So What's Kept me Away........

After 6 long hectic months I've finally got the time to start baking.....start writing ...and start relaxing.
So whats kept me busy all these months??? Where have I been? Where have I been missing from the blogging / food world ??? Why am I not posting anything?
I've had so many friends ask me this.....
KJ thought blogging was like my love for pottery which faded away with time (though actually it hasn't, only that other things took precedence over pottery).....dad was disappointed that I'm not regularly posting. Shuchi dilegently kept checking my blog looking for any new posts.....
Well....I missed all of you too.....
I was right here busy setting up and shifting into our new office.

Yes. This is our new office. Dad's dream....his baby.
He designed it..... and we together - mum, dad and I made it happen.
When it was time to do up this office, we started with meeting a lot of architects and designers and got some obnoxious quotations and regular boring standard office designs. Yes it was all modern, modular, maintainence free, practical, etc etc etc...but was it really us....NO !!!
For us our office is Our Space.....An Extention of ourselves.....an extention of what we are....what we feel and what we do...
In spite of being an ad agency the obvious bold colours and whacky posters and dramatic lights and wall textures was not what we were looking for.
Our office had to be warm....with hints for traditionalism and ethinicty. It had to be simple, cost effective, yet creative....not formal but not casual either. It had to be modern and practical.
We took longer than an architect would have taken ...actually we took longer than what we had estimated for.....but the result is absolutely satisfying. I love every nook and corner, every inch of this space. This place that floats with positive energy......creativitiy and a lot of 'us'.
To mark the celebratons of the New Office we had a week long Open House where a homemade cake was definately the obvious choice to go with endless rounds of tea and coffee through the week.....

Moist Chocolate Cake (Eggless) - easy to handle, easy to serve, light, and refrigerable.
The last few pices still sit in the refrigerator.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 tin Condensed Milk - Milkmaid
1/2 cup Milk - approx.
1/2 cup Oil
3 tbsp Powdered Sugar
100 g (1 cup) All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp level, Soda Bicardbonate
1 tsp level, Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
7-8" Diameter Baking Dish

Procedure

1. Grease and dust the cake dish.
2. Sift the flour with cocoa powder, baking powder and soda bicarb.
3. Beat the condensed milk well for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and oil and beat again till well blended. - Use a hand mixer for beating.
4. Add half of the milk and half the flour. Beat well. Add Vanilla Extract.
5. Add the remaining flour and milk, beating well after every edition, till the mixture is smooth and light to get a ribbon like or thick pouring consistency.
6. Put this cake batter in the baking dish and bake it for 40 minutes at 150 degree C.
7. Insert a toothpick to check if done. If the toothpick comes clean...the cake is ready.
8. Once the cake is ready, let it ret in the dish for 5-7 minutes and then demould, transfering it on to a rack.
9. Decorate as you like.