Happy 2010 to all! May this year brings you everything you wish for. May you stick with all the resolutions you made on the 1st of the year. And may you have your cake and eat it all!
I hope to be a little more regular this year on Roz Ka Khana. I know, its January 7th already and I’ve been remiss in posting my New Year greetings. So much for a start. But I’m trying. Actually, I have been cooking and baking a lot, its just the writing and posting that takes time. Okay, I resolve to stop with the excuses and get on with sharing the recipes.
The year started off better than I thought. I finally figured out how to bake eggless cakes. Finally! An eggless cake that looks and actually tastes normal! I don’t have any dietary restrictions with eggs (I’m not vegan) but have run into occasions/potlucks where others are, and baking eggless cakes has always been elusive for me. I’ve had some one off successes (like the whole wheat banana nut muffins posted earlier) but for the most part, they literally fall flat. My eggless date and walnut muffins, for one, stuck to the paper with folks having to scrape (rather, gnaw) it off with a fork or their teeth. I could argue that they at least tasted good if people wanted to have every bite, even if they just felt like rocks:), but I’m just using my power of positive thinking here.
Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking was my answer! Her recent post, the vegan chocolate banana cake looked so tempting that I had to try my hand at it. Interesting recipe, as it calls for no milk or eggs. I substituted butter instead of the canola oil she used (per her notes) and the outcome was an amazingly soft and moist chocolate cake. This recipe is a keeper for sure and I will probably try it as a birthday cake with frosting the next time. I used a few variations and also added nuts to give it some crunch.
Ingredients:
Whole wheat Pastry Flour – 2 cups
Dutch Chocolate powder – 2/3 cup (I used the one sold in Sprouts Farmer’s Market but am sure you can use any chocolate powder)
Sugar – 1 1/2 cup
Baking soda – 1 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter – 1/4 cup
Hot water – 1 1/2 cups
Bananas, mashed and pureed – 1 cup (Per Madhuram, use 2 bananas mashed and add water to make up th 1 cup amount)
Chopped walnuts – 1/2 cup
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix the flour, chocolate powder, baking soda and sugar in a bowl.
3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and add the vanilla essence at medium speed. Add the hot water. Now add the dry flour and chocolate powder mixture from the bowl to the mixer. beat for a few minutes at medium speed until all the ingredients are mixed well.
4. Add the mashed bananas while the mixer is running and beat again for a minute.
5. Add the chopped walnuts.
6. The mixture is quite runny which probably gives it the soft texture. Pour this in the bundt cake tin (I used the silicone mould and it turned out great) and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
7. I did not frost the cake but you can if you like after it cools. Madhuram suggests that you reduce the sugar to 1 1/3 cup if you plan on frosting the cake.
Verdict: A soft and moist chocolate cake that was quite the hit with my son and nephew (you can tell they are my food critics, or rather the “guinea pigs”), as they tell me it’s good to the last crumb! That’s what’s left of it anyway!
Malini, what a pleasant surprise! This is the first time somebody has tried my recipe immediately after posting it. Thank you very much. I guess my New Year has started off with a good note. I’m glad that you tried the recipe, that it came out well and it was received well by your food critics.
For muffins to come out perfectly without sticking to the liner, spray non stick cooking spray in the paper liners. The muffins peel off without a mess.