Coconut Orange Bundt Cake

I have been really excited about trying my new silicone bundt pan and I've been reading some awesome vegan food blogs and wanting to try out tonnes of recipes.

So I chose this recipe from Veganyumyum where she made it with the pinkish blood orange juice in mini bundt cake tins. I made it with regular store bought minute maid orange juice in my new silicone bundt pan and the cake came out beautifully-don't you think?

Unfortunately in my excitement I took the pan straight out of the dishwasher and the cake ended up tasting of soap :(

Coconut Orange Bundt Cakes

Makes 1 small bundt cake, six mini (1 Cup) bundt cakes, or 12 cupcakes

Recipe Source: Slightly adapted from Veganyumyum here

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Flour ( I used all purpose flour)
• 3/4 Cups Sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Cream (refrigerate a can of coconut milk until the cream floats to the top and solidifies)
• 2 Tbs Blood Orange Juice (I used regular store bought minute maid orange juice though fresh squeezed would definitely taste better. But hey when there's a short cut I will take it!)
• 3/4 Cup Soy Milk ( Next time I would like to use rice or almond milk for a fluffier texture)
• 2 Tbs Water
• 1-2 tsp Vanilla Extract ( Next time I will use orange extract instead)
• Zest from one Orange ( Although the recipe didn't call for this I would highly recommend it)

Method

• Preheat oven to 400º F.
• Grease a regular bundt pan, mini bundt cake pan or cupcake molds.
• Whisk dry ingredients together.
• Beat wet ingredients together in a separate bowl until well combined.
• Add the orange zest.
• Gently fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined, don't overbeat.
• Fill your pan but not all the way, leave some room for the cake to rise.
• Bake a regular bundt for about 40 minutes, a mini bundt for 25-30 minutes, or cupcakes for about 20- 25 mins or until lightly browned on top and a skewer inserted in the top comes out clean without any batter sticking to it.
• Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Veganyumyum suggests cooling under plastic wrap to keep the outsides nice and soft.

Meanwhile prepare the orange syrup.

(Makes about 1 Cup)

• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/4 Cup Blood Orange Juice, strained ( I used regular minute maid orange juice though fresh squeezed would definitely taste better)

Combine sugar and water boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in juice. To make a thicker syrup, boil again until the sugar begins to expand greatly in volume (230º F, thread stage) then remove from heat.

Soak the cakes in the thin version of the syrup for a moister cake. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, poke them with a fork and pour 1/2 of the syrup evenly over the tops. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before unmolding. Then thicken the leftover syrup for decoration.

Verdict:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the silicone pan. It is a dream to use and the cake was beyond easy to unmold. I just pulled the flexible sides a little and then placed a plate over the top, held the plate and pan together and turned them over to unmold.The cake was a beaut even if I say so myself :)

However, since this cake uses no oil or eggs it was a little harder and less moist than regular cakes. I was also a little disappointed that the taste of the coconut didn't come through at all. I would definitely soak the cakes in the syrup next time I try this. And yes, definitely, definitely rinse off my pan next time too!

I HEART Silicone Bakeware Udate: Not so much :(

This post has been updated: Turns out I don't heart silicone all that much :( 





I've been wanting a bundt pan for the longest time but bundt pans have so many grooves which you have to coat very well with cooking spray, butter or oil to prevent the cake from sticking to it. With my less than stellar now pretty awesome baking skills ;) I was envisioning having to pull out a misshappen bundt in bits and pieces from the traditional metal bundt pan.

So I did some research and found out that they have non stick ones now and I was very tempted by these cute non stick mini bundt pans that a lot of food bloggers have been using lately and these adorable Norpro Nonstick Mini Donut Pans There are also Springform Pan with 2 interchangeable bundt and plain bottoms where you can have the convenience of two- pans-in -one which is great especially if you have a small apartment kitchen like me. Also since it's spring form that means that they are easy to unmould too.



But then I heard about Silicone bakeware which is flexible and easy to unmould and comes in a wide variety of shapes and cute colours too! To top it off they are also freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe. I was a little hesitant at first - would they bake properly? Would they last as long as a tin or metal one? so I read some reviews and most people who had used them raved about how easy to use and clean they were. Also most come with life time warranties and are guaranteed to withstand extreme temperatures. Pretty cool right?



So I snagged these silicone goodies- Silicone Bundt Pan from Wilton in this gorgeous red colour which just makes me smile every time I see it, some super cute Silicone Cupcake molds in pretty pastel colours. Here are the results of my vigorous testing:





Pros:

• Easy to unmold and no need for cupcake liners!I can bake in silicone cupcake pans, unmold or even serve the cupcakes in them too!


• They come in all sorts of fun shapes- hearts, flowers, stars, animals... there are even these hilarious cuppy-cake molds with feet so it look like your cupcakes are standing up!


• I love how versatile silicone ware is. I can use them to bake in, or use them as molds for ice, jelly, or even chocolate. There are loads of ways to decorate cupcakes to make them really stand out. Wilton's Cupcake decoration books which talk about everything you can do with these silicone molds are a real inspiration and just super fun to browse through.


• Lightweight, easy to transport and store

Cons

• They don't brown as well as metal pans and the cakes remain a pale yellow colour instead of golden brown


• Cookies baked on silicone baking sheets tend to be chewey and soft rather than crunchy so they are good for meringues and macarons but not for butter cookies


• They absorb odours especially soap, so be sure to rinse them well to avoid cake that tastes of soap. ( yuck!)


• They can tear or rip so be careful and sure to keep them away from sharp objects

Update: 

While I still continue to use my silicone cupcake molds, and love the easy release, and no need for liners, I have begun to favour my Calphalon non stick Bundt pan. The cake tends to brown more in a metal pan and since it's nonstick, it releases beautifully, plus it doesn't absorb soap odors like the silicone one did. So I guess I still heart silicone bakeware but with some reservations!

I have also tried out glass bakeware ( when baking in glass reduce oven temp by 25 degrees and bake for a longer time,increasing by 10 mins until done) However, I have found that I prefer metal- look for the dull colored and not dark black ones which makes cakes burn more easily. Aluminium cake pans have worked the best so far. 

BBQ Cookoff

Last Saturday Geek and I bundled Jelly Bean into the car seat for a half hour ride to Morgan Hill for the "No Bull" BBQ cook off. Well that sounded much easier than it is. First the sleep deprived newbie parents need to wake up, then there are various tasks including sterilizing milk bottles, boiling water and then cooling it in an ice bath, measuring out formula into little containers, finding the pacifier that always disappears just when you need it and re-appears in some random spot when baby is cooing and chuckling and has no need for it, and so on and so forth and hence it was 5 pm by the time we got there and sadly the cook-off was long done :(

We still had a good time- there were some craft stalls, AWESOME strawberry shortcake, lots of beer so the Geek was happy, and a local band, kids somersaulting on the grass in the open air amphitheater and the festive fair feel that just makes everyone all happy.

Oh and we still had those ribs we were craving at a cozy BBQ place that had taken part in the cook off called Trail Dust. Maybe because we were extra hungry, everything including the soft crusty bread, beans with slow cooked pieces of pork and the baked potato that came with our order was divine.The highlight of the day however was the yummalicious blackberry-blueberry-strawberry-apple cobbler served in a little bowl with a flaky pastry top that had just a hint of lime and cinnamon, and crunchy sugar on top. I scraped the bowl clean and now I HAVE to make it. Watch this space :)

Instant Comfort- Rice Pudding (Vegan)

I have a very sweet tooth. You could never tell right? ;) Well, when I'm craving something sweet I want it RIGHT NOW! that's why I always keep a secret stash of lil' dreamers. Ssh! don't tell! But this one time last week I was craving my sugar fix, and ransacked my fridge to find cooked rice left over from lunch and a carton of soymilk, and other assorted fridge dwellers but no lil dreamers.

So I made this quick and easy rice pudding that was incredibly satisfying and much lower in calories than the ice cream I was craving.

Oh by the way, Silk's Very Vanilla soy milk? YUM!It's got a stronger vanilla flavour than their regular vanilla soy milk and its just like drinking vanilla ice cream.

Vegan Rice Pudding

Recipe source: My own

Ingredients

• Cooked Rice 1 cup (I used a long grain called Sona Masoori, you could also use Basmati)


• Ground Clove powder 1/4 tsp


• Cardamom/Elachi- a few


• Soy Milk/other or regular dairy Milk - 2 cups


• Sugar- 3 tbs


• Salt-a pinch


• Vanilla essence- 1 tsp (if you use vanilla soy milk, you don't really need this)

Method

• Take all the ingredients except the vanilla essence in a saucepan and put on medium heat over the stove


• Bring it to a boil stirring occasionally


• Let it simmer till the mixture has thickened slightly


• Add the vanilla essence and stir


• Let it cool


• Serve warm or chilled

You could also add strands of saffron, slivers of almond or raisins and cashew. Sorry the picture isn't very great. Just took one while it was still cooking in the pan. Didn't really get to pretty-fy it since I just wanted to eat it as soon as it was done. Scalded my mouth a little too but it was so worth it!



Am sending this to Priya's Celebrate Sweets with Rice event 

Light and lemony dairy-free mother's day cake!

Mother's day is this Sunday as I have been told repeatedly by corny ads on tv and discount catalogs flooding my mail box and while I don't really fall for the marketing hype for these things (ok so maybe I do just a little) this is my first as a new mom.

My little monkey is four months old and so far it's been a roller coaster ride with sweet toothless smiles following projectile spit-up, red faced colicy screaming that no amount of rocking, singing or my own crying can calm  but also joyous squealing and giggles at the slightest hint of a funny face.

It's meant a bit of giving up and growing up and being responsible for this tiny teeny little dictator who loudly demands my attention at the most inopportune times-so I have to run out of the shower sopping wet or leave my cooking to burn on the stove or change diapers at a bleary 3 am. But then I did say sweet toothless smiles right? and yummy baby smells, and tiny teeny fingers that curl around my thumb...

So how am I going to celebrate? I don't know yet but there will be lots of funny faces and of course there will be cake. Like this one. And if my mom wasn't so far away I would bake this cake for her.

Since the little monkey may have a dairy allergy I have been looking for dairy free desserts and other food-allergy friendly eats. I found this easy and delicious sounding recipe for a lemon cake made with canola oil instead of butter and I substituted milk with soy milk and slightly adapted to make more 'lemony' by adding more zest and the juice as well.

The batter itself was so delish, I licked the spatula clean- always a good sign. The wonderful smell of lemons enveloped the house while it was baking and I kept peering at glass front of the oven door because I just couldn't take the suspense. I am so bad at waiting for my cakes to be done and almost always open the oven door too soon and everyone knows what happens then- the cake may look like its risen but then, it falls as flat as a pancake.

Well that wasn't happening this time! I baked it for 50 mins at 375 C until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean and the center part felt all bouncy and springy.

Light & Lemony dairy-free cake

Recipe source: Susie T's Spanish Lemon cake from Recipezaar here

Ingredients

• 2 eggs


• 3/4 cup milk or alternatives like rice milk or almond- I used Soy Milk


• 3/4cup canola oil


• 1/2 cup lemon juice ( juice from 2 lemons)


• 1 cup sugar


• 2 cups flour


• 3 tsp baking powder


• 1 tsp salt


• Grated zest of 2 lemons

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F 


• Combine sugar and eggs and beat well with an electric beater or in the bowl of a stand mixer till foamy


• Add lemon zest, then the oil. Do not beat, just stir it lightly with a spatula.( you don't want the mixture to turn into mayonnaise!)


• Fold in the flour alternatively with the milk and lemon juice. Beat on low for about a minute.


• Bake in a 23cm round or similar size square cake tin ( I used my 8 inch round spring-form)  for about 40 minutes or until skewer/toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Or make this in double quantity and bake it in a large rectangular pan about 30cm x 25cm.)


• Check after 40 minutes and see if it needs longer if the batter sticks to the skewer/toothpick.


• I served it with a dusting of powdered sugar for which I cut out a heart stencil out of a piece of paper to make the heart shape. You could also top it with lemon glaze

To make Lemon Glaze (optional) :

Mix the juice of 1 lemon and 1 cup fine granulated sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and microwave it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

Verdict

I HEART this light and lemony cake that is wonderfully fluffy yet moist, and has such a tantalizing summery citrus y taste! Going to try it with orange juice and orange zest sometime soon too.

I have been searching for a citrus y, dairy-free cake and my attempt at Cenk's Clementine and Olive Oil cake was a bit too olive oil-y and dense for me ( mostly because I don't think I followed the instructions too well) .

I think this simple recipe is a winner and I especially love how versatile a good Lemon cake recipe can be. Amy suggests variations for lemon cakes: "add savory herbs (thyme, lavender), sweet spices (nutmeg, cloves, cardamom), ground nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), liqueurs (Grand Marnier, Amaretto)" 

All you Mommas, wish you all an early happy mothers day from me :) Kick back, take a bite out of this tangy summery cake and relax a little!

Libby's famous Pumpkin Pie- A little bit of fall in the middle of spring!

It's spring! flowers are blooming everywhere in a riot of colours. But sunny California is having some temperamental weather. The whole week was bright and sunny and as soon as I was thinking "mmm barbecue Sunday!" the rain clouds decided to descend on us. Suddenly it's all bleak and chilly, and I've taken out my lovely ( self :) knit scarfettes and beanies that I'd just put away. It's almost like fall is back!
And fall always puts me in the mood for.. Pumpkin pie.

Thanks giving just isn't complete without the Pumpkin Pie,but this pie can be made all year round since it uses canned pumpkin and is so easy to make.
The hardest part about making this pie is probably opening the can of pumpkin pulp. And I know what you're thinking - wouldn't fresh pumpkin taste better than canned? but in this case it really doesn't make a difference and its so much easier and less messier than scooping the pulp out, getting rid of the seeds and all that fuss. I found this recipe right on the can of Libby's pure pumpkin.

Libby's famous Pumpkin Pie
Recipe Source: Off the back of the can of Libby's Pure Pumpkin

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

I also used about 1/4 teaspoons of nutmeg powder
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin pulp
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk ( I just used a cup and a half of regular milk or to make this dairy-free, use soy milk)
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Method

Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. If you like you could top with whipped cream before serving, but I prefer serving it with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream instead.

Verdict

The pie is delicious, has a wonderful, smooth texture and is a beautiful amber colour. However the lesson I learnt is to use a good pie shell. The one I used unfortunately wasn't very good and made a thin, slightly stale tasting base. Also to keep the edges of the pie shell from burning, I'll cover it with a strip of foil. I would also use some nutmeg powder the next time I make this.

Holy Week- Pesaha Pal/Pal Kurruku- Mondy Thursday Sweet Drink

Yesterday was Mondy Thursday, the celebration of the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the "last supper" where Jesus broke bread with his disciples. In Syrian Christians homes in Kerala we have a tradition of preparing a coconut milk based drink called "Pesaha Pal" (passover milk) or "Pal Kurruku" ( thickened milk) .
I had called my mother for the recipe and planned to make it, but just didn't get around to making it.Since its so delicious I may just make it one of these days anyway! Here is the recipe :

Ingredients:

Coconut Milk – 3 Cups ( can use tinned)
Jaggery – 1/4 kg
Rice Flour – 1/4 cup
Dry Ginger powder (Chukku) – 1/4 tsp
Cardamom (Elachi/ Elakka) powdered – 1/4 tsp
Cumin powdered– 1/4 tsp


Method

1. Melt jaggery by boiling it slowly in about 1/2 cup of water. Filter the syrup so that there are no lumps. Keep it separately.
2. Take coconut milk in a pan. Keep it on low heat and bring it to a boil stirring continuously.
3. Add the melted jaggery syrup to the coconut milk and stir for a few minutes.
4. Dissolve the rice flour in little water an add it to the above mixture so that the mixture begins to thicken.
5. Add the powders (Ginger, cardamom and cumin) and mix well.

It is delicious drunk either hot or cold, or you could also dip in chunks of unleavened bread (Kinnathappam or Kurushu/Cross appam )