[Recipe] Eggless Strawberry Cake

I love cooking, but when it comes to baking I hesitate because the recipes are complicated or it just boggles me [cos I have to follow the recipe to the dot, measurements etc]. But then I do push myself and experiment every now and then.. Apart from the one time I ended up burning a batch of cupcakes, I have managed to do a pretty good job and the end product tastes good as well. :-) 

And this year, I kinda made up my mind to do a lot more baking... So, now that it is strawberry season, well to be honest, the season is nearly done, I knew I wanted to go beyond just buying a box of berries and gorging on them... ! I managed to find a box of strawberries at my local store, they were nice big and juicy... Of the recipes I found, the one that caught my eye when I googled - "Eggless strawberry recipes" was this cake recipe from #BakeWithShivesh .. [ Yes, at home it is eggless baking/cooking only cos gramma does not eat egg]

This is super simple recipe, and takes less than 5mins to put together and 25-30 mins to bake! Not only that, it looks good, and tastes even better :-) Above all, it does not need any fancy ingredients, you will pretty much have all that you need in your kitchen. I made it once few weeks ago, and it was a huge hit, so on popular demand have made it again today..  Moist and flavour packed, this recipe is a keeper... 

Recipe link- https://bakewithshivesh.com/eggless-strawberry-tea-cake/

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240g) maida ( all-purpose flour), sifted

• ½ teaspoon (2g) fresh lemon zest 

• 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder

• ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda

• ½ cup (120mL) vegetable oil

• 1 cup (200g) castor sugar

• 1 cup (285g) Greek yogurt/ hung curd

• ¼ cup (60mL) milk

• 1 teaspoon (5mL) vanilla extract

• 1 cup (170g) fresh strawberries, slices

** Apart from these, I added a few drops of strawberry essence - this adds additional flavour and colour to the cake.. 

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180*C. Line a 9" round pan with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine maida, lemon zest, baking powder and baking soda by whisking them together.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, sugar and yogurt together until everything is well combined.
4. Beat in the milk and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix only until there are no large flour pockets. Do not over-mix.
6. Use a spatula to carefully fold in some strawberries into the batter. Reserve the rest for the top.
7. Transfer the thick batter to the prepared cake pan. Arrange rest of the strawberry slices on top
8. Tip- to get that extra golden crust, evenly sprinkle about 1-2 tablespoons of castor sugar on top.
9. Bake the cake at 180*C for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. [ I noticed mine were done in 25-30mins, so check and pull it out accordingly]

Doesn't that strawberry slice look like a mini heart? :-) 

Cooling your heels- Movenpick

I love the Apple pie with ice cream at Movenpick, but then they went and shut the outlet. And then I was left testing the various other apple pies around town. Disclaimer: I  am not too fond of ice creams [ find them tad too sweet and so prefer such desserts or yoghurt based ice creams if available]

Anyways, a few years passed and I was happy digging into the desserts at various other places when one evening I spotted the shimmering white board and interiors of a new place on Nungambakkam High Road. upon investigation, to my delight, it was Movenpick. Yayy!!  But then, as luck would have it, I haven't made a visit here yet.

One evening mom, gramma and granpa had gone out [temple, shopping, etc] and gramma came home with a movenpick bag.. Peeked inside and Whoopie, it contained a box of Strawberry yoghurt ice cream. I was quite impressed with the packing, there was a 2nd layer seal inside the lid as well. 

Scooped out the light ice cream and dug into it. It was sheer heaven. Fresh strawberry pieces blended with the ice cream. It was just perfect.  What a treat to beat the heat~!! 

Movenpick:

53, Nungambakkam High Road   

Nungambakkam

Chennai - 34
Ph: 044 28279300 

This 1litre tub was priced at Rs 899/-

Marrybrown, Ispahani Center, Chennai

Ispahani center, a place that i wish existed during my college days. A place that had quite a few interesting stoes and coffee shops, a place that was among the 1st mall to enter the city, a place where i used to work out. Today, it is a mall, rather so called mall that has quite a few eat outs and a few shops, but is pretty empty most of the time. Looks like Express Avenue has taken over, it is now the new honeycomb attracting all the bees...

As decided, I arrived at Ispahani center before 7.30pm only to see the others already there, well almost all of them. There were a few new faces, but familiar names and we said Hi hello and connected. Soon, the table was full and one of the staff brought over a hand written menu. It contained a list of items that they had on their menu, most of which were new. He was going to give us a taste of as many as possible. For once, i noticed the number of Vegetarian items beat the Non veg ones hands down. Whoopie.. [ya ya, small pleasures]

So, what did i like the most of the stuff i tasted?

Jigger Fries - these are french fries with a difference- there are two flavours- Mexican spice and Sour cream & onion. Reminded me of the popcorn in Sathyam cinemas where you can add flavours to the popcorn. Only suggestion was to not dunk so much of the spice in the fries and maybe to add this to some of their other dishes as well.

Chilli cheese poppers- These were like mini bombs, mini chilli cheese fried starters that were quite good. Served alongside a tangy spicy mayo sauce, they were quite yummy

Xtreme burger- Yep, I had a burger after what seemed like ages. This was a simple veggie burger with corn and black pepper [the pepper hits you on the 1st bite and it was different, the patty had a nice crunchy exterior and the bun was also nice & soft]. The burger was easy to eat, it dint have mayo oozing out of the sides or lettuce/onions slipping out as you struggle to take a bite :D

Mango Shake- This was quite thick and quite nice, refreshing. It was made with mango puree and vanilla ice cream blended together. They have now introduced not one or two but 6 flavours in this :-) 

Few other dishes that were served up for us veggies were,

Veg Chilli poppers- these were little nuggets made with veggies and chilli flakes, served with basic mayo sauce - was quite bland, couldnt feel the heat of the chilli flakes

Smileys- umm, the usual smileys, McCain?

Cottage cheese burger - forgot the name, it was ok, since we were full, I brought it home and felt the patty was mushy and bland.
  

 

What? you are bored of reading all the veg dishes? well, you have to wait your turn. For those on the other side of the fence, that is, the non veg eaters, they got quite a few options, but most felt the dishes all tasted similar, and were quite bland... What did they gobble up?

Chicken Poppers
Buffalo wings
Chicken lollypop
A tub of what looked like fried chicken drumstick/wings and
Hottop burger
anything else? you should check Divyan's blog post

No desserts? Damn, nothing gets past you eh!! Well, we did get 2 different desserts, but unfortunately they were no great shakes.

There was the jello with ice cream and Brownie with ice cream. The former was ok, esp since i like jello but the Brownie was just weird- it was hard, dry and tasted like Threptin biscuits. I did see a spoon break and another little piece fly towards a customer... Looks like they need to relook at the recipe or look at an alternative.

Overall rating- 2.5/5

Will i go back again- Not really, not unless there is a kid or someone who demands a burger or french fries when am wandering around Ispahani or near a Marrybrown....

Address:

Ispahani Center, 123-124 Nungambakkm High road, Nungambakkam, Chennai. 

Phone: 044 28332922, 42032923. 

They also have branches across the city. 

Disclaimer:


This was part of a CFG Showcase that I attended and was conducted by Chennai Food Guide.
The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember that restaurants and eat outs sometimes change with time, so does their food and service. So, kindly consider these factors while visiting the places. Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit  :-)

The Dessert Studio, Chennai

The sweetness of chocolate, tartness of strawberry and the added flavour of sweet cream was what i felt in my mouth with the 1st bite of the crepe. I was at Dessert Studio, the newly opened place in Khader Nawaz Khan road [ it is in the same campus as Espirit, tucked away on the 1st floor, with the entrance on the side]

You could miss this place  if you dont know of it or dont notice the name board in the front. Completely white, the burst of colour on the ceiling is such a feast for the eyes. Simple decor, few white tables with cute egg kinda designer chairs, and a self service counter. That is all you find here. If you are the observant kind like yours truly, as you open the main door, you will notice the wall with three categories mentioned on it-  Choco Berries (UAE), Yogo-D-Lite (Italy) and Shake-a-Take (UK),- three different banners, three times the number of options to choose from.

 

 Founded by Food Spreads Pvt Ltd’s Jinshad Haziy, Rishdin Nasir and Anas Nasir, the Dessert Studio offers quite a variety of Shakes, Yoghurt Ice creams [which came in 3 sizes] and Bites [Crepes, waffles and desserts- Apple walnut crumble and such...one that was in their display reminded me of Theobrama]. The interesting thing is each of the three banners have a seperate billing counter, good or bad? Both i guess. It is a bit cumbersome if you want to place an order that has items from across their menu. Imagine hopping from one counter to the other, you will be tired and frustrated. Luckily, me and my friend headed towards the Choco Berries section. We chose the Strawberry Belgian Chocolate Crepe and waited a few minutes before it was ready.

 I love Strawberries, i like chocolate and i love Crepes, so this was just perfect. The crepe was thin and light, filled with rich chocolate [ which was not too sweet]. I just wished it was  bigger and lasted longer than 10 bites. :-) [That is just greedy me].

Friend wanted to take something home for her kids, and since they loved ice cream, she chose Strawberry Yoghurt ice cream only to be told they dont parcel them [as the ice cream melts and taste is lost]. She then settled for Milkshakes, Kit Kat milkshake since her kids liked the chocolate the most.

It is a nice place, no doubt, with a limited menu, but something they seem to have mastered. I hear they also plan on launching a brunch soon, just hope they dont dilute the menu and start offering everything under the sun and become one of those places we see around every corner.

Ambiance: 7/10
Service: Self service [cant reallly rate it.. but polite staff who are ready to help]
Price: 5/10 [ The Crepe we ordered was Rs170 not incl tax, the shakes i think were Rs80]
Overall Rating : 6/10 [but nothing new, nothing that makes you go WOW]
Address:
#8 Khader Nawaz Khan Road [Espirit compound, next to new Crimson Chakra]
Ph: 044 42010699

URL: They dont have a website, but do have a Facebook page- DessertStudioIN

Disclaimer:
The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember that restaurants and eat outs sometimes change with time, so does their food and service. So, kindly consider these factors while visiting the places. Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit  :-)

Hunger pangs and an Eggless Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I was feeling like a snack, but it was one where i wanted to eat fruits. I opened and stood in front of the fridge for a few minutes, discovered a box of chopped papaya and a box of fresh strawberries. Had a light bulb moment, why not i make something with the strawberries, milk/yoghurt and maida at home. And for some reason, was in the mood to bake. There flew my urge for a snack. 

I started looking on the net for simple interesting recipes, when i stumbled upon the Eggless Strawberry Yoghurt cake on my friend Saffrontrail’s blog. That was it, it looked mighty easy, and i had all the ingredients, but jam [which i could pick up from the store a minute away from home]

Here is the recipe from her blog:

Ingredients

¾ cup yogurt

¼ cup milk (i used regular milk )

¼ cup rice bran oil ( i used cooking oil, dint have rice bran at home)

¾ cup sugar

2 generous tablespoons of strawberry or mixed fruit jam (mixed fruit jam it was)

1 tsp Strawberry essence or mixed fruit essence (had to settle for vanilla extract 1 tsp)

1.5 cups all purpose flour OR 1 cup AP flour + ½ cup whole wheat flour (atta)

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

Roughly 1 cup finely diced strawberries [ I set aside a few berries for decoration but ended up eating them as the cake baked :-) ]

Handful of tutti-frutty (optional- i dint have these either)

Directions

In one bowl, whisk the oil, yogurt, milk, sugar and jam.

In another big bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well. Add the whisked wet ingredients. Fold until they come together.

*Note: Over enthusiastic beating / whisking is better avoided.

Towards the end, fold in chopped berries and tutti-fruity.

A small variation here:

Saffrontrail recommends baking in oven, now i again had only a microwave and have baked a eggless chocolate cake earlier, which turns out delicious every time. So, going with my gut feel, decided to try the same for this cake as well and must say, not disappointed. The cake was yummy, a tad dry in the middle [wonder why] but otherwise soft and bursting with strawberry flavour….

I used a microwave proof glass bowl, and baked it for 8minutes on high.. :-)

If you have an oven [lucky you, follow the below mentioned steps to bake the cake]

Scrape the batter into the greased tin / silicon mould and bake at 180 C for around 45-55 minutes, checking with a tester if it comes out clean.

After 10 minutes, un-mould and cool on a wire rack.

Finally, cut into wedges, dust with icing sugar and serve with tea/coffee or just devour it as a dessert. 

Bon Apettit...