eggless Silver White Cake from Bakin’ Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro. I doubled the Hershey’s recipe, replaced sugar with brown sugar. Also I had to change the timing as I baked the batter in 1 pan instead of 3 pans. I followed white cake recipe as such. A silver white cake is typically made from egg whites & almond extract but here we are with an eggless version with no egg whites Go figure! I refrigerated both the cakes for 24 hours & then thawed sliced layers for 4-10 hours before decorating. The purpose of refrigeration is to slicing the layers easily, which is the most of the battle won.

I used Chocolate Buttercream for filling & frosting. The filling should be minimal so that checkerboard pattern can be clearly seen.

Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Eggless Checkerboard Cake –

Eggless Chocolate Cake – Hershey’s {Recipe follows} I doubled the recipe & baked the whole batter in one 8″ pan

Eggless Silver White Cake – from Bakin’ Without Eggs (refer book for recipe) For both Heavenly Chocolate Cake & Silver White Cake I had to increase the time by atleast 10-15 mins from the given time in the book.

1/4 Cup – Coke (for soaking)

Chocolate Buttercream – from Joy of Baking {Recipe follows}

Eggless Chocolate Cake -

Recipe Source – adapted from Hershey’s

Ingredients -

• 2 1/2 Cups – All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp – Baking Soda
• 1 Cup – Butter
• 2 Cups – Milk
• 1 tsp – Vanilla Extract
• 2/3 Cup – Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 tsp – Salt
• 2 Cup – Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbsp – White Vinegar

Method -

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C. Line & grease an 8″ round pan.
2. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt together.
3. Melt butter using a microwave. Don’t burn it. Stir in sugar.
4. Add milk, vinegar & vanilla to butter mixture & stir well.
5. Add dry ingredients & whisk till well blended.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan & bake for 60 mins or till inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack & then transfer to a plate.
8. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or cling film & refrigerate till required.
   

   Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Buttercream -

Recipe Source – minimally adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients -

• 460 gms – Icing Sugar, sifted
• 226 gms – Unsalted Butter (226 gms)
• 1 tsp – Vanilla Extract (I used Almond as I had run out of Vanilla)
• 4 Tbsp – Milk
• 120 gms – Melted & Cooled Chocolate (I used Milk Compound which was leftover with me)

Method -

1. In a large bowl, beat butter till smooth & well blended using hand mixer.
2. Beat in vanilla extract.
3. On low speed slowly add sugar & continue beating. Scrape down sides if required.
4. Add the milk & beat to combine.
5. Add melted chocolate & beat.
6. On high speed beat the frosting till light & fluffy, about 5-6 mins.
7. Cover with plastic wrap when not using.

I felt that frosting was just enough to cover the cake & hardly any left to decorate on top or sides. So I suggest to increase the recipe by 1.5 times.

Assembling the Cake -

I’ve searched the net extensively for assembling this cake, most of them have tried to explain the 3 ring method as best as possible but few days ago I came across this illustration on Joy of Dessert which, she in turn has taken from flickr/avkelly. This is by far the best way to explain the assembling & hence I’m also posting it here along with due credit.

1. Slice both cakes into horizontal layers such that you have 2 layers of each cake & 4 total.
2. Cut out 2 rings each from all 4 layers. I placed 6″ dia removable bottom of tart pan & cut a circle around it & then I used a 4″ dia. lid & cut another circle within the 6″ circle.
3. Carefully remove the middle ring of all layers.
4. Using a spatula, lightly spread buttercream filling on the insides of the remaining rings. Lightly spread butter cream on outside of middle rings as well. This helps in sticking the rings together & not make a mess while cutting the cake. Then place the middle rings backs in alternating colors – place chocolate color ring in white cake & vice versa. Now you have 4 layers of cake with alternating colored rings.
5. Now place 1 prepared layer of cake on the base or cake table. Soak in coke. Lightly spread the filling & then place the 2nd layer such that the rings are stacked alternate to each other – chocolate color ring on top of white colored ring, then place the 3rd layer again alternating colors on top of each other & then the last layer similarly.
6. Keep the cake in freezer for 10 mins. This reduces the amount of crumbs to deal with while frosting.
7. Quickly do a crumb coat on the whole cake & then decorate as per your whim.
   

   Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Tips -

1. Refrigerating the cake 10-15 mins before slicing layers & rings will help in neater finish. It also gives lesser crumbs to mess while frosting.
2. It may help, if you first place the layer you want as base on the cake table & then exchange rings & place other rings on top & biding together with buttercream instead of making separate layers. The risk of layers falling apart in transfer are reduced then.

No amount of planning & tips helped me in assembling this cake as it is very difficult to maintain the rings & adjust them within each other. Almost all my rings broke into many pieces & had to be glued together with filling. I also felt that adding another smaller 2″ dia ring would have made the cake even more aesthetically appealing.

Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

But the overall effect was wonderful as you can see. The cake cutting was full of oohhss & aaahhhsss. V was jealous & told me that why his birthday cake was not this nice. Difficult to please husbands! Sonny dear wanted only edible beads & no cake. Everybody wanted to know the technique of assembling it. I’m glad people liked my effort & effect though the making was quite eventful. Taste wise also the cake was wonderful with both variety of cakes complimenting each other. A great success!!!

Eggless Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

To top this, I had a pleasant surprise thrown in by V. He gifted me a Recipe Journal by Moleskine in which he suggests that I should put together best of recipes & pass on to my future daughter-in-law & Ved gave me a huge card Thank you to the men in my life

Birthday Gifts

Sending this cake to Kalyani’s 100 day Global Fest at Sizzling Tastebuds which is a part of My Mother’s Kitchen. Hop on to her blog to get some interesting global dishes

What I love about South-Indian cuisine is use of minimum oil & plenty of veggies. Keeping this in mind, I promptly shot off a mail to Suchitra. She very helpfully guided me to 3-4 recipes loaded with veggies, out of them I chose Raw Tomato Dal as I thought it will go well with Coconut Rice. If I erred in combining the 2 then please excuse me women.

Raw Tomato Dal (Kootu)

Raw Tomato Dal (Kootu) -

Recipe Source – Suchitra of Simple Indian Food

Ingredients -

• 4-5 – Raw Tomatoes, hard
• 1 Cup – Split Moong Dal
• 1 tsp – Mustard Seeds
• 5 -6 – Curry Leaves
• a pinch – Asafoetida

for Masala Paste -

• 1 tsp – Coriander Powder
• 1-2 – Red Chillies
• 1/2 tsp – Chana Dal
• 1/2 tsp – Urad Dal
• 1-2 tsps – Grated Coconut
• 1 tsp – Oil

Method -

1. Pressure cook the dal with salt.
2. Heat few drops of oil in a wok & roast masala ingredients except coconut.
3. Once cool, grind to a fine paste along with coconut. Add water if required.
4. Heat oil in a pan & add mustard seeds, curry leaves & asafoetida.
5. Slice each tomato into 8 pieces & add in the pan. Add salt & allow tomatoes to cook.
6. Now add dal & masala paste. Adjust salt if required.
7. Adjust consistency as required. I made it little thinner as we were going to have it with Coconut Rice.
   

   Raw Tomato Dal (Kootu)

It was a lovely combination of Raw Tomato Dal & Coconut Rice. Thank you ladies for introducing me to such lovely dishes.

Sending Raw Tomato Dal to Flavors of South India by Simply Sensational.

Catch other Blog-Hoppers here to see what they have done for their blog hops. If you wish to join contact Radhika of Tickling Palates. Happy Hopping!!

Patrode ki Pakori

This is the first time I made these myself & I kept remembering the crunchy taste of these pakoris. These are made with Colocasia leaves, basic spices & steaming them. After refrigeration, they are sliced & deep fried. A similar version is commonly available in western region (Pune), known as ‘aadu chi vaddi‘. I’m not sure but I believe the recipe involves using a bit of tamarind, jaggery & eating it steamed. With us northies, the problem is that if a pakori is not fried then it is not pakori at all We need our regular dose of calories. I’ve eaten Pune version a couple of times & decided that it is not for me. This was also one of the reason to prompt me in making it at home – I wanted to know if my version is better for me or Pune version.

Patthod ki Pakori -

Recipe Source – Naani

Ingredients -

• 5 – Colocasia Leaves
• 5-6 Tbsp – Besan
• 1″ – ginger, finely chopped
• 3-4 – Green Chilli, finely chopped
• 2 tsp – Coriander Powder
• a pinch – Asafoetida
• 1/4 tsp – Turmeric Powder
• to taste – Salt

Method -

Patrode ki Pakori

1. Wash the leaves, thoroughly & remove the stem.
2. In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except leaves. Add very little water & mix well. Ensure there are no lumps formed. Add more water, if required. The water should only be enough to form a thick paste & not batter.
3. Now spread the leaves, one by one, upside down i.e. the side with the step should be facing up.
4. With the help of a spatula spread the paste on the backside of the leaf.
5. Now slowly, start rolling the leaf from broad end. First roll both ends & bring to stem starting point & then roll them together till the other end. The besan paste will help in sticking the leaf together.
6. When rolled, steam in a microwave for 5-8 mins. You can steam in electric steamer or gas.
7. After steaming the leaves would become hard & change color to dull green. Allow them to cool completely.
8. When cool, wrap them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap & refrigerate for 1 hour or for as long as you want. I kept it for 2 days & fried them for breakfast on Saturday.
9. Before frying remove from refrigerator & allow to thaw for 1/2 hour.
10. Cut the rolls into 1 cm thick rings & fry. Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.
    

    Patrode ki Pakori

They are very crispy & crunchy to eat. V said it was a great breakfast. I got to eat my favorite dish all over again, what more could I ask. Full tummy, Happy Heart!!!

Sending this crunchy green leafy fritters to Life is Green, an event started by Shilpa of Yummy Food in Tummy, check out her blog for some very interesting greens

More than festivals, I enjoy planning & creating our family days – birthdays, anniversary etc. Every year for last 5 yrs, I’ve been celebrating V’s b’day and plan a surprise (little or big) for him. Every year he complains about those surprises as he is not very pro to the idea of surprise – he likes them but would want to be forewarned than surprised. So this year I promised him I won’t give a surprise. He tells me that is a surprise in itself! MEN!!! This year V chose Black Forest Cake for his b’day treat.

I cajoled V into gifting me many b’day gifts this year – mind you all scattered through the last few months so that he wouldn’t realize how clever I had been One such gift was a book from my wishlist, Bakin’ Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro. I had read great reviews about this book & wanted to try my hand at the recipes from it. What I also liked about this book was that it wasn’t just catering to Vegan. Most of the books & blogs on egg-free recipes are Vegan oriented & I have harped many a times earlier that I cannot eat Tofu, soy milk etc. So this book came as a pleasant surprise – Rosemarie has used mostly White Vinegar as substitute for egg. From whatever recipes I’ve gone through I can assure you that they are good & just waiting to be made. Also the ingredients used are very basic & most baked recipes come with topping recipes as well. I chose Heavenly Chocolate Cake from Bakin’ Without Eggs. I’ve kept the recipe same except substituting buttermilk with curd.

I decided to assemble Black Forest Cake in a non-traditional version, adapting from a video on ehow – simple & beautiful BFC using Ganache, Cherry Pie Filling & Whipped Cream. Last time I tried frosting with Rainbow Cake I was supervised by my sister, this time I was going solo. I’ve been practicing frosting patterns using a mehndi cone for last 20 days on the back of the cake pan, to give me confidence of moving the cone with a flow which is most of the battle won, I guess! I have omitted liqueur from both ganache & soaking syrup as there was a slight chance that out little devil might eat a bite.

Eggless Black Forest Cake with Cherry Pie Filling & Chocolate Ganache

I will go into detail & recipe for all steps, except the cake as it is from a book & V was very particular that I should have permission for it before posting it. I see many bloggers posting recipes from book, so I wasn’t sure but he is RIGHT. So I unwillingly agreed to not post recipe for the cake. I’ve sent a mail seeking permission to the publisher of this book but they haven’t reverted to me yet, so till then I am not posting the cake recipe. Even when I started the blog, I took permission for my first few posts.

I prepared everything in advance & just assembled the cake on the day. Our Little Devil, designed the banner for his Dad! I just helped him a bit where he couldn’t manage – like cutting flags & writing. Enough of jibber-jabber & over to the recipe.

Eggless Black Forest Cake with Chocolate Ganache, Cherry Pie Filling & Low Fat Whipped Cream -

Eggless Black Forest Cake with Cherry Pie Filling & Chocolate Ganache

Eggless Heavenly Chocolate Cake – minimally adapted from Bakin’ Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro. I made it 2 days in advance and refrigerated it. I brought it out of refrigerator night before the assembly. {For Recipe refer book}

Cherry Pie Filling – I made it 1 day in advance & stored it in refrigerator in air-tight container & minimum 4 hours prior to assembly I allowed it to come to room temp. {Recipe below}

Cherry Syrup – I used drained cherry syrup from cans & stored it in refrigerator in air-tight container & minimum 4 hours prior to assembly I allowed it to come to room temp.

Chocolate Ganache – I made it the night before the assembly. Kept at room temp overnight to allow it set properly. {Recipe below}

Low Fat Whipped Cream – I made on the morning of assembling, thought kept the beater & bowl in freezer at night only {Recipe below}

Cherry Pie Filling – I used cherry liquid (drained) instead of water. I reduced the sugar by half as I was already using sugar filled cherry liquid.

Recipe Source – loosely adapted from Tammy of Tammy’s Recipes

Ingredients -

• 5 Cups – Pitted Cherries {830 gms (wet weight) can yield 3 cups & 450 gms yield 2 cups pitted cherries, drained. Store cherry juice}
• 1 1/2 Cups – Sugar (adjust as per the tartness or sweetness of cherries)
• 1/4 Cup *+ 3 Tbsp – Drained Cherry Juice (adjust as per thickness required)
• 3 Tbsp – Cornstarch

Method -

1. Combine sugar & cherries in a thick bottom pan & stir. If cherries are soft & mushy, you won’t need more additional water but if they are firm, add 1/2-3/4 cup water.
2. Mix cornstarch in 3 Tbsp drained cherry juice separately. Make sure no lumps are formed.
3. When the cherries are boiling, slowly add cornstarch, stirring all the while. Allow the mixture to become clear & starch to dissolve completely. Do not overcook as the filling will start breaking down.
4. Remove from flame & allow to cool. When cool, store in an air-tight container in refrigerator.

Notes -I made a mistake & started with 1 cup water, the filling became very watery as sugar also releases water upon being subjected to heat. It took me a lot of time to reach desired consistency & I was scared all the while of over doing the filling.

Eggless Black Forest Cake with Cherry Pie Filling & Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Ganache -

Recipe Source – minimally adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients -

• 227 gms – Semi-sweet/ Bittersweet Chocolate, cut into small pieces (I used Hershey’s)
• 180 ml – Heavy Whipping Cream (I used Amul)
• 1 Tbsp – Unsalted Butter

Method -

1. Put chopped chocolate in a large bowl & keep aside.
2. In a saucepan, heat cream & butter on medium heat. As soon as it boils, remove from flame & pour over chopped chocolate.
3. Allow it to stand without mixing for few mins (about 3-4 mins). Do not stir as we do not want to incorporate air in Ganache.
4. Using a wooden spoon/ rubber spatula or whisk, gently stir by beginning in the center & gently moving out to the edge of the bowl.
5. When the chocolate is fully melted & mixture is smooth, add any liqueur or liquid flavorings (all should be at room temp.)
6. Allow it to cool down completely & set properly. Before storing, cover with a piece of plastic wrap pressed on the top of the ganache so a film doesn’t form.It can be stored at room temp in a cool corner for 2 days & freeze upto 3 months.

Whipped Cream from Low Fat Cream – I halved the recipe, reduced the amount of cream & increased butter little so as to achieve higher fat content & get stiffer peaks.

Recipe Source – loosely adapted from Deeba of Passionate About Baking

Ingredients -

• 300 gms – Low Fat Cream, Chilled (I used Amul -25% Fat)
• 90 gms – Unsalted Butter
• 3 Tbsp – Icing Sugar
• 1/2 tsp – Vanilla Extract

Method -

1. Refrigerate bowl & beater for 1/2 hour. I kept them overnight.
2. In a small pan, melt the butter & 1/2 cup cream, stirring constantly till the butter melts. Add vanilla extract.
3. Transfer to heat proof measuring cup & allow to cool to room temp.
4. In a large bottom vessel (I used a wok), place ice cubes & prepare an ice bath.
5. Place the chilled bowl over ice bath & beat the remaining cream & sugar on low speed till soft peaks are reached.
6. Now begin adding the butter-cream mixture in a gradual stream, beating all the while on low speed until stiff peaks are formed.
   

   Eggless Black Forest Cake with Cherry Pie Filling & Chocolate Ganache

Assembling the Cake – technique adapted from ehow

1. Take a cardboard pieces & cut it out 1 inch bigger than the cake pan. Cover it with the golden paper. Cake base is ready.
2. Allow your cake assembling ingredients to come to room temperature – cake, cherry pie filling & syrup. In the meanwhile, prepare the whipped cream.
3. Place the prepared cake base on a flat base or cake table.
4. Using a serrated knife, carefully slice the cake horizontally into 2 halves. Liberally sprinkle both sides of halves with sugar syrup. Place the top half on the base upside down.
5. Fill the ganache in a frosting bag & using small star tip, make 2-3 circles of ganache on the base cake to create a sort of dam as we do not want the cream to spill out when we fill it in.
6. Then using a rubber spatula, fill the dam with whipped cream, spreading till the edge of the dam.
7. Now place some dollops of cherry pie-filling on the cream. This is just to give that extra flavor of cherry when we bite in. No need to spread a big layer, just some dollops would do.
8. Place the second layer of cake with bottom up (as this has a smooth & flat top) on top of of first layer. Allow this to set in fridge for few minutes so that ganache is set & doesn’t get disturbed when we start decorating.
9. Remove from fridge. With the help of frosting spatula, spread ganache on the sides of the cake completely. Smooth the ends & spread any extra ganache towards the top centre. Since we are going to fill the top with cherry pie filling, the top can be little untidy, it won’t show.
10. Take the ganache filled frosting bag & make small scallop design, press & then pull forward, again press & pull forward the tip, at the base of the cake. This gives a clean edge to the cake.
11. Now fill the remaining whipped cream in a frosting bag & using a bigger star-tip make alternate shells or any other design you want on the edge.
12. Now fill the centre with the remaining cherry-pie filling & spread towards the edges without spoiling the cream.
13. Chill the cake covered for atleast 4 hours for best taste. Slice & serve.
    

    Eggless Black Forest Cake with Cherry Pie Filling & Chocolate Ganache

You can’t imagine the amount of butterflies I had in my stomach for last 1 week leading upto the day. I was hoping for atleast the photos to come out great & not let me down. The cake was very tasty, chocolatey, crumbly & soft. I guess use of Chocolate Pudding Filling in the batter gave it the extra chocolatey taste. Every bite was real heaven.

I turned out to be a bit messy looking cake as – I’m a clueless decorator, the cake broke into 2 while slicing into layers, I forgot to soak each layer & just did the top one. The ganache on the sides didn’t spread as neat as I had hoped & the whipped cream despite all my calculation for stiff peak, didn’t hold for even a minute. Nevertheless, the cake was very rich & heavenly!!!

Eggless Black Forest Cake with Cherry Pie Filling & Chocolate Ganache

Sending this to My Favorite Dish Event by Ammu of Ammaji Recipes. In a pastry shop we are spoiled for choices these days, but time & again I come back to eating the good old Black Forest Cake/ Pastry & that is why it is a favorite dish with me.