Eggless Pina Colada Cake

          Pina Colada Cake, most of us are very familiar with this flavor, if not, it's a cake bursting with tropical flavors of coconut and pineapple, well, this was our challenge, this month, for Eggless Baking, it was suggested by Meena of Chettinad Fiesta. It's basically a sponge cake frosted with pineapple mousse, coconut and mascarpone cheese, the process might look a bit long, but the end result is worth all of it. The original cake recipe here, uses rum, coconut liquor and eggs, I have replaced eggs with condensed milk and orange juice and left out the alcohol. I have made cakes, using condensed milk alone which gives a dense cake and orange juice alone which gives a airy and super spongy cake. For this cake I have used both of them, because I felt that if I used orange juice alone, the cake would be very light and might weigh down with the frosting. Since the frosting has coconut, cheese and fruits, it has to be refrigerated, if you like the drink Pina Colada or cheese frosting or white chocolate, then this cake is for you, because the frosting tasted a little bit like all of the above..

Need To Have
For The Sponge Cake

• All Purpose Flour/ Maida - 1 cup
• Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
• Orange Juice - 3/4 cup
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - a pinch

For The Pineapple Mousse

• Chopped Pineapple Pieces - 2 cups
• Sugar - 1 tablespoon
• Corn Flour - 1 teaspoon

For The Coconut Cream, Cheese Frosting

• Coconut Milk - 200 ml
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Mascarpone Cheese - 6 tablespoons
• Cream Cheese - 2 tablespoons
• Corn Flour - 2 teaspoons

Additionaly Needed

• Orange Juice - 3 tablespoons
• Grated Coconut - 1 to 2 cups 

Method
Sponge Cake

          Take the oil, condensed milk, orange juice, vanilla extract and salt and beat well.

          Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda and add to the wet ingredients and mix it well.

          Pour it in a greased and floured pan and bake it at 180 C for 35 to 40 minutes, remove and cool the cake.

Pineapple Mousse

          Take 11/2 cups of the chopped pineapple, add the sugar and 1 cup of water, mix and cook it covered for 1/2 an hour.

          Mash it slightly, add the remaining 1/2 cup pineapple pieces and the corn flour mixed with little water. Mix everything together for about 5 minutes till you get a jam consistency, remove and cool it.

Coconut Cream Frosting

          Take the coconut milk and sugar in a pan, and cook on  medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, till it thickens, it should coat a spoon dipped in it, keep stirring it all the time.

          Cool it, then add the mascarpone and cream cheese and whip it well, using a electric blender, since the mixture was a little runny, I added 2 teaspoons of corn flour and whipped it, cool it for about 30 minutes, it'll be easier to do the frosting.
You can refer for homemade mascarpone cheese here and homemade cream cheese here.

Frosting The Cake

          Slice the cake into 3 layers. Take the bottom layer, pour about a tablespoon of the orange juice, allow it to soak, then put half of the pineapple mousse, then layer with the coconut cream frosting, then place the next layer, repeat the orange juice, pineapple and coconut cream, place the third layer, add the orange juice and frost it fully with the coconut cream, just enough for the grated coconut to stick to it. Press the grated coconut all over the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least an hour and then slice it and serve.

Note
I have not used 2 cups of grated coconut, used about 1/4 cup only, wanted to cut down the calories, if doing it for a party, then layer it well with the grated coconut, it gives the cake a beautiful look.
You can avoid the sugar in the pineapple mousse, the pineapple that I used was not that sweet, so I added 1 tablespoon of sugar to it.
The sponge cake, if eaten alone will need another tablespoon or 2 of sugar, but with all the frosting, it tasted perfect.
I have used a 5" spring form cake pan, the pan is deep, so it took me about 40 mins in the oven and also the cake could be sliced into 3 layers.

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Eggless Ferrero Rocher Tarts

          Last two months, I was not able to take part in the Eggless Baking challenges, I missed those wonderful bakes, but I am going to try them later. This month no matter what,I was determined to do it, and we had a superb challenge for this month, Eggless Ferrero Tarts ( known as such, since the Ferrero Rocher chocolates was the inspiration for these tarts ), it was suggested by Priya Srinivasan of Enveetu Kitchen, you can check out the original recipe at Trissalicious. It involves a couple of steps, baking the tarts, making the tart fillings and finally assembling the tart. Though it may sound and look like a lot of work, it was not a difficult task, I totally enjoyed doing it and of course eating it too, my family simply loved it..

Need To Have
For the Tart Base

• All Purpose Flour/ Maida - 1/2 cup
• Cocoa Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Caster Sugar - 2 tablespoons
• Butter - 4 tablespoons
• Curd/ Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
• Baking Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt - a very small pinch

For the Walnut Praline

• Roasted And Chopped Walnuts - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Water - 2 tablespoons

For the Hazelnut Mousse

• Milk - 3/4 cup
• Vanilla Custard Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Nutella - 2 tablespoons
• Fresh Cream - 1/4 cup
• Confectioner's Sugar - 1 tablespoon
• China Grass/ Agar agar - 4" long and 2" wide piece
• Water - 3 tablespoons

For the Chocolate Hazelnut Thing

• Milk Chocolate - 8 square pieces
• Nutella - 11/2 tablespoon
• Dark Chocolate Chips - 2 tablespoons
• Walnut Praline - 4 teaspoons
• Oil - 1/2 teaspoon

Method
Tart Base

          Take the butter, cocoa powder and sugar and mix it well, I did it by hand. Then add the flour and baking powder and mix it again.

          Finally add the curd and bring it together into a smooth dough, refrigerate it for an hour.

          After and hour, take it out and roll it out into discs that are 2 mm thick, I used tart pans that measures 4.5 x .75, so I divided the dough into 3 parts and rolled out the discs ( the discs have to be a little bigger than the tart pan ). Place the discs in the tart pans and refrigerate them for an hour. Remove, prick it lightly with a fork and blind bake it for 10mins at 180C. Blind baking is nothing but, placing a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough in the tart pan with some beans like chickpeas to hold the paper and baking it. After 10 minutes, remove the parchment paper and beans and bake the tarts for another 10 to 15 minutes till done. Cool it and top it with the fillings.

Walnut Praline

          Take the sugar and water in a pan and bring it to a boil. When it starts turning a slight amber/ honey color add the walnut pieces.

          Mix and remove immediately and spread it on a plate lined with a parchment paper. Let it cool completely, then pound it lightly with a pestle and keep.

Hazlenut Mousse

          Mix the custard powder with 1/4 cup milk, heat the remaining 1/2 cup milk. Remove the milk from the stove and mix in the custard mixture. Then put it back on the stove and mix briskly for another 2 to 3 minutes till it thickens like a porridge, remove and cool it.

          Take the fresh cream and confectioners sugar and whisk it well till you get stiff whipping cream.

          Take the china grass and water and heat till the china grass completely dissolves in the water.

          Now add the nutella to the custard and mix it well, I used the electric beater.

          Then add it to the whipped cream and mix it well. Finally add the china grass and mix it properly and refrigerate it for at least an hour.

Chocolate Hazelnut Thing

          Take all the ingredients in a bowl and microwave it till the chocolate melts, mix and keep.

To assemble the Tarts
          Remove the tarts from the tart tins, pipe a layer of the Hazelnut Mousse, top it with the Chocolate Hazelnut Thing, sprinkle some walnut praline and serve.

Note
The original recipe used hazelnut praline, I have used walnuts instead.
Baking time varies, depending on the size of the tarts and the oven.
I have used 2 tablespoons of curd to make the dough, add more or less as required to mix the dough.
While making the praline, watch out carefully for the amber color and do the next steps swiftly, and be careful while handling the hot mixture.

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Eggless Jam Swirled Muffins

           I am not able to blog more frequently these days, in the middle of so many things, hopefully everything will settle down in a month's time. I didn't want to miss the challenge for the Eggless Baking group, somehow managed to do it. We had to do an eggless version of these Jam Swirled Muffins, I have used flax seed powder in the place of eggs, and used strawberry preserves for the jam. The muffins turned out superb, perfect for a light breakfast or an evening snack..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
• Yogurt/ Curd - 1/3 cup
• Powdered Sugar - 1/3 cup
• Strawberry Preserves - 1/3 cup
• Flax Seed Powder - 1 tablespoon
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Hot Water - 6 tablespoons
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/8 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon

Original Recipe here

Method

          Add the flax seed powder to 3 tablespoons of the hot water and leave it for 10 minutes, then beat it nicely. Then add the yogurt, oil, salt, vanilla extract and the remaining 3 tablespoons of hot water and mix well. Add the sugar and mix it nicely.

          Sift the flour with the baking powder and baking soda. Then add it to the wet ingredients and mix it lightly, finally add the strawberry preserves and just swirl it in very lightly.

          Pour it into greased muffin pans and bake it at 190 C for 25 minutes, cool and remove it.

Note
After pouring it in the muffin pans, I added 1/2 teaspoon of the strawberry preserve on the top and lightly mixed with a knife.
You can use any fruit jam or preserve of your choice.
I refrigerated the muffins, just warmed them in the microwave before serving, they tasted good.
I got 8 medium sized muffins.

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Eggless Donuts

          This month, for our Eggless Baking Group, we had to make Eggless Donuts. Initially I thought of skipping it, since there was a lot of travelling and I hardly had a chance to cook anything, leave alone donuts. At the same time, I didn't want to miss it too, so finally I made it today morning, clicked and edited the pictures in the afternoon and posting it in the evening, all on the same day. Once again, I am happy I have joined this group, otherwise the lazy me would have easily postponed it for some other time. This time, I have used yogurt/ curd as a replacement for egg, and made the basic glazed donuts, they turned out really soft and fluffy and everybody loved it..

Need To Have
For The Donuts

• All Purpose Flour/ Maida - 5 cups
• Active Dry Yeast - 1/4 oz
• Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Vegetable Shortening - 1/3 cup
• Warm Milk - 1 cup
• Yogurt/ Curd - 1/2 cup
• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Warm Water - 1/4 cup

For The Glaze

• Confectioners Sugar - 2 cups
• Butter - 1/3 cup
• Vanilla Extract - 11/2 teaspoons
• Hot Water - 4 tablespoons

You can check the original recipe here.

Method

          Add the yeast to the warm water and leave it for 5 minutes or more, till it foams up nicely. Take the flour, yogurt, sugar, salt, vegetable shortening, adding the 1 cup milk, little by little, make a soft dough.

          Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and leave it for an hour, till it has doubled in size. Punch the dough, place it on a floured surface, knead it lightly and roll it out, 1/2" thick.

          Cut out donuts from the rolled dough, leave them covered for another hour, till they rise one more time.

          In the meantime, to make the glaze, warm the butter, add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix, add the 4 tablespoons hot water, little by little, till you form a thick glaze, not a watery one.

          Heat some oil for deep frying, add the donuts, fry on both sides and drain them. When it's cold enough to handle, dip it in the glaze and place it on a wire rack till the glaze dries up.

Note
I got 38 medium sized donuts.
When you make the glaze, it should be really thick, otherwise it'll not dry up, it'll be wet and sticky ( learnt it from experience ).
Fry the donuts on low heat ( the oil temperature should be around 175 C ).

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Vegan Double Chocolate Cake

          Double Chocolate Cake, well, as the name suggests, it contains double the amount of chocolate, compared to the regular chocolate cake, one in the form of cocoa powder and the other in the form of chopped chocolate chunks. For this vegan recipe, I have used regular coke as a replacement for egg. I had noted down this recipe, using coke, for a regular vanilla cake so many years back from a newspaper, but got a chance to try it only now. I had made some changes and it turned out very well, the cake was so moist and light and tasted so good with the chocolate chunks here and there, I would say, a ' Double Delight ' for all chocolate lovers..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour/ Maida - 1 cup
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup
• Chocolate Chunks - 1/4 cup
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Regular Coke - 1 cup
• Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Baking Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1/2 teaspoon

Method

          Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a mixing bowl, add the oil, sugar, vanilla extract and half the coke and mix well. To this add the sifted flour and mix it well, without any lumps.

          To this add the chocolate chunks and the remaining coke and mix it. Pour it into a greased 8" square pan and bake it for 25 minutes at 180 C. Remove, cool for 3 to 5 minutes, remove it from the pan and let it cool completely before slicing.

Note
The sugar I have used was correct for us and the chocolate chunks that I have used is 60% cocoa, so if you using an even darker chocolate, then increase the sugar.
Use a coke can or coke bottle immediately after you open it, that fizz is very important to this cake.

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Eggless Tiramisu

          For the month of  April, we had to do Tiramisu for our Eggless Baking Group. I had finished making it, way back by the 11th or 12th of the month, since I had to travel to the US. I was so happy that I had finished the challenge, way before the revealing date, and I had taken the camera with the pictures with me. But then, while travelling, I had left the camera at a friend's place, and came back only today, so once again, I am late for the post. Coming to the Tiramisu, we had to make our own mascarpone cheese, eggless savoiradi or lady fingers and then make it alcohol free too. Well, it was quite a challenge, but an interesting one and I think I have succeeded, at least 80%. I have tasted the regular Tiramisu with the eggs and the alcohol, and I can say, I have come closer to the original, except for the alcohol flavor in it. Anyways, I truly enjoyed making it and my family loved the eggless, alcohol free Tiramisu..

Need To Have

For The Mascarpone Cheese

Fresh Cream - 200ml

Lemon Juice - 1/2 tablespoon

For The Eggless Savoiradi / Lady Fingers

All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup

Corn Flour - 1 tablespoon

Oil - 2 tablespoons

Powder Sugar - 3 tablespoons

Orange Juice - 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon

Baking Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Baking Soda - 1/4 teaspoon

Vanilla Extract - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - 1/8 teaspoon

Icing/ Confectioners Sugar - 2 tablespoons

For The Whipping Cream

Fresh Cream - 200ml

Confectioners Sugar - 2 tablespoon

Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon

For Assembling The Tiramisu

Mascarpone Cheese

Whipping Cream

Savoiardi/ Lady Fingers

Strong Coffee - 1 cup

Orange Juice - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2 tablespoons

Cocoa Powder - to dust on the top

Recipe Source For Homemade Savoiardi : Home Cooking In Montana

Recipe Source For The Tiramisu : Taste

Method

Mascarpone Cheese :

          I referred Vimitha's procedure for making the Mascarpone Cheese and I used Amul Fresh Cream for making it. Heat some water in a shallow pan, place another vessel with the fresh cream inside the shallow pan, basically a double boiler. Keep stirring it, till you see light bubbles in the cream, at this stage add the lemon juice and keep stirring.

          You'll note a very slight curdling, or you can see the cream become a little grainy and coating the back of a spoon. Remove it at this stage, strain it in a cheese cloth, leave it for half an hour, then just fold the cloth over and leave the whole thing in the refrigerator overnight. Remove  it from the cloth, can be stored for at least 4 days.

Eggless Savoiardi :

          Sift together the plain flour, corn flour, baking soda and baking powder. Take the oil orange juice, vanilla extract, salt and powdered sugar and beat well. Now add the sifted dry ingredients and mix well. It should be thick enough to be used in a piping bag or a ziploc bag.

         Take it in a ziploc bag, cut a little at the end and squeeze out small strips, about 2" to 3" long on a greased cookie sheet. Dust some icing sugar, leave it for a minute, again dust some icing sugar. Bake it at 200C for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove and cool.

Whipping Cream :

          Take the fresh cream ( should be chilled), icing sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat it for about 4 to 5 minutes till you get stiff peaks which holds.

To Assemble The Tiramisu :

          To the whipping cream add the mascarpone cheese and mix gently. Mix the coffee ( I had used 2 tablespoon of instant coffee powder for 1 cup water), orange juice and sugar, it should be slightly warm. Soak the savoiardi biscuits in the coffee solution, remove immediately and layer a square or rectangular glass dish with it, top it up with a layer of the mascarpone-whipping cream mixture.

          Then place another layer of the coffee soaked savoiardi, followed by the remaining cheese mixture. Cover it with a cling wrap and leave it to set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Remove, dust it with some cocoa powder and serve.

Note

I have used Amul Fresh Cream, you can use any heavy whipping cream.

The savoiardi biscuits are crispy on the top but soft on the inside, don't soak it too long in the coffee, it'll break and I got about 20 from the above quantity.

Layer the glass dish with a cling wrap, before placing the savoiardi biscuits, that way it'll be easy to lift the whole thing out after it sets.

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Eggless Lemon Cranberry Muffins

          It's going to be a little slow here, in my blog, since I am going to be in the US for the next one month, so not much cooking, I'll be doing some posts though, from drafts, and of course I'll be visiting other blogs whenever I get time. Coming to today's post, it's been a long time that I had made muffins, and I had these dried sweetened cranberries, that I wanted to finish up, so googled a little and came up with these eggless Lemon Cranberry Muffins. They came out very well, a little denser since I had replaced half of the flour with whole wheat flour, perfect breakfast muffins with a nice citrus flavor..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
• Whole Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup
• Yogurt/ Curd - 1/2 cup
• Dried Sweetened Cranberries - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 2 tablespoons
• Baking Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Oil - 2 tablespoons
• Chopped Walnuts - 1/6 cup
• Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
• Warm Water - 1/2 cup

Method

          Sift the flours, baking powder and baking soda. Take the oil, yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, water, salt, beat it till well mixed. Dust the cranberries with little flour and keep.

          Add the sifted flour to the wet ingredients and mix. Finally mix in the walnuts and cranberries. Pour it into prepared muffin pans, bake at 180 C for 20 minutes. Cool and serve.

Note
Can replace cranberries with raisins.
Since the cranberries are sweetened I used only 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the muffins tasted perfect for us, but if you want it more sweeter, double the sugar.
Keeps good in the refrigerator for at least a week, just warm it in the microwave before serving.

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