Rummmmmmy.... Coffee Cinnamon Rum Cake ~ By my Guest Radhika

This is my celebrations for reaching 200 blog posts.... A lot of you will wonder, why am I not making something fancy to celebrate it. Getting to the 200th post has been a journey full of wonderful people who walked with me in life and some joined me thru the blog world.

So I thought of having an event called 'Celebrations' where I would open out my blog to some of my friends who would share some parts of their journey with me as Guest Posts......

My guest today Radhika, met her while doing my MBA.... She's such a lively person with an amazing sense of humour.

For her birthday I made 'Sugarfree Cherry Brownies'. We had such a blast at Hard Rock cafe, having met after a while as we had all gotten busy with work. The fun we have together just cannot be put down in words.

We met for lunch to welcome the new year and ended up having coffee [how can we talk about rads and not mention C-O-F-F-E-E :), rads should have been born in Ghana on a coffee plantation] at Tea leaf n Coffee bean.....
I just wouldn't let them eat/drink anything the whole afternoon, till I was done clicking. Yes, I admit, am an incurable 'Foodus Bloggerus'. [If you dine with us, you’ll learn the art of patience. Yes we even want to photograph the bread and butter. Food is better a bit colder right? Or so we’d like to convince you.
This is something most people complain of when they go out with us..... They're getting familiar with this symptom now... Like they have a choice lol.. ;-) ]

A small something for the Indian readers of Radhika.... She will select 1 lucky commenter to win complimentary vouchers of Route 04, a diner tucked away in Khan Market, New Delhi. So be sure to leave a note at the end of this post with your location. Readers in other countries can share the same with anyone in proximity of the restaurant.

Radhika Writes.....

On the of 200th post on Nachiketa’s Crazy over Desserts, a small tribute to the Woman behind those gorgeous lip smacking desserts...:-)

As All Never-Ending Stories ‘Begin....

Once upon a time, there lived a princess (that’s ME!!) who thought she had met all genres of mankind and couldn’t be surprised out of her Nikes anymore. Little did she know, that 2001 would be the year when she would meet one of the most intriguing, beguiling and infuriating Soul that God ever created [He never did have the strength I guess to try to replicate it ;-) ]

As the princess walked into her very first class of International Business in the “renowned” Amity B. School, she felt like someone was Tap dancing over her grave. But as soon as she glanced around, shared a few smiles and kind words with an Enigma known to the world as Nachiketa Chandra, the world weary princess(ME) knew she still has a lot to learn in the art of living :)

“Nachi Maa” as she is fondly known by everyone in Amity who adores this hyperactive, loud voiced and stubborn woman is one of the few friends I am lucky to have in my life for close to 10 years now. Full of energy that can give Sun a run for its money, more stubborn than a mule and supportive to the end is what makes Nachi someone that you love to hate and hate to love ;-) She was the one who talked me (more like coerced me) into wearing a SAREE for a Managing Self presentation so that our group can give a professional front, never forgotten the sheer fear of trying not to fall flat on my face while talking about “Managing Self”!!!!
Right from the days of browbeating some special few like Shuchi, Kanika, Surbhi and me to prepare notes in the library before exams, to encouraging me and Shuchi to give a stint in the kitchen, it’s been a rollercoaster journey throughout!

I have this habit (bad?) of penning down my emotions, especially when I feel that I'm falling into the dark abyss of nothingness and despair. Nachi and Shuchi have always been my truest critics and have always encouraged me to let go through my writing, even though it’s bad enough not to be even tagged as “Writing” at times.

So Nachi, I herby dedicate this emotional torture that I penned down to you... for this is what you are to me! Love you loads! God Bless u always!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

As We Travel Down The Mysterious Road Called Life,
Often We Come Across Lives That Touch Us Deep Inside...
Guiding Us Through The Mystifying Paths Of Love Lost And Broken Hearts,
Helping Us Get Back On Our Feet As We Stumble Down in Self Doubt…
Protecting Us Against The Torrent Storms Of Failures And Misgivings..
A Shield of Strength and Full of Selfless Giving..
These Blessed Souls…Whom We Meet In Our Journey..
Might Get Separated At Crossroads of Time,
But They Leave A Poignant Print in Our Thoughts and Mind..
For They Know You Better Than You Know Yourself,
And Would Always Be A Part of Your Innermost Self...
That’s Why They Are Called Friends…


After taking a VRS (temporarily), after slogging nonstop for 6.5 years, due to a back problem, I was left twirling my thumbs with sheer boredom with my first and only love, novels, also not engaging my grey cells for long! I started visiting Nachi’s blog more often and was inspired to try some quickie cake baking in the microwave. I baked a “Coffee Cinnamon Rum Cake” as my first attempt which turned out to be as how first attempts often do, edible but not as appealing to the eye. In walked Nachi with her taste buds and mind filled with ideas of how to present it better. She didn’t let me give up my futile attempts at baking, much to the dismay of my family members who are the first ones to suffer every time I experiment in the kitchen :)
Microwave Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Self rising flour/maida- 1 cup
Milk- 1/4 cup
Brown Sugar- 3/4 cup
Butter,softened- 3/4 cup
Instant coffee- 3 tablespoon
Boiling water- 1 tablespoon
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
Eggs- 2
Vanilla essence- 2 tablespoon

[Substitutions I made- Instead of vanilla essence, added 1 tablespoon of cocoa + 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon Powder. Also, added a splash of spiced rum, one can use any dark rum or even sherry would do]

Method:
Preheat the oven at 180 c
Grease and line an 8' round cake tin
Sift Flour and Baking powder, Cocoa and Cinnamon Powder twice and keep aside.
Dissolve Instant Coffee in the water.
Cream butter and sugar till fluffy.
Add eggs 1 by 1, beating well.
Add rum and mix.
Alternatively add flour and milk to the mix, beginning and ending with flour.
Pour in greased tin and bake for 30-35 minutes
MICROWAVE- 80% for 8 minutes as per the recipe.
[My variation: baked at 180 c in convection mode for 25 minutes.]