Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake - Going C agian for Christmas

So Christmas is finally here..Merry Christmas to all my family, relatives back home and my friends, my blog viewers and readers across the globe. May the joy and peace of Christmas fill your hearts and overflow abundantly. Though we miss a full white Christmas here in Toronto we are happy that we have clear roads to drive back and forth for Church services...

Being Christmas, I'm still continuing the sugar rush here on my blog. As promised, here is the Chocolate Chip cake which was made by default by using chocolate chips as excuse for raisins or other dried fruits...To my surprise the day i was baking i ran out of raisins in my pantry. Then suddenly i remembered that i had this small packet of semi sweet chocolate chips lying in one of the shelves for a long time..I actually bought them to bake some chocolate chip cookies for my kids who just luv them. But when we get PC's chocolate chip cookies for just $1.99, its easier to pick them up and treat kids rather invest my precious time on baking them. So this unused pkt of choco chips came to my rescue that day, also making me create a cake which i had never baked before.

I also noticed that my kids never do like raisins added in cakes, cookies or bread..they prefer to eat them just like that. So when i declared to them that i was baking chocolate chip cake, they were overjoyed so much that they even wanted to be a part of the picture I wanted to click to post here.

So going beyond the idea of using chocolate chips in cookies and muffins, this chocolate chip pound cake is born.

Ingredients250 gms butter(softened)
1 cup white or brown sugar
3-4 eggs
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup all-purpose flour or use whole wheat flour for healthier choice
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nut meg powder
1/4 cup Cocoa powder if you want color and cocoa flavour(I used very sparlingly, cause i had only unsweetened one)
A pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen juice of ur choice( I used orange and passion fruit)
1/2 cup Evaporated milk to adjust the consistency of the cake batter.

Procedure:
Cut the portion of butter required and place it out of fridge before an hour to soften it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour your desired cake pan.

Measure all ingredients and keep them ready,

Beat butter, sugar in a large bowl until they turn creamy. Add eggs one by one and beat on low speed of electric mixer until blended, then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Combine and swift together flour, nutmeg, baking powder cocoa powder(if using)and salt in a separate bowl, and fold these dry ingredients alternately with orange juice and evaporated milk to the batter mixture. Keep mixing while adding. add the milk only if necessary.

Mix half of the chocolate chips with a little flour and add to the cake mixture. Gently mix..Do not to over-mix.

Pour into Prepared greased pan/pans.

Add a layer of chocolate chips on the top

Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes

As the cake rises fully and gets its shape, remove from the oven and add the last layer of chips. Return to the oven.

Once the cake gets a golden brown color, cover it with foil, shiny side up, and bake for the remaining time or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely

Mini Cashew Coconut Rum Cup Cakes with a hint of Cream Cheese - Going "C" for Christmas

Somehow this year I didn't marinate/soak any dried fruits for the traditional Christmas cake. So was not in a mood to bake at all. Then, last weekend when holidays started for kids, thought of making it special for them and suddenly I got a sprout for baking..after all it is not right for me to deprive kids of their childhood baking memories with mamma.

Since I did no planning for this cake baking...and didn't want to drive to pickup any stuff from the store too..I had to be creative to whip up with the ingredients at hand in my pantry and fridge.

So baked Cashew Coconut Rum Cake, in a loaf and in cake cups to make it kids friendly. Also baked a Chocolate Chip Cake which I will post next.
Cashew Coconut Rum Cake with Cream Cheese Incorporated :
Addition of cream cheese gives a dense texture to this cake. To keep the spirit of traditional Christmas cake, I thought of adding rum. Since i had open Malibu Coconut flavour I used the same. You can experiment with any flavour of choice. Since this rum is too sweet, I reduced the amount of sugar to adjust the sweetness.

Ingredients :
250 gms butter(softened)
1/2 cup Cream Cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

Flour & Powders:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice (optional)
1 pinch salt

Liquids
1 tbsp Vanilla extract or Coconut Essence
2 tbsp lime juice
1 cup Malibu Rum Coconut flavour
Milk or cream if necessary

Nuts:
1/4 cup Cashew nuts broken

Garnish:
Broken Cashew pieces



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a loaf pan or which ever shaped pan using. Insert paper cup covers into tray of cup cake moulds.

Measure all ingredients and keep them ready, Take butter out of fridge before an hour to soften it.

Beat butter, sugar in a large bowl till blended and then add cream cheese and beat again till it is incorporated into the butter sugar mixture.

Crack eggs into this one by one beating in between . After adding all the eggs beat on low speed of electric mixer until blended, then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Combine and swift together flour, allspice baking powder, soda and salt in a separate bowl, and fold these dry ingredients alternately with liquid ingredients. Keep mixing. Add enough milk if the batter is too thick to arrive at the right consistency for baking.

Add half of the cashew pieces to the blended mixture.

Pour into Prepared greased pan and cups tray.

Garnish with remaining broken cashew pieces.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes for the loaf and 20 - 30 mins for the cup cakes.

Tip : Once the cake rises and gets the shape and is browning on the top, then remove from the oven and cover it with foil, shiny side up, and bake for the remaining time or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Remove the cup cakes from the tray and store separately.

Mango Kesari

AKA Mango Sujji Halwa / Mango Rawa Kesari
Can't believe its December already and we have less than a month to start another new year. December brings the sweet memories of preparing and celebrating Christmas back home..oh how I miss home especially this season. Thought it would be nice to post a sweet dish to kick start this festive month.

Regular readers of my blog would have followed my desserts with semolina. Its like I started making kesari with different fruit flavours..pineapple, banana and now mango..yea blog hopping one day lead me to Mango kesari..and boy it was simply delicious, though i was not welcoming the idea in the beginning, this turned out to be a really flavourful fudge like dessert. Choose ripe sweet mangoes or good quality sweet mango puree for better results.

Ingredients :
3 to 4 Tbsp - Ghee
1 cup - Semolina/Suji/Rawa
3 cups - Pureed Alfonso Mango pulp (I prefer Kesar brand)
1 cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp Cardamom powder
Few Saffron strands
2 Tbsp - Choice of nuts and dry fruits( I used cashew and raisin)

Method :
In a wide pan, melt ghee and fry cashew and raisin till color change, strain and remove. Keep aside.
In the same pan, add one more tbsp of ghee and add rawa to roast evenly till semolina turns the color slightly.
Now add mango pulp, slowly and mix thoroughly into the rawa. Keep adding and mixing till all the mango puree is incorporated into the semolina.
Add sugar and saffron milk and mix till sugar caramelizes and dissolves into the mango rawa mixture.
Add salt and cardamom powder.
Add the remaining ghee and continue mixing till the kesari leaves the surface.
Add half of the nuts and raisins. Remove from heat.
Pour into a greased tray. Cut into desired shapes or just scoop into serving dessert bowls and garnish with remaining cashew and raisins.