Wholewheat Cake Rusk

Just back from a wonderful holiday in Hong Kong and immediately after that fell terribly sick. All the recharging and rejuvinating done during the holidays went in waste. Nevertheless, the tummy continues to feel hungry and even more when I haven't had something comforting in the past few days. So I went through the pinned recipes in my diary and found this nostalgic cake rusk recipe which refreshed my childhood memories of one of the oldest bakery in my town then, Osman Bakery. As a child, I used to hate that glass of milk which is customary for every kid to drink. These rusks, which my Dad used to bring ovenfresh from the bakery while on his way back home, were a savior then. Even today, when I want to eat something nice and feel good but without any energy for anything elaborate, these crunchy crumbly rusks are a savior and are a wonderful mate for my cup of honey lemon tea in the evening or anytime of the day. They are just the way I used to have as a kid from the bakery and I am really glad I could recreate the same taste and crunch. The best thing is they are made with wholewheat although ideally it should have been all purpose flour. Frankly though, there is no difference in taste and I had completely forgotten about the wholewheat quotient until I sat down to write the ingredients!

                                        

Ingredients

1 cup wholewheat flour (ideally, all purpose flour though no difference in taste)

3 eggs

100 gms butter (approx 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar, fine grain or powdered (white sugar is used ideally; I wanted to make it as healthy as possible)

1 tsp vanila essence

2-3 drops yellow food color

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup tutti fruity (optional)

Direction

Melt the butter in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until just softened. Now mix the sugar and whip till creamy and fluffy. Now add the eggs and beat further. Add the vanila essence and food color and mix. Now sift the flour and baking soda together and fold in to the egg mixture little at a time. Lastly, fold in the fruit bits and mix. Pour into a greased or lined medium square baking tin and spread out the batter, which won't be too runny. Smoothen the top and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree celsius for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The original recipe called for 50 minutes but mine was done in 20 minutes flat. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

                                          

Now, place the cooled cake on a plate and cut into squares or any desired shape. Place the cut squares on a baking tray (need not be greased or lined) and bake at 150 degree celsius for 20 minutes. The baking time here depends on how you like your rusks, hard or softly crunchy. In any case, the rusks while in the oven will still be little soft and will get crunchy only once cooled. So choose your baking time accordingly. I baked them for 25 minutes while turning the sides once in between for uniform browning on both the edges. Once cooled, store in airtight containers.

                                         

Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies - No Butter No Oil

I love to look good, look fit, look lean. Well, who doesn't? But I love to eat too, especially baked goodies. Now, that is quite a contrast given that bakery goodies quite often come loaded with butter. I and my family are not quite adapted to like the taste of healthily baked goodies and rather prefer eating the butter loaded cookies and cakes in smaller quantity. However, staying at home and stepping in and out of the kitchen all day, I like to keep munching something every now and then. With butter loaded cakes and cookies, it is never possible to keep a tab on the waistline and so I am constantly on the lookout for recipes which, although healthy, do not compromise on taste. Today's recipe is from my virtual friend Sonal's blog Simply Vegetarian. The cookies are a perfect tea time company and can also serve well as a mid morning snack with a glass of juice! These guiltfree no butter no oil cookies can be made even better by selecting chocolates which are lower on fat content. I went for 75% dark chocolate for half the quantity. Eat healthy, stay fit!

                                    

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal flour (dry roast any variety oats and grind to a powder)

1 cup almond meal (grind almonds to a fine powder, with or without skin; I used store bought almond powder)

1/2 cup assorted chocolates (the original recipe called for chocolate chips. I wanted to clear my stock of chocolates and so skipped the chips)

1/4 cup milk plus extra (2-3 tbsp) while making the mixture

1/4 cup brown sugar (if using chocolate chips, increase the sugar by another 1/4 cup or as per taste)

A pinch of salt

1 tsp baking powder

Direction

Melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup milk in a microwave safe bowl, stirring in between. Choose a bowl which you can later use to mix the other ingredients as well.

Once melted, add all the other ingredients, except the extra milk, one at a time and start mixing. You can see the dough getting quite dry by now and so start adding the milk 1 tbsp at a time till everything just comes together. Do not add excess milk else your cookies will spread out on the baking sheet and won't hold shape. 

Pre heat the oven at 180 degree celsius and line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicon sheet or simply grease the tray.

Now, grease your hands very lightly and pinch out small balls and place it on the prepared baking tray. Gently flatten the top and form a uniform round shape from the sides. Repeat for the rest of the dough. Now bake in the pre heated oven for 15-20 minutes. For crispy cookies, bake till 20 minutes or until the cookies are just a bit firm to touch but still a little soft in the center. For chewier cookies, bake for about 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in air tight containers. Enjoy!

                                       

Wholewheat Apricot Cake - No Butter No Oil

Man proposes, God disposes. That is what exactly happened with me when I set out to bake this cake. I had bought a big can of Alphonso Mango puree with a long list of pinned recipes in mind. However, with the whirlwind of guests and an overdose of regular cooking, the poor can of mango puree kept getting pushed further inside the refrigerator and finally when I had the time to put it to use, my puree was all wasted! Ouch! How much it hurt! Not just the money that was wasted, but also the effort of carrying the can along with other groceries in one hand and carrying a 2 yo on the other was utterly wasted! Anyway, I ought to be more careful next time. Now, that I had got all the other ingredients for the cake ready, I could not drop the idea and with the puree gone bad, I wasn't in the mood to look up any recipes too. So decided to give it the shape of a blind bake and follow my instincts. What a cake I baked! Buttery, but without any butter, and wholewheat, but without the dense texture. A superbly soft, light, and moist Wholewheat Apricot Cake sans the calories from the butter. The whipped cream used here has only 35% fat as opposed to the 80% fat in butter and that gave the cake a super moist and buttery taste without the calories. A very good option for weight watchers too!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup wholewheat flour

170 ml whipping cream (regular cream will do as well)

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar (regular sugar can also be used)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanila essence 

1/2 cup dried apricots, cut lengthwise

2-3 drops each of yellow and red food color (optionally, to give the cake the same hue and color as the apricots)

Direction

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt and keep aside. In a bowl, whip cream till smooth and creamy. If using whipping cream, whip till soft peaks are formed. The more you whip, the lighter and creamier the cake will be. Now add the sugar and whip till mixed well. Add the egg and the vanila essence and whip till smooth. Now fold in the flour little at a time and mix. Continue till all the flour is incorporated. Add the food colors and mix well. Now add the sliced apricots to the batter, reserving a few for garnishing on the top.

Pre heat the oven at 180 degree celsius. Grease a medium bundt pan and pour the batter. Tap the bottom a few times on the kitchen counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack before storing in air tight container.