One morning, it was not yet light; thin fog prevailed and, a cacophony of birds in the kitchen garden shattered the early morning tranquility. Some squirrels too joined the bandwagon and the commotion reached a crescendo, prompting us to ferret out the reason. Birds were hovering atop wood apple tree. Our Dog too was letting out occasional barks. Amidst all the din and clamour, we spotted a cat on the higher branches of the tree. Presumably, the dog chased the cat, and, the harried creature took refuge in the tree, much to the dislike of the birds who always regard cats with suspicion. The dog was chained till the cat came down and the drama ended happily with peace returning.
A custard apple tree in our garden is laden with fruit. First prerogative is of the birds who love pecking the ripe fruits. We pluck later. This year the bumper harvest was shared between the birds, our neighbours and us. Some fruits were enjoyed plain, while two were used in a cake.
It was an experiment that was undertaken reluctantly but was a success.
The cake has a unique flavour and sweetness of custard apples.
Crumb is super soft and moist, and a little grittiness gives it a great texture. Must try cake for those who love to experiment and want to bake something different and new
Custard Apple Cake
Ingredients
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 free range eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup butter)
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ cup warm milk
2 large ripe custard apples
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line one 8 inch round cake pan.
Remove pulp from the custard apples. Mash pulp with hands. Remove seeds.
Whisk together first four ingredients.
Beat egg whites till frothy.
Beat butter and sugar till light and creamy. Add yolks.
Add custard apple pulp and vanilla essence. Add egg white. Stir well to get a uniform mixture.
Now add flour mix in three shifts. Every time you add flour, add warm milk. Stir till you get a lump free batter.
Pour batter in the prepared tin. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes till the top turns brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the pan. Cool in the rack. Slice next day.
Wow! A very unusual version of cake. Looks delightful, tender and moist. Love the beautiful golden colour on the crust. Thanks again for a lovely recipe.
ReplyDeleteThank You for being so appreciative Rashmi :)
DeleteI have only had custard apples once or twice, but I loved them! Ibetthey're amazing as cake 😊
ReplyDeleteHello Saroj,
DeleteI guess you can vey well play with ingredients and come out with a vegan version. Custard apples really lend a great texture to the cake.
Tempting fruit and yummy looking cake !
ReplyDeleteThank You Abha :)
DeleteWow!Simply Aweosme namita..Loved Loved Loved this cake!
ReplyDeleteHello Swati, you must try it out. I am sure you'll love it. It has a great texture and taste.
DeleteHi Namita
ReplyDeleteAwesome looking cake. Would love to taste it but unfortunately we don't get custard apples here. By the way is it possible to substitute with any other fruits? Is it possible to make to make it eggless? And the most important doubt, how to get a flat top cake like yours? I admire your photos and the comments you give about your winged guests. Keep posting more. Good luck.
Hello Bhuvana, You may try with any flavourful fruit preferablly pureed. How about chikoos? You'll get a lovely flavour and a gritty texture. Do let me know of your experiment.
DeleteTo get a flat top, i do not make any effort. If your ingredients are at room temperature, measured properly and if the batter consistency is right, you will definitely get a flat top.
Thank you for visiting my blog :)
Hi Namita
ReplyDeletelovely looking cake. Would love to taste it but we don't get custard apples here. Is it possible to substitute it with any other fruits? Is it possible to make an eggless version? How to bake a flat top cake like yours? I always land up baking a doom shaped cake. Keep posting . Good luck
thanks for sharing such a great recipe with custard apples
ReplyDeleteThank You Sheetal.
DeleteHi Namita,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very unique cake. I have 1 kgs Sitaphal pulp in fridge and was browsing for cake and was lucky to find your blog.
Could you please help me with the ingredients of flour, sugar & butter in grams ? Many thanks
Hello Cynthia, I use the standard 240 ml cup. According to that, 1 cup flour is 120 grams. 1/2 cup four is 60 grams. One stick butter is 100 grams that is the standard pack we get in the stores. I have used unrefined cane sugar. 1 cup powdered sugar is about 115 grams. Cynthia, please refer to this link for conversions.
Deletehttps://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart.html
Hope this helps. Happy Baking! You may also try custard apple kulfi from the blog.
I have around ripened 1 kg custard apple, which are medium in size. Don't know how much pulp will come out of it. Can u explain me what is the ratio of your pulp to the rest of the ingredients. Accordingly i i will convert. Many thanks. Looking forward to bake this beauty today.
ReplyDeleteHello Titas Ekti Nadi, If your custard apples are small, take four and remove pulp. After removing the seeds, use them in the batter. If you feel the pulp is on the higher side, use less milk, Idea is to get a batter of right consistency.
ReplyDeleteHope this helps. Happy Baking!
Hi..can we substitute wheat flour and jaggery instead of al purpose flour and sugar?
ReplyDeleteSure. The cake will be a little dense. Happy Baking!
DeleteWonderful! Please patent your unique recipe before someone else does 🙂
ReplyDeletePlease patent your unique recipe 😍
ReplyDeleteHello! Thank you for showing your love to my recipe. 😊
DeleteCustard Apples are a little bit different sizes depending on where you are in the world, do you have any idea how much pulp is actually required? Looks like a great recipe I'd like to try, but I worry that I'll use too much pulp (the Custard apples here are quite large I think).
ReplyDeleteHello Joecarnthief, you may use about 1/2 cup of pulp. Even if the pulp is a little more, you may still add to the batter. It will give a soft crumb.Happy Baking!
DeleteCan you help with eggless version??
ReplyDeleteFor every egg, use 1/4 cup thick curd (not the runny curd). or, you may also use two flax eggs for two eggs. Take one tablespoon flaxseed powder, add three tablespoons water. whisk and let rest for 10 minutes. Use.
ReplyDelete