Heralding the New Year with Vegan Chocolate Cake and Friends

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.”
Anonymous

Heralding the new year with friends.... Shuchi, Radhika and Gauri. Radhika very sweetly got us her new experiment to give the year to such a wonderful start.....

Radhika's Vegan Mocha Cake Recipe
Inspired n Adpated from here.

Ingredients for Chocolate Cake
Dry
2 1/2 cups of sifted whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar [doesnt make any difference if its granular or caster]
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt

Wet
1 cup of apple sauce/maple syrup/golden syrup
2 cups of warm water
2/3 cup of vegetable oil
2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 teaspoon of white or apple cider vinegar

Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
Half a 350 g package of firm tofu
4 tablespoons maple/golden syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup of soy or almond milk
100 g to 200 g 70% dark chocolate bar (melted in a double boiler) [i used few pieces of baileys liquor chocolate to give that extra kick]
1 teaspoon of Coffee Powder

Topping-
Fresh Strawberries

Putting It All Together-

Directions: 350° F (175° C); for 15 minutes or less for moister cake

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease baking pans with Earth Balance natural buttery spread.
3. To ensure the cakes don't stick, place a handful of flour in each pan and shake pan until covered. Or, with a pencil, trace the bottom of the baking pan on the wax paper, cut out circles, and line pans.
4. Sift flour into a large bowl, adding flakes of bran back into the flour if sifted out.
5. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients.
6. In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients and whisk.
7. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until smooth.
8. Pour vegan chocolate cake mixture equally into baking pans.
9. Place pans in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a fork comes out clean.
10. Allow chocolate cake to cool before removing from pans.

How to Make Frosting
1. Add all ingredients, except the chocolate and coffee powder, into a food processor.
2. Melt dark chocolate bar in a double boiler.
3. Blend ingredients until smooth and then slowly add melted chocolate and coffee powder.
4. Once blended, let cool in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the tofu has time to absorb the flavors. Frosting will also thicken as it sits.
5. If not chocolatey enough for you, melt and add more dark chocolate.

Frosting Your Vegan Mocha Cake
1. Place one cake flat side up on a plate and spread with icing.
2. Place other cake flat side down on top of icing.
3. Spread the remainder of the icing over the entire double-layered cake and serve.

This delicious mocha cake is perfect when served with fresh strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries.

A quick note: the texture and flavor of the cake with vary slightly depending on whether maple syrup or apple sauce is used. If you prefer a cake less moist, simply use two cups of sugar instead of apple sauce and maple/golden syrup.

Coffee, Pizza Chocolate n Gupshup at a friend's ~ My Blanket of Warmth

“We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police.” Jeff Marder, Comedian.
better still get to your friend's place pronto, especially when you have friends who bake you up a mean pizza with awesome Starbucks coffee...
She specially got me chocolates n coffee from Singapore..... Does she know me or what....
Thank god for such fabulous friends... :)

This pizza has the same ingredients I've eaten in my fav pizza as a kid...... Mutton Sausage, Capsicum Onion Pizza at Nirula's...... Many many many memories at various outlets of this chain... :)


Have been savoring the Bailey's Truffle bar over many days... :)

Am so proud of Radhika's forays in the kitchen... she just keeps getting better, some yummies by her:
New Baker Radhika's Microwave Coffee Cake
Rummy Coffee Cinnamon Rum Cake ~ By my Guest Radhika

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.]

Sugarfree Cherry Brownies ~ Happy Birthday Radhika

Happy Birthday Radhika :)
Yeah you guessed it... She L-O-V-E-S Coffee... met her while doing my MBA.... She's such a lively person with an amazing sense of humour.

We've had a great time together over the years.....

The 5 of us have been quite a gang.... from left to right in the picture below... Surbhi, Rads, me, Shuchi n Kanika...

We celebrated her birthday at Hard Rock Cafe, while doing something she generally advised against... she says "Don't mix your drinks" yet we all mixed our drinks :)

Radhika's brief to me for the cake/dessert was LOW Sugar, NO Cream, Chocolatey for sure, Fruity [likes Cherries, Apricots n Peaches but not Mangoes]. So I set out to think of what can fit the bill...... 'Sugarfree Cherry Brownies' glazed with Chocolate and Peaches. We cut the brownie cake outside as Hard Rock didn't allow outside food....

These brownies had a comforting feel to them... a welcome break from fruity desserts... finally she could also eat chocolate without feeling very guilty...

Sugarfree Cherry Brownies

Ingredients:
100 gms Chocolate
1 cup Flour (minus 1 heaped tsp)
1 heaped tsp Cocoa Powder
3/4 cup Baking Splenda
3/4 cup softened Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
4 Eggs
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 table spoons Raspberry Conserve [no added sugar]
1 cup chopped n de-seeded Fresh Cherries + extra for decoration[optional]

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees. Prepare the baking tray by linking with parchment paper {leave some hanging on the sides}
2. In a double boiler{over hot water} melt the chocolate and butter. Mix well till both are melted and incorporated.
3. Cool to slightly higher than room tempertature.
4. Stir in baking splenda and vanilla.
5. Stir in chopped cherries in the above mixture and let them sit for a bit. In the mean time beat the eggs.


6. Add lightly beaten eggs slowly to the above mixture, while mixing.
7. Stir in the sifted flour and salt. mix very lightly till incorporated.
8. Pour mixture evenly in the tray.
9. Garnish with cherries on top.
10. Bake in the pre-heated oven, reducing temperature to 180 degrees.
11. Bake for about 30-40 minutes till skewer come clean {this will not for a flaky crust like normal brownies as there is no sugar for browning.}


Read a helpful tip at purplefoodie.com about chopped cherries... "When you’re pitting cherries, it’s important that you dunk them into a bowl with sugar, to coat the exposed layer of the cherry. Pitted cherries brown pretty fast, and thought you can’t tell in cakes and pies, you can most certainly notice the brown tinge in a frozen yoghurt."
In my sugarfree brownies, had no such worries but you could find this tip handing while working with most fruits :)


For those of you who can eat sugar, Chocolate Espresso Brownies are some sinfully yummy brownies I made for Shuchi earlier on her birthday. Some of the pictures in this post are taken by Madhurima Sil, a colleague. You can view her collection of pictures at www.madhurimasil.com

Verdict:
Radhika says: Thanks for the yummy brownies. They made my birthday so much sweeter! may you always keep coming up with such yummilicious creations that make us feel like we tasted a peiece of heaven :) muuuaahhhhh

Sid Khullar: Delicious! Going to save one for morning coffee. Can't wait to try the ones with real sugar. Thank you.

New Baker Radhika's Microwave Coffee Cake

Radhika's my friend from college.... Another one to have a chip on their baking shoulder..... She was also bitten by the baking bug and ventured where Gauri n I haven't been... Baking in a Microwave....

The cake came out very well... clean on the sides.... soft, spongy n in Radhika's words "Coffee n Rum Cake..wt Coffee Sauce Drizzlin'...purely edible!!;)"


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 Radhika 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 maida 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 receipe. [Radhika's variation: baked at 180 c in convection mode for 25 minutes.]

Verdict:
Thanks Radhika, It was just YUMMY.... I loved it.... most of my blog will tell u I love coffee flavour n this was a total treat to have, the first cake by rads...... totally awesome it was....
The rum n cinnamon was adding body to the cake while the texture was soft n spongy.....

The center needed some more cooking though.... next time.....
n all of this done in a microwave... like FANTASTIC.... :)