Christmas cake

Hi Friends,

I know I have not posted for a while. I was engaged in some household chores. But I promise I will try to blog more. As you know, Christmas is around the corner and many of us busy in shopping Christmas Presents. But what could be better present than the gift of food. So, why not gift a homemade food item to the people you love. I know they will love it a lot, as you have put your time, effort, thoughts and love in that. So, I have an idea. Bake a Christmas cake with me and pack it with nice decorations and gift it to your loved ones. I know you may be thinking who would want the overwhelming sweet and dense Fruit cake with bunch of candied fruits. Let me inform you, this fruit cake tastes quite different. It is low on the sweetness (and you can control the sweet level while making) and not greasy nor dense. Enough with the introductions. It's time to crank up the oven and bake some cakes.

Christmas fruit and nut cake

Ingredients

This measurement of ingredients are according to preparation of  one singe cake. I have made two cakes and that's why I have doubled the measurements. If are make multiple cakes, then multiply the amounts of ingredient.

The Foundation

1. 3 eggs

2. 3/4 cup of oil

3. 3/4 cup of sugar ( If you want more sweet, add 1/4 cup more)

4. 1 tsp of vanilla essence

Dry mix

1. 1 cup of all purpose flour

2. 3/4 tbsp of baking powder

3. 1 tsp of cinnamon powder ( you can add a tsp of mix of cinnamon and pumpkin spice for holiday effects)

4. a pinch of salt

5.  1 tsp of zest of a orange 

Wet Mix

1. 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice ( Note: One whole orange should give that amount of juice. You can use the same orange that have been zest ed)

2. 4 heaping tbsp of plain yogurt

Mix of these two ingredients will give  around 1/2 cup of liquid wet mix

Fruit and nut mix

1. 1/4 cup of flour

2. 1/4 cup of tutty fruity mix (colorful candied fruit cubes)

3. 2 tbsp of raisins (you can use golden or black or mix of both)

4. 2 tbsp of chopped apricots

5. 2 tbsp of cranberries

6. 2 tbsp of chopped walnuts (chopped into medium size)

7. 3 tbsp of chopped cashew (chopped into medium size)

You can add any dry fruit (cherries) and nuts (pecans, almonds) of your choice.

Fruits and nuts

For Decoration

1. 5-6 cashew halves

2. 3 walnuts not chopped

3. 3-4 cherries (Note: Use can red cherries in the syrup solution)

Others

1. 2 tbsp of unsalted butter for coating the baking tray +1 tbsp of unsalted butter for spreading over the baked cake

2. 2 tsp of flour

3. Parchment paper (optional)

Methods

1.Preheat your oven at 350 F.

2. For the foundation, crack the eggs in a big mixing bowl and beat it nicely. Add sugar and oil, beat it to make a homogeneous mixture of viscous liquid. Add the vanilla essence and mix it nicely. If they are mixed properly, it should flow down smoothly like a ribbon by lifting up your whisk.

Pouring vanilla essence in the egg sugar mixture

Adding oil

Mixing it 

Egg foundation is ready

3. In a separate bowl, prepare the dry mix by adding some flours, salt, baking powder, cinnamon powder and orange zest. Give a good mix and keep it aside.

Dry mix

4. Now add freshly squeezed orange juice in a cup or measuring cup. Add the yogurt and whisk it for a uniform wet mixture.

Orange yogurt wet mix

5. In another bowl add all the chopped fruits and nuts. And add the flour. Mix it thoroughly so that fruits and nuts are coated and dusted with flour. Keep that aside.

Fruits and nuts with flour

Flour coated fruits and nuts

6. Now coming back to the foundation of egg mixture, add the 1/3 of the dry mix followed by 1/2 of the wet orange yogurt mix. Mix them properly until there is no lump of flours. Then again add the next 1/3 of dry mix followed by remaining 1/2 of the wet mix. Mix it with the whisk so that all the flours are incorporated. Finally add the remaining 1/3 of the dry mix and whisk it to get a homogeneous mixture. Don't over mix or over beat the cake dough. Otherwise it will result a hard cake.  (Note: It is said to start and end with the dry mix and in the between pour the wet mix.)

Adding the dry mix in thirds

Adding the wet orange mix in halves

Cake batter is ready

7. Now comes the fun part. Add the flour coated fruit and nut mix into the pool. And switch from the whisk to spatula. Mixing those fruit and nuts by folding into the dough.

Fruits and nuts are added

8. There are many options for containers to bake your cake. If you want to gift these. There are nice decorated paper baking available in the market. For those paper baking tray just coat the  butter inside of the surface. Don't leave any corners. If you have butter spray can use them to coat the inside with butter.

If you want to bake these in baking tins/pans. Spread the inner surface with soft butter. Then sprinkle the flour so that the buttered surface is coated with flours. This will help to remove the cake out after baking.

If you are using glass baking pan, you can use a parchment paper inside. And spread the soft butter on the inner surface parchment paper .

Butter is applied in the inner surface or the pan

9. Once the butter coating is done, pour the cake dough in your desired vessel. Bake it at 350 F for 40-50 minutes. Every oven is different, so it make different amount of time. My oven bakes the cake for 50 minutes. So, it's better to check at around 40 minutes with a toothpick. 

Cakes are getting baked in the oven

The toothpick test is very easy and helps you to understand how much more time it needs to bake it thoroughly. Take a toothpick and insert in the middle portion of the cake. It will comes out clean, then it is baked. If it come out with semi liquid or liquid substance, then it needs more time ( another 5 or 10 more minutes) to bake. 

Now you would ask me where did the decorative ingredients (cherries and nuts) go? For decorations, at around 30 minutes of baking when the upper surface of the cake is still soft add your decorations. That is the only time when you can put your decorations fruits and nuts. Before that cherries and nut will go down and can't be seen from the top. After that 30 minutes mark, those nuts and cherries will stay on top.

Once your cake is baked and still it is hot, spread one tsp of butter on the top surface. It will be the rich buttery flavor and a glossy look that will mesmerize your fond ones.

Christmas cakes are ready 

Baking involves precise measurements,temperature, time and steps. Don't get intimidated by lot of procedures.  It's very easy and have fun while making. You can include all of your family members to assemble this cake.

This Christmas gift a home made cake to your loved ones. Make it and serve this on Christmas morning. As a kid, we used to get a box of Christmas cake from our dad. This was our Christmas ritual to enjoy a piece of cake on that special day. This cake is non alcoholic and you don't need to soak your fruits in alcohol for long time. So, you don't need to plan ahead and you can make it in a hurry. Since it is non alcoholic it can be enjoyed by everybody. If you have any question while preparing this, comment your inquiries. I will be happy to answer those. Till then merry Christmas from the kitchen of Comfort Saveur.
Thanks,
Moumita

Bengali bhaja Masala

Hi Friends,
I have mentioned Bengali Bhaja Masala in many of my recipes. I know it's not something that is readily available as packaged from store. Bengali Bhaja Masala is a unique blend of roasted spices that it can oomph up any boring dish to mouth watering dish. It is specially sprinkle for any snack or appetizer kind of dishes. I even use this for my signature margarita cocktail. The recipe of the bhaja masala is quite unique for each household and it won’t taste same for every family. The recipe I will be sharing is my own creation after many additions and editions. It is very easy to prepare and it can be stored for 4-5 months. So, you can make ahead and store it in a airtight glass jar. When you need it, just sprinkle some. Let start making it.

Bhaja Masala 

Ingredients

1. 1/3 cup of of coriander seeds
2. 1/3 cup of cumin seeds
3. 1/3 cup of fennel seeds
4. 4-5 red dried chilies without the dried stems ( you can add some more if you like heat)
5. 4-5 bay leaves
6. 2-3 green cardamom ( Note: Please don't remove shell. )
7. 2 cloves
8. 1/2 tsp whole black pepper

(Note: Generally there is no cardamom or cloves in bhaja masala. But I have seen the subtle difference in taste because of these two ingredients make a bold statement.)

Ingredients for the bhaja masala

Methods

1. Heat a pan / skillet or tawa. Add all the ingredients. Dry roast these ingredients stirring in between. Roast them for 3-4 minutes in medium heat and till the roasted aroma come out. Stir them so that they don’t get burnt. Specially the bay leaves and the chilies should be stirred, spread and pressed to help them roasted properly.
2. Once they are roasted, let them cool.
3. When they are cool to touch, grind them in a coffee grinder in little amounts. It should come out as coarse powder. Once all the roasted ingredients are grinded, mix the coarse grounded spices.
4. Store it in a sterilized glass jar with air tight lid on it. This will preserve the shelf life of the spice.

Dry roasting the whole ingredients

After the grinding, coarse bhaja masala is ready

This spice blend has many uses. It can be used in curries like cholar dar (Bengal gram dal) , ghoogni (Bengali style chilis ), potato curry etc. Then it can be used in many snacks or appetizers like singara, dahi vada, mughlai paratha, pakoras, chop (Bengali potatoes fritter) and list goes on. I have used this in mac and chese, spicy nuts for cocktails, guacamole  even in drinks (lassi, margarita, lemonades etc). You have the spice and get creative with your wild taste imagination and invent new food. Don’t forget to share your ideas and creation for using this masala. I would love see those new inventions.
Thanks,
Moumita