Eggless White Cake with Frosting

Preparation time: 20 minutes + 40 minutes baking time, Difficulty level: Medium | Makes: About 25-20 servings

Recently, I started baking cakes. Since my mom makes the world's best and healthiest cakes (IMO), I thought it would be nice to explore that part a little too! Nevertheless, the first eggless cake I ever baked with my mom's recipe (yes, I had a hard time converting Indian measurements to U.S. measurements), for a group of 20-odd people it blew everyone's mind!

Ingredients:

The final product  frosted and yummy!

For the cake:

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)

200 gm (or 1 cup) butter

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

200 ml condensed milk 

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 flat tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk (optional) 
 

For the frosting:

1 cup butter

2 cups confectioners sugar (or 10x powdered sugar)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk (optional)

Method:

1. Grease a 9" round cake tin with butter and dust with flour so as to cover the inner surfaces completely. Put aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
3. Mix the flour and baking powder and sift it thrice in a 6" - 8" sieve.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter till the butter mixes completely with sugar.
5. Add the condensed milk and vanilla extract to this mixture and beat until creamy.
6. Add the sifted flour+baking powder to this mixture spoon by spoon, running the mixer on low after every spoon to attain pulpy consistency
7. If needed, add milk till the batter reaches a liquid consistency (when dropped from the spoon it should fall like a pulp).
8. Pour this mixture in the cake pan and tap it on the ground to release any trapped air bubbles.
9. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a knife of toothpick inserted comes out clean
10. Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool on counter top for about 20 minutes
11. Separate the edges from the tin with a knife and transfer the cake to a cooling rack
12. Let it cool for 40-50 minutes before you start frosting.
13. For the frosting, sift the sugar once to avoid lumps formation.
14. Using a mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.



Layered cake with strawberry and blueberry jams

15. If the mixture is thicker than you need, add some milk and beat till the desired consistency is attained. If it is too runny, you can thicken it by adding more sugar



Making the frosting

16. Using a palette knife (or the non-sharp edge of a regular knife), coat the cake with the frosting 

 

Helpful tips:

• Baking times can vary according to the size of your oven or the depth of the pan. It is advisable to check the cake for doneness after 25 minutes as described in step 9.
• Condensed milk will provide the moistness and binding agent that eggs would provide otherwise, but condensed milk also has its own sweetness. The batter should be tasted for desired sweetness before adding all the sugar.
• This recipe calls for the use of baking powder, which is often confused with baking soda.
• You can also make a layered cake by baking two cakes or slicing the cake horizontally in half and you can have a layer of frosting or jam in the middle  (as shown in the picture above)
• To keep the cake from drying while it is cooling, cover it with a cotton cloth

 

Pepper Chicken Wings

Preparation time: 20 minutes | Difficulty level: Easy

Come March Madness, I started splurging on chicken wings (what's a basketball game without wings?) and soon realized how bad it was for me when I stumbled upon the ingredients. Deep fried wings, 1/2 cup butter, all purpose flour, WHAT? So I decided to make up my own recipe for equally delicious chicken wings and it's surprising how easy they are to make and so much healthier! Time to enjoy some guilt-free wings :)

Flan or Caramel Custard Pudding

Cooking time: 15 minutes + 45 minutes baking time | Difficulty level: Easy

This sweet dish is a specialty of all Iranian restaurants in India. Not overly sweet, this dessert is a perfect treat to top off the kebabs, biryani or pretty much any food! For me, it is an all-time favorite treat even on an empty stomach.