Cake Archives - Dees Platter

Cake Pops

Cake pops are tiny bite-size cake balls prepared with cake and frosting, and they are the centre of attraction for kid’s during birthday celebrations.

You can even call them Cake Lollipops!!

The best part about making cake pops is that we don’t need special moulds. Homemade cake, homemade icing, sprinklers, chocolate and lollipop sticks… that’s all you need!

Preparing cake pops is a lot of fun and we can involve kids in the whole process.

Kids have vivid imagination and we can let them use their favorite sprinklers, crushed cookies, colors for theme based birthday parties and with colourful royal icing they can draw their favorite cartoon characters on cake pops.

You don’t really have to bake a cake for preparing cake pops – you can use left over cake from the fridge. Usually, for cake pops butter cake is better, but if it is not butter cake then also we can use it along with buttercream frosting or chocolate ganache (truffles consistency). Dark Chocolate Ganache

Preparing Cake Pops is not a difficult task but there are a few points that you need to keep in mind.

Points to Remember:

Cake dough should be chilled while rolling cake pops. Cold dough is helpful in keeping the pop’s shape perfect.
Use measuring spoon to get same sized cake pops.
Before inserting stick in the cake pop, dip the stick in melted chocolate first. It will help cake pop to get glued to the stick.
You can use melted white or dark chocolate or white or dark chocolate ganache to coat cake pops.
Use oil based colours to add colors in white chocolate. Chocolate will seize if you will use water based colours.
After some time melted chocolate will start becoming thick, so heat it again for a few seconds in the microwave.
After rolling cake pops, keep them in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
If you have a big batch of cake pops to prepare, then let the half batch remain in the fridge. It is very important that while dipping pops in melted chocolate they are chilled.
If you want to add two colours in one cake pop, then first dip in one colour, let it dry completely and then dip into another colour.
How and where to keep cake pops? I will give you a very simple solution. Don’t throw away the thermocol sheets within various packets that you get during shopping (online or otherwise). Thick thermocol sheet will hold your pop sticks nicely. If you are preparing cake pops for some celebration, then you can decorate these thermocol sheets too.
If you don’t have thermocol sheet, use your cup cake liners and the job is done!

Ingredients:

Butter cake, Buttercream or Chocolate Ganache (truffles consistency), Sprinklers, white or dark chocolate, oil colours (optional), lollipop sticks, thermocol sheets or cupcake liners.

Process :

Crumble the cake in a bowl.

Add butter cream or chocolate ganache and mix it nicely with cake crumbs.

Cover the bowl with cling wrap and keep it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. Later, take out the bowl from the fridge and with the help of measuring spoon take a little quantity of the cake dough and prepare round shaped pops.

Keep these pops in a bowl covered with cling wrap back in the fridge till they are nicely chilled.

To melt chocolate, use microwave or double boiler method. Keep sprinklers ready in different bowls. Take out cake pops from the fridge.

First dip the lollipop stick 1/2 inch in the melted chocolate.

Now insert cake pop in this stick and dip it in bowl of melted chocolate. Let the chocolate drip off a little over the bowl.

If you feel that chocolate coating is very thin, you can do second coating also. Remember that cake pops are chilled, so melted chocolate settles down very fast. Before it becomes dry, coat cake pops with sprinklers of your choice and stick them upright on the thermocol sheet or place them on cupcake liners. Finish all your cake pops in the same way.

Aren’t they glorious and gorgeous!!!

You must be having leftover cake in the fridge from Christmas celebrations. Try these colourful cake pops and welcome 2020!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year !!!

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019

Deeksha Pathak93 Comments

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake with Condensed Milk

Plain vanilla sponge cake always look great served with all other spread at the occasion of tea parties. I have noticed that if people don’t bake their own sponge cake, they still buy and add in their menu for small get-together celebrations.

My choice is always to serve home-baked cake. Just squeeze out little bit time from your busy schedule, as for eggless cakes you don’t need much work. It is just mixing dry ingredients with wet ingredients and rest of the work will be done by your oven!

This recipe gives you a very rich, decadent butter and condensed milk based cake. Addition of fat in recipes always works wonder with taste and texture. So don’t be surprised if after finishing this delicious cake, you will be asked by your guests to share the recipe.

It is really difficult to save this cake for the next day. But still if you manage to save some, cake will become hard in the fridge as it is a butter cake. So, after taking it out from the fridge, let it come on room temperature or just warm it in microwave for a few seconds.

I have baked this cake in a bundt cake mould. It’s a firm cake and bundt tin holds firm cakes very well and of course a different look makes the cake look attractive. But you can bake it in a regular 8 inch deep or 9 inch round or square cake tin or as two sheet cakes.

It’s a simple recipe with vanilla flavour, but variations in flavour can be done by adding good amount of lemon or orange zest in the batter followed by lemon or orange juice drizzle or some fresh fruits after baking.

I have one more post for eggless vanilla sponge cake in the blog. If you are interested can check this link…

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

Before we start the process of baking, just take a look at some simple tips on baking the cake:

All ingredients (except hot water) should be on room temperature.
Check expiry date on the pack of your ingredients before using.
Don’t open the door of the oven for the first 20-25 minutes of baking. Uneven temperature might result in collapsing the cake.
All ovens have different settings, so complete baking time may vary as per your oven’s temperature settings.
Don’t let the cake stay in the tin for a long time as heat of the cake will turn the bottom of the cake soggy.
This cake can be baked in microwave also on convection mode using the same settings as given in this recipe.
If even after completing the baking time also the top does not turn brown, just switch on top rod only and bake for a few more minutes, but keep a sharp eye. If done for a longer period, cake might burn with excess heat or it will be dry.

I have used 250 ml measuring cup.

Recipe credit: DivineTaste by Anushruti

Ingredients :

Maida (all purpose flour) 1+3/4 cup

Baking soda 1 tsp

Baking powder 2 tsp

Powdered sugar 3 tbsp

Butter ( melted) 100 gm

Condensed milk 400 gm

Water 3/4 cup

Vanilla essence /extract 2 tsp

Additional 2 tbsp hot water

Process:

Grease and dust baking tin and keep it ready. Preheat oven at 175 degrees for 10 minutes.

Collect all wet ingredients in a bowl except hot water (yellow colour is due to melted butter).

Sieve and collect all dry ingredients in another bowl.

Slowly add wet mix in dry ingredients and simultaneously keep on mixing it with wire whisk. In the end, add 2 tbsp hot water. Mix it properly in the batter. Be careful not to over-mix.

Pour the batter in a cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the sweker or tooth pick comes out clean. Baking time may vary as ovens have different temperature settings.

Keep the tin on a wire rack till it cools down and you are comfortable to hold the tin. Clean the edges with the help of a knife if using normal baking tin and un-mould the cake. Let the cake cool down completely before you serve it.

November 29, 2019November 29, 2019

Deeksha Pathak60 Comments

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake lifts up my mood if I am depressed. And if I am happy, then also chocolate cake is there to celebrate. It is favourite for kid’s birthday party, best for dessert option and the best companion while you are alone in the house and lazing around, reading a book or just watching tv.

Basically, chocolate cake can be baked for any occasion! Yes, you add on a few extra calories but then do some jogging, walking, or if there is no time for exercise in your busy schedule, then just don’t use lift while getting down from the office building, and if possible while climbing too.

So, now I guess you are all set to bake chocolate cake and give yourself a delectable treat 😋😋😋😋.

This recipe will give you a very moist chocolate cake. It is so good that you might not wait for any frosting. Just let it cool down and keep your plate ready!!

But if you are interested in a tall cake from this recipe, I would suggest you not to use this recipe. For tall cakes, we need butter as butter makes the cake sturdy.

The reason I am more in favour of oil cakes is that after keeping the cake in the fridge, it does not become hard. It remains soft and moist for 3 to 4 days.

Initially, for trial, I had baked this cake with only half of the recipe. My daughter isn’t fond of any icing on the cake (teenagers are difficult to please). She loved this cake a lot and shared it with her friends. I got wonderful feedback from her friends too!!

So I decided to go ahead with complete recipe. But now I chose to bake in two 6 inches tin, as my husband and I love frosting with chocolate cake a lot!! Ganache frosting – Dark Chocolate Ganache – compliments chocolate cake a lot. But you can go ahead with your choice of frosting of whipping cream, chocolate mousse etc….

So this recipe is kind of one bowl cake recipe where we just take out the cake from the tin, smear it with frosting and give ourselves a delicious treat 😋.

This cake can be baked in one 9 inches tin or two 7 inches tin. The cup I use for measurement is 250 ml.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) 1+3/4 cup
Granulated sugar 1 cup (after measuring powder it)
Baking soda 1 tsp
Cocoa powder 1/4 cup
Instant coffee powder 1 tsp
Salt 1/8 tsp
Oil 1/2 cup
Milk 1/2 cup
Hot water 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Vinegar 1 tbsp

Tips:

All ingredients should be on room temperature, except hot water.
Check expiry date before using your ingredients.
Use good quality cocoa powder.
Sieve dry ingredients 4-5 times for eggless cakes. It helps in keeping the flour light and airy.
Do not open oven door until your cake has completely risen, otherwise cake might sink due to variation in room temperature.
Don’t do over-mixing of the batter.
After baking if the top of the cake has slight crust, don’t worry. It will become soft after cooling.
Don’t transfer the cake on a plate while taking it out from the tin. Top layer might stick to the plate as cake will be still hot. Always transfer on a wire rack.

Process:

Grease and dust baking pans. If interested, you can use parchment paper also at the bottom of the pan.

I have used two 7 inch baking pans.

Heat 1/2 cup water and add Instant coffee powder, mix it and keep it separate. Preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

Spread newspaper on kitchen counter and sieve all dry ingredients. Using newspaper is not compulsory, but I find it very convenient if I have to sieve 4-5 times.

Transfer this sieved flour to a big bowl.

Collect all wet ingredients in another bowl. Just remember to add vinegar in the end and mix everything.

Pour this wet mix over dry ingredients slowly and simultaneously keep mixing with wire whisk. Don’t do over-mixing.

Pour this batter in ready tins, tap the tins 3-4 few times and keep them in preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.

As each oven is different baking time might vary. (check tip no 5) Check the cake by inserting toothpick – if it comes out clean, cake is done.

Take out the tins from the oven and let them cool down on cooling rack. Clean the edges of the tin with the help of a knife and transfer cakes to a wire rack. Remove parchment paper and let the cakes cool down completely.

You can enjoy this delicious moist chocolate cake just like that….

Or frost it with dark chocolate ganache..

and relish your slice!!

November 15, 2019November 19, 2019

Deeksha Pathak43 Comments

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

I never thought that one day I will be posting my 100th recipe here when I started DeesPlatter blog. I was sure that after posting a few, I will not be able to continue, as writing was never my forte. I always loved reading and for that I will forever be grateful to my father for imbibing this habit.

This became possible due to the inspiration that I got once I started blogging and came across many excellent bloggers who are writers, foodies, philosophers, story tellers, wonderful photographers, nature lovers, pet lovers, travellers etc… By reading their posts, I just couldn’t hold myself from expressing my views in the comments section. I was surprised that actually I was writing and was looking for words to express my views!

In between, due to personal reasons a few brakes came, but I still continued blogging and today I feel so proud to post my 100th post – that too of my favourite cake – Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake, loved by all.

Around 10 years back, my husband and I bought 31 litres microwave. That was the biggest size available in the showroom and we thought of using it for baking (till then I had no idea about OTG). But for 4-5 years we used it only as a heating compartment for preparing curd, reheating food, roasting papad, cooking rice and boiling potatoes. I guess I was just not confident enough to try baking.

Just surfing around the Internet one day I came across a recipe of carrot cake and suddenly I was interested to give it a try. Cake came out with flat top (as I had read somewhere that flat top of the cake indicates your baking skill) and I was very happy to see that as it was my first attempt. Cake was dense, and I realised that only flat top is not enough. But now I started baking in my microwave with full energy and enthusiasm. I was adamant not to join any baking classes as I felt Google gives us enough tutorials to learn. But in the process of learning from my own mistakes, my microwave was used rigorously day and night. I remember one day I baked 3 wheat flour bread loaves and none was satisfactory.

A few neighbours liked my wheat flour buns, cookies, cupcakes and I started getting orders. But by now my dear microwave was giving up after letting me do enough trials and errors and giving me enough courage to take orders. I bought OTG, but I am still using my dear microwave as a heating compartment to prepare curd and keeping bread dough for proofing.

After baking my first carrot cake, I tried a few more different recipes of cake and tried to understand the science of baking and difference of ingredients in each recipe. The result of a cake with eggs will be different from eggless cake. With my experience I found that thick hung curd or flaxseed powder are the best replacement of eggs if we want to change a recipe of cake with eggs into eggless cake.

This particular recipe of eggless vanilla sponge cake has thick curd and oil including other ingredients. This cake comes out so well with smooth brown crust that it is difficult to wait till it cools down.

Nice moisture with wonderful sponge and balanced sweetness will definitely urge you to bake this cake again and again!

Recipe courtesy: Nita Mehta’s Cookbook

Ingredients

All purpose flour (Maida) 1+1/2 cup

Sugar 3/4 cup

Baking soda 1/2 tsp

Baking powder 1+1/4 tsp

Thick curd 1 cup

Oil 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence 1+1/2 tsp

Points to remember:

All ingredients should be on room temperature.
If you don’t have thick curd, sieve the normal curd in muslin cloth and use it.
Check expiry date of baking soda and baking powder before using.
Don’t open the door of the oven for the first 20-25 minutes of baking. Uneven temperature might result in collapsing the cake.
All ovens have different settings, so the complete baking time might vary as per your temperature settings.
Don’t let the cake stay in the tin for a long time. Heat of the cake will turn the bottom of the cake soggy.
This cake can be baked in microwave also on convection mode using the same settings as given in this recipe.
After greasing the tin you can spread parchment paper at the bottom of the tin. It helps cake to come out the tin easily.
The beauty of this cake is its brown top. After completing the baking time also if top is not brown, just switch on top rod only and bake for a few more minutes, but keep an sharp eye. If done for a longer period, cake might burn with excess heat or it will be dry.

Process:

Grease baking tin with oil/butter, sprinkle maida all over the tin nicely and tap it in the opposite direction to remove excess flour.

Sieve maida 2-3 times so that it becomes light and keep it separately.

In a separate bowl add curd and sugar and mix them till sugar dissolves completely.

Now add baking soda and baking in curd sugar mix, mix it gently and keep it separate for 3-4 minutes till bubbles come up.

Preheat oven at 175/180 degree for 10 minutes.

Add oil and vanilla essence and mix them gently once bubbles are visible.

Now in three batches mix maida in wet mixture with a wire whisk. . Don’t do rigorous mixing.

Shift this mixture in ready cake tin. With the help of spatula spread it evenly, tap the tin three four times and bake it at 175 degree for 30 – 40 minutes. Check the cake by inserting toothpick in the center. Cake is done if toothpick comes out clean.

Take out the cake tin from the oven and keep it on a cooling rack till it is comfortable enough to touch.

With the help of a sharp knife clean the edges around the tin and transfer the cake on cooling rack.

After one hour you can slice and enjoy your Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake!!

September 14, 2019September 15, 2019

Deeksha Pathak82 Comments

Khoya Cheesecake (fusion dessert)

Khoya Cheesecake (fusion dessert) is a wonderful lip-smacking dessert that you can even prepare without baking. There are baked versions of cheesecakes also but to keep the recipe simple we are doing a no-bake version. Khoya/Mawa from milk is a very rich, delicious ingredient used for Indian sweets. Using khoya in cheesecake with Indian cookies ‘nankhatai’ crust gave it such a wonderful taste and I loved the way this Khoya Cheesecake(fusion dessert) looked.

When I started cooking in the kitchen, it was forced by my mother and my whole aim used to be to finish the given work fast as soon as possible and dash out of the kitchen.

Later, when I started staying in a different city alone because of my job, I had to cook because I needed something to fill the stomach.

After marriage I was completely a housewife, so started doing organized cooking. Some disasters happened and calls to mom before each festival for the recipe of a particular dish were regular.

Disasters in the kitchen never encouraged me to try the same dish again. As I used to feel that already I had wasted so much… I should not take a second chance.

Successful attempts and praises used to give energy and enthusiasm to try something new!!! But till now I was cooking only those dishes which had fixed recipes. It never occurred to me to do some experiments and create something new. Probably because I was in my own shell. My world was around my mother and my mother in law’s world where traditions were fixed. But now social media was slowly creeping into people’s life. People were getting introduced to unknown regions. I got introduced to the world of baking. I was so surprised to see that people bake bread and cookies in their kitchen ovens. Not only this, but many create new dishes by experimenting with two different types of recipes together.

I gathered courage and started baking in my microwave. Slowly we stopped buying any bakery stuff from the market as I got to know the difference between ingredients used in bakery and home-baked stuff.

Success boosts our confidence a lot!! I was willing to prepare a dessert which should be a fusion of western and Indian cuisine. But at the same time, it should not be complicated. Mawa/khoya (evaporated milk) a traditional, classic, rich ingredient in many Indian sweets preparations. A whole sweet could be done with khoya or it could be the base ingredient for other sweet or it can be used as a filling in sweets. It is even added in some vegetables and the best part is that I always prepare it at home rather than buying. So I decided to use khoya, an all-time favorite ingredient and prepare Khoya/Mawa Cheesecake. For the base of any cheesecake, Marie or graham crackers are generally used. I felt that instead of using graham crackers or marie cookies, Nankhatai (cookies prepared with clarified butter) would complement this cheesecake better.

Just a few days ago I had baked nankhatai by following the recipe from my very dear multi talented friend Archana Chauhan’s blog https://apinchoflyfe.com/2019/01/12/kesar-naankhatai/These kesar nankhatai complimented cheesecake so well.

I wanted to create a small border around the cheesecake along with the base from the cookies. I had seen some pictures of cheesecake like this, and this brown border had always attracted me….!!! Cheesecake looked very pretty with this brown border and with the addition of khoya this Cheesecake became a perfect symphony of Indo-Western cuisine culture!!!

Ingredients :

Crust

200 gm crushed nankhatai
3 tbsp melted butter

Filling

200 gm cream cheese
200 gm mawa/khoya
2 tbsp milk
100 gm powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tsp rose essence (optional)

Topping/Decoration

Cardamom powder
Roasted mixed nuts
Dried rose petles
Saffron strands

Process:

Crush nankhatai in a zip lock bag and keep it in a bowl. Add melted butter to it and mix nicely.

In a springform tin spread this nankhatai mixture evenly and press it nicely with the help of the back of the spoon. If you want to add a little border at the sides of the cheesecake, spread nankhatai mixture slightly at the sides of the tin and press there also. Keep the tin in the fridge for half an hour so that the mixture becomes firm.

In a pan add milk and khoya and keep stirring it on sim heat until khoya turns into a thick paste consistency. Switch off heat and let it cool down.

Whip up cream cheese till it is smooth and then start adding caster sugar in small portions. You can reduce or add sugar as per your taste bud. Add cardamom powder and keep this ready cream cheese in a separate bowl.

Now whip up 1/2 cup of whipping cream till it gets stiff consistency.

Now gently add cream cheese and khoya in whipping cream. If you are interested, can add rose essence. I did not add because I wanted the fragrance of dried rose petals.

By now cookie mixture is settled down firmly – take out the tin from the fridge and spread evenly cream cheese, whipping cream and khoya mix in the tin. Keep it in the fridge for 4-5 hours or overnight to firm up.

Toast some mixed nuts and crush them. When cheesecake firms up, take it out from the fridge, loosen the pan and take out the cheesecake carefully and keep it on a separate plate. Decorate it on the top around the edges with crushed toasted nuts and dried rose petals. In the middle of the top sprinkle cardamom powder and some strands of kesar to add some more beauty and flavor.

Enjoy this delicious fusion dessert and if you have a big generous heart, share it with your friends !!

I loved a lot this slightly high brown border around it!

Did you like my experiment for creating a fusion dessert !!

I would be glad to hear from you all ❤️

March 2, 2019December 30, 2020

Deeksha Pathak102 Comments

Coconut Cheesecake (No-Bake)

Coconut Cheesecake (no – bake) is a dessert where no flour is required. You can bake a cheesecake and it can be prepared without baking also. I had no plans for this dessert. From cookies baking disaster Coconut Cheesecake(no-bake) was planned!!

I decided to bake coconut cookies and chocolate chips cookies in the evening.

I should never plan to bake anything in the evening…my first mistake.

Dinner preparations got pushed to a later hour, so I decided to prepare cookies after dinner…… my second mistake.

Baking cookies is not a big project but I prefer to cook or bake alone, otherwise I easily get distracted and end up forgetting to add some or other ingredient. That’s why I always bake in the afternoon when I am alone with my oven.

In the evening my daughter Apoorva is back from school and she starts telling her whole day stories. Then Manish is back from the office and TV is on. So I never bake anything during these hours. But that day I thought that as now I am baking cookies for such a long time so I wouldn’t do anything wrong. Basically what can go wrong in a cookie recipe and many people bake cookies while watching TV?

But I was definitely wrong. I was watching a comedy show on TV and completely forgot to add sugar in the coconut cookies. I had powdered sugar and left it in the jar. Took rest of the ingredients with me and kept everything on dining table. After baking first batch I wanted to taste warm cookie and realised my mistake!

These cookies had very mild sweet taste of coconut, but I knew very well that Manish is not going to eat them… I felt so sad for wasting so much of butter. I just couldn’t find any other way to use these sugar-less cookies.

Next day while scrolling down Instagram posts I saw one cheese cake post and immediately knew how I am going to use my sugar-less coconut cookies. I had cream cheese, desiccated coconut, whipping cream and condensed milk in my pantry. I decided to go ahead with these ingredients only for a no-bake coconut cheese cake.

In India we don’t get good quality dairy based whipping cream. All bakers use non dairy whipping cream of different brands. Amul brand has dairy based whipping cream in red colour pack but it is not available in all shops. Once when I saw this pack at my nearest grocery store, I bought a small pack to try it out. For coconut cheese cake I decided to use this, but while whipping, realised that it is taking its own sweet time to get stiff peaks. I gave up in between and thought that it might set in 5-6 hours in the fridge. It did set, but was not completely firm. That’s why you can see in the pictures that the top part of whipping cream in cheese cake is slightly loose from the sides. So if you try this cheesecake, go ahead with non-dairy whipping cream. We can add melted white chocolate or agar agar for loose cream to set firm.

For flavor, along with roasted coconut flakes, I added orange zest with whipping cream to balance sweet taste. Orange zest gave delicious fresh flavor and roasted coconut flakes added wonderful crunch along with cookie base.

Overall, I really loved and enjoyed this simple no-bake cheese cake experiment which was done only to use my sugar-less coconut cookies.

Ingredients :

cookies crust

250 gm sugar less coconut cookies
3 tbsp condensed milk
30 gm butter

filling

400 gm cream cheese
70 gm castor sugar

200 gm whipping cream
60 gm castor sugar

extra flavour and decoration

1+1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup roasted desiccated coconut flakes

Process :

Keep coconut cookies in a zip lock bag and crush them nicely.

In a bowl add crushed cookies, condensed milk and butter. Mix well everything and spread this mixture evenly in a spring form cake tin. Press this mixture nicely with the back of spoon. Keep it in the fridge to firm up for 20-30 minutes.

Whip up cream cheese till it is smooth and then start adding caster sugar in small portions. You can reduce or add sugar as per your taste bud. Keep this ready cream cheese in a seprate bowl.

Grate zest from the oranges.

Now whip up whipping cream and in small portions keep adding caster sugar. I have used dairy based Amul red pack whipping cream, so I have to add sugar. If you are using non dairy whipping cream, sugar is not required. Mix orange zest nicely in the cream (coconut cream can also be added).

By now cookie mixture is settled down firmly. Take out the pan from the fridge and spread evenly cream cheese.

Sprinkle some toasted coconut flakes.

Now spread whipping cream evenly.

Again sprinkle toasted coconut flakes all over the cream. Keep the pan in the fridge for 5-6 hours or overnight.

Later take out the pan from the fridge and carefully take out cheese cake from the spring form tin. Give it 5-7 minutes standing time because it would be too cold.