Coffee and Rum cake for the New Year 2015

 While new year came and went by ... ok, I mean the first day of the new year when people go nuts and create a huge hullabaloo about god knows what was it that went and what is it that is coming ahead ...  came and went by, I was still grappling with the lack of enthusiasm to sit down and write a post here on Kichu Khonn.
I have loads of photographs; unedited.
I have some drafts lying by; unwritten.
And I have an empty mind; unopened.
Just to think and write something creates a huge wave of blankness in me, these days.
Lazy? Me? I guess so.
No. Yes. I am being lazy. There is nothing to hide now.
The very thought of penning down a few words to go with a recipe and some photos gives me the heebie jeebies these days.
What do I write? How do I start? Is it worth writing about? The photos have turned out so bad; should I do a post at all?
And after a few anxious minutes, I shut the laptop and walk away. And stay away as far as I can , from it . for the rest of the day. 

It is not that I have been doing nothing.
Oh ... I have been very much busy. As busy as a jobless person can be. 
I have been spending the days entertaining; sometimes people, sometimes myself ... read being lazy again ... going on long drives and a picnic or two thrown in between; falling ill ... which I do very well and with all sincerity ... and stay ill for a good number of days so that it becomes a well justified reason to stay away from making a blog post. 
And I have been cooking too. 
A lot, actually.
And loving it. 
But the thought of clearing the dining table to make space, arrange the food and set about taking photographs again overwhelms me. 
And drives me away  from the very thought of it. 

And this is the way my days have been going on for the past few weeks.  
I had, of course, remembered Christmas. And had diligently soaked a big bowlful of dry fruits in rum ... with all the good intentions of baking a rum cake for Christmas. And did bake a cake ,finally.
But that was that.
1st of Jan came and went ... and so did the rest of the days after it. Life went on in slow motion ... literally.
All my fish dishes, the deep fried fritters, the two types of khichuris to celebrate the cold weather ... all came and went by. Nary a photograph. Or a thought of a blogpost.

Until this morning.

I had just stepped out into the early morning on my balcony. The fog was still hanging in mid air ... just like I had left it last night. The sun was out ... crisp and bright. I closed my eyes , felt the cold air on my face and took a deep, long breath. 
And jumped out of my skin.

"Chalo, breakfast mein cake banate hain!"
I did not know when B had come and was standing quietly beside me.
Half of my breath still stuck at my throat, I did a double take. Not only at the suggestion but also at the plurals. A quick retort bubbled up but died down just as quickly.
Maybe this was it. Maybe B's enthusisam will give me that push I so needed.
So turned at him and said "Why not?!"

 And that was how this cake got made ... in twenty five minutes flat.
And I could not help but catch the morning sun on it; smiling at my thought ... now Kichu Khonn will have a new year post.

Actually, I made two cakes ... which I always do with my measurements of flour and eggs.
This morning, I did not even refer to my posts. Just grabbed this and that and threw in them together.
There were some rum soaked dry fruits ... left over from the Christmas cake ... which I threw into the second cake's batter.
Sprinkled some coffee on the top ... I never mix the coffee with the batter ... and lo, my coffee rum cake was ready.

The first one was a plain vanilla cake.
I threw in 1 cupful of flour + ½ tsp baking powder + ½ cup ground sugar + 3 tbsp oil in a bowl and mixed well.
No, B did not help me with it ... proof ... my aching hands and shoulders.

Churned 3 eggs + 1 tsp vanilla essence in a mixer and dunked it into the flour.
Mixed the batter well.

B greased the tin and set the oven to pre heat at 150 degrees C.
I poured in half of the batter and put it to bake at 150 degrees C for 15 minutes.

The cake turned out wonderfully soft. And we found it full of ground sugar ... every bite was filled with beautiful, sugary sweet grains!
A new kind of experience for us.
I attribute it to the quick procedure ... I had not given the batter any time to soak or settle in ... just mixed and set it to bake.
Also. it did not get time to rest. Out of the oven ; into our mouths. 

We loved the fresh out of the oven , warm vanilla cake with our ginger tea.
No photos ... for obvious reasons. :-) 

The second part of the batter got the dry fruits and coffee in addition. And also the rum that they were soaking in.
And here is our Coffee Rum cake with dry fruits.
And oh ... I did add some orange zest too.
And happily clicked photos. 

Have a happy year, dear friends and readers.
Have a fresh year.
Have a blessed year.

My recipe for the Coffee cake is here - http://kichukhonn.blogspot.in/2008/05/coffee-cake.html

My recipe for the Rum cake is here -http://kichukhonn.blogspot.in/2009/12/rum-cake-with-fruits-nuts.html

And the mix of both is right here, on this post. :-)
My next post will have a detailed recipe; as always. Promise.


Enjoy!!