Carrot cake has a moist and light crumb with delicious flavours from cinnamon and nutmeg. The cake is quite a treat with tea. It is a low-fat healthy snack cake with the goodness of local and seasonal carrots.




The warm aroma of spices wafts through as the carrot cake bakes in the oven. This is a small snack cake baked for the evening tea.


Teatime is eagerly awaited for in the hills especially when it has been raining all day. Wrapping hands around the hot glass and sipping the piping hot tea with slices of home-baked cake is quite a treat.
Rains in the hills also have its own charm. The mist swirling down the valleys, the trees veiled in fog,   and then, sudden clearing up of the horizon gives a majestic view. There was a beautiful view around sunset yesterday.



Carrot Spice Cake has a light crumb. It is moist and full of flavours.


You may add half a cup of toasted chopped walnuts for extra crunch.


Make sure that you grate the carrots finely.


Eggless Spiced Carrot Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼  cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
  • ½ cup + 3 tablespoons unrefined sugar
  • ¼ cup oil
  • ½ + 2 tablespoons cup warm milk (more if the batter feels dry)
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup finely grated carrot

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and line one 7 inch round cake pan.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together first six ingredients.
  3. In another large bowl, take oil, milk, vanilla extract. Mix well. Add apple cider vinegar. Stir.
  4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until combined. Do not over mix.
  5. Stir in grated carrots.
  6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Remove from the pan after 5 minutes. Cool on the rack.
  8. Slice the next day.



Semolina seed bread has an amazingly light crumb and a crunchy crust. Semolina gives a lovely texture to the bread. It makes great sandwiches, toasts well and is a lovely accompaniment to hot soup.




Light airy slices of Semolina seed bread and hot tomato soup is the ultimate dinner on a cold rainy day. It is a light bread with semolina that lends a lovely texture and is topped with seeds. If your semolina has large grains, pulse it in your food processor/dry grinder.  Semolina texture makes a lot of difference to the crumb. Make sure that your semolina is fine. The dough will absorb a lot of water. Keep adding as long as the dough absorbs water. The dough should be slightly sticky and smooth.
You may add seeds of choice.



Monsoon presents such beautiful vistas in the hills. The showstopper of our homestead – Agapanthus, also known as the Lily of the Nile blossoms in peak monsoons.


The leaves of Colocasia cradle the pearls of rainwater that dance on the rhythm of the passing wind is a sight to behold.


The timer of the oven chimed and we checked the bread.  It had a beautiful golden crust and the yeasty aroma filled up the air. A golden seeded loaf was placed on the cooling rack.


The best part of the cold evening is the fire burning in the dining hall and enjoying dinner around the fireplace. Everyone loved the soft slices of the bread. In the end, some slices were had with homemade apricot jam.



Light As Air Semolina Seed Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup semolina
  • 1 ½ teaspoon instant dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons  milk  powder
  • 1 ¼  teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 ¼ cups  warm water
  • 3 tablespoons mixed seeds (flax seeds, sesame and poppy seeds)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, take all the dry ingredients and add 1 cup water. Knead to make a  smooth and slightly sticky dough. Initially, the dough will feel very sticky, but as you keep kneading, the dough will come together. Add more water and as much water as required. Semolina will keep absorbing water. I used almost 1 ¼ water.
  2. Transfer the dough into an oiled bowl. Turn around once so that the dough is evenly coated with oil. Cover and let rise until double.
  3. Grease one 8 ½ inch x 4 ½ inch loaf pan. Punch the dough, shape into an 8-inch log. Place the log in the pan. Top with seeds. Cover and let it rise until double (45 – 60 minutes).
  4. During the last stages of rising, preheat oven to 190 degrees C.  Slash the loaf and bake for 30-35  minutes or until golden.
  5. Cool in the rack. Slice when cold.
Recipe adapted from www.kingarthurflour.com

Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread has a soft crumb with a mild tang that comes from sourdough. It is made with sourdough discard. The best part is that it requires no detailed procedure. 



Rain conjures up memories of childhood. Memories of paper boats made out of old notebooks bobbling up and down in the brook that used to meander through the fields amongst ferns and wild foliage. Memories of splashing in the puddles born overnight on days of heavy downpour and getting soaked in the rain and the  apprehension in stepping inside the home dripping all over and facing the angry parents fill up the heart.


Rain creates magical clouds and intriguing patterns in the sky. Sunset is mesmerizing with myriad shades of gold that paint the horizon. Sometimes the clouds and Sun spark a wonder called rainbow that arches on the grey sky and feeds the soul. Rain is the season of fresh fronds, wildflowers, wild grass, green hues and all that brings calm and beauty to the Earth.


The rain has transformed our hills into a riot of colours. Pond lily, a tiny plant last year has spread well in the pond and is blooming profusely. 



Torch lilies line the pathways. The play of the Sun and shadow create beautiful scenery.
On the cold and rainy days, we prefer a light and simple dinner. One favourite dinner of the family is bread with soup. A sourdough sandwich bread has been baked for dinner.


 It is a sourdough bread using discard lying in the refrigerator. Remember to prepare poolish the previous night. The bread rises well and has a lovely flavour, a mild tang that comes from sourdough.


I have baked the bread using discard lying in the refrigerator. I feed the mother weekly. If your poolish made with discard shows very little activity in the morning, add a teaspoon and half of the instant dry yeast.


Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

The Poolish

  • 200g All-purpose flour
  • 200g filtered water
  • 200g sourdough starter (fed, unfed or discard)
  • 1 tsp (7g) sugar

Bread

All the poolish made previously
  • 265g bread flour
  • 1 ½ tablespoon oil
  • 1 tsp (8g) salt

Instructions

  • Make poolish the previous night.
  • Add 200g filtered water to a bowl.
  • Next, add 200g of sourdough starter
  • Add sugar and mix well.
  • Now add 200g of flour and mix well until smooth. Clean down the sides of the bowl.
  • Cover and leave at room temperature overnight (14 to 24 hours).

Bread

  1. In a large bowl, add the poolish, flour, oil, and salt.
  2. Mix and knead for 6-8 minutes. From the shaggy dough, it should come together as a smooth cohesive dough.
  3. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Turn around once to coat with oil all over. Cover and keep in a warm place for one hour or until double.
  4. Grease one 8 ½ inch x 4 ½ inch loaf pan.
  5. Punch the dough and knead gently for another 2-3 minutes. Roll out the dough into a rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you are using.
  6. Roll the dough towards you tightly. Pinch seams to seal. Place the roll in the greased loaf tin. Cover and leave to rise for one hour or until double.
  7. During the last stages of rising, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top turns a golden brown.
  9. Once the oven time is reached, take it out of the oven, remove it from the baking tin and place it back into the oven for another 5 minutes to crisp up the sides and bottom.
  10. Place it on the wire rack to cool. Slice when cold.
Recipe Adapted from Profoodhomemade








Welcome to Bread Bakers!
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread
with a common ingredient or theme.
You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here.
Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
This month, our them is Sandwich Bread and our host is Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories.
Do check out the sandwich bread baked by our baker friends for the event-


  • Farmhouse White Sandwich Bread by Making Miracles

  • Just Bread Sandwich Loaf by A Messy Kitchen

  • Pain de Mie aka Pullman Loaf by Food Lust People Love

  • Seeded Sandwich Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories

  • Sourdough Burger Buns by Cook with Renu

  • Sourdough Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen

  • Struan Bread by Passion Kneaded

  • Subway Sandwich Bread by Anybody Can Bake

  • NewerStories OlderStories Home