Home-made Apple Pie (Egg-less)

Thanks to a dear friend's encouragement, finally managed Apple Pie. This is an egg-less recipe. Here's what you need:-

Pastry Base & Cover

2 Cups of Flour (Maida); 100 gms Nutralite (you can use butter if you prefer.. but nutralite works well too) - cut into tiny cubes & chilled; 1 & 1/2 tbsp Powdered Sugar; A small pinch of baking powder; Little cold water to bind

Apple Filling

5-6 Large Apples - peeled & thinly sliced; 1 tsp lime juice; 1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon; 1/3 cup sugar

Process:-

1. For the apple filling, mix apples, cinnamon powder, sugar & lime juice & cook on medium flame. Cook till the mixture becomes pulpy & dry.

2. For base & top of pastry - Sift powdered sugar, baking powder & flour. Mix the cold cubes of nutralite & mix together till crumbly.

3. Gather lightly with ice cold water to form dough. Do not knead much.

4. Wrap in a damp cloth & put in fridge for 15 mins.

5. Divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll out the base into a 10-11 inch diameter round shape - the base of the pie needs to be bigger than the pie-dish size, so as to cover the sides of the dish.

6. Grease the pie dish with oil & little flour.. and roll over the pie base on to it. cover all the sides, & remove the extra dough falling out of the dish. Poke the pie base with a fork.

7. Bake the base of pie in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 17-18 mins till lightly golden.

8. Once done, remove the base & fill-in the apple mixture.

9. Roll-out the remaining dough to a 10 inch diameter round shape. Cover the pie, by rolling it gently, using the belan as support. Once covered, tug in at sides, & remove the excess dough falling out of the dish.

10. Make an X at center of the pie cover using a knife. Poke rest of the cover using a fork spoon.

11. Brush lightly with little nurtralite (optional)

12. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 mins at 200C. You can bake for 5-10 mins more, to get the right browned/goldish look on the pie cover.

13. Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream. Enjoy :-)

NOTE: Use the low rack in your convection oven while baking, in both the stages.

Banana Walnut Cake - Healthy recipe

A healthy recipe for Banana & Walnut cake.. you can eat it in the morning with breakfast, or with tea... just awesome combination.

What you need:-

3/4 Wheat Flour (atta)

3/4 Plain Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp soda-bi-card (mitha soda)

3 Ripe Bananas, peeled

1/2 cup Oil

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

3 Large Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

3 tbsp chopped walnut (you can substitute it with peccan nuts)

METHOD:

1. Sieve together wheat & plain flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon & nutmeg powder. Keep aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mash the banana with back of a fork.

3. Add Oil, Sugar & mix.

4. Add eggs, one at a time & mix well. Beat well with fork spoon itself.

5. Mix the vanilla essence & beat the mixture well.

6. Fold in the shifted flour.

7. Roast the walnuts/ peccan on a pan till slightly brown. Mix in the flour mixture.

8. Pour the mixture into a greased 9"X9" baking pan & bake in preheated convection oven for 40 mins at 180C.

9. Allow the cake to cool for 10 mins, before removing from pan.

Enjoy :-)

Carrot Cake

This recipe is from Nita Mehta's Cake & Cookies recipe book. Honestly, her recipes are simply awesome & I vouch for them with full heart.

So here it is.. you need:-

1 1/2 cup grated carrots

2 eggs

85 gms flour

1 tsp baking powder

A pinch of soda-bi-carb (mitha soda)

100 gms (3/4 cup) powdered sugar

1/2 cup Oil

1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon

1. Sieve flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder & soda. keep aside.

2. In a medium pan, beat egges & powdered sugar till frothy (double the original volume)

3. Add Oil & beat again.

4. Add grated carrots to the flour. Mix lightly, coating the carrots well.

5. Add carrot mixture to the egg mixture & mix gently or beat at low if using electric egg beater.

6. Pour in a greased pan of 7"X4" OR 6" bake dish & bake in preheated oven at 150C for 1 hour or till cake is done. (if using convection oven, bake at 160C for 1 hour 5 mins)

7. Let the cake cool for 10 mins before removing from the dish.

Basic Chocolate Cake... :-)

It has been claimed that the scent of fresh baked goods lifts the mood and makes people nicer.

Well not to overlook such a strong motivator..I believe investing in baking goes beyond just making you nice... it kinda makes me happy..feeding yummy food to loved one's & seeing the joy in their faces sure makes my day. Below is my recipe for Basic Chocolate Cake. You would need a Microwave with Convection mode facility for same..and off you go..

Basic Chocolate Cake

4 Eggs

1 Cup Flour (Maida..ensure you keep it in Sun for some time so that it looses all moisture)

2 tsp Banking Powder

4 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 Cup & 4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar (this is important, if you don't have powdered sugar, just grind regular sugar to make some)

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Cup Oil

2 Tsp Vanilla Essence

Handful of Cashews (broken) and Raisins

1. Sift Flour with Baking Powder and Cocoa powder and keep aside (Use a sieve/channi for same)

2. Beak eggs & sugar till the eggs turn fluffy and more than double of their initial volume. Add essence. (Ensure you don't beat the the mixture too much either...if using an electric hand mixer..usually 2-3 minutes is enough)

3. Add Oil tot he beaten mixture and mix well (beat for 30 seconds with the electric hand mixer)

4. Now gently fold in the flour gradually till all flour has been used (You would need to be careful at the this step...for folding, put a little flour i the mixture and always move the spatula only in circular motion clock-wise till it is dissolved..continue the process till all is mixed)

5. Once mixed..add Milk to the mixture to get a slightly thinner consistency.

6. Pre-heat the oven at this time by keeping your Microwave in Convection mode at 200 degrees Celsius.

7. Grease a deep bowl (I use Borosil's baking dish) by spraying/ spreading a little oil in it and coat it lightly with loose Flour. Ensure you don't let excess Flour stick to the baking dish.

8. Pour the mixture into the bowl and top it with the cashews and raisin.

9. Now bake it in Convection mode for 45 Minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Ensure you place the dish on a low rise grill inside the oven so that heat reaches the center of the dish as well.

10. After cooking and 15 minutes cooling inside the oven..remove the cake from the Microwave using baker gloves.

11. To remove the cake from the dish..place a plate on-top of the dish and invert it. The cake with fall onto the plate upside down. Move away the baking dish and by using another plate at bottom of the cake, invert the cake upside.

Easy chocolate cake is ready to be served... enjoy with family and friends :-)