Festive showstoppers!

What’s Christmas without delicious and yummy cakes and muffins? It wouldn’t feel festive enough unless you gobbledown these delicious sweet treats after a big family lunch or dinner. We’ve put together a selection of cake recipes that are easy to make and will disappear from the table within seconds. Enjoy!

Eggless whole wheat chocolate walnut brownie

Ingredient:

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup castor sugar
• ½ cup curd
• ½ cup milk
• 100 gm butter
• 160 gm cooking chocolate chunks
• 80 gm walnuts broken into small bits
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cocao powder

Method:
In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter together. Mix well with a rubber spatula. Mix cocao powder, soda and flour. Keep aside.
Beat curds, milk, and sugar and then slowly add the flour mixture into it till it forms a thick batter. Pour in the melted chocolate and butter. Add the walnut, mix well. Pour it into an 8x8 inch lined tray and bake at 1600 C for 24 minutes.
Cool on the wire rack and after it comes to room temperature, cut it into 2x2 square pieces.

Banana and walnut cake

Ingredient:

• 4 bananas
• 150 gm butter
• 250 gm powdered sugar
• 250 gm maida
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tbsp banana essence
• 4 eggs
• Walnuts for garnishing

Method:
Seive maida with baking powder and keep it aside. In a big bowl beat butter, and sugar till fluffy.
Add one egg at a time and keep beating.
Add banana essence. Mash bananas, add to the cake batter. Fold in the flour.
Pour the cake batter into the greased loaf tin. Add the walnuts on the top.
Bake at 1800 C for an hour.

Date and ginger muffins

Ingredients:

• 100 gm flour (semi-refined)
• 100 gm dates pitted and cut into bits
• 25 gm candied ginger, chopped
• 100 gm powdered sugar
• 100 gm butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• ½ tsp nutmeg powder

Method:
Mix flour, baking powder, nutmeg powder, and ginger together. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Break eggs one by one into this and if the mixture splits, add a spoon full of flour alternating with eggs. Finally add the flour. Add vanilla essence and dates and mix well. Pour the batter in muffin cups and bake at 1800 C for 25 minutes.
Cool on wire rack or have them hot.

Carrot and raisin cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (semi-refined)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 ½ cups carrots, grated
• ¾ cup oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup curd
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl except sugar. Add the grated carrots and keep aside.
Mix oil, sugar, eggs, curds, orange juice, vanilla essence in the same order one after the other. Add the flour mix into the liquid portion. Pour the batter into an 8x8 inch square tin and bake at 1600 C for an hour. Let it cool on the wire rack before removing from the tin as this a very moist cake and may break easily.