Chocolate Cake (Felicity Cloake)

Chocolate Cake (Felicity Cloake) 

Over the years I have baked many a chocolate cake yet I still kept searching for one which would have the perfect fluffy soft texture and then one day I realized I should search for Felicity Cloake's version of the perfect chocolate cake. Here let me say that I firmly believe that there cannot be one perfect chocolate cake for everyone. Some like it fudge like, some like it extra airy but for me ah for that read along my friends. 

The lady in question, Ms Cloake  tries out different recipes by many a maestro and gives you the pros and cons of each recipe and finally shares the recipe for one which she deems is perfect for her taste buds. She says this cake is 'Not a torte, not a mousse, but a cake which actually tastes of chocolate: fluffy and light enough to eat at tea time, rich enough to serve with a dollop of creme fraiche for dessert'

Now there is a particular reason why I trust this lady. I tried her perfect recipe for Mousse au Chocolat and I must say there is no looking back for me. It was just perfect,  rich yet light and delicious and so quite naturally I knew this description of the chocolate cake would not fail me.

 I tried a simple frosting of tempered chocolate in-between and some chocolate to cover the cake. I would not go as far as to say it is perfect but it is pretty good.

Recipe adapted from Felicity Cloake

The cups used hold 250ml of liquid

50gm dark chocolate
50gm chocolate chips
250gm of all purpose flour (1.5 cups)
250gm of Brown sugar (3/4th cup)
250gm of Unsalted Butter
250ml of milk
100gm of cocoa powder (3/4th)
2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Extra flour and butter to prepare pan

For the frosting

100gm dark chocolate tempered properly to create a silky melted chocolate

Prepare your two cake tins ( 8inch) by buttering it and then dusting it with flour. (An 8 inch pan would do)

Start by sifting the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder .

Now Cream your butter and sugar till its fluffy and add the eggs one by one and the salt and whisk till its a creamy fluffy affair.

Preheat the oven to 180C at this point . Slowly fold in the sifted dried ingredients and then add the melted chocolate and fold it in . Add the milk bit by bit and fold that in as well. Finally add the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter in two equal halves and pour the batter into the cake pans and tap the pan and then wet your hands and lightly smoothen the top and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes to 35 minutes .

Once baked insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean its done.

Let the cake cool down in the pan for 15 minutes and then run a palate knife around the edges and invert it on a rack and cool it.

Only when the cake is completely cool can you now move on to frosting.

Simply temper the chocolate over a double boiler and cut the cake in half and spread the chocolate. Sandwich the cake together cover the cake with chocolate and serve it as it is for tea or add a dollop of whipped cream and make it a delicious dessert.

Important tips :-

1. Once you are down with adding the whisk you must not use the whisk because the crumb of a cake largely depends on the technique of folding in the dry ingredients else you end up with a dense cake. The idea is to not knock off any air bubbles even though the cake is batter based and so it uses baking powder.  
2. Once you have poured the batter in wet your hands and smoothen the top and which leads to an even top baked cake. Do not firmly press your hands on the batter just gently press it. 
3. Always allow the cake to completely cool down before slicing it to apply frosting else your cake will break. 
4. In case you use a bigger cake tin you must increase the amount of batter. If you double the recipe use a 9 inch cake pan. 
5. In case you use salted butter then leave out the extra salt 

Chocolate chunk banana bread

Chocolate chunk banana bread 

I have heard of people using ripe bananas to make banana bread but I somehow had the spirit of the banana bread cling on to me till today. You see , I wanted to make banana bread a good 3 days ago and all these years I have seen plenty of blackened bananas lying around our house but ah ha just when I wanted to make a banana bread there were good bananas which were hardly ripe. So I waited for my bananas to overripe while keeping an eye out for possible attack on the bananas. It happened yesterday when my grandmother reached for a speckled one and I almost jumped up towards her and she was baffled. To her overripe bananas are good for nothing . Well well clearly she has not tasted a banana bread. Well I am still not clear why this particular baked goody is called a bread, for one its more or less like a cake and secondly most recipes do not use yeast.

Anyway coming back to my banana bread, for a lovely result you need a lovely recipe. After looking here and there I went back to the one man whose recipes has always yielded a 100% superb result, The great Dan as I like to call him. Mr. Dan Lepard is a genius. His recipes yield perfect result and they are the most easy ones out there with explanation of a step which might seem puzzling.

I myself raised my eyebrows at the prospect of melting butter and whisking it with sugar and flour but ah there was the explanation: This yields a super soft and super moist loaf.

Anyway I made my chocolate chunk banana bread and well I didn't use too much of chocolate chunk because you see chocolate has the most overpowering taste, delightful but it can overpower all other tastes so I kept it to a minimum because I was eager to get the 'bare' taste of banana loaf as put by Mr.Lepard himself .

And once I sliced the loaf and took a bite I was transported to a  world of moistness with ultra soft crumbs. I bow down once again to the genius Dan Lepard.

Recipe source : Dan Lepard

What you need for a loaf which can serve 7 to 8 people

200gm overripe banana pulp
250gm all purpose flour
1 tbsp lemon juice (15 ml)
1 cup castor sugar (cups whcih hold 250ml liquid)
200gm butter (I used salted butter)
4 large eggs
3 tsp baking powder
50gm to 70gm chocolate chopped into very very fine pieces else you may also use chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 160 C. Start by first lining your loaf tin with butter paper and then go on to mash  the bananas with a fork and then blending them away to a smooth paste. You should have 3/4th cup to 1 cup of pulp. Now melt the butter and then whisk ti well with the castor sugar and add 100gm (1/2 cup) flour. Whisk well to create a smooth mixture and add the eggs one by one and whisk well to create a smooth emulsion and then add the lemon juice and then the banana pulp and whisk away and then sift the flour and baking powder together and re sift it again in the wet mixture and then whisk only till everything is well mixed and pour half of the batter and sprinkle some chocolate chunks and pour the rest of the mixture and sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips and bake at 160 C for an hour. Once done test with a toothpick. Insert the toothpick in the center of the loaf and  if it comes out clean you are done. Take out the tin loaf and wait for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes run a palate knife around the edges and transfer the loaf on a wire rack but you must wait till the loaf cools off completely before slicing else your slices will break easily. Enjoy these super soft , super moist slices with a cup of tea or coffee

Coffee Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Coffee Chocolate Chiffon Cake 

Sometimes one has crazy needs. Lets take my last 1 month. I was overworked and tired and somehow craved chocolates at all hours. So after a simple chocolate gateau I wanted to make a cake with whatever ingredients there was at home and as it turns out it meant, I had coffee, chocolate, refined oil and flour. And I challenged myself to make a cake where I do not go out to buy any new ingredient.

Now I did read about this one cake where you use oil instead of butter and it is neither a batter cake nor a foam cake but somewhere in-between. So with a holiday to enjoy, 10 hours of work this is what was in store.

Now to be honest after having made it I would not really recommend this with my whole heart because I would rather recommend a foam cake but then again this can be made as a good option for layered cakes.

So here is what I made , a coffee chiffon layered cake with ganache frosting

Recipe adapted from SmittenKitchen

Serves 6

1/4th cup oil
6 eggs separated
6 tbsp strongly brewed coffee
170gm all purpose flour sifted
200gm castor sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Lemon juice

For the coffee syrup

1 cup of strongly brewed coffee
1 cup sugar

For the ganache

125gm chocolate
200ml cream

Prepare a 6 inch to 7 inch baking pan by buttering it and using flour all over the buttered pan.

Start by sifting the all purpose flour and baking powder together. Now separate the eggs and beat the egg whites after adding the lemon juice till it forms stiff peaks.

Preheat oven to 180 C. Now sift the flour and baking powder for a second time and whisk the egg yolks with sugar till you form a ribbon like consistency and add the coffee and beat well and then slowly add the oil and fold in the flour. lastly fold in the egg whites and bake at preheated oven at 180 C for 20 minutes to 30 minutes.

Once baked let the cakes cool down completely. While the cake is cooling down make your coffee syrup by boiling the coffee and sugar till it forms a thin syrup. Let it cool down completely. For the ganache simply chop the chocolate as finely as possible and then heat the cream on a double boiler and then add chopped chocolate and mix well till it forms a silky smooth consistency.

 Once the cake has cooled down completely cut them in half so that you have flour tyres. Now use a brush to soak each tyre of cake with coffee syrup and be generous with the syrup. Spread the ganache and then use it to cover the entire cake.

Enjoy it after chilling it well.

Tips

1. The Lemon juice added to egg whites makes sure that the stiff peaks do not collapse once you have whisked the egg whites to stiff peaks 
2. Once you have heated the cream on double boiler and added the chopped chocolates keep stirring and if you find a few lumps put the bowl on the double boiler and it will yield the smooth consistency you are looking for, 

Milk Bread

Milk Bread 

My father has always maintained that no other bread tastes as good as the humble milk bread. While I do not accept his thoughts on bread because I love whole wheat bread and some other breads as well on a hot summer's day I make a batch of milk loaves for my father who loves fresh soft milk bread with copious amount of butter spread on it and sugar sprinkled on it. And it becomes a heavenly  treat with fresh cream on top

The truth is that, once you start making bread it is only through your experience that you come to know of certain important aspects which no recipe talks about.

 

For instance the first time I had baked a bread I had thoroughly searched the internet for recipes and most of them scared me until I stumbled upon Dan Lepard's artisan bread. It was well explained and my bread had come out perfect, yet after my experience with a couple of other breads it was only practice which made me realize that while the success of a bread baked at home depends largely on the right recipe so does some other factors. So, most people face a problem of the bread not rising but did you know that is bread is proofed beyond requirement it will rise and then start expanding but you need not worry because there is a solution. You simply punch it down knead and let it rise :)

Milk bread is one of the easiest breads one can bake and the ingredients are very easily available and stocked by most homes and so it usually saves you the trouble of going out to gather ingredients.

Here is what you need for the recipe :-

For the recipe I followed Dan Lepard's recipe to the tee but cut the recipe down to suit my requirements

312 gm all purpose flour + a little extra for kneading
1 tsp instant yeast
50ml cold water
188 ml warm milk
38 gm salted butter
13g castor sugar or honey (I had used honey)
Extra butter for greasing and kneading
1 tsp salt
Though not mentioned in Lepard's recipe I used extra milk to brush the tops before baking

Start by bringing the milk to a boil and letting it cool down to a lukewarm stage when you add the cold water and the yeast. Remember that the liquid must not be of a high temperature else it shall kill the yeast.

Next mix the flour, castor sugar or honey, salt and then melt butter and pour in in the dough. Use your clean hands to knead. Remember it will be sticky but you must not add extra flour else your bread will come out hard. keep kneading the sticky dough for 10 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes covered with a wet cloth. After 10 minutes grease your hands with butter and knead it till it forms a super soft dough and let it rise for the next 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Before the final rise 

Here is the tricky part. Dan Lepard works in a cold country and I stay in a tropical one , so my bread was done in 50 minutes and then I punched it down and added flour to knead it and shape it. I  divided it in three balls and shaped them like sausages by rolling them and placed them side by side. I covered it with the cloth and let it rise for the next 20 minutes.

Ready to be baked 

Now preheat the oven to 180 C and bake for 40 minutes to 50 minutes in a well greased tray or a loaf pan. Do not forget to brush the dough with milk before baking it for a beautiful brown yet soft crust else your crust will blacken.

It is important to let the bread cool completely before slicing it up. It takes a bit of practice to get it out of the tray. Simply use a blunt knife to gently but firmly bring it out after 10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

P.S. When baking the bread always use a tray of boiled water beneath the rack on which the bread is beign baked. This keeps the bread moist while it is baking.

Enjoy the soft slices buttered well . Indulgence is a luxurious necessity. In the end my father might have shown his mock anger and said, 'The daughter is doing nothing but baking . Why don't you open a  bakery?' but his chewing on the buttered slice of milk bread said otherwise . Now I can happily go off to sleep and wake up to a delicious breakfast :)

Whole Wheat Bread

  Whole wheat bread 

 I could live on a loaf of bread and some good cheese . Oh well I think I am on what is a bread-high. And why wouldn't I be, I  baked my first 100% wholewheat bread and it was 100% successful. Now I do not even have to quote sources to let people know at this day and age about the immense benefits of whole wheat bread over white bread, the media has taken care of that well enough. No matter which newspaper you read, magazine you love flipping through or television you watch the media has does a brilliant job in educating people about the benefits of wholewheat bread. So the bottom line is you stay healthy and fit. Now being a passionate food enthusiast I for one am obviously part of many a social food groups and the horror stories about working with whole wheat bread did scare me unnecessarily as I might say after my bread puffed while I kept puffing with joy.



Now I had already ventured into the delightful arena of bread-making and with the right recipe in tow there was that Cheddar Bread and Bacon garlic cheddar bread but then again those were the work of white flour. It was tasty , fluffy delicious and utterly butterly unhealthy. Now if I was not a dunderhead when it came to science I could have explained why it is more difficult to work with whole-wheat bread but after reading numerous articles, recipes etc on wholewheat bread what I understand is that wholewheat lacks something called gluten and hence the difficulty . Now some people add extra gluten on but I for one hate recipes that call for an unnecessary ingredient when there is a way of not using it , so there is no extra gluten  but what I did do was follow the ingredients of one recipe and follow my method because I had been so successful with a certain Mr.Lepard's method of baking bread.

Before we even begin lets get one thing clear. Whole-wheat bread is supposed to be denser than white bread. It is supposed to be heavy and what the commercial brown or whole wheat bread does is misguide the customer very dishonestly. If your whole-wheat bread is light fluffy know this for sure that your baker has added a good percentage of white flour so. What might have worked in my proofing could have been the weather of the country I live in. While there are numerous problems with living in a country such as India be it the non-delivery of gas cylinders , the pathetic rashes I develop during the summer months or so many other things if there is one thing that worked in my favour it was the weather which I believe helped in my proofing. Now the process I followed is a bit lengthy but if it works then what is there in a bit of patience because bread-making is one of those dishes where your actual work is minimum.

So here is the recipe

3 cups (cups which hold 250ml liquid ) whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
4 tsp fresh yeast / 2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp  honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup warm water but not too hot else it kills the yeast . It should ideally be tepid water
2 heaped tbsp curd / unflavoured yogurt
4 to 5 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

I keep making wholewheat bread and keep playing with shape
A wholewheat sandwich loaf made at some point 

Start by dumping one cup of whole wheat on a work bowl and adding the yeast and then adding another cup of flour before adding the salt and then the final cup of flour. It seems that salt is a hindrance to the work of yeast and so many a recipe suggests either putting them side by side away from each other or layering it. Now slowly pour the warm water. It should not be hot because hot water kills yeast. Mix in the yogurt / curd . Mr.Lepard had taught me that curd makes your bread super soft and delicious and who am I to not listen to an expert.  Mix this with a wooden spoon and form a rough dough and then cover with a tea-towel and leave aside for 10 minutes .

After the 2nd kneading from the 10 minute gap regime 

Now oil your hands , oil the work board add the honey and 2 tbsp olive oil and start kneading the dough. The dough should be 'sticky but should not cling to your hands' is the golden guidance I have received from another recipe.  What I did was I did knead it for 10 minutes and then covered it and left it for another 10 to 12 minutes and kneaded it for a minute and left it for another 10 minutes covered with the tea-towel kneaded it again and finally after the last 10 minutes of resting the dough (it was covered every time it rested) I found that it  was well covered with oil from all sides, exactly what I had wanted . Now I used 1 tbsp flour to knead the bread and used 3 tbsp sesame seeds inside the dough and kneaded it , floured the work board  and put my dough in shaped it , covered it with my tea-towel and then left it to rise for about 30 minutes in the corner of my cabinet . The time needed for the last rise would largely depend on the place where you to stay, temperature, whether condition. I stay in a humid tropical country and so it takes very little time. For others in colder areas it might just take about 1 hour or 1.5 hours.

The rise of the bread 

At the end of it it was perfectly risen. I made three slashes of top to let the steam escape and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top. I preheated my oven ,  to 200C ,placed a tray of water beneath the rack on which my baking floured baking tray went (I do not own a bread pan) and baked the bread for 30 minutes turning it and baking after 20 minutes for an even baked bread. After 30 minutes i reduced the temperature to 180C and baked for another 15 minutes. Now the bread is baked by 35 minutes if using a convection oven or 30 minutes for a regular one but for those who like a nice rustic crust which is a deep hue of brown follow the lowering of temperature and baking it for another 15 minutes.

The tray of water beneath the rack helps in keeping the bread moist and soft

Once done let it cool on a wired rack for 30 minutes and do not be tempted to slice the bread before it cools down. I think this was the hardest part of the recipe. Enjoy it with some extra virgin olive oil and some grilled chicken on top or feta or grilled indian cottage cheese (paneer) or just about anything. What did I do? I rewarded myself with two slices of the fresh bread with very little just melted Emmental cheese on top.

A wholewheat boule made for a friend 

What I most love about the whole wheat bread is that it solves the problem of my tea-time accompaniment. Growing up in a household where the Darjeeling tea is a must as the start of the day and start of the evening  I but naturally grew my palate for that delightful tea sans sugar and milk but the single greatest problem would be finding a suitably healthy accompaniment. I mean sure for principle meals you can have salads, soups , wraps but then there was the problem of the tea-time partner. A thin slice of this bread warmed up with a very little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil is divine.

Bacon Garlic Cheddar Bread

Bacon garlic Cheddar Bread 

A lovely lady had told me that bread-making can be addictive and she was extremely right. You see bread-making is one of the easiest dishes to be made in the kitchen. Once you find all your information and the right recipe there is no looking back. So in my first post for bread I have jotted down what one should do when making bread. Now let me clarify from before these bread are rustic yet soft and fluffy on the inside and you can just about use any stuffing which catches your fancy. Well garlic , bacon and cheese are three ingredients which have , is and always shall catch my fancy and so here I present my Garlic Bacon cheddar bread.

The recipe of bread-making has been written in the  post, Cheddar Bread  and follow everything except the stuffing part

For the stuffing :-

350gm lean bacon
70gm to 100 gm cheddar cheese
5 to 6 large sized garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil

While the yeast works its way in your bread mince your garlic finely and chop the bacon into bite sized pieces and cube the cheddar but in small cubes. Fry the bacon and add the garlic and saute till the bacon is well fried and the garlic is softened and crisp gives out the aroma but make sure not to brown it.

So instead of stuffing the dough with cheddar you put in the garlic bacon mixture and then add the cheddar. Now press them down and cover it well with the dough from all sides and then bake at oven which has been preheated to 220C and bake at 220 C for 45 minutes in case you have convection oven or for 35 minutes to 40 minutes for regular ovens.

Caramel Cake

Caramel Cake 

Caramel , caramel oh my love Caramel 

My dear cousin brother A's birthday is coming up and I just had to bake a cake. What else does a sister do?  So come Thursday and I was torn between Gateau au Chocolat and Butterscotch cake with a caramelized frosting. Swayed this way and that way and finally settled for the Butterscotch since I had made quite a bit of chocolates a few days ago.

The end result was a rich creamy , buttery goodness for the taste buds and spun sugar for the eyes , a brother who gobbled up a little less than half of the cake and a very happy cook.

The recipe is simple:

For the cake one needs

225gm of all purpose flour
225gm of unsalted butter
100gm of castor sugar
125gm of brown sugar
Half a heaped dessertspoonful of baking powder. Now here is a tricky business with baking powder. Here in Calcutta I use Wiekfield's baking powder which clearly states that one should use 2 tsp for every 450gm so adjusted accordingly.
5 eggs (I used 5 since the sizes in India differs from the ones in many other countries.)
4 tablespoonful of cream

For the icing :

250gm of whipped cream (Amul worked fine with its 25% fat)
300gm of butter
Caramel made from 500gm sugar
5 egg yolks

For decoration
Moist praline

Start a day ahead with your cake. Divide the ingredients and start with half of the ingredients for the cake. Cream the butter, add the eggs one by one. Sift flour and baking powder and then further soft it in bit by bit. Add cream and make a smooth heavy batter.

Preheat oven to 180 C and bake for 40 minutes. I use convection which requires extra time . When using OTG lessen the time to 30 minutes or till skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Make the batter again and bake away. Store at room temperature overnight in a plastic wrap whcih ensures that the cake does not loose moisture.

The next day begin with first softening the butter at room temperature and then making the caramel. Remember that caramel is a tricky affair and is a demanding item and needs your full attention like a little child. One moment you take your eyes off it and the next moment you have burnt caramel. once it reaches a nice dark brown colour quickly add cream and make a caramel sauce. Let it cool down.

Use the French butter-cream method but with the given amount of ingredients for frosting in this recipe.

Now begin by first using a knife which has been held under hot water and wiped down to make two layers of the two cakes. Then first put a thin coat of icing and refrigerate for 10 minutes . This helps in holding the frosting better. Then frost away and use piping to decorate things.

Make your moist praline with caramelized sugar and almonds and a wee bit water and make little balls to decorate.

For spun sugar it is not possible to write down and explain things. You tube has many helpful videos.

Important tip :

The size of the cake pan used was 6 inch to 7 inch

Madeira Cake

Back to the basics of cakes , 

The Tribute to Madeira 

 Everybody is baking these days. Sugar butter flour everywhere. With so much of baking I am sure each homes is filled with a fragrance which is delightful. Not only are people baking but they are creating artistic cakes. So artistic that it amazes everyone.

Now I will completely express my personal views. It is the truth and absolute truth but is  nonetheless just my personal view . Let me begin with a rhetoric question. Why this fuss over cakes in the shape of shoes, cakes in the shape of bags and any object found on the surface of this wide wide wide world. While the work makes me have the greatest of respect for artists who spend hours creating them there is some mixed feeling. This excessive demand for over the top decorations is destroying our taste buds through and through. It is as if we actually are eating with our eyes. Have our taste buds become so challenged that we cannot appreciate so many cakes in this world? I stirred the hornet's nest on a particular social media and clearly there were two groups, a) the ones who make such cakes and b) the majority who eat them. Now here is my question. Try searching a little bit and you shall find billions of unexplored desserts . Are they not delectable enough? Some argued for unnatural decorations with the metaphor of dressing up for parties. Why do the cakes not dress beautifully and classically and why need they put on layers and layers of make up is what I wonder. As with cosmetics the look you create is completely in your hands. You can look au natural and glamorous and a true classic or slap on enough make up for you to look well artificially nice. Of course beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder  but how is a cake in the shape of say a house or worse shoe more desirable than a Dobostorte , Sachertorte or a beautifully made butter cream frosting baffles me. Anyways moving on,

Well so I have challenged myself to explore research and find out about desserts from around the world and try making them one by one. That would be enough for a whole lifetime.

For my first dessert I picked up the most basic of cakes, the tea time accompaniments of course. The great Madeira cake from Great Britain with a light yet firm texture , the perfect accompaniment to tea . Why Britain you ask? Well, I am from Calcutta , believe me there is the connection .

Anyways everyone is baking but how are they baking. Why do we undervalue the basics of cake making so much , why should nonprofessionals use electronic whisks without first learning the old fashioned hand held whisk is beyond me. Well I'm amazed at how strongly opinionated I am but nevertheless I shall try and give as many tips as i can for making cakes right from scratch.

Here is what you need for a Madeira cake. I followed James martin's recipe and the result was a beautifully light firm perfect cake . The lemony taste was truly the "icing of this cake".

200gm of flour
175gm of unsalted butter
175gm of sugar
3 medium eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoon of milk (adjust as per the batter) I ran out of milk but had a bowl of cream and used cream :)
Less than half a teaspoonful of baking powder. Practicing would make you realize exactly how much to be put it.
Candied lemon peels for decorations

Begin with the candied lemon peel a day ahead. Peel the lemon and then slice them real thin.

Wash them well and blanch then at least thrice. It is very important to blanch them thrice to remove all unwanted bitterness. Spread out and dry till bone dried. 

Begin with 3 tablespoonful of water and 4 tablespoonful of castor sugar. Bring to a slow boil making sure it does not burn and add the dried peels. Cook them and well when working with sugar you cannot juggle other things. Let it get reduced to the point where each strand is coated well and then dry for 2 hours and spread out each peel. 

When you start with a cake there are some rules which be followed thoroughly if you want your cake to be perfect 

Before beginning sift your flour well with less than half a teaspoonful of baking power. Remember that too much baking powder renders your cake bitter and too less prevents the cake from rising. 

These are :

1. Begin with creaming the butter. It is especially important that you cream fresh , as fresh as you can get in the market fresh unsalted butter. Do not use a bowl too big or too small. You can use a whisk or a big spoon though I personally have never tried the spoon method. 
2. Slowly add your sugar bit by bit mixing real well , if sifted it would be fluffy to an extend which makes you cry in joy. While creaming butter you arms will pain and if you make cakes quite often there isn't a chance that you ever are stuck with chicken wings. Of course the other hand needs some extra exercise for making up. 
3. Now preheat you oven to 180C 
4. When properly creamed the butter should be of a fluffy creamed consistency without any visible grains of sugar. It should be a delight to even look at it. Add your eggs 1 by 1 and keep whisking for a smoothness which is a delight to watch . Now slowly add your sifted flour through a sieve. This twice sifting of flour makes the cake airy and light. Your final consistency should be such that it fall after a long time from a spoon. 
5. Fold in the lemon zest with a spatula . You should never whisk the lemon zest or over-mix cake batter. That disturbs the baking as well. 
6. Fold it in your already buttered and floured cake pan and bake for 1 hour. even though Mr.martin suggest 40 minutes the problem is with an  Indian kitchen the conviction oven is the only option and baking temperature not only varies from oven to oven but form brand to brand as well. So I suggest to first bake it for 45 minutes and insert a toothpick in the center to check whether it  is done and if not then add another 10 minutes. You shouldn't even open the oven door by mistake before the 45 minutes else your cake will fall faster before you can even close your eyes. 

While it is baked observe the cake and you know it is going to be perfect if :

• The bubbles on the surface are not too big
• The middle does not puff up too soon before 30 minutes. 
• It slowly and steadily rises 

Once the toothpick is clean let it rest in the oven till the fan works itself and only after that do you get to take it out and cool the cake on the wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Do anything else and your cake will crumble. 

Once cool decorate with candied lemon peels and serve with a cup of Darjeeling tea or any tea of your preference. I am no chef but these basic points make everything possible 

Important tip :

Use a 6 inch to 7 inch cake pan 

Chicken Loaf

Quick Chicken Loaf Within 1 hour and 15 minutes 

It was one of those Sunday evenings in Calcutta when I knew that most of the neighbourhood shops would be closed and I had to make dinner with whatever was there in the pantry. I gathered some chicken mince meat, garlic, onions , dried basil and dried dill, chili flakes, olive oil, milk, whole wheat , pepper and salt and decided to make a loaf. Easy and delicious.

An hour later I was happily enjoying my dinner.

Easy Peasy ingredients

Minced chicken - 2 cups
Finely minced garlic and onions
Dried herbs (I used basil and dill)
Freshly ground pepper
Olive Oil
Salt
Milk
Chili flakes
Grated Parmesan
Whole wheat - half a cup

One starts off  by preheating the oven to 200 C and then while it preheats one simply mixes everything well and makes a loaf out of the mixture and butters the pan,(I used some olive oil) and bakes it for about 1 hour. If you see the crust having browned properly you know its done.

Victorian Sponge Cake

Tribute to Queen Victoria ,

 the humblest yet one of the best Cakes

Before you read this post I have to say that my Victorian Cake has remained the same over the years but what has changed is the quality of the photographs 

 The Classic Cake 

I have observed that in recent times there is a craze for artistically crafted cakes. So the rage is to be a Michelangelo in baking but I personally still fail to understand the charm of fondant coated cakes over so many delicious pastries. We all have our personal likes and dislikes. I believe this diversity ultimately unites us but for me the allure of  traditional baked goodies would always  win over artistic cakes which really need artistic hands but the taste , well is too sugary, for what is fondant or other cake decorative items but unhealthy masses of sugar, almonds and other ingredients.

I have gone back to the basics. This cake is said to be famous from Queen Victoria's times. Legend has it that the Queen herself would enjoy this delicious cake with rich whipped cream and tea every afternoon.          

 Rich, buttery and delicious , it is a perfect tea-time accompaniment. The smell is intoxicating and the ingredients are so basic that it is probably the first cake that an amateur should take a shot at. A very old baker once told me that a baker's quality can be best tested with the kind of Victorian sponge cake also known as pound cake one makes. Simple yet not to be unjustly not given due respect. The only thing to be kept in mind is that all the ingredients should be of an equal amount. You can make a loaf or the classic round cake.

I have seen that the quality of ingredients is the key to any good dish. It does not matter if one does not have access to some exotic ingredient but freshness and good quality are the only secrets which maketh or breaketh a dish. I have found that in Calcutta the unsalted butter from J.Johnson's is fresh and creamy and renders the best of cakes.

Serves 4 to 5

Pan size to be used - 6 inch to 7 inch pan

The basic ingredients are:

125 gm unsalted butter + 1.5 tsp for buttering the cake pan
125 gm all purpose flour + a 1 tbsp for using on the cake mould. (If you are using a cup which holds 250ml liquid then use 1 cup of the flour minus 1 tsp since a cup which holds 250ml liquid holds 128gm of flour)
125 gm castor sugar
Baking powder (Now for this please do read the package to know how much to use) I personally require half a tsp
2 large eggs

For the filling and topping for round cakes

250ml double cream (I would always recommend the dairy cream )
170gm strawberry
100gm castor sugar
1/4th of juice from a lemon

Start with the strawberry compote.

First mix the sugar and 120 gm (leaving 6 strawberries for decoration) strawberry together and let it sit for about 1 hour and then use the juice of lemon and bring to a boil and then simmer till ti reaches a soft sticky consistency. Whip you cream and keep it ready in the refrigerator.

The first thing to do is to butter the baking mould  ( 6 inch to 7 inch)  and dust it with flour. Timing is everything for baking. You should have your cake pan ready.

One should begin by sieving the all purpose flour and baking powder together. While one mixes the cake batter one should pre-heat the oven to 180 C. From my experience in the area of baking, the best cakes are the ones baked over a long period on medium heat. Too much heat would make the outer parts crispy and the inner parts uncooked.

Once you have started the process of preheating you need to be a bit quick because a  batter which sits out  for too long is a ruined batter. The Victorian sponge cake is one of my favourite cakes and so I have not only made it numerous times but have learnt to improve upon it overtime and only recently did I learn that using a wooden spatula yields the best result. So use the wooden spatula to soften the butter and then cream the butter by using the spatula against the wall of the bowl till its fluffy and add the sugar bit by bit to fluff it up to a point where all the sugar has melted and you are left with something which tastes light as air. Then add the eggs one by one and it is now that you should use your whisk to fluff up the batter and then reject the whisk again when you add the flour and switch to the wooden spoon and finally fold the flour and baking powder sifted from before by sifting it a second time . Your batter should be light and have a dropping consistency. (Remember that extra baking powder would invariably result in a cracked top and zinc like taste so be very careful about it)

 Seasoned bakers say that  the batter should never be over mixed.

Then all one needs to do is to pour the batter in the baking pan and bake it for  40 minutes to 50 minutes  in case one is using a convection oven or 30 minutes to 35 minutes for regular ovens. Do not open the door at any cost during this period. For a fool proof recipe (wrap a tea towel around the cake pan because when you use an aluminium pan the sides tend to heat up faster and as a result your sides often get overcooked, besides this might also lead to cracked tops so a tea towel ensures slow even baking)

Now patience is the key to success. So once done do insert a toothpick to check if its done. If the toothpick comes out clean your cake is ready but first it needs to sit in the pan once you take it out from the oven for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and then flip it over a rack and flip that back and let it cool for another half an hour before slicing it in half for the whipped cream and strawberry compote to be applied. Apply a thick layer of whipped cream and strawberry compote and then place the other half of the cake on top and then apply a generous amount of whipped cream on top and decorate with strawberries. Enjoy this classic cake with a cup of steaming hot tea

Here are a few tips which might help in achieving that light firm yet airy Cake.

1. Never over mix the batter 
2. Creaming the butter and sugar to a fluffy airy consistency is a must 
3. Once you start making your batter be as quick as possible 
4. Once you have transferred the batter in the cake pan, wet your hands and gently press the batter. This helps in achieving an even top. 
5. B every careful about the amount of baking powder since even a tiny pinch of  extra baking powder would lead to a cracked top. 
6. If you double the recipe use 2 , 8 inch pans