EGGLESS FAT FREE BANANA CAKE: TASTE AND CREATE

I made eggless fat free banana cake for taste and create event started by Nicole of for the love of food and hosted this month by min of The bad girl's kitchen. I was paired for the very first time with a fabulous blogger, who in the very short span of time has given the blog world the beautiful creations most of which are her original recipes. Yes, I am talking about Parita of Parita's world. I am very happy that the cake turned out great and my husband who is a picky eater liked the taste.

I did quite a few changes to the original recipe, following are the changes:

• used yogurt


• no vanilla essence


• no baking soda


• used pineapple juice

This recipe is definitely a keeper and next time I want to incorporate eggs in the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 OVER RIPEN BIG BANANAS

2 CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

2 TSP BAKING POWDER

3/4 CUP BROWN SUGAR

3/4 CUP YOGURT

1 TSP PINEAPPLE JUICE

STEPS OF PREPARATION

1.Preheat oven to 350 F, and grease a rectangular baking tin.

2.Blend together banana, brown sugar, pineapple juice and yogurt till smooth.

3.Sift together flour and baking powder and add 1 tbsp at a time and beat, till all become mixed properly.

4.Pour the batter in a greased baking tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.

5.Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or knife, if comes out clean then take it out of the oven.

6.Cool for 10 minutes and cut into slices.

SOME CHOCAMBLING AND A CROWD PLEASING TREAT...CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES!!!

Do you know what is the world's most favourite food. No, let me tell you, the world's most favourite luxury food is chocolate..hmmmm.....Can you tell me how much chocolate have you consumed till date???........well, I can't tell.I am a big chocolate fan, rather a choco-holic is the best word to describe my love for chocolates☺

I sometimes wonder how fortunate we are to live in a world having chocolates easily available in various forms all around us. Be it a super market, a shopping mall, or a pharmacy, every store has allotted a section specially for chocolates and chocolate lovers like me leave no opportunity to go without having it...:):):):)

On my recent visit to the library, this book CHOCOLATE, written by Nick Malgieri readily caught my attention. Oh boy, so many mind blowing choco-pes at one place and I was all willing to have it. When my husband asked me to make a cake for an upcoming birthday of one of his office colleagues, I knew what I am gonna make. One look at the recipe and I wanted to give it a try. I have never made a cupcake before and this was the perfect occassion to make this crowd pleaser.

The recipe is adopted from the book I have mentioned above, but I have made quite a few changes.

INGREDIENTS

1 CUP ALL PURPOSE FLOUR (actual recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 TSP BAKING POWDER
1/4 TSP SALT
8 TBSP, 1/2 CUP OR 1 STICK UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED (actual recipe calls for 6 Tbsp)
1 CUP SUGAR
3/4 CUP COCO POWDER (actual recipe calls for 2 squares unsweetened chocolate,melted and cooled)
3 SMALL EGGS (actual recipe asked for 2 large eggs)
1/2 CUP MILK
1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT

CAN YOU RESIST THE TEMPTATION....

STEPS OF PREPARATION

1.Preheat oven at 350 Degrees and line one 12 cavity muffin tin with paper cups.

2.Sift together flour, coco powder, salt and baking powder.

3.In a bowl beat together sugar and butter with an electric beater at a medium speed for 5 minutes till soft and fluffy.

4.Add and beat eggs one by one and beat for 2 minutes till smooth and creamy.

5.Now add vanilla extract, then add flour mixture and milk alternatively and beat till well blended.

6.Immediately fill the lined paper cups 3/4 th and keep the tray on the medium rack of oven.

7.Bake for 20-25 minutes or until it has risen well enough and feel firm (check by inserting knife or tooth pick on the center of one cup cake, if it comes out clean then the cup cake is ready).

8.Serve as it is or frost as you like (I frosted with melted milk chocolate and dark chocolate shavings).

BROWN AND WHITE , CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES!!!

I am sending this pic to jugalbandi for their monthly event click.

DINNER AT ITS BEST: BAKED WHOLE CHICKEN

Only 9 days are left for the big day. Birthday baby is all set to have a blast. After doing much research on the design and flavours, we have finally placed an order for the birthday cake.

"A" is having fun these days as she has started to walk. Its getting more and more difficult to keep her away from kitchen. She somehow manages to get past all the obstructions we have placed at the entrance and if not then starts to cry, either forcing me to leave the kitchen or letting her enter. At that time her high chair is the only thing that come to my rescue, man whoever made the high chair was a genious....:DShe is getting familiar with things now...Potato is one such thing, In urdu "aalu' is the word for potato, she calls it aaa...wu. It sounds so sweet, sometimes we ask her to say aalu over and over again. Bub bub is for sponge bob, mum mum is for water etc. I guess each and every phase of child development carries its own charm. To watch them grow is itself a treat. Isn't it???

BAKED WHOLE CHICKEN

Chicken is so versatile, one can make so many dishes out of it. Dry or in curry form, soup or salad, grilled, baked or fried, as a wrap, in a sandwich or layered with rice, topped on a pizza but one thing is for sure, it is equally liked by kids and grownups. My husband says, "It is not easy to ruin any dish made of chicken." So for chicken lovers or chicken khooor like us, Mr.chicken is featured atleast twice a week in any of the above mentioned form in our home. Sometimes I wonder what would be the world without chicken???....

........Hop on to the recipe


INGREDIENTS

1 WHOLE CHICKEN
1/2 CUP YOGURT
SALT TO TASTE
2 TSP GINGER/GARLIC PASTE
1 TSP TURMERIC POWDER
2 TSP RED CHILLI POWDER
2 TSP CORIANDER POWDER
1 TSP GARAM MASALA POWDER
1/2 TSP CHAAT MASALA POWDER
1/2 TSP TANDOORI MASALA POWDER
1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER (FRESHLY GRINDED)
3 TBSP LEMON JUICE
A PINCH YELLOW FOOD COLOUR (OPTIONAL)
OIL
STEPS OF PREPARATION

1.Wash and drain the chicken, make slits on it with a knife, apply lemon juice and salt generously and keep aside.

2.In a bowl take yogurt, add all the ingredients to it and give it a good whisk.

3.Now apply the marinade all over the chicken, give it a marination time of 3-4 hours minimum, overnight is ideal so that all the spices seeped into the chicken.

4.Preheat oven, grease a baking tray, place chicken breast side down and drizzle oil over it.

5.Bake the chicken in a preheated oven at 400F for 30 minutes each side.

6.Serve hot, salad, naan and biryani complement the dish pretty well.

A SWEET START:CELEBRATING WITH A CAKE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

MAY YOU HAVE MANY MORE,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!


These birthday wishes goes to my wonderful husband and my sweet brother who happen to share their birthday (actually their b'day was on June 20th but due to some problems with my computer I could not post it until today).

I am a pharmacist by profession but these days I am a homemaker, taking care of a baby girl. Before marriage, I used to help my mom in the kitchen but never showed any enthusiasm in cooking. When I came to USA (2 years back) to join my husband, I also carried a bundle of recipes in my suitcase, some were the pages tore off from magazines or newspapers, others were the recipes jotted down on pieces of paper from the TV cooking shows and some cookbooks. I do not claim that I am a pro now but my cooking skills have improved over time and why not if u have a husband who is ready to eat anything (edible) u cook.... :):):):)

One day when I was looking for new recipes on internet, I came across some fantastic recipes on some beautiful blogs. I was not aware of food blogging at that time, as I explored further, I realized there were very few pakistani food bloggers on blogosphere. When I told my husband about it, he encouraged me to start a food blog of my own and even suggested its name (although I replaced 'S' with a 'X') & here I am with my very first post, I can't think of any other occassion to start "MIXCALCULATIONS" than this one.

BLACK FOREST CAKE

Black forest cake is the perfect cake to embrace any occassion because of its rich appearance and taste. This was my first attempt and it was an instant hit. I followed this recipe from a Pakistani cookbook.

INGREDIENTS

4 EGGS(IF U HAVE SMALL EGGS THEN TAKE 5 EGGS)

1 CUP PLAIN FLOUR

3/4 CUP SUGAR

1 TEASPOON UNSALTED BUTTER

1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER

4 TBSP HOT WATER

1 TBSP COCO POWDER

STEPS OF PREPARATION

1.Preheat oven at 325F and grease a 9 inch round pan.

2.Sift flour,coco powder and baking powder together three times.

3.Beat eggs for 5 minutes then add sugar slowly(1 tbsp at a time)and beat for 10 minutes.

4.Fold all sifted dry ingredients into the egg and sugar mixture with a wooden spoon.

5.Dissolve butter in hot water and add to the mixture.

6.Pour the batter in the baking pan and keep in preheated oven at 325F for 35-40 minutes.

7.Check for doneness by inserting cake tester or toothpick or bamboo sticks.

8.Let the cake cool for 10 minutes then cut into three halves horizontally.

9.I didnt have 2 9"pans so I made 2 cake layers one by one.

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING/DECORATING

8 Oz HEAVY WHIPPED CREAM TUB

DUNCAN HYNES CHOCOLATE FROSTING

CANNED CHERRIES

1 HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE BAR

FILLING/DECORATING CAKE

1. Beat 8 oz heavy whipping cream till soft peaks form, add sugar 2 tsp at a time and beat well.

2. Place a layer of cake on a serving plate,apply chocolate frosting ,place 2nd layer of cake.

3. Apply cream with a spatula or use knife,then grate chocolate bar,keep cherries and decorate it with cream.

As I am new in blogging any suggestions and feedbacks are welcome.Happy cooking and keep visiting "MIXCALCULATIONS".