Double Chocolate Cake

     Life becomes so busy sometimes that you tend to run and in that race you usually forget/ignore stuffs that is important to you. "It can still wait" goes on until finally you totally forget about it and it remains in a corner unnoticed. Same is the case here...Its been real long time. Now there are a lot of things that I can say to support the absence but its best to move on...
   This was a chocolate cake done a little while back. A perefct chocolate lovers cake...Loaded with chocolate. The recipe is from here. Delicious cake with lovely texture.

 Bittersweet chocolate- 2ounce(chopped)
Vegetable oil-3/4 cup
Sugar-1 cup
Egg-1 large
All purpose flour-2 cups
Dutch-process Cocoa powder-1/2 cup
Baking Soda-1 tbsp
Salt-3/4 tsp
Coffee-1 cup
Buttermilk-1 cup
Semi Sweet Chocolate chips-1/2 cup

Method Of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and dust a 8" pan and 4 cupcake liners or 9" pan or 12-cup bundt pan for baking.
2. Melt the chocoate in a pan/bowl on low heat/microwave. Transfer it to a large bowl and let it cool slightly. Then add the sugar and oil into it and whisk until smooth. Add egg and whisk again.
3.In another bowl mix all the dry ingredients and set aside.
4. Now add half the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup of coffee and 1/2 cup of buttermilk to the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. Add the remaining dry ingredients, liquids and mix smooth.
5. Add the chocolate chips and fold it lightly to the batter.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Cool the cake in pan for 10 mins and then transfer it to cooling rack to cool completely.

For Icing:
Semi sweet chocolate-2 ounce
Unsalted Butter-5 tbsp(soft)

Method Of Preparation:
1. Melt the chocolate to smooth  in a microwave safe bowl. See that you dont burn up the chocolate. You can do it using the double boiler method.
2. Add butter 1 tbsp at a time to the melted chocolate and mix well.
3. In a large bowl take some chilled water.Place the chocolate butter bowl on top of chilled water and beat till it reaches the spreadable consistency.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture on top of cooled cake and spread it with the help of spatula.

 Notes:
1. Use good quality cocoa powder and chocolate.
2. The coffee was warm when i used it.
3. Chocolate chips can be omitted.

Molten Lava Cake

This was our valentines day treat...I know the day is gone long back and I had been planning for this post since then...and finally its here..A delicious molten lava cake. My search for something that was not too much of work, perfect for two and done in few minutes ended here.

Semi-sweet chocolate chip-1/4cup
Butter-2 tbsp
Powdered Sugar-1/2 cup
Egg-1
All purpose Flour-3 tbsp
Vanilla Extract-1 tsp
Raspberries, Ice cream,Powdered Sugar to indulge.

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Grease 2 ramekins with non stick spray/butter. Place the ramekins on baking sheet and set aside.
3. In a medium microwave safe bowl melt chocolate chips and butter for about 1 and 1/2 minutes  until smooth.Stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning.
4. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.Then add egg and whisk until smooth.
5. Stir in flour and vanilla extract and mix until no lumps remain.
6. Distribute the batter equally into two ramekins and bake them for 12 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let them rest in bowl for 1 more minute.
8. Then invert into a plate and dust with powdered sugar and serve with a dollop of ice cream.

Mango CheeseCake

With dark fluffy clouds, fierce winds and occasional snows my part of world is still in the clutches of winter...Everyday sun tries to make an effort to shine high and bright but immediately it is attacked by cold and dark clouds that it goes unnoticed. With all these dull stuffs happening here I was eager to bring in some sunshine to the hearts of my loved ones. It was at that time Baking partners group decided to bake cheesecake and this bright and summery cheesecake was in there. Immediately seeing mango I fell for them and decided to go for it. It was all perfect, delicious and an eye catchy stuff  and very easy to put together with no baking included. This recipe was suggested by Sweatha adapted from Divine Taste. Now lets move on to the recipe...

For Crust:
Digestive biscuits/any plain sweet biscuits-11/2 cups(160 gms, crushed)
Butter-1/2 cup(100 gms, chopped)

For Filling:
Fine sugar/powdered sugar-1 cup(160gms, add more if needed)
Thick full fat yogurt-3 cups(800gms)
Paneer Cheese-2 cups(400gms)
Water-11/2 cups(375ml)
Agar Agar/china grass-15 gms
Mangoes-2 nos/1 cup(peeled, chopped, pureed)
Pure Vanilla Extract-1 tsp

For Mango Glaze:
Mango-1 nos/1/2 cup(peeled, chopped, pureed)
Water-2 tbsp
Sugar-2 tbsp
Lime Juice-1 tbsp

Method of preparation:
Preparing thick yogurt:
1. Place the yogurt in a cheesecloth and let drain to a colander overnight. The quantity will reduce to half (400 gms or 11/2 cup)next day.

Preparing Crust:
1. Place the biscuits in a zip lock bag and crush it to powder using a rolling pin.
2. Add this powder and the cubed butter into the food processor and process till the mixture is well mixed.
3. Remove the mixture and press it on to a 8"/9" springform pan.
4. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes or in refrigerator for half an hour.

Prepare Filling:
1. Break and soak the  china grass in 11/2 cup water for 10 minutes until it becomes soft.
2. In a food processor blend the paneer and thick yogurt to smooth and  creamy mixture. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Heat mango puree in a saucepan over medium heat. Do not allow it to boil.
4. In another pan, place the china grass and water mixture and stir on low heat until it melts completely, about 5 to 6 minutes. Do not allow this to boil.
5. Once the china grass melts completely, pour the hot china grass mixture into hot mango puree, stirring all the while.
6. Slowly add mango mixture into yogurt and cheese mixture, stir in the sugar and vanilla extract and beat well with a wire whisk until well blended.
7. Pour this mixture over the prepared crust, level with a spoon and chill in refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.

For mango glaze:
1. Place all ingredients for glaze in a pan and  cook over medium heat.
2. When it begins to boil, reduce heat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more. Let it cool to room temperature.
3. Spread it on cheesecake with spoon.
4. Allow the glaze to set over the cheesecake for 2 to 3 hours or more before slicing it.

Notes:
1. You can use cottage cheese instead of paneer. In that case let the water drain completely before using. The cheese should be dry to get a perfectly set cheesecake.
2. Blend the paneer to puree here.
3. China grass should be completely melted to set properly. Do it on low heat.
4. Break the strands of china grass to small pieces  before soaking it.
5. While mixing the china grass mixture let both the liquids used to mix be hot, so that it sets properly.
6. If china grass sets before u mix to another mixture, then reheat till it melts completely.
7. The sugar mentioned here is just sweet. If you have a sweet tooth then add about 1/4 to half cup more. Applies if your mangoes are sour too. Taste the mixture to check it before setting.
8. You can use the mixer to powder the biscuits too.
9. You can make the cheesecake as individual servings too.
10. I have used graham crackers for the base.
11. I  used 9" springform pan.

Cocoa Brownies with Walnut and Brown Butter

  When Abraham Chacko approached me to write a guest post for his space I was very happy to do it and accepted it without second thought said yes. He had given me enough time and wanted it only by the end of march. As many of you know me..I am the last minute person..No matter how much time I get..ok sometimes I do start early but then there will be something that holds me till the last minute..I guess that is how I am programmed by God..Now I don't want to rewrite it..;)..So here too I started with one recipe and finally ended here after editing the pics and knowing that they were horrible...Guess these are tolerable..:)
     As the many other friends I have got in fb, he is one among them. Quite an interesting guy with loads of talent. He has a great collection of recipes and a very cute family with two adorable daughters and an all in all great wife Susan..:). Chacko's Kitchen is the place where you find their effort..If you have never been there do visit it..
    Here is the small treat that I have prepared for them from here...This is a perfect fudgy brownie with a crunch of nuts perfect to have with milk. Here instead of butter, brown butter is used and it does taste great. Mixing and making them is quite easy though do not over bake them. Do visit here for the recipe..:)

Strawberry Cake

Finally it is the end of feb and here comes my valentines day cake...:) A cake that I had almost lost hope of been seen here..Now there is no point in saying about my love story as Valentines day is long passed..so we will stick to cake and the day it is baked...
I have been saying that feb was a terrible month for me..now why is never told...so here it is...
   The month begins with a busy schedule for hubby..which in turn means..early to office and late to home...That is its just me and son through out the day and sometimes night which kept me busy than my husband...:)Those days went on for a week and then hubby gets a dental surgery and a liquid diet for 5 days....Now i should say sick men are worst than small kids..;) To put it in single work I was totally messed up..with a son overactive, a hubby drowsy with medicines and awake with pain..cooking and rest of my routine..
Then comes the carpet changing day of the whole house...Luckily divided to 2 days..Now u got to imagine... Me and son in a room with all stuffs...Terrible!!!!
Now this very special Valentines day was in between this... I had no plans to do anything crazy..but then empty mind is devils workshop..:) Suddenly on 13th around 11 I feel that I need to bake..Started off with this cake as I already had a tub of fresh strawberries. Then start the frosting in between all this rush.. Halving the cake gets messed up as the cake slides and it gets cut slant.The layers get messed up...:) Then when i did the strawberry frosting I felt that it was less and decide to frost the layers with whipped cream...That was another disaster. As I used too much whipped cream the cake started to slip..Now there was a plus point ..the cake was not too sweet.. Then frosting I had a different plan..Anyways that dint work as I thought and then I went with this rose and chocolate bark idea.. Now if I would say this cake can also be mentioned as a disaster cake...:)
Texture and taste wise the cake and frosting is excellent...Its only my mistakes that made the cake a disaster..But then its  for my husband and kid who don't see how it is...For them it is only the taste that matters...And I got a thumbs up for that...That makes a happy me...:)

Fresh strawberries-1 cup
Sugar-1 to 2 tsp
Milk-1/4 cup
Egg-6 large whites
Vanilla-1 tbsp
Cake flour-2 nd 1/4 cup
Sugar-1nd 3/4 cup
Baking Powder-4 tsp
Salt-1 tsp
Unsalted Butter-12 tbsp
Pink food coloring- few drops

Method of preparation:
1. Wash fresh berries and chop them. Add sugar and set aside for about and hour or two until juicy. Place the berries in a food processor and puree it. You can use frozen berries too.
2. Use 3/4 th cup for cake and remaining for the frosting/as filling.
3.Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and dust two 8 or 9 inch pans.
4. In a small bowl combine puree, milk,egg, vanilla and mix with fork till well blended.
5. Mix flour,sugar, baking powder and salt to combine using a mixer.Add butter and continue beating Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
6. Add liquids and beat at high for  about a minute or until evenly combined. Add food coloring and then beat to combine. Scrape the sides.
7. Divide batter into two prepared pans and smooth top.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 mins or until tooth pick comes out clean.Let cake rest in pan for 10 minutes and then on wire racks.Let cakes cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry frosting:

Butter-1 cup
Icing Sugar-6 cups
Vanilla-2 tsp
Strawberry puree- 1/3 cup

1. Mix butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl on low speed until light and fluffy.
2. Blend in strawberry puree and vanilla.
3. Add milk one tablespoon at a time, if desired consistency is not achieved. Keep covered.

Chocolate barks:
Bittersweet Chocolate pieces-4 squares
Parchment paper

1. Melt the chocolate and spread it on a strip of parchment paper. Let it set.You can keep it in freezer for 4 to 5 minutes. cut to pieces.

Whipped cream-as needed.

Assembling the cake:
1. Let the cakes cool. Then cut it to halves.
2. Spread the whipping cream/strawberry frosting.
3. Place the other half and then cover it with the strawberry frosting.
4. Using an open star tip pipe the roses on top.
5. Ten press the chocolate bark on the sides and keep in the refrigerator to set.

 Notes:
1. I used half the recipe for frosting and cake.
2. Baked a 6" X 2"cake. There was a bit more than 3/4th of pan for first time, so kept the remaining in fridge for the time the first batch was baking. Cooled the pan and then baked the remianing.
3. I have used whipped cream for the inner layer.

Linking  this to Recipes with fruit @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen & Valentines Day event @ Priya's Versatile Recipes.

White velvet Cake with Whipped Vanilla blue Ombre frosting

Finally The B'day Cake of my hubby is here...I have been wanting to post this in the first week of jan but due to some or the other work it got postponed..Anyways better late  than never..
Usually I bake the cake the day before his b'day when he is at office so that he never knows it and we cut it at night 12..This time b'day came on monday which meant I had to bake the cake on friday to cut on sunday night and keep it. Now that was tough to hide a cake for 2 days when hubby was at home throughout..So i was in a dilema whether to bake or not. Finally at around 3 on friday evening I decided to bake a cake. Now I had to find one. So after searching I loved the ombre cake. Again I knew that hubby wont like many colors in the cake...so the layers need not be colored so I went with a vanilla cake. Initially I thought of baking basic vanilla cake then when I looked into The Cake bible I saw the white cake and went with it. Baked 2 layers on friday evening and kept them covered in fridge. Now  baking on sat and sunday was impossible..so I changed the plan of cutting the(my) cake on sunday night. Had arranged for a cake with hubby's friends and cut that at 12..
Now monday after he left to office I baked other two cakes and frosted it. The cake recipe is from The Cake Bible- Rose Levy Beranbaum.

White Velvet Butter Cake
Large egg whites- of 41/2 eggs(135gms)
Milk-1 cup(242gms)
Vanilla-2 1/4 tsp(9 gms)
Cake Flour-3 cups(300 gms)(Sifted)
Sugar-11/2 cups(300 gms)
Baking Powder-1 tbsp+1 tsp(19.5 gms)
Salt-3/4 tsp(5 gms)
Unsalted Butter-12 tbsp(`170 gms)(must be softened)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 9" cake pans and set aside.
2. In a bowl lightly  combine the egg white,1/4 cup milk and vanilla.
3. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 30 sec to blend.
4. Add butter and remaining milk to the dry mixture and mix on low speed to moisten the dry mixture.Increase the speed to high and beat for 11/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides and add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating inbetween for 20 sec. after each addition to incorporate the ingredients.Scrape the sides.
6. Scrape the batter into prepared pans and smooth the surface using a spatula.
7. Bake for 25 to 30 mins or till a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and cake springs back when -pressed lightly in center.
8. Let cake cool in pan 10 mins and then on wire racks.

Notes:
1. Ingredients should be at room temperature.
2. Cake flour can be replaced with  1 cup minus 2 tbsp All purpose Flour to which add 2 tbsp corn flour and sift 3 times so that the flour gets mixed and aerated properly.
3. When the cake is inverted to wire racks to cool, its best to re-invert with the top facing up to avoid splitting.
4. I used a hand mixer to make the cake if its a stand mixer instead of high use medium speed.
5. I measured the ingredients in grams.

Frosting recipe is from sweetapolita
Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Unsalted butter-3 sticks + 2 tablespoons (375 grams)(softened and cut into cubes)
confectioner's sugar- 3 cups sifted (475 g)  (icing, powdered sugar)
Milk- 3 tablespoons (45 ml)
Vanilla extract- 2 tsp
Salt- pinch

1. In the bowl  whip butter till it becomes very pale & creamy(approx. for 10 minutes on high speed ).
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix on medium speed for 1 minute, then on high speed for 6 to 7 minutes till frosting is very light, creamy and fluffy.

Assembling the cake:
1. If your cake has dome on top cut and level it.
2. Keep one cake on the base and apply a scoop of frosting on top of it. Spread it evenly on whole cake and then place the second cake on top of it. Continue the process for the four cakes and then apply scoops of frosting on top and sides of the cake to form the crumb coat. After that keep the cake in refrigerator for 30 mins to set.
3. Now divide the remaining frosting into 3 bowls and add a drop of blue to one bowl and two drops to another bowl. Keep one frosting as white. Now mix the colors well and evenly.
4.Attach a 1m open star tip to a pipping bag and fill the bag with the white cream first and then start to decorate wtih rose from sides to center. Now to do rose keep the star tip in the center and with equal pressure lift the tip and move outside. Continue this on top.
5. Then fill the bag with the next light color and start pipping the frosting from the sides in a line. At this point hold the pipping bag perpendicular to your cake. You can do that for two lines and then use the dark color at bottom and continue with the roses.
6. Sometimes there will be little gap between the roses and you can see the crumb coat, then using the same color frosting draw a line in the same direction as rose or just put small stars. At the end those small stuffs wont be visible.
7. If you happen to do some mistake while making the rose then you can scrape it and do it again.
8. The colors should be from base dark to lighter shades of same color. You can use any color of your choice.
9. Refrigerate the cake for some time so the frosting is set. Keep the cake outside for about 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Notes:
1. My husband is not very much interested of having colored cake layers so I went with a white cake. You can add ombre effect there by adding blue color in dark to light tone in layers.In that case try to match the frosting colors to that.
2. The above measurement for cakes makes 2 9" cakes.
3. To frost the whole cake(4 layered) I used twice the above measured frosting.

Mocha Cupcakes

2012 was a beautiful year with happiness,sorrows, fights, love and lots of memories to hold with while continuing the journey to 2013. When I was a kid I always thought that the year went the way how you started it..As the age went on I was thinking that its the resolution that you make that makes the year beautiful and then now I feel that life will go on...you have to decide the right and wrong..Whatever the case,  you will feel all the emotions in these 12 months..you like it or not..So this time I dint plan anything just thought of going with the flow..:)
Hope everyone around has a good start and your life goes as sweet and soft like this cake which is from here..

All-purpose flour-1 nd 1/3 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder-1/3 cup
Baking powder-1 tsp
Baking soda- 1/2 tsp
Salt-1/4 tsp
Whole milk-1/2 cup
Strong brewed coffee-1/2 cup
Espresso powder-1 nd 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract-1 tsp
Unsalted butter-1/2 cup(at room temperature)
Granulated sugar-1/2 cup
Light brown sugar-1/2 cup
Egg-1 no (at room temperature)

Method of Preparation:
1. Mix the espresso powder into the brewed coffee until dissolved; set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
3. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Then add egg and beat until combined.
6. In a cup, combine the milk, brewed coffee mixture and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 liners. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting cupcakes.

Espresso Buttercream Frosting(enough for 12 cupcakes)

Unsalted butter-1 cup(at room temperature)
Powdered sugar-2 nd 1/2 cups
Vanilla extract-1 nd 1/2 tsp
Espresso powder-3/4 tsp
Cocoa powder- to dust

Method of Preparation:
1. Mix the espresso powder into the vanilla until dissolved; set aside.
2. Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, waiting until it is mostly incorporated before adding more.
4. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about a minute or two.
5.  Add the espresso and vanilla mixture and continue to mix at medium-high until it is completely incorporated, scraping the sides as necessary.

Plum Cake/Fruit Cake

This time Baking Parteners group started by Swathi had three wonderful cakes suggested by Suja and Archana. Before the mail for this months challenge had come I had decided to bake a fruit cake for this X'mas. Once the challenge came and I saw the recipes I wanted to try Brazil nut cake as well as the earlier decided fruit cake..but due to the lack of people to eat I opted to go with just one. I went with the fruit cake which was so perfect for the season. The cake was suggested by Archana and it came out good though there were some issues that I faced which I have mentioned in the notes section. Anyways the cake got over before X'mas...:(. I felt that the cake was getting better as days went.
As for the recipe I had tweaked it little according to our needs. Instead of rum, I have used orange juice. You can use apple juice too.

Fruits Used:
Raisins- 1 cup
Dates-1 cup(chopped)
Candied Orange/Lemon Peel- 1/4 cup, sliced thin
Orange Juice- 1/4 cup
Unsalted Cashew Pieces- 1 cup
All Purpose Flour-1 tsp( to mix with fruits)

Spices Used:
Cinnamon Powder- 1/2 tsp
Caraway seeds- 1 tsp
Ginger Powder- 1/4 tsp
Clove Powder- 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg Powder- 1/4 tsp

For Caramel:
Sugar- 6 tbsp
Water- 3 tbsp
Lemon Juice- few drops
Boiling Water-1/2 cup

For Cake Batter:
All-Purpose Flour- 2 cups
Baking Powder -1 tsp
Unsalted Butter- 2 sticks (8 oz) at room temperature
Powdered Sugar-2 1/2 cups
Eggs- 3 large or 4 medium (separated)
Vanilla Extract-1 tsp
Rum extract-1 tsp

Method of Preparation:
For the Fruts:

1. Soak the fruits and nuts in orange juice in a clean bowl and set aside. Keep it on counter top for a day closed properly with an air tight lid. Then move it to refrigerator and keep it there for 2 days. Before baking take the fruit mixture from fridge and set on counter top.

2. Heat a pan and add the soaked fruits into it and warm it slightly and set aside to cool.Once cold and juts before mixing with batter add a tsp of all purpose flour to the dry fruits and give it good mix. Helps to prevent the fruits form sinking to bottom.

For Caramel:

3. In a small pot, add 6 Tbsp Sugar and 3 Tbsp water and few drops of lemon juice. Swirl pan to mix – do not use spoon.

4. Heat until sugar changes color and becomes caramelized. (approx 7-8 minutes).See that you don't burn it.

5. Add 1/2 cup boiling water and swirl pan again to mix well. Keep aside.

For Cake Batter:

6. In a large mixing bowl, combine softened butter and powdered sugar and beat with hand blender.

7. Add one egg yolk at a time to the mix and blend well.

8. Add Vanilla, rum Extract and blend.

9. Combine all dry spices, baking powder and flour and sift it into the bowl, adding little at a time and blending.

10. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

11. Lightly coat 9"/10" baking pans by spraying cooking oil or regular oil.

12. Add caramelized sugar syrup a little at a time into mixing bowl and blend.

13. Add fruit/nut mixture, caraway seeds into mixing bowl and mix with a spoon.

14. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they are fluffy and soft peaks form.

15. Fold beaten egg whites into the cake batter.

16. Pour batter into greased baking pans and bake for approx 1 hour  30 mins at 325 degrees F. For smaller pans, baking time may vary.

17. Remove cake from oven and allow it to cool for few minutes in pan and then on rack till it is completely cooled.

Notes:

1. The original recipe used rum which I replaced with orange juice of same amount. 

2. Since rum is not used to mask the egg smell in case it existed I used rum extract. 

3. Caraway seeds are added extra by me. Its optional.

4. To reduce the baking time increase the oven temp to 350 F and bake in middle rack. If top gets cooked earlier use a foil to cover it to avoid blackening of the top.

5. Mixing the dry fruits with all purpose flour prevents it from settling at the bottom.

6. Be careful while making caramel syrup. It tends to burn easily. So keep an eye on it.
7.  I used a 9" spring foam pan lined with parchment paper.

8. Cake got delicious as the days went by.
9. Do increase the amount of sugar used to make caramel to get a darker color for cake. In this case reduce the amount of powdered sugar.You can replace half of the sugar with dark brown sugar too.
10. When I baked at 325 F the outer side of cake cooked faster and the center took long time to cook. But still the center cooks perfect without burning the outer.Just that the time is more.

Ghee Cake

Most of them from South India must have heard about Cochin Bakery. They have a cake known as Ghee cake. As the name suggests Ghee is the main ingredient. Its a loaf cake with strong flavor of ghee and extremely soft texture. From my childhood days I have been in love with this cake..I have been searching the recipe from long but there was nothing that I found. At last my search ended here. Though it is pound cake recipe where butter is replaced with ghee. I did remove the lemon zest and reduced the vanilla as my memory of eating the cake brought the flavor of ghee to me. The texture of cake is a bit softer than pound cake.

All Purpose Flour/Maida-2 cups/250gms
Baking Powder-1 tsp
Baking Soda-1/4 tsp
Pure Ghee/Clarified butter-250gms/1 cup+1 tbsp+2 tsp
Powdered Sugar-250gms
Eggs-4 nos(Yellow and White separated)
Milk-1/2 cup
Sugar-2 tsp
Vanilla Essence-1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation:
1. In a bowl sift together APF, Baking powder and Baking Soda.
2. In another bowl, beat together ghee and powdered sugar with an electric beater on medium speed until light and fluffy. Then add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each inclusion.
3. With the beater on low speed, alternately add flour and milk to Ghee mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
4. In another bowl whisk egg whites, then gradually add 2 tsp sugar and vanilla essence and continue to beat until stiff. Fold egg white mixture in to the ghee mix.
5. Pour in to a well-greased cake tin and bake in a preheated oven of 350F for 50-55 minutes, or till a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Notes:
1. Ghee cakes have a strong taste and smell of ghee and that is great.
2. Use a pan which holds the batter upto 3/4 of it.