Sunday 29 November 2009

Eggless Apple & Walnut Cake


When I went through my blog recently, I saw that I have baked quite a few eggless fruit cakes. And by fruit cakes I mean I have used fresh fruits.

Baking has been a challenge for me ... always. It goes against my experimentive nature. I love to play with stuff ... go beyond rigidity. So going by exact measures, exact proportions, exact temperatures .... nah ... is not for me. And to make things worse ... I hate reading or following cook books. I just don't have the patience.

Besides, I do not like anybody telling me what to do ... even if it is a cookbook. :-)

But then ... I love to eat cakes. And to bake them too. So I started baking them. Perfected my Coffee Cake .... the family's favourite now.

Mustered the courage and baked Eggless Coffee Cake too. Successfully.

And then started with fruits. The Eggless Pineapple cake was a huge first time success. So was the Eggless Mango Cake. I baked an Eggless Banana cake too.

I was on a roll. No complex recipes ... as with all my other recipes. I loved the smell of the fruit in the cakes ... which is why I never tried to use eggs in them ... and consequently did not need any vanilla essence. Loved every one of them.

This time there were a few apples in the fridge. This was the first time I tried making an Eggless Apple Cake. Had some walnuts at hand ... so chopped them up and added to the batter. And purposely kept the apple's age old partner ... the cinnamon ... away.

If you want the complete recipe, just go to the other fruit cakes that I have mentioned here ... and substitute the used fruit with pureed apple. And use Apple juice in place of the used liquid.



But there were some minor accidents while making it ... so the results were slightly different from the usual other cakes.
No ... do not get me wrong. It tasted heavenly. But I am writing down the mistakes more for myself than for the log of the recipe.

Firstly .... I eyeballed ... as usual. But overconfidence does not always work.

Then, the cup of vegetable oil I was using slipped from my hands .... resulting in too much of oil for too little flour. So the cake turned out a little too moist.

Next, I measured the sugar only after grinding it. Baaaaaad idea .... where was my mind? The cake turned out to be toooo sweet. But a plus .... the crust was very crisp. You win some, you lose some.

And used a tablespoon for measuring the baking powder. Result .... a cracked cake. I know ... I should be the one who should be called that. :-p

And last, but not the least ... I added vanilla essence.
So what? So this.
Every bite tasted awesome! But only till you asked "Guess the flavour?".
It was somewhere between mango / chocolate ( I guess the crispy crust ) / what not ... anything but apple or vanilla.



So there folks ... am convinced that am going bonkers. So decided to give myself a break. The cake was just as awesome as the snaps are ... believe me. But I guess I was just plain lucky.

But if I try anything new again, am positive I'll ruin something far more important than the cake. ;-)

So am taking a break. I promise to return with some great but simple recipes again .... soon. Maybe by Christmas .... or early next year.

Till then ... I'll have some fun, family, friends and of course food time for myself !! :-)
Even if it is not a 'Summer holiday' .... I still feel like singing " no more cooking for a week or two ...". :-)

Take care all !! :-)




34 comments:

  1. Sharmila,
    I dont see any reason why this cake shouldn't be as delicious as your previous cakes ..i am sure this will brighten my mornings with a cup of tea anyday :)...
    yesterday I made apple muffins ..later i realize that I made it in bun tins so it was kind of buns traped in a muffin recipe LOL..but the fun part was,it tasted awesome:)...
    where are you going ?...anyways enjoy the break and come back whenever you feel so ...
    hugs and smiles

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  2. Sounds like my idea of baking. You need a break from us?
    Enjoy yourself and will be eager to see you in the New Year. Man it is going to be the new year already!

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  3. You have a great time and see you soon. Love the way you write.

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  4. ;-) LOL at the "Cracked"

    Looks lovely to me. and the apple and walnuts are one of my favorites together.

    I found the pictures of the eggless coffee cake I had made from your recipe.. dekhi kobe complete kore post korte pari.

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  5. it does look super moist!
    Enjoy your break Sharmila! See you soon.

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  6. Thanks A2Z! I'll be back soon. :-)

    Thanks Soma! That Coffee cake is our favourite. :-)

    Thanks Jaya! You have been baking some very perfect stuff recently ... fire eshe shobgulo try korbo. :-)

    Thanks Indo! Nah ... not a break from you guys ... but from the kitchen. I'll be visiting blogs as long as am here. :-)

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  7. Cake looks yummy and soft......

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  8. It sure looks heavenly, so I am sure it will taste delicious too.
    Enjoy your break. Have a wonderful time with your family and come back with some more inspirational recipes.

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  9. loved reading the post. I think the best discoveries happen when you experiment and follow your own path. And if there is a fire there is always vanilla :)

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  10. yummy yum,..:-) enjoy ur break,..

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  11. Have a wonderful time dearest J, meanwhile I'll explore your blog to see what I've missed in the past months

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  12. Thanks Bharti! :-)

    Thanks Tina! :-)

    Thanks Priyanka! :-)

    Thanks Knife! Lol .. love that line. :-)

    Thanks Aparna! I will. :-)

    Thanks Rash! Hope you find something you'll like. :-)

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  13. Sharmi,
    Anything that your hands touch...read food....turn into gold!
    Look at the pictures if you dont believe me...golden cake is what you should name it :)
    no jokes but it must taste golden as well I can tell by the looks of it...hmmmm you deserve a break now lady!
    And yeah...normal routiner ektu baire jawa khoob ii uchheet, tahole mon mejaaj dutoi bhalo thake :)

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  14. Thanks Joyee! You are too generous in your praise ... it is this time of the year that I get wonderful sunshine on my windows ... so the good snaps. :-)
    Jacchi ... normal routiner bairei jacchi. :-)

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  15. Hmmm... there seems to be only one way to taste this post - try making the cake! I took a short break too, attending a wedding while on the leg break. It was not as much fun as it would have been with a good leg but I got to meet up cousins, aunts and uncles and that quite made up for the lack of movement.

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  16. Sounds great Harini! Enjoy! And this cake tasted really good ... all those blunders notwitstanding. :-)

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  17. Wow, that cake looks super moist and love the colour of it...I've got 2 apples lying around, will try this soon...I tried chorchori from your blog, since I had a little of all the veggies needed for it - it was delicious...i love the smell of mustard oil...thanks for sharing..Have a great vacation and a super new year

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  18. Hey Sharmila I am here the first time, and i really like the apple walnut cake. Keep up the work

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  19. the cake look very moist yet crumbly. ami cake khete aar banate khub bhalobasi kintu akhon akdom somoy pachina. tomar coffee cake ta kabe theke bookmark kara ache....you deserved a break. khub bhalo kore ghure eso...dekhte dekhte new year o ese gelo. enjoy your break Sharmila.

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  20. Thanks Arch! And am so glad you liked the chorchori. :-)


    Welcome Shella! And thanks! :-)

    Thanks Sayantani! Try koro ekshomoye cake ta ... khub taratari e hoye. :-)

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  21. looks fine to me..in fact better than fine..really moist and delish..

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  22. wow so many!!...this one sure looks so crumbly

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  23. Hehehe :-)
    The cake looks so delicious!!!

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  24. khub bhalo recipe!! ranna kore neeye-chi!! ths ws really a wonderous success ur instant moong-dal halwa whch i tried!

    lods of lov
    aditi chakrabarty

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  25. Thanks S! Yes, it was very moist. :-)

    Thanks Valli! :-)

    Thanks Parita! It was delicious alright ... inspite of all those errors ... thank god! :-)

    Thanks Renu! :-)

    Thanks Aditi ... both for trying and letting me know. Am so glad you liked both. :-)

    My Moong dal halwa has indeed been a success with everybody ... many people have thanked me ... and some have posted it too. Am very happy! :-)

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  26. Eggless cake sure is lighter in calories,I love the apples and walnuts together in this cake :D

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  27. Cake looks simple n delicious.Love that it is eggless.

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  28. I find it difficult too to stick with a recipe but even with baking, once you have a feel for it, it's fairly easy to experiment. Your cake looks delicious-- apples and walnuts are a classic combination. Have a good vacation, Sharmila.

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  29. Thanks Yasmeen, Divya & Vaishali! :-)

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  30. Hi...got directed to your blog from the Knife's post on aloo posto and your comment about posto bora.Went through your post...it looks exactly like what Ma makes :)

    And am so glad to find someone echo my thoughts on baking...about how exact measurements take away from the joy of experimentation. That said, the apply and walnut cake looks yummy! :) Inspires me to try it out as well. Thanks!

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  31. Welcome S! Go ahead and try it ... you'll love it. :-)
    Posto seems to be the love of us Bengalis' lives ... what say? :-)

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  32. Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year to you and your family Sharmila.

    Hugs.. porer bochor kotha hobe :-)

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  33. Hugs and good wishes for a wonderful New Year to you too dear Soma! :-)

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