Cucumber cake with Gin icing

I Love September! It marks the baking calendar for me. And till March I'll be indulging in one luscious birthday bake after another! Mum's birthday falls in September, and I love adding an element of booze in her cakes. A rather generous element if I may add 😜 

In past years, there has been a very potent Chocolate Rum Cake, and a milder Beer Chocolate Cake. This year was a departure. I had been eyeing Kate Hackworthy's rather intriguing Cucumber and lemon Cake. It looked so pretty and refreshing. And of course, it came with a tempting Gin frosting. That cinched it for me! We had a bottle of Bombay Sapphire just begging to be used. It would be the perfect complement. My folks were less convinced! 

But I was going to convert them for sure. This recipe was popular and there had to be a reason.It was fairly easy to make. So that was definitely reason number one! It looked delicate and pretty. So reason number two. The frosting! Oh soooo good!! That was reason three, four and five! Then, the first bite! A refreshing summer party in my mouth! Reasons? Do we need anymore?! 

To those who are curious whether the cucumber taste carries through, I would say... Yes. It does. But not in a weird way. With the gin frosting and that light lemon aftertaste, the cucumber still remains the star. But the marriage of flavors is just fantastic. And may I add, addictive! Very addictive! I kept slicing thin corners to ward off temptation. Then, kept going back for more. The non believers were all converts. I can definitely see myself making this cake again and again. Coz it tastes brilliant even minus the frosting. So, if you need a wow factor for your next do, this is just the thing to try!

 

 

Ingredients:

Cucumber                   200 gm

Lemon                         1, zest and juice

Butter                          150 gm

Granulated sugar         150 gm 

Vanilla essence            2 teaspoons

Flour                            200 gm

Eggs                             2

Baking powder            2 teaspoons

Icing:   Gin                  4 tablespoons

             Icing sugar      200 gm

            Butter               75 gm

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Wash the cucumber. Leave the skin on and slice vertically. Scrape out the seeds and puree. Add the lemon juice. Beat the butter, sugar, zest and vanilla till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating really well after each addition. Sift the baking powder and flour together. Now, alternating between the dry ingredients and the cucumber puree, add a little at a time to the batter. Mix well after each addition. So basically, add some flour, then mix. Add some cucumber, then mix. Continue till all combined. Pour into a greased tin and bake for 40 minutes. When done, allow the cake to cool completely. For the icing, just beat all the ingredients till smooth and fluffy. Refrigerate till the cake is ready to be frosted. Slice the cooled cake horizontally. Sandwich the layers with the icing. Swirl the rest of the icing on the top. And your Cucumber cake is ready!

 

Gulab Jamun Cake

Traditional Indian Mithai and Cake? Doesn't sound quite right does it?! To most it seems incredulous that one carry marry the flavours of the Indian dessert palate with that of the European ones. But having successfully attempted the hugely popular Mawa Cake, I knew not only was it possible, but it was absolutely divine! A warm homecoming with the heady aroma of baking. 

Now those who have read my very first post, know that baking for my grandfather can be quite a challenge. But I hadn't been around for his birthday in a long time, and I really wanted to bake him something special. 

My news feed of late had been flooded with stories of Rasmalai Cake. While I personally don't enjoy rasmalai, it did give me an idea. I knew I had to make a cake that had its roots in the familiar. It really was a no brainer then. No dessert is ever as popular as the Gulab Jamun, and I knew I had to attempt yet another G-jam makeover.

I started my research and realized there had been a few attempts at recreating the magic, but nothing I looked at really hit the note. I read on and picked the brain of another Baking Diva I know. Also, Monster Munchkin would want to be part of the process, so I needed something simple yet drool worthy! This recipe seemed about right. But it needed a little more to make it truly festive and celebratory. I played with a few suggestions that would complement and not overpower the actual cake. And most importantly not push it to the realm of the too-sweet-for-seconds shelf. 

To be honest, I had my reservations even when I put the finishing touches. What if it was a total disaster? It seemed perfect on paper. The cake was light and baked to perfection. The frosting was not just a mouthful of oversweet fluff, and very consciously incorporated the only mithai my munchkin deigns to eat.  But what if my instincts were a little off! Heart in mouth, I carted it to my grandparents' place. Sure, it looked good. But aah! The all important taste test was still waiting. 

The first forkful, and my grandfather declared it a success! And it had nothin to do with the fact that his granddaughter and great grandson had baked it. For once, even my worst critic (Me!), had to nod in agreement. This was one for the kitchen heirlooms. A dessert that was going to grace my table many more times in the future!

Ingredients:

Cake:

Gulab Jamun Mix             3/4 cup

Whole Wheat Flour          3/4 cup

Sugar                                 3/4 cup

Milk                                  1 cup, warm

Vinegar                             1 tablespoon

Baking Powder                 1/2 teaspoon

Baking Soda                     1/4 teaspoon

Oil                                     1/4 cup

Salt                                    a pinch

Green Cardamoms            6

Frosting:

Kalakand                          200 gm

Almonds                           8

Cream Cheese                  180 gm

Gulab Jamuns                   8 small

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Mix the vinegar in the milk and keep aside for 15 minutes. Powder the sugar with the cardamoms. Sift all the dry ingredients together and give it a twirl with a wire whisk or spoon. Make a well in the center and add the rest of the cake ingredients. Whisk it well by hand or electric whisk till well blended. Bake in a greased 8 inch round pan for 35 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Upturn the cake onto a plate and slice horizontally in the middle. Liberally soak the two halves with the syrup from the gulab jamuns. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Lightly beat the cream cheese with a fork till fluffy. Spread a thin layer over the soaked halves. On the lower half, arrange sliced gulab jamuns to cover the entire area. I sliced my gulab jamuns into three parts, but it depends on the size if the jamuns. Now place the top half of the cake over this layer. The two halves reconciled, it was time for the final touch. Run the Kalakand in the mixer till smooth and mix into the remaining cream cheese. Generously swirl over your cake, letting your inner artist run free. Slice the almonds into chunky flakes and drop all over the frosted cake. 

I refrigerated the cake overnight and then brought it to room temperature before serving. But if your will power is being tested, you can dig in right away!

Chocolate Rum Cake

  

Drunk texting? Sure! We've all done that at some point of time. But drunk blogging? Well, that's definitely a first for me! Blame it on my mum's birthday. Yes, you read that right! Its my mum's b'day and her b'day cake that's gotten me here. Not that I am complaining! I could probably go for a couple of slices more, though the blurred edges of the words warn me otherwise.

Let me start by saying that my mum's favorite present are those beautiful boxes of dainty liqueur chocolates. With very little time to shop, I am embarrassed to say I came up with naught. This would have been acceptable had I a heartwarming present on standby. But alas! I failed there as well. So I thought of the next best thing. Make her some liqueur chocolates. And as my brains unfroze they decided to take it a step further. Chocolate and liqueur in a cake. An all in one dessert! 

Now it would have been great had I stuck to the thought and used one of my regular recipes. But no when you go big, why not go grand?! That's when we went from dainty to drunk! In my quest for the best ever chocolate rum cake, Google kept pointing me towards the Caribbean inspired dark chocolate and rum cakes. And the more I read, the more I knew I just had to make the most chocolatey, most boozy ever rum cake. Decadent and degenerate. 

Enter the recipe on foodinmybeard. After having devoured hundreds of rum and choc recipes, I can honestly say that this was hands down the booziest and easiest cake around. I knew I wouldn't rest till I made it. And well, ate it! Now the cake came out of the oven looking all normal and innocuous.

 

 

And then it was subjected to this. Now the bottles on top are merely to add weight to the lid, and don't actually form part of the recipe. But below the lid is a sinful, booze addled rum butter sauce that with the extra weight squishing it down, permeates every crumb of an already very rummy cake. The result? Drunk Blogging!

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate Compound     170 grams

Butter                                       1/2 cup

Dark Rum                                1 cup

Flour                                        1 cup

Eggs                                         4

Sugar                                       1/2 cup

Brown Sugar                            1/2 cup 

Baking Powder                        1/2 teaspoon

Baking Soda                            1 teaspoon

Cocoa Powder                        1/2 cup

Salt                                          1/2 teaspoon

Rum Butter Sauce

Butter                                      1/4 cup

Sugar                                       1/4 cup

Dark Rum                                1/4 cup + 1/2 cup

Method:

Microwave the butter, chocolate and rum for 30 seconds. Whisk. If it hasn't melted completely, microwave again for 30 seconds. Whisk till smooth. Add the sugars and whisk well. Now add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Add half the dry mix to the wet batter and mix well. Now add the rest and mix till combined. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Pour the batter into a greased and lined cake tin. Bake for 45 minutes or till done. Once the cake is done, take it out and poke holes all over with a toothpick or skewer. Gently pour over the entire butter sauce. Cover with a lid that touches the surface of the cake, and weigh down with additional bottles. Once the cake cools completely, flip onto a serving tray and for once, you can drink your rum and eat it too!

Rum Butter Sauce: Heat together the butter, sugar and 1/4 cup of rum. Bring to a boil and let it boil for a minute more. Take off the heat and whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup of rum. Pour warm over the cake. This is the lethal weapon that turns your cake from decadent to drunk!