Cherry and Cashew Topped Vanilla Cake

Hi friends!

I am getting little irregular in posting, as I am going through a terribly busy schedule... but can't help really... everything is part of life! However, this does not mean that I have stopped my baking projects. My weekend baking spree is still on... and in this gap, I have already gathered enough stock for couple of my next posts. One of these, is this one - Cherry and Cashew Topped Vanilla Cake.

This is a complete tea-time cake or good for your between-the-meals snack craving. You can also use this as breakfast by topping with your favorite jam or jelly. Obviously this type of no-icing cakes are best for your kids lunchbox and most of the time, I prefer to bake these ones. On the health-side, this one is better, as it does not have any creamy icing on top. But, this is definitely not a dessert cake. 

These days, whenever I visit my friends or relatives place, I make it a point to bake for them. I believe, a home-baked fresh cake is much, much better than the store-bought ones - because, it has this personal touch, which is simply priceless! And I have seen, all my close friends and relatives - they do enjoy to have a freshly baked cake from me - that really gives me extreme pleasure. So, this cake was baked with the same intention. I specifically avoided an iced-cake, as I had to carry this for long distance. 

I did not have much time to shop for the ingredients, so I decided upon this cake, as everything was available in my stock. The cashews were brought from Goa, and I wanted to use these cashews, in various ways - not only in cake, but also in other recipes. But, before I could make extensive use of the cashews, the pack was about to get finished all of a sudden. People, at my home, were lavishly snacking just on cashews. So, I grabbed the last part of it and could use only in few of my cakes... :) The cherries which I had in stock, was dried type. So, I soaked these cherries in a cup of warm water for couple of hours, and they were ready to use.

The process is very simple. The batter was similar, as of the Basic Vanilla Cake. I took, 1/2 cup of cherries and 1/2 cup of cashews. Sprinkled some flour on top and then 3/4th part of this mix, was added to the batter. The rest of the cherries and cashews were placed on top of the batter, after pouring it into the greased pan. Pre-heated the oven at 160C and baked the cake for 30-35 minutes.

Once the cake was ready, I left it in the cake pan itself, to cool down at room temperature. Then wrapped with cling wrap for carrying the cake through long distance driving.

Happy baking, friends...

Coconutty Strawberry Cup Cakes and a Bleeding Heart!!!

Cupcakes are the first love of my kids... why only kids, I think, everyone loves to eat cupcakes! The cute and simple look of the cupcakes, the varied flavors and the easy-to-make nature -  all these have made the cupcakes so popular, I guess! 

All my baking projects are done in my microwave - and for the cupcake projects, I do really feel the need of an OTG. Because, in a microwave you cannot bake more than 8 cupcakes at a time. And 8 is not at all a considerable count, when it comes to cupcakes... you know, what I mean! So, I have bought another set of 8 cupcake moulds, which make it 16... at least this count of cupcakes will last for couple of days for my family. 

This strawberry cupcake recipe is so unique, probably you've never tasted it. The regular cake shops generally don't keep cupcakes, even if they do - you'll not get this one, I am sure. So the only way to taste this super-simple strawberry cupcakes, is to make them at home. 

I have learnt this recipe from my baking guru, Lynette. During the fondant class, she wanted to treat us with something unique, as the after-class snacks and then she brought these lovey-dovey cutey-cutey cupcakes. We were simply amazed to see her skill - these cupcakes were absolute delicacy and yet so simple to make. Perhaps that's the mastery of any art, which teaches you to make elegant yet simple art pieces - and baking is an art!!!

Coming back to the recipe - prepare the cupcake batter - it will be a simple vanilla batter which I've mentioned earlier in my blog - The Basic Vanilla Cake. Additionally for the decoration purpose you will need -

Strawberry Crush - 2 cups

Water - 4 cups

Desiccated Coconut - 2 cups

Preheat your oven at 160C. Do not put cupcake liners on the cupcake moulds. Butter the cupcake moulds nicely and then pour the batter into the moulds. The moulds should be only 3/4th part filled with the batter, as you need to keep some space for the cupcakes to increase in size while baking. Place the moulds inside the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 mins at 160C. Bring out of the oven and carefully remove the moulds. Place the cupcakes on a flat plate or sheet and allow them to cool at room temperature.

In a big bowl, mix the strawberry crush with water. 

Spread the desiccated coconut in another large plate. 

Take each cupcake, dip them in liquid strawberry crush for a minute or so and then immediately, roll over the desiccated coconut. Spread some amount of coconut on top too. Do this for all the cupcakes. As a final decoration, spread 1 teaspoon of strawberry crush on top. As an alternate, you can put 1 fresh strawberry slice on top. Allow the cupcakes to chill inside refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours before serving.

I had made only 16 cupcakes, so I had some extra batter. I decided to make another heart-shaped cake with that. 

And here is what came out from the microwave.

Again sprinkled the desiccated coconut on top and drizzled some amount of strawberry crush... which ultimately looked like a bleeding heart!!! Huh....

Happy baking! See you again!!! :)

Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Hello friends!!!

Off late I am getting irregular with my posts and I am extremely sorry for that... Couple of family get-together and then my elder daughters results were out this Monday... so I was quite busy during this time. But that could not stop my weekend baking projects - I made few easier projects of cupcakes in last few weekends. Those will appear in my next posting - images are queuing up to be watermarked... so I am back with a bang, you can say!!

So let me pick up from where I was in my previous blog - A Vanilla Sponge Cake. I used a vanilla sponge cake to prepare this fresh strawberry cake. My baking guru - Lynette, shared few tips and after applying those tips it came out quite well. But, I won't say I was super successful in this project. After assembling the cake, I kept it in refrigerator for over-night and the next day I carried it to my brother-in-law's place, which is in 40-45 mins distance from my house. The car a/c was put on High and my hubby tried his best to give the cake a smooth ride - but still the cake got little soggy and the fresh cream icing was almost going to slide from the cake. The cake was immediately put into refrigerator. but it didn't come back to its previous shape. Here is a lesson learnt for me and for all of you - that don't carry a fresh cream cake for long distance, and even if you do, you should have proper logistics.

Here are the items you will need to prepare this cake -

A vanilla sponge cake

Blueberry whipping powder - 2 packs

Fresh strawberries - 1 cup, vertically sliced

Strawberry crush - 1/2 cup

Light sugar syrup - 1/2 cup (add 2 tablespoon of sugar in 1 cup of water, boil and cool down at room temperature)

Step 1:

Slice the cake horizontally in 2 parts and evenly soak the bottom layer with some amount of sugar syrup. This will make the cake moist.

Step 2:

Spread 1/2 part of whipped cream on top of the bottom layer. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of strawberry crush on top of the cream filling. You can also add few strawberry pieces into it.

Step 3:

Place the other half of the cake on top of the filling. Soak the top portion with remaining sugar syrup and then cover the top part with whipped icing.

Step 4:

Place the strawberry pieces on top of the icing in a nice way. If you want you can make designs with it too. Also add few pieces on the sides.

Step 5:

Put little amount of strawberry crush on top of the strawberry pieces to keep the strawberries fresh and moist.

Step 6:

After assembling, refrigerate the cake for over-night, so that everything is nicely set.