31 Layered French Crepe Cake for my Man

I love baking birthday cakes. They make the person feel so special and so does the cake get the attention too :) Baking according to the person's taste choice is another challenge. I have been baking cakes for everyone's birthday at my new home and this has automatically has set an expectation that the next cake has to be better and more exciting always.

 My man turned 31 a couple of days back I badly wanted to give him a big surprise since its the first birthday he celebrates as a husband ;) Browsed extensively, thought of baking something from the master chef Australia collection etc.. But with so much plans in head and an unexpected power cut, I was left in the dark but that's when I remembered Ria's cake and it saved me completely. Loved the simple recipe and all I had to do was on the stove, so managed to complete it in few hours even before my man came back home. All thanks to Ria :) Big hugs to you.

He was super excited about the surprise cake and was completely jaw dropped when he saw so many layers :) Got well paid with a big hug in return and all smiles :) He loved the cake and the effort behind it. It made his day special and we were happily flaunting about the 31 layered cake to all on phone :P and so did he had to reveal his age to all :P lol. 

I so wish I could have taken better pictures of the cake :( But wanted to keep it a surprise for my hubby so dint dare to take the cake out and do a shoot. Anyways managed with few clicks at the end. 

Ingredients:

For the crepes:

All purpose flour (maida) - 2 1/2 cups

Eggs - 5

Milk - 2  cups

Water - 1 1/4 cups

Melted butter - 8 tblsp

Sugar - 7 tblsp

Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

For nutella ganache:

Nutella - 200 gms

Dark chocolate - 250 gms

Cream - 100 gms

Note: This measurement makes 32 crepes. Reduce or increase the quantity for the number of crepes you want to make. 

Method:

Blend all the ingredients for the crepe in a blender for 10 seconds. Check for lumps and blend again for few seconds. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. 

Heat a non stick skillet on low flame and butter the base. Pour 1 laddle full of batter in the center and swirl the pan to spread the batter evenly. Close with a lid and cook for 30 seconds and then flip it carefully and cook for another 10 seconds. Remove and allow it to cool on a cutting board. 

Similarly make as many number of pan cakes as you need. 

Nutella Ganache - 

Take nutella, cream and chopped chocolate in a bowl and double boil it until everything melts down and comes together. Spread a thin layer on top of the crepe and stack the next and so on. Once all the layers are stacked spread the remaining ganache on top and the sides and put it into the fridge for an hour atleast. Sprinkle some cocoa powder to decorate and cover the sides with a decorative chocolate lace :)

Having posted all the cakes that I baked for my family, I wanted to include a picture of the chocolate cake with strawberry butter cream cake that I baked for my sweet sister-in-law too.

Here you go.... The recipe of the chocolate cake is right here.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Eggless Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Birthday's are always special. Comes just once a year but adds 1 to your age making you a little older!! LOL

Round numbers are all the more special. Yup! My sweet mother-in-law turned 50 yesterday :) She is 50 years young I say. Charming and sweet, calm and beautiful and so on. She is one of the ladies I completely admire :) 

Happy birthday Athamma :) 

I got energy from no where last evening and I quickly whipped up this pretty cake for her as a surprise when she was back home :) She enjoyed it a lot and liked it more since it was from her daugher-in-law this year :) 

Ingredients:

Pine apple slices (I used canned) 

Cherries

For caramel - 

Sugar - 4 tblsp

Butter - 2 tblsp

Water - 1 tblsp

For Cake - 

All purpose flour (maida) - 250 gms

Cooking soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp
Butter - 100 gms

Milk maid - 200 ml

Water - 50 ml

Milk - 100 ml

Pineapple essence - 1/2 tsp

Yellow food color - a pinch

Method:

To make the caramel - 

Take the butter and sugar in a pan and heat until the butter and sugar melts. Now add the water and keep stirring under medium flame until the sugar caramelizes to light brown color. Remove from flame and immediately pour it into a round baking pan. 

Drain the pineapples from the syrup in the tin. Now arrange them on top of the caramel poured in the baking pan. Arrange the cherries as per your taste too and keep the pan aside. 

For the cake -

Sieve maida, cooking soda and baking powder together. 

Take a mixing bowl and beat butter and milk maid until smooth. Add the pineapple essence and food color and beat until well mixed. Fold in the maida, baking powder mixture alternating with milk and water until well incorporated. 

Pour the batter over the arranged pineapples slowly and smoothen the top with spatula. 

Preheat oven to 180°C and bake the cake for 30-40 mins. 

Check if cooked by inserting a tooth pic in the center. The cake done if the toothpick comes out clean.

Invert the cake immediately on the wire rack and allow it to cool. 

Enjoy the beautiful and delicious pineapple cake :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Yo Oats

Did you abscond??? Were you kidnapped?? Lost??? Or hijacked??? could have been some of the questions running in your mind but no no and no. I am strong and fighting Dengue fever. Its been almost two weeks of sickness and more to go. Yup!! Its pretty frustrating and disheartening to be away from the kitchen and on the bed for so long and still feels really tired and exhausted :(

Round! Rectangle! Oval! Yellow! White! and brown! all coloured and shaped tablets have been major part of my diet but yup trying to eat some healthy food right now to regain the lost energy and weight. Mom and MIL have been a real support in getting me back to normal. 

Yo Oats was a simple meal for me this morning. The recipe isnt an elaborate one to blog but has now turned to be a keeper for me. Its soothing for the stomach and not much of fuss too. So here its on my blog now for people who are looking for something simple and also to let you all know that I still exist :P

 

Ingredients:

Oats - 1 cup

Yoghurt - 1 cup

Honey - 1 tblsp

Apple 

Banana

Pomegranate 

   

Method:

Soak the oats in 1 cup of curd for an hour. 

Chop the apple and banana into small pieces. 

Now add the honey and chopped apple, banana and pomegranate to the soaked oats and mix well. If its thick, add 2 tblsp of milk to it. 

Enjoy the healthy meal.

Oats would become soft once it is soaked. Hence cooking is not required.

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here. 

Curry Leaves Sambhar / Karuvepilai Kozhambu

How about some magic to get some long and healthy hair?!! Want to get rid of hair fall?! 

Then come on, pick up some easy ingredients and head into the kitchen with me. We can make something that sure doesn't taste like medicine! ;) Shhhh that's a promise. No doubts! 

Curry leaves, curry leaves, curry leaves.... they are not for decoration,  they are not just for flavor, they are not to be thrown, they are to do good for us :)

Ingredients:

Curry Leaves - 1 1/2 cups

Coconut - 3 tblsp

Red chillies - 6

Garlic pods - 10

Small onions(Shallots) - 10

Tomato - 2

Saunf - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil

Salt

Method:

Take a tsp of oil in a pan and fry saunf, garlic pods and red chilies for two mins and keep it aside until it comes to room temperature. 

Again take a tsp of oil in a frying pan and fry curry leaves for three minutes in medium flame. Now grind it in a mixie along with coconut and the above fried spices together into a smooth paste by adding a little water. 

Now take a tsp of oil in a pan and crackle mustard, now add peeled shallots, chopped tomato, salt, turmeric powder for fry for five minutes. Now add the above ground paste and adequate water to bring it to sambhar consistency. Allow this to boil for five mins and bring it off the stove. 

Serve with hot rice and ghee :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.