Tag: cake

Perfect coffee Madeleine – a delicious cake

Post author By Anagha
Post date February 7, 2024
No Comments on Perfect coffee Madeleine – a delicious cake

I love coffee, not so much to drink but love all coffee flavored desserts, chocolates. Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts to make and eat and coffee biscotti is my fav thing to pair with a cup of hot cocoa. Another fancy looking recipe which is a hit amongst my friends is this Spiced nut Baklava with Coffee Syrup

Today we are making another coffee flavored treat, Coffee Madeleine , you can check out the video here on my instagram reel

Jump to Recipe

Story: We have a cute little coffee shop near where I live. Mission coffee has been a hangout place for many years, fondly called Fremont’s living room. Its run by this incredible lady Gael who at 75 still is passionate about her shop and works incredibly hard. She decided to finally close down the shop. It was heartbreaking for us all. She is a very kind person, when I went to meet her, she gifted me this beautiful antique kettle. I thought what better way to showcase and say thank you than make something using coffee, an ingredient that connected me to Gael

What are Madelines ? Madeleine are tiny butter cakes that originated in Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region in northeastern France. Madeleines are baked in a special pan that gives them a unqiue shell-like shape. These are often flavored with lemon, almond and served at tea time

Today’s recipe is super easy to make, looks fancy and the best part, you can make the batter ahead of time, take it out of the fridge and in 10 mins you can have warm bite sized cookies/cakes that are flavored beautifully with coffee. I add nutmeg to this, which I feel enhances the coffee flavor

Perfect coffee madeleines

Super easy to make these coffee flavored Madeleine are perfect to pair with coffee after diinner or to be served at high tea. A hint of nutmeg adds to the robust coffee flavor.

Course cake, cookies, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine French

Keyword cake, coffee, cookies, dessert, madeliene

Servings 40 Mini cakes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

2/3 Cup All purpose flour
2 Tsp Instant coffee granules
1 Tsp Baking powder
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
110 Gms Unsalted butter Melted, and warm

Whisk to ribbon stage

2 Eggs at room temperature
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

Instructions

Make the batter

Mix all the dry ingredients
Whisk the eggs and sugar till a ribbon is formed. Alternatively you can also use hand mixer with whisk attachement
Melt the butter in a pan, and let it cool down a bit. It should still be warm when you use it
Fold in the dry ingredients into the whipped eggs sugar mixture
Add the melted butter and incorporate well

Rest the batter

Let the batter rest in the fridge at least for an hour, upto over night

Bake the madeleine

Preheat the oven to 400F
Brush the madeleine pan with butter
Fill the pan with about 1 tbsp of batter for the regular pan. If you are using the mini pan, reduce the amount
Bake for 12 min ( lower the time if using the mini pan)
Let them cool for a few mins, take out of the pan and serve warm
Optional: If you would like you can dip these in melted dark chocolate

Check out the recipe video here

Tags baking, cake, coffee, Cookies, madeleine, masterchef india

Cakes chocolate dessert Not sure

Triple chocolate cake

I am not a chocolate person, I know I know that sounds completely absurd , who can not like chocolate etc etc. I do like to have a bite of good quality dark chocolate but not crazy about chocolate cookies, cakes, brownies etc. So I don’t end up making a lot of things unless kids want it or some guests are coming over.

So today is my very good friend’s birthday. Last year for her birthday her husband brought a really nice mango mousse cake, but she kept looking for chocolate. It was so funny when he hubby said well there are chocolate curls that are on top of the mousse cake, and you should have seen her face. Anyway to say the least I knew that I had to make a special chocolate cake for her this year.

Until I tasted the chocolate in a museum of chocolate when I visited Antiqua Guatemala a couple of years ago. Antigua is a beautiful city in Guatemala. I fell in love with its cobbled stone streets, to beautiful architecture to lovely doors and so much more. I loved that however small the homes might be, each of them had a courtyard, and you know I am a sucker for courtyards. My dream home will have a large wrap around porch with a beautiful courtyard.

The chocolate museum was just fantastic It was fascinating to read about the history of cacao beans and how it was used as a currency in those days, and how the chocolate was made.

A stone on which the cacao beans are ground

So I started my research my focus was to make sure that it has rich chocolate flavor and also that I need to incorporate coffee in this. Based on what the man at the chocolate museum told me, coffee helps enhance the chocolate flavor and vice versa. I also had watched an episode of Pati’s Mexican table where she added a cup of boiling water in her chocolate cake to make it moist. So all of that combined and settled on this recipe very close to a recipe by Stella for the cake. Instead of using the Swiss buttercream, I decided to make a simple ganache frosting and it worked really well.

What I like about this recipe:

The cake batter comes together in one pot
You can make both the cake and the frosting base a couple of days ahead, and put it together on the day of the party
Its rich, decadent and yet not overly sweet

So if you have a special occasion or you are in a mood for chocolate cake, this is a perfect recipe.

I also have a video for the recipe, check it out !

If you give it a try, let me know how you like it 🙂

Bourbon Cherry Upside Down cake

Decadent chocolate cake with boozy caramelized cherries

Course cake, Dessert

Keyword cake, chocolate, dark chocolate

Author Anagha

Ingredients

For the Cake: This batter makes three 8inch round cakes

340 g Unsalted butter about 3 sticks; 340g
1 1/2 cup brewed black coffee alternatively take 4 tbsp of instant coffee with hot water
90 g Unsweetened cocoa powder
175 g Dark chocolate roughly 72%
450 g light brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 Tsp salt
6 large eggs cold from the fridge
3 large egg yolks cold from the fridge
250 g All-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Baking soda

Cherry topping

1 Cup Sugar
6 Tbsp Water
6 Tbsp Butter
25 Pitted Cherries

Instructions

Method

Heat the oven to 375 F
Line , three 8 inch round cake pan line with parchment paper

Cherry Topping

Mix the cherries , sugar and butter together
Pour in the bottom of the cake pan
Cook for 10 min till the sugar is little caramelized
Take out the pan and add the bourbon & salt

Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
Combine butter and coffee steel pot over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat, then mix in cocoa and chocolate, followed by brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix in eggs and yolks, then sift in flour and baking soda.
Mix well till you see no dry flour spots
Pour the batter in the prepared pans
Bake until cakes are firm for about 30 minutes (a toothpick inserted into the center should come away with a few crumbs still attached)
Cool cakes directly in their pans for 1 hour, then invert onto a wire rack, peel off parchment, and return cakes right side up.

Tools used :

KitchenAid Standmixer

Wilton Cake pans

Tags anagha godbole, baking, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, delicious, dessert, easy to make, kitchenaid standmixer, saffrontouch, wilton

Cakes dessert Fusion Indian Mexican

Thandai leches cake

Update : March 2021

This time I made this recipe as cupcakes in these cute clay pot silicone molds, they look exactly like how the Thandai is served in India for Holi

I love deserts especially when they involve dairy :). So when I first ate ‘ Trés Leche Cake’, I fell in love with it. All this while I had eaten cakes that were that were like a pound cake so I could not get over the fact that this cake was so moist and yummy, my Aai also loved it and we knew we had to make it at home.

Usually I try to make something special for my close friends’s birthdays. This very good friend celebrates her birthday in April which is also the time when Indian celebrate ‘Holi’ , the festival of colors.

As you know I love to put an indian twist on dishes. As I was making this cake around Holi, I thought why not make this cake with ‘Thandai flavors’!

Thandai is a milk based drink made on Holi. The literal meaning of the word is ‘ a cooler’, something that cools the body. It is perfect for Holi since that is summer time in India. To make Thandai, a paste is made with various spices and almonds etc and then mixed in sweetened milk. It so served in small clay cups. The paste has nuts like almonds and some interesting seeds like watermelon & cucumbe which had creamy sweet taste, and spices like black pepper add some heat. You can even make a dry powder of the ingredients and store it in a container.

So back to my cake. It is a basic sponge cake soaked with goodness of the wonderfully flavored Thandai Milk. It is actually ‘Quatro Leche Cake’, you will see how. The batter has the dry Thandai powder and the soaking liquid has the paste, the result is perfectly moist and delicious cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Sift flour with baking powder & salt.

Mix the Thandai Masala with the milk.

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites for 1min till they start becoming a but frothy.

Add sugar and beat till soft peaks form.

Add one yolk at a time and keep whisking.

Add the flour mixture and milk mixture alternatively.

So it will be something like;

1/3 cup flour ,1/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup flour ,1/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup flour

Take a baking pan and butter and flour it well. It is very important since that will ensure that the cake comes out of the pan in a clean way.

I also put a parchment paper for extra ease.

Now pour the batter in the prepared pan. Make sure the pan in at least 10 inches round or even 9x 13, if you take a smaller pan the cake is too tall and the liquid does not get absorbed very well.

You can also make cupcake with this batter

Bake for about 30 mins until the knife comes out clean.

Let the cake cool on a stand for about 30 mins.

Now the fun part.

Mix all the liquid ingredients.

Transfer the cake to a deeper dish, large enough to hold the cake and also hold all the liquid volume.

Poke a lot of holes in the cake

Now pour the milk mixture over the cake slowly paying extra attention to the edges.

Keep it in fridge ideally overnight. I feel that it allows the cake to take in all the liquid and develop some harmony.

As you can see the entire amount of liquid is all absorbed.

Frosting

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup of powdered sugar ( optional)

Whip the cream with or without the sugar until soft peaks form.

Now the bestest part

Serve yourself a nice big slice. Turn some nice music on.

Sit down and enjoy the cake.

I have made the cake toppers with brown edible clay. Filled it with the milk mixture and topped with the whipping cream.

Ingredients

Cake

4 eggs at room temperature separated
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 Pinch of salt
2 tbsp Thandai Masala you can buy it in any store
1/2 cup whole milk.

Milk mixture

1 14 oz can of condensed milk
1 can of evaporated milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 – 3/4 cup of ‘ Thandai Syrup’

Frosting

1 Cup Heavy whipping cream
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Tsp Saffron

Topping

3 Tbsp Dried Rose petals
3 tbsp Chopped pistachio
1 tbsp Fennel seeds

Instructions

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Sift flour with baking powder & salt
Mix the Thandai Masala with the milk.
Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites for 1min till they start becoming a but frothy.
Add sugar and beat till soft peaks form
Add one yolk at a time and keep whisking.
Add the flour mixture and milk mixture alternatively

Prepare the pan

Take a baking pan and butter and flour it well. It is very important since that will ensure that the cake comes out of the pan in a clean way.I also put a parchment paper for extra ease
Now pour the batter in the prepared pan. Make sure the pan in at least 10 inches round or even 9x 13, if you take a smaller pan the cake is too tall and the liquid does not get absorbed very well.
Bake for about 30 mins until the knife comes out clean.
Let the cake cool on a stand for about 30 mins

Milk Mixture

Mix all the liquid ingredients.
Transfer the cake to a deeper dish, large enough to hold the cake and also hold all the liquid volume
Now pour the milk mixture over the cake slowly paying extra attention to the edges.
Poke a lot of holes in the cake
Keep it in fridge ideally overnight. I feel that it allows the cake to take in all the liquid and develop some harmony.

Frosting

Mix the saffron thread in milk
Mix this with the whipping cream along with the sugar
Whip till soft peaks form
Frost the cake

Topping

Sprinkle all the toppings and enjoy

Tags cake, holi, holi dessert, holi sweets, sponge cake, thandai, tres leche

Cakes dessert Fusion Fusion

Chai spiced cake with lemon grass -ginger tea glaze

Post author By Anagha
Post date October 16, 2014
No Comments on Chai spiced cake with lemon grass -ginger tea glaze

I love Chai..that actually is an understatement. I can not live without Chai. When I say Chai, I am referring to the typical Indian Chai you get in India, flavored with either cardamon, ginger, lemon grass, sweetened with sugar and of course with milk. So when I had to bring something to work for a Diwali potluck, I thought of sharing my love for Chai with my colleagues.

If you have had a chance to look at my recipes you would notice that I love to combine flavors. I love taking flavors from a cuisine and combining it with a technique that is from a different cuisine. Todays recipe is one such example.

Here I have combined the Chai masala flavors alogn with Lemongrass ginger tea glaze with the classic cake. The cake is similar to a pound cake, but I have added some yogurt to add some tang.

Chai Masala Cake

Ingredients:

For Filling/Topping:

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 ½ tsp flour
1/3 c chopped walnuts
2 tsp Chai (tea) Masala

I make my own Chai masala with all the spices ( recipe below)

For the Batter:

1 ¼ c flour
1/8 tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

6 Tbsp butter, room temperature

½ c sugar

2 large eggs

¾ c thick yogurt

½ tsp vanilla

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350 °F.

Butter the sides and bottom of a loaf pan and lightly dust with flour and remove excess.

To make the topping/filling: place butter, brown sugar, flour, walnuts and Chai Masala in a small bowl. Use a fork to mix till it is crumbly and set aside for later.

Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt).

Cream the butter and sugar together on low speed with a hand blender.

Add the yogurt and mix it for 10 seconds. Once creamed, break in the eggs into the batter and incorporate well. Add in the vanilla and mix.

Add in the sifted dry ingredients and the yogurt alternately in the batter. Beat till it is all done and incorporated well into a smooth batter.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan; tap to level it.

Sprinkle filling mixture on the batter.

finish with the remaining batter (tap again to re-level).

Bake for 40-45 min at 350 F. Insert a toothpick to make sure it is baked.

Let cake stand for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan; pour over the glaze.

It is totally optional if you want to make the glaze or not, I like it since it brings in the typical elements of Indian Chai

Glaze:

Ingredients:

2 tsp black tea leaves( you can use tea bags if you prefer)

1/2 cup chopped lemon grass

1/4 inch ginger

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup water

Chop the lemon grass and ginger in fine pieces. Add them to the water and boil on low flame till you are left with 1/2 cup water ( may be a little more).

Strain & add tea leaves, let it seep till you have a nice tea flavor. It may not look pretty but tastes good.

Strain the mixture and discard the tea leaves. You will have lemon grass and ginger infused tea.Cool the tea.

Mix the powdered sugar with the water and mix well.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chai Masala:

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp ground cloves

Mix all the ingredients well.

Tags cake, Chai, lemon grass glaze, Spiced