Egg-less Coffee Walnut Cake Trifle ~ By my Guest Suma

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 is Suma of Cakes and More. She says in her introduction that she is 'A hardcore foodie with an incorrigible sweet tooth - thatz me! Have started baking a couple of year's ago and am loving every moment of baking,learning by trial and error, researching on the net on cakes, baking and cake-decoration in particular' and let me tell you... every word is true.

What I really like about her is her willingness to share and grow as a community. She's even written a post about Baking Supplies, Baking Ingredients In Bangalore and another one on 'Institute Of Baking and Cake Art - A Discovery!!!'. It's rare to come across such nice people, and when I do... I cherish n treasure them :)

She has a knack for creating yummy 'Any Time Treats'. I loved her Fresh toast with a citrus twist.

She started in Jan 2010, with a lovely cake for her daughter Aditi, saying "Having two hyper active kids,juggling part-time office work and school home work,a passion for food comes as a delicious respite. Cooking is something I find extremely satisfying - gastronomically and otherwise. I keep finding new excuses to call someone over for cold coffee and sandwiches, freeze a cake ice cream for a rainy-oops-sunny day:-)),make some extra cake just in case my kids( read I ) feel like having a cake fudge, give just one more try to get the chocolate cigars right. Food is on my mind 24/7,food is a big part of my life - You get the picture." We totally get the picture Suma and love the colours you've filled in it... :)

She's got 93 posts done in some 9 months.... that's over 10 posts in a month... totally awesome regularity :)

Wasn't able to write posts for a while due to some life situations..... n Suma was just so totally supportive throughout n very understanding..... Thanks for being there...

A small something for the Indian readers of Suma.... She will select 1 lucky commenter to win complimentary vouchers of Choko La(You can get your fill of chocolates at this place), in Vasant Vihar, 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.

Suma Writes.....

'A cheerful vivacious extrovert, fun to be with - this is how Nachiketa describes herself. A very apt description indeed!! Though I have never met her in person, this is exactly how she comes across as. The profusion of cheerful pictures on her blog and the number of smiling faces in them a testimony to the same. Her way of striking up an instant camaraderie with people makes them feel like they are speaking to a person they know since ages. I can imagine the infectious energy she would be bringing in anywhere she goes. I envy her colleagues who probably spend a lot of time with her and also get to feast on the desserts which she dishes up ever so often.

The kind of person who would dare the blues to hit her. Come blues and she would probably chase it away with yet another dessert. Who can think of making Sugar-free Brownies as 'prashad'. Lol!! Am sure the diabetic and weight-watching folks are not complaining :-) The fact that she is dessert crazy is one of things which make me relate to her, being the incorrigible dessert-loving person I am myself. The urge to keep on trying out new desserts, specially baked ones - yes that's all too familiar to me.

She wouldn't mind staying up till the wee hours of the morning baking a whopping 265 muffins and...neither.. would... I.. or would I?? Given that I would have to deal with 2 hyper active kids, work and a household to run when I wake up. Hahaha!! This footloose and fancy free girl is sure having her share of fun - baking, blogging and spreading the cheer around. What better way to do it than food and desserts at that!! Do you detect a trace of envy here?? You bet, I envy her and envy her and envy her!!!

Keep up the spirit Nachiketa!!

I got a call from Nachiketa a couple of weeks ago with regard to a guest post on her blog as a celebration of completing 200 posts. Thank you so very much for giving me this opportunity Nachiketa!

I was all game for it and it had to be a dessert of course. Here comes a simple, yet satisfying, quick and easy trifle just for you Nachiketa! Layers of coffee cake and cream with the crunch of walnuts thrown in for good measure.

Egg-less Coffee Walnut Cake Trifle

This easy- to- put- together dessert can of course be made with any cake, here I have used an egg-less cake adapted from a Tarla Dalal recipe. The recipe goes like this

Ingredients for the cake
Plain Flour -3/4 Cup
Sugar (powdered) 1/3 cup
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Instant coffee - 1 teaspoon dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water( keep the water hot). Use only hot water if you want a plain cake
Melted butter -1/4 cup
Sour curd - 2 Tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1/2 teaspoon
Walnuts, Chopped - 1/4 Cup

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Grease and line a 7'' diameter cake tin.

Sieve the flour. Keep aside. Mix the soda bicarb and curd in a bowl and keep aside. Combine the butter, sugar and hot water mixed with the coffee in a mixing bowl. Add the flour mixture, curds and vanilla essence and mix gently. Fold in the chopped walnuts. Pour the batter into the cake tin. Bake for 30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, remove the cake and cool on a cooling rack.

Once completely cool, slice the cake horizontally into two slices. Cut small circles using a cookie cutter. Keep aside.

Sugar Syrup:
Water 1/4 cup with 1tsp sugar( you may need more syrup if using a dry sponge)
A drop of vanilla essence. Mix everything and refrigerate till needed.

Whipping Cream : 3/4 Cup(I have used sweetened whipping cream)
Grated Dark Chocolate for garnish.

Chill the cream, the bowl and the beaters for at least an hour. Whip the cream to a soft peak stage over a bowl of ice, for approximately 5-6 minutes. Fill the cream in a piping bag with a coupler, NO nozzle.

To Assemble:
Arrange the cake circles at the bottom of the glasses.(Push in gently to fit, with a spoon if needed). Brush the sugar syrup lightly over the cake. Pipe some cream over the cake. Repeat the process with more more cake circles, sugar syrup and cream ending with the cream. Garnish with grated dark chocolate and chill for at least 4-5 hours before serving.