Yes. if you apply science in general and Chemistry in particular, baking is kid's play for you. All you should know is to balance between liquids and solids, leavening and shortening agents and of course the right measure of alternative protein rich supplements like yogurt, milk or khova.
Meena had been making Carrot Date and Walnut cake since tile immemorial, but she follows the method adding eggs. For our vegetarian followers, I felt like making the eggless version. Besides, we had left over grated carrots in the fridge that I wanted to consume faster in some recipe or the other. So here it is, soft spongy delicious Eggless Carrot, Date and Walnut Cake for you all. Don't forget to have a cup of hot coffee, tea or chocolate drink by your side when you relish this.
Ingredients:
Refined Flour(Maida) - 2 Cups
Salt - 1/3 Tsp
Baking Powder - 3/4 Tsp
Baking Soda - 1 Tsp
Brown Sugar(Demerara Sugar) - 3/4 Cup
Butter - 120 Gms Softened(Or Olive or Sunflower oil 1/2 Cup)
Caramel - 1 Tbsp
Plain Yogurt - 3/4 Cup
Carrots - 1 Cup grated
Dates - 200Gms deseeded and chopped
Walnut Kernel - 100Gms chopped
Vanilla Essence - 1 Tsp
Honey(Optional) - 1 Tbsp
Method:
Set the oven to 200°C and preheat for 10 mins.
Grease a long 8" x 4" loaf tin and line with butter paper.
Sift flour with salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Cream butter with brown sugar for 10 minutes.
Add yogurt, caramel, honey, vanilla essence, beat for another 5 minutes.
Add grated carrot, chopped dates and walnut, mix well.
Fold in flour mixture, 1/3 portion at a time and prepare the cake mixture.
Scrape the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smoothen the surface.
Cover the tin with aluminum foil.
Bake at 200°C for 10 minutes and then at 160°C for another 10 mins.
Remove the aluminum foil and continue baking at 160°C for another 25 mins or until the surface turns brownish and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool down completely on the rack for 1 hour.
Slice and store in airtight cake box.
Relish with hot or cold beverages.
11 comments:
if i add oil, when and how do I do it if there are no eggs!
thinking of trying it - thnks
We are adding yoghurt and that takes care of egg substitute.
should the oil be creamed with the brown sugar or
just mixed> thnks pl help.
Creaming oil or butter with brown sugar makes the cake more fluffy, and lighter.
hi, thnks for the recipe. I tried it and came out well-- but I ended
up keeping it an extra 20 mins. Does it need to cool and cook in the heat
in the tin itself with the timing you have given? I got confused with the
instruction so I unmoulded and then cooled it.
Hi Maria, I mentioned about covering the tin with aluminum film and start baking at 200° C, keep for 10 mins, reduce the temperature to 160° C and continue baking for another 10 mins with aluminum foil still covered, then remove the foil and continue baking at 160° C for another 25 mins(15 mins to 25 mins depending on the oven). During all this process, retain the tin inside the oven and don't switch off the oven.
Aluminum foil is covered so that the cake doesn't get over-browned. Hope you understand what I mean.
sorry for being a nuisance- the taste and texture was good and everyone loved it.
I had to increase the baking time specified.
At the end of 25mins(last stage) of being in the oven uncovered, the top seemed
cooked but inside seemed like it needed some more time, so the confusion and the query.
Not at all a nuisance Maria! Doubts need to be cleared after all.
I guess the temperature inside your oven is slightly lower. Hence the cake took more time to bake. I also suspect that moisture content was more in the cake batter. That's why the best and safest method is to insert a toothpick or skewer to find if the inside of the cake is raw or baked.
Cooling on the rack requires some time as you can not detach the cake when it is too hot. I am happy that the end results are good. Keep baking and keep trying new recipes. I think once you get a hang of the consistency of cake batter, you can blindly bake the cake without bothering much about the timing.
I must add here, that now most of my baking is done without the help of hand mixer. I use basic tools and my own hand to mix the batter!
Maria if the cake doesn't form cracks on top and inside it is spongy and moist, the cake batter is perfect. You may need slightly more time for baking moist cakes.
thanku for responding quickly. Probably you are right about
the moisture because I did put in 2 tsp milk bcoz I found the
batter slightly dense after mixing. SO, does it cool in the tin
for 1hr or unmould and cool?
If the cake could be easily detached from the tin, you need not wait for an hour for it to cool down. You can just shake the tin slightly to check if the cake is loose, and then invert the tin on an wooden board or a steel tray, so that it comes our perfectly moulded.
It is a practice to wait until the cake completely cools down because sometimes it gets stuck and there are chances of not getting a perfect mould if we try to force and detach it!
My own experience in the past.
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