Banana chocolate cake

And many many months and a shift of scenery later I am here, in another country, in another environment making things out of very basic ingredients for the time being.

Everything has been all over the place and there have been moments when I have missed the mundane quietness of my life before the big shift and felt frustrated at not having my usual things in their place as the cargo shipment of my previous existence still hasn’t made it to this time zone.

Feeling out of it and needing something comforting and simple I baked a small banana cake and when it came out just right, I felt the world shift, the mood lighten up, the grey clouds clearing and realized that maybe things are going to be okay.

This is as easy as it gets and absolutely delicious with every morsel. There are bits of chocolate punctuating this cake which isn’t cloyingly sweet and the light taste of overripe sweet bananas sits subtly in the background without stealing all the focus.

The ingredients are few. Bananas, eggs, butter, flour, chocolate, baking powder and sugar

Mash an overripe banana, add sugar and beat it well.

Crack in the eggs and mix into the batter until the eggs are well incorporated. It will take a few minutes but it’s worth it. This makes the cake fluffier than if you were to mix it half-heartedly.

Add in the melted butter and mix

followed by four and baking powder. Mix enough to incorporate the flour into the batter without overmixing it.

Finally, add in the chocolate bits.

Take a whole banana and split it in between. This is an optional step but so good.

Pour the batter into a baking dish, top with the banana halves and bake at 170ºC for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

The cake was just as I like it. Not too dense and neither too fluffy, just the right amount of sweetness, lovely texture and subtly hinting at bananas or maybe not subtly since the banana topping keeps it from being too cautious, It was all that I needed to feel a little better, a little more hopeful, and a lot kinder to myself.

Recipe Ingredients

Banana: 2 nos
Sugar: 70gms
Butter: 80gms
Eggs: 2
Baking powder: 2 tsp
Flour: 160gms
Chocolate chips: 100gms

Recipe instructions

Melt the butter and let cool. Halve one banana lengthwise and reserve for later.

Mash one banana in a large mixing bowl and add the sugar. Beat until the sugar is well mixed and crack in the eggs and mix for a few minutes. The eggs should be well incorporated into the batter before adding the melted butter. Stir briefly before adding in the flour and baking powder.

Mix in the flour without overmixing the batter and stir in the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.

Pour into a baking dish of choice and top with the halved banana.

Bake at 170ºC for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let it rest for a few minutes before finally slicing.

Works best with hot tea or coffee.

Coconut cake 2.0

Another day, another cake. There is never a justifiable excuse or reason to not make or eat cake and though baking a cake is far more strenuous than simply buying one, I am a firm believer in homemade cakes being a lot better than shop bought ones. For starters these can be tailor made to your specific tastes and needs, and most importantly at least for me is the absence of icing or frosting. Yes, hate me if you will but I do not like cream filled, thickly frosted cakes whatsoever. The cakes I prefer should be suitable to be had with tea or coffee and it’s these no frill cakes, saturated with flavour and perfect crumb that make my day, and yours too if you bake it.

There already is a stunningly delicious coconut cake recipe on this blog, and the reason I added another coconut cake recipe here is because this one is a relatively easier with some extra texture and somewhat lesser fussy ingredients. I contemplated making this in a blender and gave up on the idea because I didn’t want to wash my bulky blender, but you can if you want to. Just goes on to show how easy and quick this recipe is.

The ingredients in question are vanilla, sugar, flour, shredded coconut (lots of it), butter, baking powder, eggs and some lemon extract which I have wrongly written as orange extract

In a clean bowl mix together soft room temperature butter, sugar and lemon extract. Substitute with lemon zest if you have lemons on hand. There isn’t a lot of creaming and beating and whipping here. For this initial process of mixing I would however suggests a whisk and not a spatula. A mistake I went on to correct.

Add the vanilla extract after a brief mixing of butter, sugar and lemon extract. This is homemade vanilla extract. Mix in the eggs one at a time.

Once all the eggs are mixed in add the flour and baking powder and mix well.

I also added a few tablespoons of milk into the batter while mixing in the flour. The batter should be thick but of dropping consistency before the addition of coconut

Finally add in the shredded coconut and mix briefly until everything is lusciously combined.

Finally pour the batter into a well greased cake pan. This batter will make one large cake or two smaller sized ones. One to eat at home and the other to give to a friend.

bake at 170ºC for 45 -60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for at least 20 minutes before taking out of the pan.

Recipe ingredients
Butter: 115g
Flour: 300g
Baking powder: 2 tsp
Shredded coconut (Unsweetened): 200g
Eggs: 5
Sugar: 200g
Vanilla extract: 1tsp
Milk (optional): 2 tbsp

Recipe instructions

In a clean bowl beat in the butter with sugar and lemon extract or lemon zest if using. Add in the vanilla, give it a brief mixing and add the eggs one at a time. Beat in each egg into the mixture thoroughly. Once all the eggs are incorporated into the batter, add the flour, baking powder and milk if the batter gets too thick.

When all the flour is mixed add in the shredded coconut and mix well.

Pour into a well greased cake tin preferable a 12 inch or two smaller cake pans and bake at 170ºC for at least 45-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. The edges of the cake start pulling from the cake tin when the cake is completely done.

Let the cake rest on a rack for at least 20 minutes before serving.

The addition of so much shredded coconut lends the cake more texture and results in a better crumb. The cake tends to dry a little which works better for this flavour than a more moist one.

Yogurt blueberry cake

It was a whole lot of nothing last year and hopefully this year promises to be better and I am not going in an overly celebratory mode with extravagant enthusiasm, however I do wish to welcome all that’s new and encouraging with some sweetness and this cake here which is essentially a yogurt cake has been such a rock solid standby dessert option, not least because it is fuss free, extremely easy and effortlessly gorgeous but also because you can change the fruit to suit your tastes and seasons without changing the recipe of the cake.

the ingredients are blueberries, yogurt, vanilla extract, flour, pistachio, sugar, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, salt and oil

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients that are the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt

give it a thorough mix, ensuring there are no lumps.

You can if you want, mix the wet ingredients into a separate bowl and then mix in with the dry but it’s not necessary.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry

ensuring there are no lumps.

pour into a well greased cake tin.

and tap it a few time to ensure no air bubbles are trapped before the decorations begin

I drop in a few roasted pistachios and this is totally optional. I do it because I like the light crunch and sligh nutty taste these slivers offer. It’s not an essential and you can either choose to not use it altogether or replace it with another nut. Almonds work really well here, even cashews.

gently drop in the blueberries and bake at 180ºC for at least 40-50 minutes. This cake takes a bit longer than usual but it’s better to start checking once the top gets golden.

Like so. Let it rest and cool a bit before slicing.

Ingredients
Flour: 180g
Eggs: 2
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Yogurt: 150mls
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Oil: 100mls
Sugar: 180g
Blueberries: 90g
Pistachios: 2 tbsp

Recipe instructions

In a clean large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and soda until there are no lumps.

to the dry ingredients add in the eggs, vanilla, oil and yogurt and mix well.

Pour into a well greased baking tin and top with chopped pistachios (if using) and blueberries.

Bake at 180ºC for 40-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool before slicing.

Simple vegan chocolate cake

Do you want something absolutely chocolate without the fuss, without the beating around in a large bowl and whisking too much? If your answer is yes then perhaps this is the chocolate cake you’d want to try which is absolutely hassle free, easy to make with a fudgy rich center and takes barely moments to put together. The only waiting time is when it bakes and cools down and once that is done it’s ready to be eaten.

It’s something of a cross between a rich brownie and a simple tea time cake where all its chocolateness comes from the cocoa powder, which is why a good quality cocoa powder is a must for this recipe and of course it can be elaborated upon with icing or frosting and that’s why this cake is so perfect because its simple nature makes it so amiable to everything one could possible club it with.

The ingredients are few and basic. Flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa powder, instant coffee, oil, plant milk, vanilla and some salt.

In a large bowl mix in the flour

sugar

baking powder, salt, baking soda and coffee

and cocoa powder.

Mix it well together.

Now mix in all the wet ingredients. Vanilla, oil

Plant milk. I’ve used soy milk.

Mix it well. The batter will be a bit wet and that’s what makes the cake a very moist disc of chocolate goodness.

Scrape into a well greased baking dish of choice and bake at 180ºc for 40-45 minutes or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides and the center is baked. Check with a knife or toothpick.

Let cool for a bit before slicing.

This cake was deliriously simple and magical in how it tasted. Pair it with a dollop of ice cream of some cream or custard to make it into a richer dessert.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Flour: 200g
Sugar: 180g
Cocoa powder: 30g
Coffee powder (instant): 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Oil: 70g (anything flavourless or coconut oil)
Plant milk: 220 mls
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

Recipe instructions

Into a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and coffee powder. Mix well. Make sure there are no lumps.

Add in the vanilla, oil and milk and mix well. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure no dry flour is stuck to the edges.

Scrape into a well greased baking tin and bake at 180ºc for 40-45 minutesor until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

let rest for ten minutes before serving.

Coconut cake

It could have been the sudden onslaught of summers or the desperate need to eat something sweet or even the fact that my pantry boosted a most comprehensive collection of coconut milk that I suddenly felt this overbearing need within me to bake a coconut cake and not just any coconut cake but beautiful bundt at that and thusly here we have a gorgeously sweet, tropically kissed and easily made coconut cake.

The ingredients are eggs, flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, coconut flakes or dessicated coconut, sugar, lemon zest and coconut milk. Also vanilla extract (not pictured)

I used a food processor to mix the lemon zest in with the sugar just so it’s evenly distributed and renders a more aromatic scent. This step didn’t do much to affect the end result so it’s optional.

crack eggs in a clean mixing bowl

and add in the sugar

and beat well for a few minutes until pale

Heat coconut milk and melt in the butter ensuring it doesn’t get too hot and reserve for later.

Add vanilla extract

followed by the flour and baking powder. Add it in batches. Mixing constantly and scraping the sides of the bowl intermittently.

Once the flour is well mixed add in the coconut flakes and mix again.

and finally pour in the coconut butter mixture.

Beat well ensuring there are no dry lumps in the batter.

Pour into a well greased baking tin. I’m using a bundt pan but feel free to make it into a regular sheet cake or even cupcakes.

Bake at 170ºC for 45-50 minutes in a preheated oven or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Dust with powdered sugar or sweetened coconut flakes before serving.

Ingredients

Flour: 240g
Sugar: 250g
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Baking powder: 1 heaped tsp
Butter: 80g
Eggs: 4 
Coconut milk: 200mls
Dessicated coconut: 150g
Vanilla: 1 tsp
Lemon zest: 2 tsps

Note: The picture shows 6 eggs but the recipe uses 4.

Recipe instructions

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and keep aside.

In a clean pan heat the coconut milk and melt in the butter. Don’t let the mixture get too hot. Reserve for later.

Crack in the eggs in a large bowl and beat in the sugar and lemon zest until the batter gets well aerated and turns pale. It will take a few minutes and add in the vanilla extract.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt mixture into the egg and sugar batter in batches until well incorporated. Keep scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure no lumps or dry bits of flour are stuck to the sides.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed in beat the coconut flakes/desiccated coconut followed by the coconut milk and butter mixture.

Mix well until you have a sunkissed pale yellow batter punctuated with grainy bits of coconut flakes.

Scrape the batter in a well greased baking pan and bake at 170ºC for 45-50 minutes or until the top of the cake is copper hued and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in its pan for at least 10 minutes before inverting on a cooling rack where it needs to cool down for another ten minutes before slicing in.

Finally dust with sugar or sweetened coconut flakes before serving.

Enjoy!

Cardamom coffee cake

It’s been sometime since I posted a cake recipe on this blog and what better to break the monotony than a coffee cake. The thing about coffee cakes is that apart from pairing ‘oh so beautifully’ with a strong cup of caffeine they are scrumptious just on their own for moments when you want to eat something sweet but not overwhelmingly so.

Cardamom is such a rich exotic spice with an almost romantic ring to it with curious undertones of mystery and an enticing allure of the East so rare in cakes and with a crispy crumb on top this cake is two layers of delicious, resonating with cardamom in each bite, hefty with flavours and yet symbiotically submitting when paired with a cup of coffee or even tea, because cardamom does go well with tea.

these ingredients might seem like a lot but that’s only because there are two parts to this cake. A crispy nutty crumb and a base cake.

first with the crumb topping. Into a bowl add flour (please excuse the lighting)

walnuts

brown sugar

cardamom

and mix with a fork until ingredients are equally dispersed.

finally add room temperature butter to form the crumbs

mix thoroughly

until nice fat crumbs or rather buttery nutty lumps are formed. Set aside.

for the dry ingredients in a separate bowl mix sugar, flour

baking powder, baking soda

and cardamom

mix well and keep aside

Now we get mixing to wet ingredients and also learn how exactly galaxies came to be formed. In a clean bowl add coconut oil

vanilla extract and coffee

milk and eggs

check out your handywork at creating the universe

now for some orange liquor

and a quick whisk to disperse everything

into a murky reality

now it’s just a question of adding the wet to the dry, much like life.

and stirring it all together to form a lovely terracotta mixture of cardamom flavoured dreams.

pour into a well greased baking tin

top with buttery crumbs

take a moment to gaze at the beauty that is this cardamom crumb cake before plunging it into the depths of a furnace that is your oven to bake at 200º for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

after 45 minutes this is what you’ll be rewarded with. beautifully bronzed looking slab of spiced haven.

let it rest for at least ten minutes before taking it out of the tin. It’ll be a moist flavourful cake with a rather delicious, even crispy topping. It’s the crumb topping that offsets flavours of this cake, giving it texture that comes in with a surprising cardamom punch.

serve warm with a strong cup of love.

Ingredients

For the crumb topping:

Flour: 60g (1/2cup)

Walnuts: 60g (1/3cup)

Butter: 80g (1/3cup)

Brown sugar: 80g (1/3cup)

Cardamom: 3/4 tsp

Note: I used regular cardamom pods and crushed the seeds to make a rough powdered texture

For the cake:

Flour: 150g (2cups)

Sugar: 145g (3/4cup)

Baking soda: 1/2 tsp

Baking powder: 1 heaped tsp

Eggs: 2

Cardamom: 1 tsp

Vanilla extract: 1tsp

Coconut oil: 120mls (1/2cup)

Coffee: 60mls (double shot)

Milk: 65mls (1/3cup)

Orange liqueur (optional): 30 mls (single shot)

Recipe instructions:

making crumbs: mix together walnuts, flour, brown sugar and cardamom. Add the butter and using either fingers or a fork mix everything together until it forms crumbs.

making cake: Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and cardamom and keep aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together coconut oil, vanilla, eggs, coffee and orange liqueur if using and once blended well pour into the dry ingredients and mix to form batter. Pour into a greased baking dish and top with crumb toppings. Bake at 200º for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it rest for an additional 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Lemon cake

Just the kind of laid back cake that packs a punch while dressed most plainly in a sponge batter.

The tartness of lemons balances ever so perfectly with the sweetness of cake that it’s difficult to understand whether its complementing your palette or squeezing in your cheeks.

Even better, it tastes more delicious the next day, if it survives, that is.

The summeriness of lemons does wonders to uplift your spirits and this cake works perfectly as a midday sweet snack filler or lazy dessert. It’s not easy to say ‘no’ to this bronze slab of sour sweet zing, and if you can resist it then you ARE heartless.

there are two stages to this cake. one is the batter and the other is syrup and both idiotically easy.

begin by creaming butter and sugar

once they’re satisfactorily creamed, add vanilla extract

and lemon zest

and eggs

also mix the leavening agents into the flour for an even mix.

add flour to the mix

mix well.

it’ll be a thick thick batter, and a bit of milk will soften its consistency without thinning it.

nice dropping consistency

line a baking tin of choice with baking paper. Scrape the batter in and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean

while the cake bakes we can get on with the syrup. It’s a simple syrup. With sugar and lemon juice.

add sugar to a pot

and the lemon juice

and let it cook until the sugar begins to melt

here the contents began boiling which meant the sugar was pretty much dissolved.Convey the pot to a cooler place and let it slowly cool. DO NOT be tempted to taste the boiling potion. You’ll come to regret it so.

once the cake is baked and out of the oven, do not wait for it to cool down.

start poking deep holes in it. Use a skewer or a toothpick.

Drizzle lemon syrup all over, so that the top is sodden. Be brave. The cake won’t crumble under all that liquid. In fact it will absorb all the contents.

The surface will be slick with the syrup. Let the cake continue cooling in its tin. If you try to pry it out at this stage it will tend to crumble and break apart.

you might wonder why there’s a difference in picture of the said cake. I’d baked two cakes. The one baked in loaf tin was given away promptly and the one shown above was consumed by this blogger.

_________________________________________________________________

Ingredients

For the cake

Butter: 120 g (3/4 cup)

Sugar: 170 g (1.5 cups)

Flour: 170g (1.5 cups)

Eggs: 2

Zest of 1 lemon

Milk: 4 tbsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/4 tsp

Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

For the lemon syrup

Juice of 2 lemons

80g (3/4 cup) sugar

Recipe instructions: cream together butter and sugar, and add lemon zest, vanilla extract and eggs. Beat them well. Add flour and leavening agents and fold all ingredients to form a batter. Add milk to thin the batter in spoonable consistency and bake in a well greased and paper lined baking tin at 180° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake bakes prepare the syrup. Heat gently the sugar and lemon juice until all sugar has dissolved.

Once the cake is baked and out of the oven, prick holes or puncture the top with a toothpick or cake testing skewer to form holes. Pour over the syrup and let the cake rest to absorb the syrup in its pan. Don’t take out the cake until it’s completely cooled.

Cut into pieces and serve.

Date & nut cake

Oh this cake. I could sing songs, write sonnets and do a bit of dance and tell you how unbelievably heavenly this cake was. Instead I’m just going to do a bit of unhinged prose and explain with all the emphasis at my disposal about the fabulousness that is this Date & nut cake. It’s appearance as humble as it might seem is most beguiling and hides the delectable reality of this exquisite cake.

You might be tempted to write off this cake at the merest first glance as any old fruit cake, but one bite and you’d be lost. You’d be lost and in a labyrinthine maze of cake heaven realize with each chewy/crunch/crumbly/flavoursome bite that this cake is indeed one of the most tasteful, scrumptious cake ever to have floated out of your oven.

It’s the orchestra of soft sweet dates contrasting with nut crunch and underlined with a medley of sublime spice flavours that makes this cake an addictive must.

it’s a date & nut cake, so it has dates and nuts and milk, sugar, egg, flour, butter, vanilla extract, clove powder (ground cloves), orange zest, cinnamon, baking powder, crushed pepper.

start by adding baking powder to the flour and mixing it thoroughly. Keep it aside.

As with most cake recipes this one starts with creaming the butter and sugar in a bowl. Make sure the butter is at room temperature. Mine was not 😦

beat or cream the butter, add in the sugar

add the orange zest

beat until it sort of looks like this, or you can do a better job if the butter is room temperature.

crack in an egg

splash in some vanilla

and beat again until well mixed. My batter looks a bit curdled and that’s because I didn’t use room temperature butter. It’s too cold here for anything to be room temperature..but this curdling won’t matter..and you’ll see.

add in the flour

followed by spices..cinnamon, ground cloves

crushed black pepper

mix a bit and add milk

followed by chopped dates

chopped nuts

and mix until just barely mixed. Do Not overmix the batter.

scrape batter into a baking tin of choice. I’ve lined mine with some baking paper.

smoothen the top and bake at 180°C for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out completely clean

let it cool. Slice and enjoy!

_______________________

Ingredients

Dates: 170g (1 overflowing cup)

Nuts: 130g (1 cup). I used a mix of pecans and walnuts, but you can use whatever is easily available.

Sugar: 100g (1/2 cup)

Flour: 120g (1 cup)

Butter: 100g (1/2 cup)

Milk: 50 mls (1/4cup)

Eggs: 1

Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

baking powder: 1.5 tsp

Orange zest: 1 tbsp

black pepper (crushed): 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon: 1/2 tsp

crushed cloves: 1/4 tsp

——————–

Recipe instructions: Chop the dates and soak in 1 cup of hot water to soften them and keep aside.

Add the baking powder into the flour and mix well and keep aside.

Cream the room temperature butter with the sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy. Crack in the egg, add vanilla extract and beat for another minute until well combined. Add in the flour, followed by spices. Mix roughly and add in the milk until just mixed.

Drain the dates and add into the batter, followed by nuts and do not over mix the batter.

Scrape the batter into a well greased baking tin and bake at 180°C for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out completely clean.

Let cool before slicing.

Enjoy!

Venetian carrot cake

In case anyone was wondering about my exile and the painfully invisible void I’d left in the world of food blogs, then let me tell you, it was only temporary..and though I might not be back with a bang, I am back with a gluten free (gasp) venetian carrot cake, the credit for which as much as I’d like to take isn’t mine to take at all but Nigella Lawson’s, and it’s her recipe I’ve adapted to make this unbelievable sphere (albeit sort of flat) of damp richness.

This is a carrot cake and it’s unapologetically..umm carroty? and absolutely gluten free, which is to say it does not require any flour, and as hipster as it sounds, we can take some solace in that it’s not vegan..though I promise nothing. On days of rage, I’ve been known to torture myself with vegan food stuff. But that’s another story for another torture chamber, because right now let’s marvel in the blistering warmth of this buff coloured cake, which sings to your soul and pleases your senses with such luxurious notes, that you’re left wondering whether you should eat this cake or marry it.

So without further ado, we’ve the ingredients. Sugar, olive oil, vanilla extract, beaten eggs, almond meal, shredded carrots, pine nuts, lemon, lemon zest, raisins and rum (not pictured)

Just because a cake’s got almond meal which sometimes you don’t readily get at your grocery store, does not mean you put off baking this amber coloured love disc. You’ve only to blitz almonds to get almond meal you know. It’s rocket science, but you can get around to it.

before we get started, put the raisins in with the rum and bring to a boil and let simmer gently for 3 minutes, after which turn off your heat and let the raisins plump up and cool.

into a bowl of choice, add olive oil and sugar

and beat it for at least a couple of minutes. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable activity, I assure you.

beat until you’ve incorporated the sugar with the oil

mix in the eggs

followed closely by vanilla extract

and the zest

and lemon juice

mix well, until you’ve a summery ripple of golden ooze that speaks radiance in shiny ribbons.

tip in the now cooled swollen raisins along with any rum that’s it’s been standing in.

finally the almond meal

and the grated carrots

mix well, until everything’s incorporated and there’re no dry pockets.

scrape the mixture into a prepared cake tin. This is a springform pan

prepared simply means you’ve oiled the sides and the bottom and stuck a wax/butter/parchment paper on the base and oiled it as well.

now, with the careless abandon of abundance, strew the top with pine nuts

liberally or not..entirely up to you and bake at 180°C for 40 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. As long as it’s sticky and not runny, you’re good.

once done, let it cool before you devour..always a good practice.

and behold! the answer to dreary winter months, the saviour of one too many dinnerless nights..or just a sponge to wipe your tears, while you wallow in the dull ache of loneliness in your bed. A cake of such splendour and sumptuous depths that you’d kick yourself for sharing it. It’ll light you up on the inside, and how can it not?

_________________

Ingredients

carrots-2 medium (about 200g)
pine nuts -3 tbsp
raisins-75g (1/2 cup)
rum- 60ml
sugar- 150g (3/4cup)
olive oil (regular)- 125ml (1/2 cup)
eggs-3
vanilla extract- 1 tsp
almond meal- 250g (2.5 cup)
lemon- 1/2 (zest and juice)

______________________________________________

Preparation

In a saucepan bring to a boil the rum and raisins and let simmer gently. Turn off the heat and let them stand and cool. Grate the carrots and absorb any excess liquid with a kitchen towel.

Into a bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until well mixed. add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and juice and the now cooled rum and raisins, and mix well. Finally fold in the almond meal and grated carrots.

Scrape into a prepared cake tin, and cover the top with pine nuts. Bake 180°C for 40 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. As long as it’s sticky and not runny, you’re good. Let it rest for at lest ten minutes before removing it from its cake pan. Let it cool completely and enjoy

Blueberry muffin crumble cake

Are you seeing this? are you feeling it? Behold the rocket science behind making a muffin batter, only to make a cake instead, and top it all off with a crumble. gasp!

Before I begin with the alchemy of innovation and the complicated discoveries of pouring a muffin batter into a cake pan, let me just tell you about the divinity of this blueberry muffin crumble cake.

The rustic golden top, splattered with the ooze of violent violet of tart sweet blueberries, has known to make grown men weep. It’s guaranteed to make a painter out of the most banal harsh hearts, and turn your cold cemented soul into a benevolent rasp of tenderness. It doesn’t masquerade as a sinful dessert, but rather bleeds of such hearty compassion, that you’d want nothing better than to cry your woes to this plate of cake, and promise to turn over a new leaf. It’s seriously that good!…Also it takes no more than mere moments to conjure up this holiness.

totally basic ingredients involving sugar, oil, lemon zest, baking soda, baking powder, salt, blueberries (obviously), yogurt, egg, vanilla extract, flour and crumble toppings that include flour, sugar & butter.

so let’s just begin with the crumble topping and that’s one less thing to bother about. So, flour in a bowl

and sugar

and butter

and mix with a fork

until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Now refrigerate this and forget about it for a bit.

now because this is a muffin cake, we go the basic dry ingredient+wet ingredients way. So this is our wet ingredients bit..lol wet! in a separate clean bowl, crack and egg.

beat it with some vanilla

add in the yogurt

and the oil.

and mix/beat/whip until it forms a real nice smooth batter..real smooth.

now for the dry ingredients. In a separate larger bowl, add in the flour.

and the sugar

and the baking soda, baking powder and salt. and phew!

in with the lemon zest

and the blueberries that hardly ever look blue, but whatever!

and mix! yes sir.

mix until everything is..umm..mixed. That is to say the blueberries are coated with the flour mixture and all ingredients are evenly dispersed.

dump in the wet ingredients..you remember..that egg, oil and yogurt batter

and now you get a mixing..but remember DO NOT OVERMIX!

mix only until it has just come together..just barely come together..

scrape the muffin batter into a cake tin/pan/dish. make sure you’ve oiled it first. Even out the top as best as you can

and sprinkle on the crumble topping that has been resting in the fridge

like so..bake in a preheated oven at 190ºC for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Can you see the gorgeously golden cracked crumble top?

see???

see..sigh! flecked dangerously vivid with blueberries, this muffin cake is a joy to bake and a wonder to eat. Serve just as is, or with ice cream or cream or custard or tears.

Ingredients

egg: 1 large

yogurt: 240 mls (1 cup)

vegetable oil: 80 mls (1/3 cup)

flour: 250g (2 cups)

sugar: 100g (1/2 cup)

baking powder: 1 1/2 tsp

baking soda: 1/4tsp

salt: 1/4 tsp

lemon zest: 1 tsp

blueberries: 320g (about 1 1/4 cup)

for the crumble topping

sugar: 50g (1/4 cup)

butter: 30g (2 heaped tablespoons)

flour: 70g (1/2 cup)

Blueberry muffin crumble cake: make the crumble topping by mixing in the flour and sugar and using a fork cut in the cold butter, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. you can do this using just your finger tips as well.

wet ingredients: In a large bowl mix together egg, vanilla extract, yogurt and oil.

dry ingredients: In a separate bowl mix in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, lemon zest and blueberries. Mix until the blueberries are well coated with flour and all the ingredients are evenly mixed.

Now gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and do not over mix. The batter will be a bit thick, but desirably so. Scrape into a well greased baking dish and even out the top as best as you can.

Sprinkle the crumble topping thickly and bake at 190ºC for about 25-30 minutes in a pre heated oven or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: