Monthly Mingle | Honey Cream Cake with Honey-Saffron-Cardamom Brittle

I have been trying my hand at baking and frosting a cake from scratch, in preparation for Ina’s birthday cake for later this Fall.  So we’ve been having cupcakes with and without frosting crop up every now and then.  The aim is to be able to make a homemade cake with no artificial coloring/ flavoring.  Too much of food coloring in the kiddie birthday cakes, sort of turns me off.  I cannot seem to resist the urge to spoon out all of that color loaded cream and give Ina just the cake, when we are birthday parties.  Somehow, the blues and greens on the cake transforms me into this panic stricken mom!  The last time we had a large gathering for Ina’s birthday I made sure we had a white cake with whipped frosting without any major bells and whistles.  Yes, that’s true - the multi colored- food dye  loaded buttered frosting adorning a cake, especially a birthday cake, is truly one of my pet peeves!

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Daring Bakers Challenge | My adaptation of the Armenian Nutmeg Cake

A few of my friends asked me when I was going to get back from France (smile), while I was sitting right beside them.  At first, I had this puzzled look on my face, not quite understanding their question. Took me a while to figure out that they were hinting at the ladle – yes, the one that wanders (smile).

The experience of a culture is either through food or art, predominantly, irrespective of whether or not you have physically visited the region.  Wandering Ladle started with a purpose of exploring the world through food and photography and thus far, the culinary expedition couldn’t have been better.

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Chipotle Chocolate & Walnut Cake

Jalapenos are great in beans or salsa, ever tried to bake a cake with it? Weird! Nope not at all! You have to taste it to believe how wonderful it is!

I used chipotles for this cake because I love their color and flavor. Chipotles or smoke dried jalapenos are coffee colored and have a rich smoky flavor. Though grown widely in Mexico, these chilies are available in regular and specialty stores as is or canned in seasoned Adobo sauces.

Ingredients

¼ cup sifted unbleached organic white flour

¼ cup sifted organic whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons milled flax seed powder

1-1 ½ cup organic soy or rice milk (Could be substituted with water instead)

3 teaspoons dried chipotle chili paste (Grind 3-5 chilies using very little water, to a fine paste)

¼ cup crushed walnuts or pecans

¼ teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)

Method

- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a cookie sheet and set aside.

- Mix white flour, whole wheat pastry flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder. Add milled flax seed powder, mix well.

- Add in the soy milk and chipotle chili paste. Mix well to a consistency of a thick batter. Set aside for 5 mins.

- Pour the batter into the previously prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle crushed walnuts on top and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean.

The fusion of the flavors from the chocolate, chipotle and walnuts came together so perfect ...it couldn’t have been any better. It was a true feast to the palate. The flax seed made the cake really moist and chili paste added the right amount of spice to balance the bitterness from the chocolate. What best its totally egg, milk and oil free! I have tried this cake with honey and agave nectar to add some sweetness; however the sugarless one is my favorite.

Sweet Sandwiches For Everyone!

Dear All,

It’s been just 4 months since I started blogging, and the experience along with the learnings have been just great. It’s been a beautiful journey this far. Thank you for the appreciation, for considering my entries to your events, the awards and those notes of encouragement that you have been leaving behind for me every time you’ve visited my chow chronicles. Thanks for the enthusiasm and knowledge each of you has spread through your entries, events and recipes making folks to post tons of yummy stuff for the rest of us to drool over and want more.

As my appreciation for each one of you I have known and to those who have helped me in this world of food blogging, I decided to treat you to something sweet on my chow chronicles.

“Cake, tiramisu, kheer?” were some of the possibilities I was considering, but I wanted to make something really simple yet different, something unique yet flavorful. I felt like an artist facing a white canvas, with the challenge to bring imagination to life:).

I thought to use regular ingredients in a different way for this creation of mine. It was then that an idea of making sandwiches for dessert sprang up. I have always felt that Nutella was better in a dessert than as a spread for breads and rolls for breakfast. I utilized this opportunity to do just that. Since sandwiches usually dry out, I thought custard would be a good addition as a dip.

One option I had was to use store bought white bread as my base for the sandwiches, but felt the flavors wouldn’t hold up well and moreover it was mundane. So I decided to head straight to my freezer for the batch of homemade cake mix (for moist yellow vanilla cake)that I had prepared over the weekend. An inventory of the pantry revealed that I had to make a quick run to the grocery store to get some of the ingredients I felt would be a perfect addition.

Once back, I decided to bake the cake, with just one difference - I poured out the batter on a cookie sheet to get a thin layer of cake (to get that authentic sandwich look – the brown color on either side). For the dip, I decided to use tapioca pudding (sugar free, fat free). But instead of using it as a dip, I thought to blend it a little with rice milk and use it as a bed for my sandwiches. This would avoid the sandwich from drying out .

When the cake was done, I cut squares out of the layer and combined two squares together using Nutella. Then I diagonally cut these squares and got them looking like real sandwiches...just the way I had imagined them to be.

I always keep a batch of homemade cake mix in the freezer. I sieve the ingredients listed below, together, and store the resultant mix in a ziptop bag in the freezer. And use a cup or two for any recipe that calls for a cake mix. Alternatively, store bought cake mix would also work for this recipe.

½ cup unbleached organic white flour
¼ cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)

I usually make small batches, and the longest I have stored this mix is 5 weeks. To make chocolate cake, I add around ½ cup of cocoa powder to the mix, while sieving.



Ingredients
For the cake
1 cup cake mix
1 ½ tablespoon Sunflower Oil
¼ cup Rice milk ( You could use soy milk or regular milk)
½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
¼ cup egg replacer (I used Ener-G Egg replacer)
¼ cup water

For the pudding bed

1 tablespoon rice milk
1 cup fat free, sugar free Tapioca pudding

For the sandwich
1 -2 tablespoon Nutella

A closer look at the Nutella!

Method

Method for Cake

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a cookie sheet with cooking spray and/or parchment paper. Set aside.

Add 1 cup of cake mix into a mixing bowl. Add oil, egg replacer, rice milk and vanilla extract. Blend on medium for 2-3 minutes using an electric beater. Then beat for 2-3 minutes on low till a clump-free smooth batter forms.

Spread the batter on the previously prepared cookie sheet. Using a spatula even the layer of batter on the sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, till a knife or toothpick inserted comes out clean. (In my case, the top of the cake was nice and yellow when just done). Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Method for pudding bed

In a mixing bowl, add tapioca pudding and rice milk. Using an electric beater, blend on low for 1-2 minutes, till a homogenous mixture forms. Set aside at room temperature.

To make the sandwiches

Cut the layer of cake into squares. On the top yellow side spread lightly a layer of Nutella. Seal this side onto the yellow side of another square. Repeat till all squares are used up.

Divide diagonally each square to get two triangles.

On a serving plate, spread the pudding. Place each triangle at right angles to the surface of the plate.

Microwave the dessert 10 -15 seconds before serving, if you like it warm. To add a little more pizzazz, dust cocoa powder on top of the triangles or place a mint leaf. I took me under 50 minutes to prepare this.

I decided to make the recipe for cake, egg-free, for the benefit of those who’d like to avoid egg. The tapioca pudding I used was egg free and milk free.

This one's for all of you,so cheers and enjoy!

Last but certainly not the least, Dhivi thank you very much for the award and encouragement, I truly appreciate it! Cheers!

I'd like to pass this on to Bee & Jai (sorry, know you've received it already, but i'm resending it because you guys are just awesome with your blog), Suganya, Sunita & Marta.

Best,

Eskay.

p.s: Sorry for the real lengthy post:)