Got busy with life…that’s the excuse I have for not visiting earlier. Also, the fact that I had too many things bouncing around in the space that’s supposed to be technically reserved for my mind.
As I write this, I have the James Blunt song “Good-bye my friend, good-bye my lover” strumming in my head in the back ground. Any reason why? Not too sure at this point, truth be told. When I initially started this blog, I just wanted to teeny tiny bit of place for myself across the infinite space that we call the internet. Did I have an idea as to what or how I wanted it to be? No, not really. I just wanted it to represent me. Part logic, part utter confusion interspersed with some knowledge and utter crap as well. I guess that’s me in a nut shell. I never intended on this being a creative forum or a space to vent. Just needed it to be a place I could escape from the world and well life in general. Some may call it the cowards way out, other term it as escapism, to me it’s a place I come to recharge my batteries when I feel low and need that instant “pick me up” which I honestly get when I relive those “good times”.
The last couple of months have been manic to say the least. Shuttling between Chennai and Blore, marathon cooking sessions, add to the baking sprees I seem have embarked on, I honestly haven’t had any time for me, myself!
Speaking of baking, I’ve watched my mum bake cakes by the dozen, and needless to say, the prospect of doing it alone terrified the !@#$(you get the general drift) out of me! But, I baked my first cake (unsupervised and unassisted) and, well I honestly cannot begin to describe the joy of watching my first cake (and it still hasn’t diminished an iota after so many either!) rise slowly and yet steadily. The feeling is nothing but sheer magic. I know I sound like an utter fool, and while yes I know it’s the chemistry and physics of it all at work, it still feels magical and the whole process so utterly satisfying as hell to know that “I did that!!” So I’ll let you in on a little secret I’ve learnt, you don’t need to be scared of the oven! It doesn’t bite and in fact can even be your friend in arms(as ridiculous as it may sound! )
The first cake I baked and for which I whacked the recipe from my mum and sister is the easiest recipe to follow and is probably the best way to induct oneself in to the “art of making a cake!”. Technically, I used the recipe since my husband can’t stand chocolate and I needed an alternative (but let’s keep this a secret between us for the time being!). But I did whack the recipe for the icing (which is optional) from Nigella Lawson, simply because I was watching her program one day and loved the frosting she used on her cupcakes and since it seemed so mouth watering, couldn’t resist trying it the first opportunity I got! Well on to the ingredients as they say –
Ingredients –
For the cake
2 cups flour (leveled and sifted)
2 tsp baking pwder (leveled and sifted)
1 and ½ cups of castor sugar (this is nothing but normal white sugar that’s been run through a mixie until its fine powder!)
1 cup of unsalted cooking butter (leveled)
A pinch of salt
1 and ½ tsps vanilla essence
3 Nos Eggs
Rind of one orange and lemon
Juice of 1 orange
¼ cup boiling water
1No. 24 or 26 cm aluminum baking tin greased with butter and flour
Method : Pre- heat your oven as per instructions on manual. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together in a large enough mixing bowl. I cant be bothered to beat by hand and truth be told I just don’t have the energy for it, so I use an electric hand beater and it works wonderfully. You will slowly start seeing the mixture changing colours. It will go from an almost dark yellow to what can only be described as a very pale and almost white sort of yellow and quite fluffy. Once this is done, add the eggs one at a time. Idea being that you add one egg, beat it until its completely mixed into the mixture in your bowl and then add the second one, follow the same process and continue with the third one as well. Once done, add your flour, baking powder and rind of lemon and orange. Mix well with a spatula for about 2-3 minutes until you’ve manage to incorporate all the ingredients together and don’t worry if you aren’t able to get rid of all the lumps. Lastly add the juice of 1 orange and the boiling water to the mix and mix well with a spatula for about 2-4 mins again until you aren’t able to see any lumps. Pour the whole mixture into the greased baking tin and ensure that you’ve managed to scrape all the leftovers as well and put the tin into the oven and bake for about 30 – 35 mins. Now my oven (which I’ve whacked from my sister) usually takes about 30 mins at 175 C but it may differ from oven to oven. Around 25 mins into the baking process once your cake has sufficiently risen, poke a stick carefully and remove carefully, if the stick is clean, then your cake is ready and you’ll just need to wait for another 5 mins for the timer to go off and then you can take it out to cool for a while. If it doesn’t come out clean, increase the timer to another 20 mins and then repeat the process with the stick after 10 / 15 mins. Repeat the whole process again if the stick still comes out covered in mixture.
The icing as I mentioned is optional, while I loved the taste of it and I found that the overall effect was amazing, the taste was a little too sweet for my liking, but my husband loved it. To each, their own I say and as I mentioned, I had whacked the recipe from Nigella lawson’s recipe for cup cake icing so will not bother putting it here as the recipe is available on the foodnetwork website.
Anyhow, do try it let me know how it works for you. Happy baking people!!! :)
As I write this, I have the James Blunt song “Good-bye my friend, good-bye my lover” strumming in my head in the back ground. Any reason why? Not too sure at this point, truth be told. When I initially started this blog, I just wanted to teeny tiny bit of place for myself across the infinite space that we call the internet. Did I have an idea as to what or how I wanted it to be? No, not really. I just wanted it to represent me. Part logic, part utter confusion interspersed with some knowledge and utter crap as well. I guess that’s me in a nut shell. I never intended on this being a creative forum or a space to vent. Just needed it to be a place I could escape from the world and well life in general. Some may call it the cowards way out, other term it as escapism, to me it’s a place I come to recharge my batteries when I feel low and need that instant “pick me up” which I honestly get when I relive those “good times”.
The last couple of months have been manic to say the least. Shuttling between Chennai and Blore, marathon cooking sessions, add to the baking sprees I seem have embarked on, I honestly haven’t had any time for me, myself!
Speaking of baking, I’ve watched my mum bake cakes by the dozen, and needless to say, the prospect of doing it alone terrified the !@#$(you get the general drift) out of me! But, I baked my first cake (unsupervised and unassisted) and, well I honestly cannot begin to describe the joy of watching my first cake (and it still hasn’t diminished an iota after so many either!) rise slowly and yet steadily. The feeling is nothing but sheer magic. I know I sound like an utter fool, and while yes I know it’s the chemistry and physics of it all at work, it still feels magical and the whole process so utterly satisfying as hell to know that “I did that!!” So I’ll let you in on a little secret I’ve learnt, you don’t need to be scared of the oven! It doesn’t bite and in fact can even be your friend in arms(as ridiculous as it may sound! )
The first cake I baked and for which I whacked the recipe from my mum and sister is the easiest recipe to follow and is probably the best way to induct oneself in to the “art of making a cake!”. Technically, I used the recipe since my husband can’t stand chocolate and I needed an alternative (but let’s keep this a secret between us for the time being!). But I did whack the recipe for the icing (which is optional) from Nigella Lawson, simply because I was watching her program one day and loved the frosting she used on her cupcakes and since it seemed so mouth watering, couldn’t resist trying it the first opportunity I got! Well on to the ingredients as they say –
Ingredients –
For the cake
2 cups flour (leveled and sifted)
2 tsp baking pwder (leveled and sifted)
1 and ½ cups of castor sugar (this is nothing but normal white sugar that’s been run through a mixie until its fine powder!)
1 cup of unsalted cooking butter (leveled)
A pinch of salt
1 and ½ tsps vanilla essence
3 Nos Eggs
Rind of one orange and lemon
Juice of 1 orange
¼ cup boiling water
1No. 24 or 26 cm aluminum baking tin greased with butter and flour
Method : Pre- heat your oven as per instructions on manual. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together in a large enough mixing bowl. I cant be bothered to beat by hand and truth be told I just don’t have the energy for it, so I use an electric hand beater and it works wonderfully. You will slowly start seeing the mixture changing colours. It will go from an almost dark yellow to what can only be described as a very pale and almost white sort of yellow and quite fluffy. Once this is done, add the eggs one at a time. Idea being that you add one egg, beat it until its completely mixed into the mixture in your bowl and then add the second one, follow the same process and continue with the third one as well. Once done, add your flour, baking powder and rind of lemon and orange. Mix well with a spatula for about 2-3 minutes until you’ve manage to incorporate all the ingredients together and don’t worry if you aren’t able to get rid of all the lumps. Lastly add the juice of 1 orange and the boiling water to the mix and mix well with a spatula for about 2-4 mins again until you aren’t able to see any lumps. Pour the whole mixture into the greased baking tin and ensure that you’ve managed to scrape all the leftovers as well and put the tin into the oven and bake for about 30 – 35 mins. Now my oven (which I’ve whacked from my sister) usually takes about 30 mins at 175 C but it may differ from oven to oven. Around 25 mins into the baking process once your cake has sufficiently risen, poke a stick carefully and remove carefully, if the stick is clean, then your cake is ready and you’ll just need to wait for another 5 mins for the timer to go off and then you can take it out to cool for a while. If it doesn’t come out clean, increase the timer to another 20 mins and then repeat the process with the stick after 10 / 15 mins. Repeat the whole process again if the stick still comes out covered in mixture.
The icing as I mentioned is optional, while I loved the taste of it and I found that the overall effect was amazing, the taste was a little too sweet for my liking, but my husband loved it. To each, their own I say and as I mentioned, I had whacked the recipe from Nigella lawson’s recipe for cup cake icing so will not bother putting it here as the recipe is available on the foodnetwork website.
Anyhow, do try it let me know how it works for you. Happy baking people!!! :)
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