Quick Mocha Cake

I love baking. I love all its finicky measuring and obsessive temperature control. But there are some days when I still want my cake fix, but minus the long drawn complicated process. Enter the Quick Mocha Cake. Not only is this a one bowl wonder, but it also cooks in double quick time. Really win win in my opinion. Now, the purists can scoff all they want, but the proof is definitely in the eating. And this one is addictively delicious!

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour         1 and 1/2 cups
Cocoa Powder                  1/2 cup
Baking Powder                 1 teaspoon
Baking Soda                     1/2 teaspoon
Milk                                  1 cup
Vinegar                             1 tablespoon
Kahlua essence                 a few drops
Sugar                                 1 cup
Butter                                3/4 cup

Method:
Mix the vinegar and milk. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Grease a 7 inch square baking dish. Finally, mix all the ingredients well. Pour into the prepared dish. Level it out. Microwave on full power for 7 minutes. Let it rest for a few minutes more. The Quick Mocha Cake is ready.
Slather it with ganache. Or serve up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Munch it with some coffee. Or jus eat it as is!

Note: The Kahlua essence can be substituted with a mix of 3 heaped teaspoon instant coffee powder and 1 teaspoon hot water.

Jam Swirl Blondies

Blondies are said to be the original brownies. Crumby with just a hint of chocolate. Over time, chocolate took over the entire dessert and came to reign as the crowd favourite. But aah! Blondies have a charm of their own.

 Ingredients:
                      Jam                            1/2 cup
                      Plain Flour                 3/4 cup
                      Custard Powder         3/4 cup
                      Baking Powder          1/2 teaspoon
                      Salt                             1/2 teaspoon
                      Butter                         1/2 cup
                      Sugar                          3/4 cup
                      Cream                         2 tablespoon
                      Eggs                            2
                      Vanilla essence           1 teaspoon
                      Chocolate chips          1/2 cup


Method:
             Microwave the jam for 1 minute. Stir and leave aside to cool.  Sift all the dry ingredients together. Thrice. Beat the sugar and butter together till thick and pale. Add the eggs, cream and essence and beat again till creamy. Fold in the chocolate chips. Now gently fold in the sieved ingredients, until just combined. DO NOT BEAT! Pour into greased 8 inch square dish. smooth the batter evenly. Drop the jam on top. Swirl gently with a fork or toothpick, taking care to not scrape the bottom. Microwave at full power for 7 minutes. Let it stand for 15 minutes before serving.Alternately you can bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes. Serve up with some chilled coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Coffee in a Cake!

Decided to indulge the caffeine craving and my sweet tooth with a double kick of coffee cake. I found this recipe years ago in a Microwave cookbook and adopted it immediately for its simplicity and instant-ness!

So even if you are an absolute disaster in the kitchen or an impatient cook, this recipe is ideal for you. Hey, you could manage this even if you were just 10!

So lets get started on our

COFFEE CARAMEL CAKE

you will need : 125 gm butter

2 tsp vanilla

150 gm brown sugar

2 eggs

150 gm flour

30 gm custard pd

1 tsp baking pd

3 tsp coffee pd

125 ml milk

To make this cake, simply run everything in the food processor till almost double in size. Pour into a greased dish. Microwave at 60% power for 6 minutes, and again at 100% power for 3 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes, and then simply dig in!!

If you prefer the conventional baking, then simply bake the prepared batter in a pre-heated (180 C) oven for 35 minutes.