2 pairs of anxious hands waiting to finish the cake!

“the yummiest and most softest (she meant moist) chocolate cake i ever had” : According to my 6 yr old!

“me too!” : my almost 4 yr old backing his sis!

and it was finished in 15mts time. DH was saying thank god i came early today other wise i would have never seen this! LOL! This is one of my favorite cakes now. I halved the recipe as i was doing it for the first time, but next time i’ll do the full recipe.

Here is the recipe.

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

“PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa3 cups powdered sugar1/3 cup milk1 teaspoon vanilla extractMelt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Then soon i had to fly to Calicut/Kozhikode because my father was sick and i wanted to be with him. I hate flying but may be Allah made it all easy this time – this was the smoothest journey i ever had from Singapore to Calicut. My father passed away in March (innaillahi wa innaillahi rajioon May his soul rest in peace and May Almighty Allah grant him Jannat e Firdous) which was a big blow to me.

After spending few weeks in Calicut beating the heat my kids started showing signs that they could no more tolerate the heat. So here we are again back home! My daughter still talks aboutCalicut and wants to go back as soon as possible!! Its really difficult to forget the Malabar experiences – the people, the food, the shopping, the heat, the rickshaws!!! the list goes on…

Now with the second trimester on i’m feeling much better and was browsing thru many websites thinking of what to cook – desserts or main dishes or sides.. im really bored of my own cooking (yes that another thing you have to deal when your back from Calicut) My mood varies from sweet to sour to spicy so im really afraid to cook something special and i may end  messing it and not able to eat it.

Well as of now i don’t have any thing interesting to post here though my drafts are full! i’ll be back soon with of recipes and with Ramzan coming on im hoping i’ll feast your eyes!

Luckily my kids have most of my foodie habits! (masha allah) we all are big fans of paratas  - veggie or non veg, any type – any color SO twhen ever i say parata? both of them are ready to eat. The only demand is they want yogurt with it.

Spinach is their favorite veggie and i make it at least 3-4 times a week. Here is a simple parata easy to make and good to eat. This recipe will be going for the Kids Cooking Event – Wheat

Palak/Spinach Paratas

makes 9 medium sized paratas

1 bunch of spinach leaves (only leaves discard the stems)

1 3/4 – 2 cups wheat flour

1/4 tsp cumin and ajwain

salt to taste.

Grind the spinach to a fine paste with very little water. It should be around 1 cup of paste. Mix the rest of the ingredients and knead into a dough.

I make this as normal phulkas. It puffs up and become very soft.  Adding ghee on top of the parata after cooked gives a different taste. But my kids dont like it so i use less ghee  in my cooking.

Green Peas Curry

1 and half cup green peas socked overnight

1 cup each finely sliced onions and tomatoes

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

3-4 tsps of coriander pwdr

1-2 tsp of red chilli pwdr

1/2 tsp turmeric pwdr

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ajwain

corriander,curry and mint leaves – a small bunch

oil for frying

2-3 cups of water

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add onions to it. Once it is browned add the ginger garlic paste and keep on stirring for 1-2 mts. Then add tomatoes ot it. Once the tomatoes are cooked and well mixed to the onions add the dry masalas, ajwain and mix well. Add sufficient water to it (i added around 3 cups) and pressure cooked for 20 mts. Garnish with the green leaves.

(the water needed and cooking time might vary from pressure cooker and the peas you are using. I dont think mine was a good quality peas and also my pressure cooker has already shown signs or retiring!)

Oatmeal is one of the staple in my home!! My kids love it and i add a lot od flavours to it! After cooking it sometimes i add raisins, or a grinded apple or pear or chopped banana, chopped nuts – walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds (they really love the crunciness) or what ever they insist!

I have been baking and grilling a lot now a days but unfortunately my camera is dead and my camera phone is not so good in taking pics.. By the time i wait for my hubby to come home to take a pic from his iPhone half of the thing is eaten by mu kids and then i think ok may be i’ll post this next time… i have a lot of drafts and im wondering when im going to post all of this!!!

today my daughter told me lets make a cake together! Its really hard to resist a almost 5 yr old!

Now that i brought an electric oven i have been in a mood to bake n grill… so fa i made choc chip cookies and oatmeal cookies.. both of them have been so fast moving that i didn’t even have time to take a pic and post it! LOL!!

today morning i thought i would make some garlic bread.. But then i thought it would be very light so i decided to cover it up with some eggs.. (my friend Afroze’s idea) so that everyone will get some carb,proteins,fats etc all together!!!!
Blend 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp of olive spread, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 small bunch of parsley into a smooth paste.

2 hard boiled eggs cut into thin slices

2 slices of cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Cut the bread half and apply the blended paste on it. Top up with cheese and the eggs.. im sure kids are gonna love it!

You’ll need

Ghee – 2 tbsps
cardamon and cloves – 3-4
cinnamon stick – 1 small piece
bay leaf – 1
onion finely chopped – 1
basmati rice – 3 cups washed and soaked
mix vegs finely chopped- 1 cup (carrots,beans,corn,peas) or what ever u like
turmeric pwdr – 1/4 tsp
garam masala – 1/4 tsp
water – 6 cups
salt to taste

Heat the ghee in a non-stick pan and add the whole spices. When the smell comes out add the onions and fry till brown. Add water to it. When the water boils add the rest of the ingredients and close the pan and cook for 15 mts. Serve with raita, pickle,pappadam.

I usually finely chop all the vegs so that the kids wont notice it.

Another entry for the Rice Mela and Wholesome Lunch Box Event!