Fruit in Baking ~ Monthly Mingle Hosted By Deeba

The minute I read Deeba's post where she's guest hosting Meeta's Monthly Mingle with the theme Fruits in Baking.... I just had to get cracking....... Also this month's her birthday.... So what better than making her something with fruits in it.... Brain Ticking... What is it that I make well with fruits? What fruits are easily available in the market.... Apples n Bananas... She's already done so much Apple that my Apple Crumble and Apple Pie was not a patch on the awesome stuff she does......

Ok so I could do Banana Upside down cake... I love it and so do others... But Deeba likes COFFEE
or maybe a Banoffee Pie which I haven't made for some time with a twist, will add coffee to it.....

Come 14th November....called her up to wish her n check what's a good time to drop by as her sister's in town n wish her with a surprise..... n guess what she pried out of me what the surprise was... and thank God she did.... She doesn't like Bananas....... WHACK...... idea smacked out...
Back to Square 1....... with hardly any time left till the evening....... Any good cake needs time....

Racked my brains again..... She likes COFFEE[Since it's Tiramisu month, it fits the coffee bill perfectly.... Then alarm bells ring to remind me that's what I made for her last year too... can't make the same thing again] Back to Square 1....... Yet Again......
Hmmmm so now I start thinking Cake... So there's COFFEE again[that's permanent on the Ingredient Checklist] n in spices she uses Cinnamon fairly regularly[brings out the flavour of coffee with brilliance, works well for me... added to Ingredient Checklist] and there is loads of Chocolate[added to Ingredient Checklist] always which her kids love.....
Hey!!!! where's the Fruit element??? I add Rum soaked raisins to the Ingredient Checklist cause they are my favourite.... and yes... Raisins are fruit cause they are dried grapes.....
So off I go to put together her cake with COFFEE, Cinnanon, Chocolate n Raisins.

Raisins are often known as nature's candy, they are counted amongst the most nutritious dried fruits in the whole world. They are cholesterol-free, low in sodium, high in fiber and totally fat-free. Apart from that, they contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, making their nutritional value very high. Raisins are the best source of quick energy, as they contain 70 percent pure fructose, which gets digested by the body easily and gives instant energy.[Source]

Nutritional Value of Raisins- [Source]
Given below is the amount of nutrients in 100 gm of raisins:
Total Carbohydrates - 79 gm
Dietary Fiber - 4 gm
Sugars - 59 gm
Protein - 3 gm
Vitamin C - 2.3 mg
Vitamin E - 0.12 mg
Vitamin K - 3.5 mcg
Thiamin - 0.106 mg
Riboflavin - 0.125 mg
Niacin - 0.766 mg
Vitamin B6 - 0.174 mg
Folate - 5 mcg
Calcium - 50 mg
Iron - 1.88 mg
Magnesium - 32 mg
Phosphorus - 101 mg
Potassium - 749 mg
Sodium - 11 mg
Zinc - 0.22 mg
Copper - 0.318 mg
Manganese - 0.299 mg
Selenium - 0.6 mcg

Health & Nutrition Benefits of Eating Raisins
1. Having antioxidant properties, raisins help keep the blood clean and flowing, by getting rid of all the impurities.
2. Raisins are believed to be good for bone density and have been associated with lower risk of osteoporosis in women.
3. The phytonutrients and olenolic acid present in raisins makes them beneficial for the health of teeth and gums.
4. Raisins are good for eyes and have been found to be helpful in prevention of macular degeneration.
5. Being high in calories, but not fats, raisins are a very good source of energy, especially for children and athlete.
6. Raisins are a good source of fiber and can help cure constipation. For the purpose, boil raisins in a saucepan of water, strain the liquid and drink it.
7. Studies claim that raisins contain additional nutritive compounds that can protect against heart disease and colon cancer.

So now I'm all ready and packed up to be delivered......

Coffee Chocolate Raisin Cake
Ingredients:
Eggs - 4
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 Teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Dark cocoa powder - 2 Tablespoon
Coffee Powder - 3 Tablespoon
Cinnamon - 1 Teaspoon freshly ground [2 teaspoons if used a packaged variety]

For Ganache
Cooking Chocolate - 200gms
Cream - 200 gms [I use amul cream]
White chocolate shavings
confetti for the topping

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Sift the dry ingredients and just mix together with a spoon to get an even mix.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar beat until creamy and light in colour.
4. Add vanilla extract and oil to the mixture.Mix to incorporate without loosing the fluff from the mixture.
5. Add the Flour, Baking powder, cocoa powder, coffee and cinnamon and incorporate with a light circular movement without losing the fluff. The color of the cocoa batter should be quite dark.
6. Pour in greased and floured the sides of the cake tin. Mid way sprinkle soaked raisins[I'm very generous with them ;)] Pour in the rest of the batter evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes till the tester comes out clean

Decoration with Chocolate Ganache:
1. While the cake is baking, put 200ml cream with the dark chocolate on simmer & continue to stir till the chocolate has melted. Take off from heat & allow to cool completely,[NEVER the freezer]. Give it a few stirs, this will thicken as it cools.
2. Spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cooled cake evenly. Refrigerate.
3. Use the white chocolate shavings to neaten the edges of the cake.
Tip: To moisten the cake you could pour come of the warm icing so that cake absorbs it and is moist without having resting time in the refrigerator.

This Coffee, Chocolate Raisin Cake is my entry for the Monthly Mingle that Deeba is guest hosting for Meeta. If you are BAKING WITH FRUIT this month, do send it in to Monthly Mingle posted HERE. You have until the 22nd of November to get the entries in!

Daksayani was so excited about Deeba's Birthday that she sat down and made quite an elaborate garden on her card....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEEBA.... WISHING YOU 48 HAPPY HOURS IN A DAY, EVERYDAY......
:)

Sharing some more love....
Sending Deeba's birthday Coffee Chocolate Raisin Cake to 'The Chocolate Fest' Hosted by Madhuri at Cook Curry Nook.

‘The Chocolate Fest’ – Celebrating CCN’s 1st Anniversary

Be a part of 'The Chocolate Fest'. Let's levitate together in Chocolate Nirvana!

Football is an incredible game... So make Football Cake for MAN-U Fan, Karan

Hey!!!! Karan.... Happy birthday....... 2 parties.... what fun.... :-)

“Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it's so incredible, it's unbelievable.” Tom Landry.

Karan is crazy about football and as you would have guessed by now, his favorite team is Manchester United..... His cake had to have a Football on it.....

The cake is the same one these guys had earlier at Tarini's[Karan's sister] birthday... posted here . Karan's friends wiped out the cake really quick....

This cake was humongous effort cause..... I spent the entire night making this cake, started working on the cake at 10pm and finished at 2:35am.... and went to work after sleeping for 5 hours only....

This cake had me weeping over a failed cake for the first time..... Had made a cake the night before and thought will be organised n prepared..... Things don't always go as planned.... after i put the cake in to bake.... the oven stopped heating midway...... 2 such ovens went Kaput the same nite..... I was in tears to see my cake fail for the first time in so long....... Thank god I had a day's extra time at hand.....

Had to inform Vibha at midnight, that I would be able to make only 1 cake instead of 2...... Made me feel really bad..... Just had to make the cake cause Karan was very excited about a football cake......couldn't disappoint him.....

Finally all turned out well..... the cake was a smashing hit..... :-)

SMS from Karan's mom, "Hey Nachi! V late response, but have just wound up the party. The cake as always was amazing! took a few pictures, but not enough cause it got polished off in a jiffy! You surpassed yourself as usual... :-) Thanks a zillion. Can't get over your humongous effort! "

Chocolate... Will you be my Valentine?

It's that time of the year when love is in the air.... well... quite literally....... can see baloons flying everywhere.... so how can my baking be far behind.....

My friends showed me some love.... n for the first time... I was gonna be baking cakes to order, for Valentine's... so what is it that they want?

CHOCOLATE..... Pat came the reply....

Ok then, Hearts n Chocolate you will get... :-)

Bhaskar flying out to meet Onu.... 1 flight pack, heart shape cake coming up.....

Gunjan n Sahil fly out for a trip to Goa.... Another flight pack coming up... [even though i couldn't make it, atleast my cake went to Goa...]

Valentine's morning.... Anuj n Amit arive to pick up their cakes...

Anuj wanted to surprise his wife Sheetal.... Cup cakes for them and their 2 lovely girls....

Amit picked up the cake topped with Nutella for Amrita....

Are you in love yet... Nutella is the perfect answer.....

Nikhil's parents celebrated their anniversary a day later with a surprise cake......

My sister's birthday is on the 15th... some valentine love for her and the kids.....

The kids wanted to blow the candles n eat the cake before we could say C-A-K-E.

After all that cake, we had to peel the kids off the wall with all that sugar in them... they were bouncing off the walls... :-)

That's little kanaav with his mommy, masi n big sisters...

Off this post goes to a Valentine’s Day Special event, by Nina of Confessions of a Bake-a-holic!. The recipe for the 'Chocolate Black out Cake' I made for Valentine's is here....

Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) in Star Trek(The Next Generation) echoes me, when she said 'I never met a chocolate I didn't like.'

Update: nina's round up of 'Bake-a-Cake Event' is posted on her blog.

Chocolate Butterfly Cake ~ For a Sweetie Pie, Mishti

9pm, No electricity on Sunday nite after a totally tiring weekend... am weary to the point where my eyes hurt if I close them, I lay down on the bed, close my eyes... n WHACK the thought hits me.... I promised my friend at work Komal, that I would do a cake for her daughter Mishti's birthday..... I sit ramrod straight in bed.... What do I do????
Call Komal, tell her no electricity n no enegry, so no cake..... Now I'm not getting thru Komal's number.... Total Panic attack in my head.... What do I do NOW????? How can a kid have a birthday party without a fancy cake......
My conscience got the better of me..... Started thinking what cake to do..... Thoughts whizzing thru my head..... just let me put a chocolate cake into the oven n be done with it.......

Awww... Come on nachiketa... The kids been asking for cake from 'Nachiketa'..... Can't make this any less special for her..... The butterfly formed in my head..... Went hunting for my cake base.... and chart paper... Got out my baking stuff... fired up the oven and finally finished by midnight.....

That's Mishti with her cake..... She loved it.... Was so lovely to see her eyes light up at the sight of the cake...... The effort was so totally worth it....

Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake:
1+ ½ Cup All purpose Flour [Maida]
1+ ½ Cup Sugar [Powdered]
½ cup Refined Oil
4 Eggs
½ tsp Vanilla Essence
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ Cup Cocoa Powder

Icing:
3 Cups Icing Sugar
40 gms Soft Butter
Few drops of Pink and Blue Food Colour

Method:
For Cake:
Pre-heat the oven.
Sieve All purpose Flour [Maida], Cocoa n baking powder together in a bowl.
In a separate bowl beat eggs till fluffy, slowly adding the sugar beat well.
Add the maida and oil alternatively, using the dry-wet-dry method.
Stir in. Do not over mix.
Grease a baking dish, and pour in the mixture.
Bake at 175 degree centigrade for about 30-40 minutes or till an inserted toothpick comes clean.
Cool on a wire rack


For Icing:
On slow fire, heat butter and icing Sugar till butter is soft.
Take off heat and stir till incorporated.
Add a few drops of water to get pouring consistency in the mixture.
Divide icing into half.
Add food colour to get the shade you like, Red and Blue to the divided mixtures. [I used a few drops of red... red n white makes pink ;-) ]
Pour the pink mixture over both the cakes and smoothen.
Fill the blue in an icing bag and pipe away.
Decorate with sprinkles.

Happy Birthday, Mishti :-)