Category: Valentines special

EGGLESS RED VELVET CAKE

If you love eggless red velvet cake as much as we do, then you are in for a treat. 

This  red velvet cake is super moist, perfectly sweet, flavored with a hint of vanilla and cocoa powder, and topped with whipped cream  frosting is a complete showstopper.

Bake these beauty to blend with your Valentine’s day theme, and I promise everyone will love them.

RECIPE VIDEO;

INGREDIENTS:

  • DRY INGREDIENTS
  • 1¼ cups All purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons Cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon Baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon Salt
  • 2 tablespoons Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons Wilton gel Red food color or Beetroot color (powder)
  • WET INGREDIENTS
  • ⅓ cup Unsalted  butter
  • 1 cup Regular Milk
  • 1 tablespoon Vinegar
  • 1¼ cup Superfine Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla essence
  • FOR BUTTERCREAM  FROSTING
  • 1 cup Butter
  • 3½ cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla essence
  • ⅛ teaspoon Salt
  • You can use whipped cream too for decorate your cake
  • Strawberries
  • some sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. PRE- PREPARATIONS
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line your Cake tin Set aside.
  3. Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl. Whisk it well. Set aside for 5 minutes to curdle.
  4. MAKING RED VELVET CAKE
  5. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and beet root powder.
  6. Sift them to remove lumps of flour and cocoa powder. Set it aside.
  7. Combine butter and sugar in the mixing bowl of an electric mixer.
  8. Using a whisk or balloon attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Add vanilla essence to the bowl.
  9. Add the red food coloring, milk + vinegar combo (buttermilk) to the mixing bowl.
  10. Mix in the dry ingredient. Mix until just combined, do not over mix the batter. Keep scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
    Pour the better in cake tin .
  11. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
    Once baked, remove from the oven and cool completely.
  12. BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
  13. Beat butter for 5 minutes until light and airy. Butter will lose most of its yellow color at this point.
  14. Slowly add powdered sugar/icing sugar (spoon by spoon) and beat until it is well blended.
  15. Add milk to thin out its consistency.
  16. Mix again. Icing is suitable for 1-2 weeks in your fridge and a month in your freezer.
  17. Frost the cooled cake with swirls of buttercream frosting and garnish with strawberries and sprinkles .

NOTES:

  • Sift the dry ingredients well. This will ensure there are no lumps of baking soda or cocoa powder in these eggless cupcakes. 
  • Baking soda + vinegar together starts a chemical reaction that helps the cake to rise. It’s a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide bubbles, and that’s what makes a cake/cupcake fluffy and light. Be rest assured, you won’t taste the vinegar in this recipe.
     
     

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ORANGE SPINACH AND PANEER SALAD

Here is a lovely salad that gives you a bit of everything – tanginess, juiciness, crunch, cheesiness and spice!

Paneer,  spinach and orange make a fabulous salad combo, which is enhanced further by the peppy, flavour-packed dressing
Mixed herbs and pepper add a dash of spice to this dressing, which combines the sweet notes of honey and the pungency of lemon juice .

You can try other salads like the GRILLED PINEAPPLE AND CORN SALAD, ROASTED BEETROOT AND ORANGE SALAD, HEALTHY CHICKPEA SALAD, WATERMELON BLUEBERRY COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD WITH CUCUMBERS, Crunchy Munchy Sprouts Salad in Cabbage Cups, Fresh Salad In Watermelon Bowl from my page.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup orange segments
  • 3 cups spinach (palak)
  • 1/4 cup crumbled paneer
  • 1/2 cup quartered strawberries
  • 1/4 cup cucumber

To Be Mixed Into A Dressing:

  • 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
  • 1 tbsp organic honey
  • 1/2 spoon black pepper
  • salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a deep bowl, along with the dressing and mix gently.
  2. Add the crumbled paneer, mix very gently.
  3. Serve immediately.

I love to make my recipes in heart shape so i use cookie cutter and shape heart shape.

I used paneer here , you can use feta cheese too.

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HIDDEN HEART CAKE

I have wanted to make this cake for a long time now. I finally tried it out and the result was amazingg.

Hidden Heart Valentines  Cake shows your love in every slice; a heart in every serving! This Valentines cake is a surprise cake. It’s fun and will thrill your Valentines!

The best part about this cake is that, no one can tell there is something hidden inside the cake! The surprise on my husband’s face when I made him cut the cake, was very satisfying for me! 

The only thing I did not like about this cake, was that, there is too much of wastage! Almost half of the cake baked for the heart shape goes waste. You can choose to make cake pops or truffles of the leftover cake.

I used the products from @ajanta_foodproducts https://ajantafoodproducts.com/ are
Ajanta baking powder
Ajanta red colour
Vanilla flavour

(100% natural and fantastic products )Their products are reasonable and they make sure they don’t have to compromise on the quality .

HIDDEN HEART CAKE

For the red heart cake

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1½ cups All Purpose Flour or Maida
  • 1 cup curd or yoghurt
  • 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 cup vegetable Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

INSTRUCTIONS :

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners or grease and flour well.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the curd and sugar until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the baking soda and baking powder. Let rest for 5 minutes while the mixtures bubbles up.
  4. Whisk in the oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
  5. Sift in the flour and whisk until smooth.
  6. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes.
  7. The cake is done when a tooth pick or skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.
  8. Once the cake is completely cool, cling wrap the cake and keep it in the refrigerator until we start the chocolate cake.
  9. Before starting the chocolate cake, remove the red cake from the refrigerator and slice the cake evenly. Take a heart mould and cut out hearts from each slice of the cake.

For the chocolate cake :

INGREDIENTS:

  • all purpose flour (maida)2 cup
  • 100 gm butter
  • Milk powder 1/2 cup+1/3 cup
  • Powdered sugar 1 Cup 
  • Coco powder 2 tblsp
  •  baking powder 1tsp
  •  Baking  soda 1/2 tsp
  • 1/4 tea spoon coffee powder (heaped)
  •   1 cup milk
  • 1/2  cup curd
  •  1/2 cup water
  •   1 tea spoon vanilla essence

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Mix flour with baking powder, soda, coffee and coco powder and sieve it thrice.
  2. Take a bowl, add soften butter and sugar, beat till light
  3. Now add milk powder and curd beat thoroughly. Add essence.
  4. Add Sieved flour (with baking powder and soda,coffee and coco) gradually with milk and water and fold the batter with the help of a spatula. Do not beat much at this point.
  5. Fill 1/4 of the greased loaf pan with the chocolate batter and tap well to even it out.
  6. . Now place the hearts next to each other. Pack them close. Leave a bit of gap at both corners for the chocolate batters to flow through and hide the hearts.
  7. After the hearts are placed, add the remaining chocolate batter over the hearts and around the hearts. Fill the pan, and tap gently so that the batter flows all around the hearts.
  8. Bake in the pre heated oven for 30-40  mins.
  9. The cake is done when a tooth pick or skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.
  10. Frost the cake as you wish. You can use a thick ganache over the loaf. I used only a chocolate Ganache  to pour over the loaf cake.
     

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WHOLE WHEAT HEARTY NICE BISCUITS(Hearty whole wheat flour cookies)

‘Nice’ Biscuits is one of my favourite biscuit brands. These sugar-coated biscuits are an absolute delight. I finally tried a similar recipe at home and was ecstatic when I could create the same taste at home so easily with only four ingredients! And this is a healthy version, as usual, made with whole wheat and cane sugar.
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INGREDIENTS:
Whole wheat flour 100g
Cane sugar 48g
Butter(room temperature) 50g
Desiccated Coconut 25g
Sugar crystals 1 tablespoon
2 tbsp Beetroot milk ( Beetroot mix with milk and grind like a milkshake )

INSTRUCTIONS :

  1. First, cream the butter and cane sugar until light and fluffy. Takes about 4-5 minutes.
  2. Add the wheat flour, desiccated coconut and beetroot Milk and form a soft dough. Do not knead.wp-15815280726205006602812988093367.jpg
  3. Cover and keep the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour.
    Roll out the dough between two parchment sheets to 1cm thickness.
  4. Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut out the cookies.wp-15815280728266832572264348411129.jpg
  5. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray and sprinkle sugar on the top.
  6. Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.
  7. Cool them completely on a wire rack. Store them in an airtight container and it should stay good for ten days.
    wp-1581608086866514704906719429532.jpg

    NOTES:

  • Choose the baking time and temperature as per your oven.
  • The cookies get baked quickly and have a tendency to get burnt so keep an eye on them.
  • Do not over bake, once it starts to turn lightly brown along the edges. Take them out, they will be soft when hot but will harden on cooling.
  • The important step here is the creaming process as that would give a good texture to the biscuits.
  • I always bake my cookies or biscuits without baking powder so creaming is an essential step to get flaky, melt in mouth biscuits.
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HEALTHY WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR BEETROOT PASTRY

Happiness is making Healthy Whole-wheat flour Beetroot Pastry for a valentine celebration.
This pastry is fluffy and moist and very easy and quick to prepare. It is a great way to get some veggies into your diet while still enjoying a sweet treat.
I love beetroot and try to use it in my recipes very often because of nutritional values and also a beautiful natural colour.
Everyone, who tasted it was surprised that such a delicious treat could be made from a vegetable many don’t like.
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INGREDIENTS :
Dry mixture
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp sugar powdered

Wet mixture
200 grams condensed milk
1/4cup + 2 tbsp beetroot juice
1tsp vanilla essence
50 grams of butter, melted
2tbsp oil
1/4tsp lemon zest
1tsp lemon juice

DECORATION :
Whipped cream
Red fondant
sugar syrup

INSTRUCTIONS :

  1. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
  2. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and Cocoa powder & Sugar and sieve 2-3 times and keep aside.wp-15814713499033367408206311608290.jpg
  3. Combine the Milkmaid and beetroot juice in a bowl and whisk well. Keep aside.wp-15814713501636261079569419173247.jpg
  4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture gradually and keep stirring.
  5. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well.
  6. Add melted butter & oil and mix well.wp-15814713503643234432173281878115.jpg
  7. Stir until the mixture is of pouring consistency.
  8. Now add the vanilla essence and lightly stir again once.
  9. Grease the cake/cupcake mould and sprinkle little maida into it.
  10. Pour the batter into it and bake in a pre-heated oven in 20 to 25 minute.
  11. Remove and cool.
  12. Take a single cupcake and cut it into 3 parts resembling three layers
  13. Put some sugar syrup and whipped cream on the first layer, then put the second layer and repeat.
  14. Put the third layer on, putting cream and crumbled cake pieces on it.
  15. You can decorate it further with cupcake crumb and fondant toppers.
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LITTLE HEART STRAWBERRY SANDESH

Little heart is my favourite biscuit-type.
Valentine’s day is over but heart- shape obsession is forever.

PicsArt_02-24-09.57.34.jpg
Sandesh is a famous Bengali sweet loved by everyone and by far one of the easiest Indian dessert recipes, I have come across.
Here I am sharing a flavoured Sandesh in a  heart-shaped biscuit sandwich. So I tried innovating and experimenting with a traditional recipe and it turned out to be pretty good. A good presentation can do wonders and these little sweeties are just the catch!
PicsArt_02-24-09.58.38.jpg

INGREDIENTS:
2 servings
250-gram paneer
150  grams condensed milk
1 tbsp milk powder
1 tbsp  (according to the sweetness you like)
1 tbsp refined flour i.e maida
1/2 cup strawberry puree
1 tsp strawberry essence (optional)
12 little hearts biscuits, edible sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a blender add grated paneer, condensed milk, milk powder, refined flour and strawberry puree, strawberry essence now churn the mixture into a fine paste. Check for the sweetness, if you feel it to be less add some powdered sugar and mix well.
  2. Take a non-stick pan and transfer the entire mixture. Stirring continuously, cook the mixture on a medium flame. Cook till the mixture becomes dry enough that it can be made balls off.
  3. Now the interesting part of the recipe….make medium sized balls from the mixture. Take the little heart biscuit and place a ball cover it with another biscuit to make Sandesh sandwich.
  4. Press the biscuits together so that the ball fits in between the biscuits properly and takes the shape of the heart.decorate with some sprinkles.
  5. A very interesting and fascinating dessert prepared in very less time.
  6. Can easily be on your menu list in your next party.
  7. If you like this recipe, share it friends and family and spread the love.PicsArt_02-24-09.58.38.jpg

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