Mango Spice Cake with Mango Compote (Eggless)

I know January is the month we are all making those resolutions to be good about what we eat etc… But let's face it, what we really need to be doing all year round is moderation, including sweet indulgences. Don't make a cake just for yourself or your family - make it for a get-together or a special occasion - that way you not only share the indulgence but have friends and family taste your wonderful cooking - win-win situation, if you ask me.

This cake was inspired by the recipe I found in the January edition of Vegetarian Times, a magazine that can put out some recipes that I am immediately attracted to. This was a heavily mango based recipe and I cannot think of one Indian who can resist a recipe with mangos. So there I was folding the edge of the page even as I was reading it.  I made a trial run of it as it is intended for an upcoming event.
Lo and behold, with my husbands extreme chopping skills, I donned my apron and set of to work. Well, not really - was still in my nighty, but hey, who's judging, right?

Very easy, very quick cake to make - Not much flour, a lot of fruit. According to the recipe, the cake made in a  8x8 square pan I made it in yields about 12 pieces at 249 calories each. Enjoy it with friends and family



Ingredients

For the Cake

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger (i used fresh)
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1/2tsp salt
• 4 large mangoes, peeled and diced -about 4 cups, of which set aside 1-1/2 cups for the cake (rest for the compote)
• 1 cup of sugar 
• 1/2 cup of safflower or sunflower oil (I subbed with corn oil since I did not have sunflower oil readily available)
• 1tbs apple cider vinegar (I subbed this with spanish sherry vinegar)
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

For the Compote

• 1-1/2 cinnamon sticks, slightly cracked 
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1cup of water 
• 2 -1/2 cups of diced mangoes

Method for the cake

1. Position 1 rack in the center of the oven and one at the very last rung and preheat to 350 F. 
2. Coat  8inch square pan with baking pan spray
3. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
4. Puree fresh ginger and 1-1/2 cups of mango until smooth. 
5. Transfer puree to bowl and whisk in one cup of sugar oil and vinegar (whatever you have with a hint of sweetness)
6. Stir in flour mixture and fold in raisins 
7. Spread batter in prepared pan.
8. IMPORTANT - Slide large cookie sheet onto to bottom rung of the oven - this will help diffuse the heat needed to cook the cake on the top shelf. 
9. Cook for about 30 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean

For the compote

1. Bring 1 cup of water with the 3/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon sticks to boil in a medium sized pan, over medium heat and reduce to simmer for about 8 minutes (yield should be about a cup after reduction)
2. Transfer syrup, cinnamon et all to a shallow bowl. Add the diced mangoes to ti and allow it to soak. 
3. Cut triangles of cake and top with compote and serve. 

For me the one of the best surprises of the cake was biting into those succulent golden raisin…mm mm so good.  I'll sign off now until the next time - and in the words of Barney the great purple dinosaur, I LOVE YOU :)

The Coffee Cake you've all been Salivating for!

When I say coffee, I don't mean a cake you have with coffee. What is mean is a cake that smells gloriously like coffee with each bite; a cake that coffee lovers can get addicted to - Don't say I did not give you fair warning. So… (as my wonderful host in Spain started most of his sentences) I am revealing to you the best recipe - alas cannot claim credit - of the most enjoyable cake I've tasted, evah! And thanks goes to the Pioneer Woman whose recipe worked like a charm and my daughter who is my best baking buddy!

The recipe I am turning over to the link here - Just follow verbatim - really!

I am just showing you my results. Please drool, at least a little :)

RECIPE

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 2 sticks Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Crystals
• ½ cups Buttermilk
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• _____
• FOR THE ICING:
• 1-½ stick Butter
• 1 pound Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Crystals
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 4 Tablespoons Heavy Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round baking pans.

In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a pot over medium-low heat. While that’s melting, add 3 tablespoons instant coffee to 1 cup boiling water. Set aside.

Once butter has melted, add coffee mixture to the butter in the pot. Let it come to a boil for about ten seconds, then turn off the heat. Set aside for until slightly cool.

In a separate bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix until well combined.

Pour the butter/coffee mixture into the flour mixture. Stir the mixture together gently. The purpose here isn’t to mix it together perfectly, but to cool down the heat before adding the egg mixture.

Add in the egg mixture and stir gently until well combined. Then pour into pans. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until set.

Allow to cool completely.

Combine all icing ingredients, then ice the cake. Chill for an hour before serving.

The recipe and preparation is courtesy Pioneer Woman

Cardamom & Pistachio Cookies

These should ideally be called the everything-in-it cookies.

After yet another looooong haitus, here I am back in a holiday mood with a cookie recipe. It was also for a friend’s son whose birthday. If one knows the basic requirements to make a cookie, like flour and baking soda, oil etc, then one can get creative with cookies and make them as healthy or decadent as one wants it. I had experimented with Giada’s pumkin and Raisins oatmeal cookies and they were a hit even with my little lassie, so I ventured on to try a similar cookie with several new and interesting ingredients. My little one offered a cookie to a lady who took her pictures and my son’s senior pics and I just got an email from her with compliments on the cookie and a recipe. So this one’s for you Melody J Most of these ingredients are dispensable or changeable depending upon what’s available in your kitchen and what you like in your cookie. And with those caveats in place, let’s check out the recipe.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Bake time 15-18 minutes

Makes about 25-30 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbs coconut powder
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 3 tbsp quinoa flakes
• 3/4 cup turbinado raw sugar
• Zest of 1 clementine
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup of chopped dates
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 cup veg oil
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
• 3 tbsp milk 

Method

1. Set oven to 350 F
2. Grease couple of cookie pans
3. (parchment paper –optional)
4. Mix all the dry ingredients nicely
5. Throw in the nuts and the dry fruits
6. The proceed to add the oil, milk and maple syrup
7. This should make a thick nice consistency – you may add additional spoons of milk should you find your mixture too thick.
8. Either with your hands or with a tablespoon, drop small amounts on to the prepared cookie sheet an inch apart.
9. Cook for about 5 minutes –
10. Open oven and pull out the cookie sheet
11. With a flat spatula gently press down on the cookies – they will have melted just enough at this point for your to shape them
12. At this point sprinkle some sugar on top of each cookie
13. Put them back in the oven and cook for the rest of the time
14. Each oven varies so please keep a watch on the cookies and if you see their underside getting browned that is a good time to remove them
15. Cool on rack and enjoy with friends and family  These will make great holiday gifts and don’t forget Santa – a personal and delicious one.

Enjoy and I will try to be back more holiday recipes soon.

Banana Upside Down Cake

What do you do when you have a sweet craving? Sometimes you give in and go the whole nine yards and make something with what you've got. Thus came about this banana upside down cake. I has several super ripe bananas - hate those btw - and the only way I could imagine having them was in either a bread or with this recipe, in a cake. I used a recipe that I'd already tried out for the cake and just added the caramelized bananas...
Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1.5 cup all purpose flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 4-6 ripe bananas
• 3-4 tbsp Demerara sugar 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Butter a 9 inch pan (I used pyrex)
3. Cut bananas lengthwise and arrange neatly on the bottom of the pan
4. Sprinkle the Demerara Sugar generously over the bananas
5. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer
6. Add eggs 1 at a time
7. Then the flour with the baking powder
8. Mix until it s a creamy batter (don’t over mix)
9. Pour the cake batter evenly over the bananas making sure not to disturb the arrangement.
10. Bake for about 30 -35 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden.
11. Cool it before loosening the sides of the cake
12. Gently invert on to a cake holder.
13. The bananas should look glazed, caramelized and delicious. 
14. Enjoy by itself of with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

Cupcake Craze 1 - Salted Caramel Cupcake With Caramel-Coffee Butter Cream Frosting

Some of you may have seen my pictures on FB of these delicious Cupcakes, but I am finally getting around to posting them on my blog -The "Sweet Inspiration"(read with Frensh accent) came from watching the Sweet Genius and a few episodes of the Cupcake Challenge.
For all those who love cupcakes, these are some of the best kind you can taste -but also be aware that this has no place in any "dieting" program :) This is indulgence at its highest, but I kid you not when I say it is hard to stop with one!  I got my recipe from a couple of sources; Sprinkle Bakes & 52 Kitchen Adventures, whose post popped up when I searched for caramel cupcakes. After tasting the cupcakes and adding my own "secret ingredient" instant coffee, I think my children declared me a "sweet genius" :) Let me add to this narrative that this has by no means been a summer of holding back, esp on the calorie front - But with kids on vacation  (they are back at school for the first day today) it was hard not to make them things thy like and appreciate - time enough for them to hold back on the yummier things of life - but I have shamelessly indulged in all of it as well and have the price to pay - more hours of gymming required to burn the cupcake lining on my belly off!  Today is the day when the sane and sober me kicks back into full gear - no more sweet indulgences for a while!

I followed the instructions verbatim as given by Sprinkle Bakes and they turned out really well - But I still want to claim my creative addition of coffee in the butter cream - that was Da Bomb!

For quick reference, here is the recipe as written by Sprinkle Bakes

Makes 15 Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with papers. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.  Add vanilla.  Mix and scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full.  Bake for about 25 minutes. When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Salted Caramel Filling:

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons salted butter cubed
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium  high heat in a large pot.  Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color. Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps but keep stirring until they have melted.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  

Cut a small round piece out of the tops of each cooled cupcake and pour in 1 teaspoon of caramel.  Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside. (I did this with a apple corer - makes perfect holes in the middle :)

Salted Caramel/Coffee Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1tbsp instant coffee (I used Folgers)

In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth.  Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Add  1tbsp of instant coffee powder and whip for an additional minute.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel.  Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).  Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration.  If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny.  If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. 

Top caramel-filled cupcakes with frosting.

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