SPICE CAKE

White washed houses, adorned with multicoloured (Chinese) lights, doorsteps and courtyards beautified with aipen (traditional Kumaoni motifs made with ocher and rice paste), marigold garlands and imprints of the feet of the Goddess lakshmi at the entrance – Yes there is festivity in the air!

Villagers from the hills come down to sell their produce – marigold, chrysanthemums, walnuts, first harvest of winter vegetables and fruits.

Villagers from plains too set up temporary stalls selling jaggery, hand made clay lamps and sugarcane. A visit to the market is a visual treat these days

Coming to today’s post, I had been mulling over making spice cake for a long time. With winters setting in, it is just the right time to make one and enjoy with a cup of hot tea with friends who come to wish Diwali……

A boy selling hand made clay lamps in the market.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups All purpose flour

2 eggs

½ cup (100 Gms) butter

1 ½ cups sugar (powdered)

1½ cups butter milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

½ teaspoon dried ginger powder

½ teaspoon clove (powdered)

½ teaspoon nutmeg (powdered)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

Beat together butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence. Beat the white of the eggs till stiff. Sieve together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the spices. Add the yolks to butter sugar mixture mix well and add the whites of the eggs. Now add flour mixture adding a little buttermilk at a time. Mix well ensuring there are no lumps. Repeat  the same with the remaining flour.

Pour the batter in a greased and lined round cake tin about 8” in diameter and bake in a pre heated oven at 108 degrees C for 35 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the cake tin after five minutes and invert in the rack to cool.

Will be sending this recipe to the Bake Fest #13 organised by Anu's healthy kitchen.