Thursday 14 June 2012

Rave reviews Chocolate cake...in a Microwave

The day after....

Yesterday was my birthday ...and as I mentioned in my post of mocha muffins it was a hectic day of with phone calls, sms'es, FB msgs...and trying to do some special stuff in the kitchen in between all of these...

Then finally it was evening and my entire family got together - we had a great time - every one was eager to sample the baking - so even before the ceremonial cake cutting - the mocha muffins were disappearing quickly...it was proclaimed a success ( or maybe everyone was hungry.....no no it was truly amazing )...

Then came the cake...well what do I say...first of all the 'rave reviews part'  in the title ...they all come from my family - so you may think that they are biased...but you do not know my family...they do not hesitate to call a spade a spade...so if they like this - it has to be gooooood.....

Everyone was waiting eagerly...and finally the cake was  cut and served to all....my husband was eager to capture everyone's picture - so while I was serving or feeding the cake - he kept telling us "aam juyo", in gujarati it means "look here" - so that we could look into the camera for his shots....and the entire crowd being South Indian ( my side of the gang )...they all started saying "aam juyo" to each other and slowly the "aam" changed to "mango" - aam in Hindi means mango - the fruit...
So while T was taking the photos - everyone was calling out "mango juyo"...it was more funny then ...over there...and no ...there were no spirits involved......just high spirits :-)

Anyways ...the cake slowly disappeared too (after the mocha muffins )...& was proclaimed a big success too....
I have baked this many times - and had it appreciated by all...but somehow till date I have not had a chance to post this recipe...not sure why ...
So decided to do it...did not take any pictures of the said cake (too busy with all the phone calls I think ) - other than at cutting time...but had taken a picture of the cake made at an earlier time and have posted that here to give you all a glimpse too...this one did not have walnuts on top unlike the one made yesterday but never mind you get the idea.


So here goes the cake (or rather it's picture), the ingredients, and the method....

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:

2 eggs
150 gms ( 2/3 cup ) butter
3/4 cup light brown or dark brown sugar
  2 Tblspoons of granulated white sugar
3/4 cup curds
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp chocolate essence
1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts ( I generally use walnuts )


Method:

1) Cream the butter and sugars ...then add the eggs one at a time and beat till incorporated.
2) Add the chocolate essence and mix
3) Add the yogurt and milk
4) In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder.
4) Fold in the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg mixture.
5) Add half the chopped nuts - and keep the balance for decorating on top...
6) Put in a microwave safe dish 8*8 in size...and bake on 80% power for about 9 - 12 minutes depending on your microwave...or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

The proportions of sugar is such that the cake is not overly sweet, - but that is how we all like it...so in case you feel you need to have yours more sweeter - you can up the sugar content - by adding a couple of tablespoons of white granulated sugar to it or by topping the cake with some chocolate icing.
I plan to try this one out with less butter and maybe substitute part with either olive oil or even unsweetened applesauce...in case it works ( i.e. goes thru the taste tester - my Mom)...I will post that too...but till then...
Enjoy !!!

This gives such a soft and springy result everytime and the baking process is so quick - that even before you have managed to put back all the ingredients and clear & wash up the dishes used in the process, the cake is ready and out...
just requires cooling down before cutting into a delicious treat...the only problem is to stop once you have started...
It has a melt in your mouth quality which makes you go for seconds before you have even swallowed the firsts...so with that accolades before you ...there is no reason to hesitate to try it out...please do so and let me know, if you agree with all of us, in giving it a thumbs up.

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