Life in the country side has its own quaint
charm. A weaver bird raises alarm as our cat comes home after wandering around
in the neighbourhood. I wonder at the agility of the tiny bird who has been
feeding her fledglings with worms and moths whole day almost incessantly. The
fledglings peep out stealthily and curiously at the world outside which is so
different from their cozy nest- The monsoons have been sluggish but occasional
downpour keeps the weather pleasant, turning the grass green and supporting a
whole lot of ecosystem. Tiny insects, strange worms, giant snails make their
annual appearance, breeding and flourishing and completing their life cycle.
Every seed that has managed to reach the soil has sprouted into a tiny plant…..a
multitude of plants of varied species grow in our backyard providing feeding
ground for the grasshopper nymphs and tiny caterpillars. How intricate and
beautiful is the web of life!
My son, hitherto a non-fussy
eater, is beginning to develop strong food preferences. In his transitional
phase from infancy to boyhood, he now prefers to eat on his own and has food
choices which he never compromises with.
Last week I baked a coconut cake. I
had a lot of desiccated coconut at home. I had to use it before it turned
rancid. The cake turned out to be quite a surprise.
The combination of
chocolate and coconut made it really special also the fact that it is my own recipe gave me immense
happiness.
My son approved it and had a big slice much to my exhilaration.
This is how I made Egg less Coconut Chocolate Cake
Egg less Coconut Chocolate Cake with
Chocolate Glaze (Whole Wheat)
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup thick yogurt
1/3 cup olive oil
½ cup dry desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon warm water
Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line the bottom and sides of
one 6 inch round cake pan.
Beat yogurt till smooth. Add sugar. Leave till sugar
dissolves.
Whisk together whole wheat flour and desiccated coconut.
Mix 1 tablespoon cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon warm water.
Mix well so that there are no lumps. Add more water if it is too dry.
Add baking soda and baking powder to yogurt. Mix and leave
for 3 minutes. It will start foaming. Add olive oil.
Add flour mix to yogurt mix and stir gently till you get a
lump free smooth batter. Remove three ladles of this batter and add cocoa to
it.
Spoon the batters into the prepared pan. Add half of the
plain batter. Now add chocolate batter followed by adding the remaining plain
batter.
Bake at 200 degrees C for 12 minutes. Reduce the temperature
to 180 degrees C and bake for another 45 to 50 minutes till the top turns brown
and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent loosely with a
foil if the top becomes too brown too soon.
Turn off the heat, remove from the pan after 10 minutes.
Cool in the rack.
Chocolate glaze
2 slabs of dark chocolate
(about 40g each)
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon butter
Melt chocolate in a double
boiler. Add milk and butter. Beat till smooth. Pour over the cake. Refrigerate
before slicing.
Linking to Mom junction contest for moms
SO glad you didn't decide to use your excess of garden snails to create a cake with ;). LOVE the look of this wonderful creation Namita. I think you might just have an eggless cookbook in you :) This looks really amazing. I keep pinning your recipes as I want everyone to get the chance to make some of your incredible goodies for themselves. Love the weaver bird re-tell, I wish every seed that dropped to the ground here grew. It gets so hot and dry here in our summers that little seedlings very rarely survive. I really do envy you your wonderful climactic conditions :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks wonderful. I am new to your blog and totally in love with it. About this recipe, did you use freshly dessicated coconut or was this the dry one? Sorry, the question might sound dumb, but I am new to baking as well :)
ReplyDeleteHello Seeta, Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I used dry desiccated coconut in the recipe. I must thank you for bringing this to my notice. I have mentioned this in my recipe too!
ReplyDeleteThough I am not a fan of coconut, I love that streak of chocolate in it and the fact this is a recipe that was experimented and came out so well.
ReplyDeleteHello Namita,
ReplyDeletethankyou for sharing your recipes but I think I enjoy reading about your country life more! Yes, small towns have their own charm and pull, and I am so glad you are sharing your daily experiences with everyone.
A query: is the wholewheat flour atta flour that is used in making chapaties?
My daughter-in-law is a vegetarian and this site is really what we need to try out new recipes.
Thanks once again,
Mrs G Singh,
Malaysia
P.S. we are in the news again today over the plane tragedy...something no-one ever expected to hear again after March....so sad for our nation again
Prettiness!! Love the pretty streaks of white and brown in this cake. So different from the usual zebra cake. I guess its time for me to use coconut in a cake! Sure it must be yum.
ReplyDeleteHello Mrs G Singh, My countryside life is very simple and very humble. I am so happy that you love reading about it. Yes, whole wheat flour is Atta. The coarser the better.
ReplyDeleteWe are all shocked and grieved about the MH-17 tragedy and earnestly pray that this is never repeated. We have been watching TV and wonder why it happened? I guess some doctors and research team doing some great work on AIDS were on board. This is a huge setback.
Love and regards, Namita
hi, i had prepared this cake on my sons brithday which was on 3rd aug, ihad use ghee intsted of olive oil, every this was perfect while baking , but when i removed from the oven and kept for cooling ,the cake had sinked down ,can u tell me what was the mistake, but then also my familly injoyed the cake it was yummy
ReplyDeleteHello! Belated Happy Birthday to your son. I am trying to figure out what could have gone wrong with the cake. Did you bake the cake exactly at the tempetarures mentioned in the recipe? Was your curd too thin. I used store bought curd which was pretty thick. Was the batter runny? I remember that my batter was thick. I used a spoon to put it in the baking pan. Do let me know your feed back on this.
Deletehi namita, thanks for replying . the batter was thick ,so i used little milk . may be that was a mistake ,but the cake was still uuuuuuuuuhhhha , said by my hubby
DeleteHi....
ReplyDeleteI have question....
Can we use lemon juice instead of bakind sida?
Hello Nitin, Nitin I am not too sure if you can use lemon juice in place of soda. Soda is a leavening agent. You will have to use it.
DeleteCan I use brown sugar?
ReplyDeleteYes. Brown sugar is a healthier option. Happy Baking!
Deletecan i use maida insted of wheat flour
ReplyDeleteYes, you can use all-purpose flour. Happy Baking!
DeleteIf I use maida insted of wheat, the baking pw and soda will be same or decrease
ReplyDeleteHello!
DeleteThe baking powder and baking soda will remain the same. However, yogurt required will be slightly less. Happy Baking!