Friday, May 8, 2015

Eggless Vanilla cake with chocolate ganache;Mother' s day special!


My mother is a culinary enthusiast like me. Or should I say " I am a culinary enthusiast like my mother". She too loves trying new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. My mother cooks and eats healthy. She is a pure vegetarian which means that she does not eat even eggs! She also does not eat much of sweets or desserts. That does not mean that she does not indulge in an occasional piece of cake/ chocolate or even a little ice cream once in a while. She only eats eggless cake/ ice cream and only dark chocolate. She does not eat hard candy. So, for this Mother's Day, I decided to make an Eggless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate ganache. The idea for the chocolate cake is courtesy my blogger friend  Nisha who blogs at Spusht. You can find the original recipe here. I didn't have a cake board handy , so used a pretty plate instead. This was my first time working with ganache, so ended up being a little messy. What did I do? I decorated the sides with some fresh strawberries.  My mother loves fruits!



Making an eggless cake was really very easy and the result was a nice soft and fluffy cake that was tasty too. I think ganache is a much easier way of icing a cake as opposed to the buttercream icing which takes much longer. But that's just me. I am sure many will beg to differ!




Servings: makes a 9 inch cake


Ingredients:


For the Vanilla cake

Flour: 2 cups
Baking powder: 1 /2 tsp
Baking soda : 1 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Powdered Sugar: 1 cup
Oil : 1/2 cup
Plain yogurt: 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Milk :1/2 cup( may not need all)
Sliced Strawberries for decorating.


For the ganache:

Semisweet chocolate chips: 1 cup
Heavy cream/ whipping cream: 1 cup


Method:


Vanilla cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.

Grease a  9 inch pan and keep aside.

Sift together flour and salt and keep aside.




Whisk together sugar and yogurt until it has mixed well. Add baking powder and baking soda . Mix and leave it for 2 mins. It will bubble.


Now  add oil and vanilla and mix well.




Now add in the flour  little at a time, mixing gently. Add the milk and mix gently. Be careful not to over mix.



Add more milk if the batter is too thick. The batter should be of dropping consistency.



Pour the batter in the greased 9 inch pan. Place it on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 350 deg F.for 30-40 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.


Take the cake out of the oven and let it sit in the pan for 30 mins before taking it out.

Let it cool completely for atleast two hours before icing it.




Chocolate ganache:

Take the chocolate chips in heat proof bowl.Heat the cream on the stove top until it bubbles.  Add this to the bowl containing the chocolate chips and stir well until all the chocolate had melted . The heat from the cream will melt the chocolate.

Let it cool down for 15-20 mins. When it comes to a pouring consistency, pour it gently on top of the cake until all the sides of the cake have been completely covered.
Let it cool down.

Once the ganache had set, you can  decorate the cake with sliced strawberries. I wrote on it using Wilton Tip#3.



Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea or as a dessert.

I am bringing this to Fiesta Friday #67. I just love Angie's fiestas! Caroline @ Caroline's Cooking & Jess @ Cooking is  my sport are the co-hosts this week!


Cooking made easy:


You can easily turn this vanilla cake into a chocolate cake by dissolving about 4 tbsp cocoa powder into the milk at room temperature. Make sure that the cocoa has been mixed homogeneously. You  can add a little more milk if you feel that the batter is too thick.

You can add 1 tbsp butter to the cream while heating  it. This gives the ganache a nice glaze and is more smooth to handle.

Tip for healthy living:


To make your desserts more healthy, try to add fruits and nuts as decoration or serve it with fruits. Keep the dessert portion size small. The fruits on the side will camouflage it from seeming and feeling as if you are eating a very small portion. Fruits and nuts will also make you feel fuller.

Food for thought:


Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. William Makepeace Thackeray.

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