Rich Rum Fruit Cake

I wanted to try a different fruit cake this Christmas and hence was looking for the perfect recipe. Finally, while browsing through various interesting blogs on the internet, I came across this particular recipe which really caught my attention. I wanted to give it a try. I must say that I have found the perfect Christmas fruit cake which is so moist and delicious.

Here is the link to this recipe http://www.ecurry.com/blog/desserts/rich-rum-fruit-cake-for-a-very-merry-christmas/

I am sure you all are going to enjoy this Rich Rum Fruit Cake as much as I do.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Yesterday was my loving husband's birthday and I wanted to surprise him by making a nice cheesecake for him. I have never tried making a cheesecake before and was really very nervous about making it. So, I browsed through the net and found this Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake by Anna Olson from Food Network. 

Just by looking at the cake, I decided that "yes, this is it". So, I made this cake and decorated it nicely with some readily available icing and toasted hazelnuts. The only thing I skipped from the recipe was that I didn't dust the cake with cocoa powder because I found the taste just right.

Everyone who ate it simply loved it and my husband was really surprised and thrilled :)

For this recipe, please click on this link :http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/Fresh-with-Anna-Olson/recipe.html?dishID=10066&titleid=116182

Zebra Cake

I always found this cake very interesting. I have been dreaming of making this cake, especially because it looks very attractive. I thought it would be very difficult to make this cake until, I visited one of my friend's place and she told me how to make it. It sounded so easy that I just couldn't wait to go home and experiment it out in my kitchen. So, today I decided to bake this cake. My 21/2 year old daughter, Emily was also keen on helping me make this cake. It was lot of fun baking it up and Emily enjoyed licking the left over batter from the bowl and it was an overall fun experience. Needless to say, the cake turned out really good and we all enjoyed eating it as much as we did baking it.

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Ingredients :

2 Eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

2 tbsp dark cocoa powder

Method :

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugar until creamy and light in colour.
• Add milk and oil, and continue beating till well blended
• Add vanilla essence to the mixture. Gradually, add flour, baking soda and salt and beat until the mixture is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated
• Now, divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain and to the other add the dark cocoa powder.
• Preheat the over to 400 degree F and grease the baking dish with butter and keep aside.
• The most important part is assembling the cake batter in the baking pan. This is what you do: Scoop 3 heaped tbsp of the plain batter into the centre of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tbsp of the cocoa batter and pour it in the centre on top of the plain batter.
• Do not spread the batter or tilt the pan to distribute the mixture. It will spread by itself and fill the pan gradually.
• Continue alternating the batters till you finish them.
• Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes
• This is how it looks when it come out of the oven.

• Let it cool for a while and then slice and serve it.

Eggless Mango Cake

Some days back, I came across this site Red Chillies and I immediately bookmarked it. It had some interesting recipes and articles. One recipe which really caught my eye was "Eggless Mango Cake". I really found this recipe to be very simple and quick to make. So, today being "Family Day" in Canada, I decided to make it for my family.

However, I made a few changes in the recipe. I used brown sugar instead of the regular sugar. I also used oil instead of butter and almonds instead of walnuts & raisins. But the overall result was just too good. So here goes the recipe for all the mango lovers...

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients :

1 cup Mango pulp

1 cup semolina/Rava/Sooji

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 cup oil

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup slivered almonds (keep some for sprinkling on top of the batter)

Method :

• Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Grease a baking tray with butter and keep aside.
• Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
• Then pour this batter in the greased baking tray.
• Sprinkle some almonds on top of the batter and bake at 375 degree F for 20-25 minutes.
• Cool, slice and serve with some whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream or just eat it the way it is.