A simple quick no-fail-cake

... and it's eggless too!

200 gms Self-raising flour (sifted)
90 gms butter (at room temperature)
1 can condensed milk
150 ml carbonated drink (7-up)
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and dust a 8"square cake tin
Beat together butter and condensed milk. Stir in vanilla essence.
Alternately spoon in flour and soda water, starting and ending with flour.
Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or till done.

What I like best about this recipe are the easy variations.

For a nice Orange cake, I've used Fanta or Mirinda orange, and orange essence instead of soda water and vanilla essence.

For an interesting chocolate version, I added 2 tablespoons of Dutch process cocoa sifted with flour. And Pepsi . Adds a nice touch.

Simple dips 1

I finally discovered how simple and delicious some of these middle-eastern dips are. And leftover dips are great as a spread for sandwiches too!

I tried a lebneh with a few simple twists and it turned out rather well.

So here goes.

250 grams fresh yogurt
2 cloves garlic - crushed
1 tbsp tahini
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Drain yogurt in a paper-towel or cloth-lined sieve set over a bowl. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight, or at least 4 hours.

Mix the drained curd with the remained ingredients, and serve with pita bread wedges and assorted crudites!

As for tahini, it's quite easy to make at home.

Grind 2 tbsp sesame seeds, with 1/2 tsp sesame oil, and 4-5 tbsp of tepid water to a really smooth paste. Add salt to taste. This gives close to 1/4 cup of tahini.

A simple, delicious and filling snack!

Pasta with citrus accents!

With all the pasta we seem to be eating recently, I just have to post this particular recipe!

4 large tomatoes (riper the better)
2 onions (cut in thin wedges)
4-5 cloves garlic
8 Asparagus (cut in 1" pieces)
4-6 baby carrots (cut in juliennes)
1 cup peppers (red, green and yellow) cut in 1" strips
Extra virgin olive oil
1 orange juiced (reserve zest)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Penne or Fusili cooked al dente

Cut tomaoes into wedges. arrange tomatoes and onions on baking tray so they dont overlap. brush lightly with oil and grill in an oven (at 230 C)for about 30 minutes. Onions tend to char sooner. So watch out for that.

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic and the other vegetables and saute till the carrots are cooked, but still crunchy.

When the onions start to char, take the tray out of the oven. Gently stir the tomaotes and onions together. Add to the vegetables in the skillet. Season with salt and pepper as required. Pour the orange juice into the baking tray, and use the liquid to rinse scrape off any bits stuck there. Add the juice to the sauce in the skillet, along with the orange zest. Let sauce simmer for a minute.

Toss in the pasta. Serve hot.

Add parmesan shavings if desired!

Bon Appetit!

Chocolate cake to die for!

... and I'm really dying for a bite of it! Only problem being that I'm trying not to gain an ounce over and above all these un-necessary pounds....

So if anyone reading this is interested, try this out, and enjoy... sharing this is my good deed for the day

Grease and dust a 9" round cake tin (or an 8" square tin)

180 gms self raising flour
1/2 tsp soda-bi-carb
1 pinch salt

Sieve these together.

75ml strong coffee decoction or
2 heaped teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in 70 ml hot (not boiling water)
2 tbsp (heaped) cocoa powder (preferable dutch process)
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix together to form a smooth lump-free mixture. Bring to room temperature.

150gms butter
200 gms sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat well.
Add sifted flour and coffee-cocoa blend, starting and ending with flour. Make sure batter has no lumps.
Pour into prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes or till done.

Tastes great while warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a dollop of hot fudge sauce.

slurrppppp........

Why didn't I think of this before.....

... because I didn't really think of a 'foodie' blog. Maybe it's high time I started blogging about my dark side: food... and baking too while I'm at it