I'm back...and how !!

I've missed you guys and this space a lot more than you would have. Blogging and my readers give me the kinda high nothing does, but life has been one roller coaster for the last 4 months. A lot happened. 

We moved to our new house and in the midst of all of that, some health issues came up in the family. 
Well all's well now. I'm warming up to the new place and getting used to my new kitchen.
The mood is now being set and my comfort zones created.
Last night's dinner was out of the ordinary for me.... Hummus and Chicken Wraps with Tzatziki. Though this post is not about any of that. the recipes for the same would follow shortly.

My cooking and baking had slowed down in the last 4 months ....also because I was staying with my parents for bit and how my mother pampers me rotten with all her cooking (so why will I cook).
These were some of the things that happened in my kitchen in the last 4 months, though I couldn't shoot them as well as I wanted and couldn't write about them as well:

Just when we were packing for moving to our new house, a Daring Baker's Challenge came up where we were supposed to bake a dessert / cake with vegetables hidden in them. Inspite of all the chaos in my life I couldn't resist it and attempted two different recipes.
While I missed the challenge date I enjoyed it all the same and so here is what I did:

I made 2 different types of vegetable cakes:

 Beet Cake - 
Looks like a regular chocolate cake but is enriched with beetroots.

Adapted from Bakerycakery.com

(yields one 9” round layer)

Ingredients

¾ cup Pureed beets (Boil 2 medium sized beetroots till tender) 

½ cup Oil

¼ cup Milk

1 tbsp Plain yogurt (this is a strangely small amount to me)

½ tsp Balsamic vinegar

2 Eggs

¾ cup Flour

⅔ cup Sugar

½ cup Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking powder

½ tsp. Baking soda

¼ tsp. Salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. 

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients and set aside.

Blend the wet ingredients until uniform.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until combined.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the center comes out clean.

Dust with powdered sugar.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Tea Cake

Adapted from Passionate About Baking

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons All-purpose Flour

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoon Baking Powder

1-teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

½ teaspoon Salt

2 cups Grated Zucchini (about 2 small ones)

½ cup Orange Marmalade

¾ cup Vanilla Sugar

½ cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large Eggs

½ cup Walnuts, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped

½ cup Chocolate Chips

2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

Directions:

Spray, line, and spray again a 23cm x 12.5cm (9×5 inch) loaf pan and set aside

Preheat the oven to 175°C.

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix all the remaining ingredients (except the walnuts, if using) in a large bowl until combined (no giant lumps of marmalade at least).

Sift the dry ingredients into it and stir until just combined (don’t worry about it being smooth, just be gentle).

Stir in the walnuts if using. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.

Sprinkle the top with the about 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar.

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

I served this with a a dollop of mascarpone cheese.

Happy Baking !!