Butterfly Chocolate Cake

It was my neighbor's daughter's 7th birthday last week. I was home that day as I had conjunctivitis and was not allowed to go to work. I had originally not planned on baking a cake. But since I was home, I decided to make a pink butterfly chocolate cake as a surprise for Poonam. Poonam is all that little girls should be! She loves chocolate cake, she loves butterflies and she loves the color pink! I have been wanting to try this butterfly cake for a while now ever since a fellow CAL member posted hers on the wall! I also wanted to make some cupcakes and a cake for another weekend project. This was the perfect "two birds with one stone "deal. The inspiration for the chocolate cake was from on of my favorite foodies Amrita Gill. It was Amrita's recipe with little bit of my modifications. You can find the original recipe here. It was easy to make and the chocolate cake came out delicious! I had doubled the recipe as I baked a 10 inch,9 inch, 6 inch cakes and a dozen cupcakes!

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

All purpose flour: 1 3/4 cups
Powdered sugar: 1 1/2 cups
Nestle chocolate milk powder: 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder: 1/4 cup
Baking powder: 1 1/2 tsp
Baking soda : 1 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Eggs: 2 large
Oil : 1/2 cup
Milk : 1 cup
Vanilla essence : 1 tsp
Boiling water 1/2 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.

Grease and prepare one 9 inch round cake pan and a 6 inch round cake pan and keep aside.

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nestle chocolate milk powder, cocoa powder and keep aside. Make sure you mix well.

In another bowl, beat 2 eggs until frothy. Add the oil, milk, vanilla essence and beat well.

Now slowly and gently  mix the dry ingredients into the wet little by little in 2-3 batches. Mix only until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet. Do not overmix. Add the boiling water and gently mix.

Pour the batter into the prepare pans until 1/2 full. Gently tap the pan on the counter to let out any air bubble.

Place the pans on the center rack and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.

Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it out of the pans. To remove it from the pan, gently run a knife along the sides to loosen it. Then invert it on a cake board or wire rack. Now if there is a dome on top of the cake gently level it with a knife. Let the cake cool for another 15-20 mins on the wire rack.

With a knife or thread, cut the cake into half. Then cut each half again into two equal pieces until you have 4 equal pieces.

Invert 2 of the pieces on top of each other with a layer if frosting in between. Pretty much like a sandwich. Now on a cake board, arrange the 4 pieces( 2 sandwich like pieces from each cake) to form the shape of the wings of a butterfly a shown in the picture.Place a chocolate wafer in the middle to depict the body of the butterfly. Now ice the top and the sides of the cake and decorate it with M & Ms.

The butterfly is ready! Enjoy!

Note: to make cupcakes, place cupcake liners in the cupcake pan and fill the mould until half full. Bake for 11-14 mins. Let it cool down for 15-20 mins before icing it.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

No cake is ever level.Use a serrated knife or a cake leveler to level the cake.

Always place the leveled side on the cake board and the smooth side on the top to be iced.

A piece of thread or floss is perfect to cut a cake into 2 equal halves or to slice it equally and smoothly.

Tip for healthy living:

For good healthy hair, warm a little coconut oil and massage it into the scalp. Leave it on for 30-mins to one hour and then wash your hair. .Oil massage increases the blood supply to the scalp and stimulates the hair follicles resulting in increased hair growth. Do this once a week for lustrous,shiny, healthy hair.

Oil massage of the head is also believed to cool the body, relieve headaches and stress.

Food for thought:

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present. Buddha

Gluten-free Banana-Walnut Cranberry Bread

I always have a surplus of bananas in my house. My little ones and I eat one banana every morning for breakfast. As long as my kids eat one whole banana and drink one glass of milk, I don't stress about them eating or not eating anything else for breakfast. Bananas here in the US are big and filling. Coming back to the ones in my home, sometimes they become overripe and mushy:( Thrifty that I am, I hate to throw them. Previously, I used to make halwa out of them, but now I automatically say " Banana Bread". This is thanks to my very dear friend Phani. She is efficiency personified! She is also a marvelous cook. She passed on this recipe to me and it is absolutely foolproof. Her version is with whole wheat flour. I have substituted it with Oat flour and added some cranberries. Oats is gluten-free as long as it is specified on the box. This is because quite often it is processed at the same factory/plant where wheat and wheat products are processed and therefore can be contaminated with wheat. This could be a issue if one is gluten-intolerant.

Everyone needs a little dessert now and  this is one of my few indulgences. I hardly eat more than a slice once-in-a-while. My husband relishes it more with his evening tea.

Servings:8

Ingredients:

Oat flour: 2 cups( for regular kind you can use wheat flour)
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Salt:1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon: 1/2 tsp
Ground nutmeg: 1/4 tsp
Vanilla extract:1 tsp
Butter:1/2 cup
Brown sugar:3/4 cup
Eggs: 3 beaten
Overripe bananas: 2 1/3 cups(6 bananas),mashed
Walnuts:1/2 cup,chopped(optional) 
Dried cranberries: 1/4 cup ( optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and keep aside.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg  in a medium bowl until fluffy. 

Add the mashed bananas, and eggs, beating until the mixture is homogenous. 

Add the flour and nuts, stirring until it is mixed well. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Bake the bread for 50 minutes. 

Lay a piece of foil gently across the top and bake until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more. 

Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve warm with tea.

For those who are not calorie conscious, you can spread some butter on it and eat.Absolutely divine! If you are even more enterprising, eat it warm with a scoop of your favorite ice-cream!

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

Before you start cooking make sure you have all the required ingredients in front of you. This way you don't have to run looking for something when you are halfway through the recipe.

Tip for healthy living:

Bananas are considered a complete food by itself. It is such a rich source of essential nutrients. My mother says that eating a banana first thing in the morning boosts your metabolism. Banana is rich in potassium helps keep the heart healthy.It is known to be a prebiotic and helps the good bacteria in the gut to flourish. It is also beneficial in the treatment of diarrhea.It also apparently has a beneficial role in people with diabetes, blood pressure & asthma .It supposedly also helps prevent cancer.

Food for thought:

Never give up.( unknown)