Christmas Special Plum Cake Recipe

We have entered into the last week of December. Winter has set in and Christmas celebrations are in full swing. Christmas means fellowship , feasting , giving , a time of good cheer and home.

It is not just a time for festivity and merry making.The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving. But Christmas celebration is incomplete without Plum Cakes.

So here we are providing you all a simple yet classic plum cake recipe. Here we go …

Preparation time : 20 minutes

Cooking time        :  45 minutes

Ingredients

1/8 cup chopped dried cherries  

1/8 cup chopped dried mango

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dried currants

2 tablespoon chopped candied citron

1/2 cup dark rum

½ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ ground cinnamon

¼ cup molasses

2 tablespoon milk

¼ chopped pecans

¼ cup rum divided

Directions

1.  Soak cherries , mango , cranberries , currants and citron in ¼ cup rum for at least 24 hours. Cover tightly and store at room temperature.

2.  Preheat oven to 165 degrees Celsius . Butter a 6*3-inch round pan and line it with parchment paper.

3.  In a large bowl , cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. Whisk together flour,baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix into butter and sugar in three batches, alternating with molasses and milk. Stir in soaked fruit and chopped nuts. Scraped batter into prepared pan.

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons rum.

5.  Cut out one piece parchment and one piece cheesecloth, each large enough to wrap around the cake. Moisten Cheesecloth with 1 tablespoon rum. Arrange cheesecloth on top of parchment paper, and unmold cake onto it. Sprinkle top and sides of cake with remaining rum.Wrap the cheesecloth closely to the surface of the cake, then wrap with paper. And your plum cake is ready !!!

You can order plum cake through our website www.avonbakers.com or call at 9997122050 to place the order.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS RECIPE

We are all familiar with the hunger pangs we experience out of the blue. They may come while working on a project , at the middle of the night , when you are bored to death or maybe when you are upset post  break up. We  all seek comfort food for one reason or the other.

So today we are sharing a simple and real quick recipe of blueberry muffins  . These cute and mouth-watering muffins can be enjoyed at any point of the day over a cup of tea or coffee. Perfect answer to your food  cravings,  these muffins are the ultimate comfort food. So let’s begin right away  !!!

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Cooking time        : 20 minutes

Serves                    : 6

Ingredients

•        1 cup – All purpose flour 
• 
  
•           ½ cup- Blueberry
• 
  
•        1 Teaspoon corn flour
• 
  
•          1 cup – Hot Milk
• 
  
•        ½ cup – Sugar
• 
  
•          ½ Teaspoon Baking powder
• 
  
•          ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 
  
•          ½ Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• 
  
•    3/4^th  cup vegetable oil

Method 

    1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

    2. Take small amount of flour in a bowl and add blueberries to it. Coat them with the flour properly.

    3. In a separate bowl mix vegetable oil and sugar together.

    4. Now add milk and vanilla essence to the mixture and stir well.

    5. Sieve all purpose flour , baking powder, baking soda and corn flour in a separate bowl.

    6.  Add all dry mixtures and liquid mixture well.

    7. Add flour coated blueberries to the mixture.

    8. Fill the ¾ of paper cups with this batter.

    9. Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes.

•    And the magical blueberry muffins are ready!!!

Follow our blog http://avonbaker.blogspot.in/ for more interesting articles related to baking world.

You can also order these blueberry muffins from our website www.avonbakers.com or call us at 9997122050.

10 most important baking tools

Baking is an art, which gets perfect with practice. But an artist is nothing without his tools. Likewise art of baking also requires necessary tools. Right instruments and tools can make baking fun , easy and efficient . And the final output can be astonishing !!  Here we are providing the list of the most basic and important baking tools. So bring out the artist in you and surprise the world. Here we go !!

   1. Whisk

                    Whisk is a baking tool which is used to blend baking ingredients together. This process of incorporating air into the mixture is also called whisking or whipping. Whisk is generally made up of stainless steel. These days electric whisks are also available in the market.

      2.   Spatulas

               Spatulas are an invaluable tool in the world of baking. Their use ranges from mixing, spreading , lifting to transferring. Different spatulas are used for different tasks at hand. Metal Spatulas are usually needed for turning and transferring. Their main purposes are to flip, scrape and serve . Rubber spatulas are used for scraping and smoothing purpose. Frosting spatula is used for applying frosting on the cake.

      3. Pastry Bags and Piping Tips

                              

Pastry bags are used for decorating the cake. These are usually cone or triangular shaped , handheld bags made of plastic. you make different decorations depending upon the nozzle you use. There are different type of nozzles like leaf nozzle, flower nozzle , open star, closed star nozzle , Round ,petal, basket, ruffle and multi-hole nozzle.

     4.   Pans

         Pans help in giving shape to the base or sponge of the cake. The cake batter is poured into these pans and then baked. Many different shapes and sizes of pans are available in the idea. There are different kind of pans like baking sheet, loaf pan, pie tin , round cake tin, cupcake and muffin tins , tart pans, fancy pans.

  5.  Mixing Bowls

                  

                       Mixing bowls are used to mix dry and liquid ingredients to prepare the cake batter. They come in different sizes and are made up of ceramic, plastic, glass, copper and stainless steel. Bowls are also used to beat eggs, prepare whipping cream and mix salad and dressing.

      6.  Rolling Pin

                   

                    This tool is used to give shape and flatten the dough. They come in many styles and are made up of different materials. There are 3 types of rolling pins  : Rolling , Rod and textured.

7.    Cooling Racks

                      

                           Cooling racks are used to cool down the cake bases, muffins, cookies and cupcakes once they are baked and removed out of oven.

       8. Pastry Brush

                      Pastry brush is used to spread butter , oil or glaze or egg wash on the food. Bristles of pastry brush are made up of plastic, nylon or silicon.

  9. Standing Mixer

                 Standing mixers are large in size with a more powerful motor . A bowl is attached with the these mixers which is locked in a place while the mixer is operating .It is used for general whipping , mixing and kneading tasks.  

       

10.    Parchment Papers

                                  

It is also known as silicon paper and is used to line the baking tins. This is a non-stick paper which is also grease proof and moisture-proof.

                   

                         

If you are interested in more such interesting blogs please visit our wesite www.avonbakers.com.                

                        

10 Most Basic Baking Ingredients

Here  we present another weekly Blog from Avon Bakers. This article is written especially for the beginners who want to set foot in the world of baking. Stock up these items permanently in your kitchen as you will always need them while baking anything.

   1.    FLOUR

Flour is the most basic ingredient used in all baked goods. There are many varieties of flours available , ranging from cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour to self-rising flour. Choice of a flour, to bake any particular baking item, depends upon protein content , added agents and processes used in making the flour.

Cake flour has less protein and high starch content .It is basically used in making cakes, quick  breads , cookies and muffins.  Bread flour has high protein and gluten content which makes it suited to make yeast products. Pastry flour  is used to make  cookies , biscuits and pie crusts for a tender but crumbly pastry. Self-rising flour has low protein content with added baking powder and salts.

  2.    SUGAR

Sugar plays a very important role in baking process . It not only adds sweetness to the baked item but also adds volume, tenderness, texture, color, and acts as a preservative. Generally four types of sugars are used for baking. They are granulated sugar, confectioners sugar, superfine sugar and brown sugar.

Granulated sugar is also known as white sugar and table sugar. It is widely used sugar which is derived from sugar cane or sugar beets. Confectioner’s sugar is also know as icing sugar or powdered sugar. It is powdered granulated sugar with added cornstarch. Superfine sugar is also known as castor sugar .It has very fine granules. Brown sugar has moist texture and is made by adding molasses to the granulated sugar. Its colour varies from light brown to dark brown depending upon the amount of molasses used.

  3.    BAKING POWDER

Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent which is  used for increasing the volume and lightening the texture of baked goods. It's made up of bicarbonate of soda ,cream of tartar and cornstarch.

  4.    BAKING SODA

Baking soda is also known as bicarbonate of soda or sodium bicarbonate . It is a leavening agent . It is added to baked goods before cooking to produce carbon dioxide and cause them to rise. 

   5.    VANILLA ESSENCE

 Vanilla essence is used as flavoring agents in desserts, breads, cakes, puddings, frostings, etc. 

   6.    YEAST

 Strains of yeast are used as a leavening agent in baking bread and bakery products, where it converts the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. 

7.EGGS

Eggs play a very important function of holding other ingredients while mixing and baking .They maintain the tender structure of the baked product.

8.BUTTER

Another all-round baking ingredient is butter . It not only gives the flavor to the baked good but also makes it light, tender and fluffy. Shelf life of product gets prolonged with this.

9.UNSWEETENED COCOA POWDER

It is used to give intense chocolate flavor to the baked good. It is also used in making chocolate icing and cake fillings.

10. SALT

Salt plays a very important role of controlling the fermentation rate of yeast. It not only adds overall flavor but also strengthens the gluten in the dough making it less sticky.

That’s  it folks !!

BLACK FOREST CAKE RECIPE

     

This scrumptious and mouth watering cake is originally a German dessert called Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte in german language. Recipe of this quite simple and its main ingredients are whipped cream , cherries, cherry syrup and chocolate .

Preparation time : 20 minutes

Cooking  time        :40 minutes

Serves                     : 4 to 5 people

Ingredients

For Cake Sponge :

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 Cup Sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp Butter

1 cup milk

¾ unsweetened cocoa powder

For Frosting :

1 pint whipping cream

½ cup icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence

For topping and filling:

Chocolate shavings

Canned cherries

 Method:

·       Mix  all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl properly.

·       Break eggs in a separate bowl and add sugar, milk, cooking oil and vanilla essence. Mix them properly till a nice liquid mixture is obtained.

·       Add this liquid mixture to the bowl containing flour mixture and make a thick paste .

·       Grease a 9 inches pan with molten butter and sprinkle all purpose flour on all sides.

·       Add the batter to this pan and let it settle for a few minutes.

·       Preheat heat the oven at 375 Fahrenheit and bake the cake for 35-40 minutes.

·       In a bowl mix the whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence and beat the mixture till the thick cream is obtained. This will be used for frosting purpose.

·       Grate a chocolate bar using a grater.

·       Let the cake cool once it is baked and remove the top cake crust using knife. Then cut the rest of the cake in 3 equal layers.

·       Drain the cherries out of can and crush them or slice them in very small pieces. Keep the cherry syrup in separate bowl.

·       Pierce all the cake layers using a fork so that base can absorb the cherry syrup properly. Put cherry syrup on all the layers.

·       Take a cake layer and apply frosting on the top and spread crushed cherries and chocolate shavings. Then put another layer on this layer and apply frosting and top it with crush cherries and chocolate shavings.

·       Finally put the final cake layer and apply frosting on the top and all around the cake and give it a nice finishing using spatula.

·       Top the cake with cherries and sprinkle chocolate shavings on the top and all around the cake.

·       And Ta Da !!! Your Black forest cake is ready !! Wasn’t that simple ??

Vanilla Mixed Fruit Cake Recipe

For Base

2 eggs

2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1tbsp vanilla essence

One pinch of salt

2 tbsp Baking Powder

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Boiling Water

¾ cup vegetable oil

For Frosting

3 cup whipped cream

2.5 cup icing sugar

Vanilla essence

For Fruit toppings

Kiwi

Apricot

Strawberries

Method:

·         Grease the 9 inch pan and pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.

·         Add all purpose flour, baking soda and saly properly.

·         Now add vanilla essence, eggs, vegetable oil and milk and beat it at medium speed.

·         Now mix boiling water and beat at high speed for 1 minute.

·         Take two 9’’ pans which are properly greased.

·         Transfer the mix into greased pan and spread evenly.

·         Beat the icing sugar, whipped cream& vanilla eseence in a mixing bowl till the soft peaks occur. Keep the one part of the cake on the cake board.Apply the cream all over the cake and spread the chopped fruits on it.

·         Apply the cream on top of the fruits and sandwich the cake,cover the fruit layer by the second part of the cake.

·         Apply the cream all over the cake.

·         Add fruit toppings of your choice. You may also carve patterns using deco blades.