Luscious Lemon Cake

This is my second successful attempt at making an eggless cake. This inspiration came from here. I have made just a few modifications. In my 9′ square pan it did not rise a whole lot (about an inch) but the syrup did soak through very nicely. It also got a really nice crunchy edge because of the sugar, which crust/end lovers will absolutely go for.

You have to make sure that you have all your dry ingredients well stirred so that the baking soda is evenly distributed so the cake rises evenly.

I took this to work for a colleagues birthday and he cut the cake into small bite sized pieces. Everyone was really nice and just took one first which really just was a one bite size. Then they all quickly went back for seconds. The best part was folks taking a couple of pieces home with them.

 Ingredients

For the cake

• 1.5 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• zest of two whole large lemons
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil

For the frosting

• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk (to thin the frosting)

For decorating

• zest of one lemon

Method

Butter a 9 inch square pan and line it with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt together in a bowl. Use a whisk to stir it to make sure you have distributed your baking soda evenly. Rub the sugar into the lemon zest and then add it to the dry mix. Stir again.

Mix the wet ingredients together and pour over dry ingredients. Whisk with a balloon whisk until it is all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put it in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Start the syrup. Put the lemon juice and granulated sugar in a pot and bring to a boil while stirring to make sure the syrup has dissolved. Cook it just for a minute longer to thicken just a slight bit (you do not want the syrup to be too thick,

it should flow). Set aside to cool.

Once the cake has cooled for 10 minutes. Take it out onto your serving tray. Poke holes with a toothpick all over the cake and then slowly spoon the syrup over the cake. This may take a few goes as the syrup gets absorbed. You do not need to use all your syrup. Let the cake cool completely.

For the frosting

Mix the lemon juice with the confectioners sugar with a whisk.  Once it is as incorporated as you can get it add the milk to get to a pouring consistency. (Taste and see if you would like it sweeter and add more sugar). Pour over the completely cooled cake and spread with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining zest over the cake. The cake tastes good both warm and cold.

Cauliflower Rogan Josh

Cauliflower Rogan Josh

So many Indian dishes are just made for specifically one type of meat and they are really made well. I really like Rogan (Roghan) Josh so I decided to try it with Cauliflower. That has sort of become my go to vegetable to try out with meat dishes. Now there is a difference in the taste we do not have the meat flavor but the end result is super.

Rogan Josh is originally a lamb dish from Kashmir. Rogan means ‘oil’ and Josh means ‘heat or hot’. The gravy is really thick but I made mine a little thinner.

I used Kashmiri chillies, they give a much more sweeter subtle effect than regular chilli powder. It is available at the Indian stores. However, if you do not have access to an Indian store you can use 4 parts of paprika to 1 part cayenne pepper  instead.

Ingredients

• 1 medium cauliflower, washed, cut into florets
• 2 inch piece of ginger, chopped small
• 5 cloves
• pinch of hing (asafoetida) – optional
• 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder
• 2 inch piece of cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 teaspoons Garam Masala
• pinch of saffron (optional)
• salt to taste
• 2 cups water (hot)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup dried milk powder
• 25 almonds, blanched
• 1 cup yoghurt

Method

Heat oil on low in a medium sized pot. Once the oil is hot add the hing, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and chilli powder. Fry on medium-low for about 4 minutes. Add the cauliflower and let it fry stirring occasionally. Do this for about 10-12 minutes. The cauliflower will start to brown just a little bit.

While the cauliflower is frying, start on the sauce. Mix the milk powder with about 2 tablespoons of water to make a thick paste. Grind the yoghurt, almonds and this paste together and set aside.

Add the water to cauliflower and the sugar. Let this cook for about 2 minutes. Add the garam masala, the above milk/almond sauce and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.

Serve it with rice.