Category Archives: Cakes n bakes

Cakes n bakes

Mexican Wedding Cake

Mexican wedding cakes

Mexican wedding cakes also known as Russian tea cakes or butter cookies are very delicious and just melts in the mouth.

Ingredients:

Butter- 1 cup (room temperature)

All purpose flour– 2 cups

confectionary sugar 1/2 cup + 1 cup

Walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts 2/3 cup toasted and powdered

Vanilla extract– 1/2 tsp

Salt -1/4 tsp

Preparation:

Toast the nuts at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes until light brown, cool down before grinding to get a powdered mixture or else you will end up getting a lump. Use a hand mixer or food processor to mix the butter and 1/2 cup of confectionary sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in vanilla extract and mix again. In a separate bowl mix salt and all-purpose flour. Add the flour slowly and mix it completely until incorporated. Finally add the nut mixture and bring the mixture into a dough. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for an hour.

Mexican wedding cake

Preheat the oven to 350°C. Spray the cookie sheet with baking spray or use a  parchment paper. Scoop 1 tbsp or 100 oz of mixture, make it in to a round shape and line up the dough 2 inches apart.

Mexican wedding cake

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges and the bottom just turn light golden brown.

Mexican Wedding Cake

Spread 1 cup of confectionary sugar on a flat bottom. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, take a spatula and slowly grab the cookie and toss and turn the cookie in the sugar. The cookie should be completely coated with sugar. If you not a sugar person as I am, you can just sprinkle some sugar on top as well. Make sure you cool it completely before tasting it!

Mexican wedding cake

Mexican wedding cake

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Cakes n bakes

Eggless Fruit And Nut Cake

Ingredients:

Raisins, cranberries, tutty fruity or any other glazed fruit- 1/3 cup of each (1 cup total)

Chopped cashew, Almonds, walnut – 1/3 cup of each (1 cup total)

All purpose flour -1 3/4 cup

Sugar- 1 cup

Baking soda-1 tsp

Cinnamon powder-1/4 tsp

Nutmeg powder-1/4 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Butter-1/2 cup

Water- 2 cups

Vallina essence- 1tsp

Preparation:

Bring two cups of water to boil adding raisins and cranberries or any other chopped dried friut for 10 minutes, closing the lid.

Turn off the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Add butter and stir to mix it completely and keep aside. Cool it further for another 10 minutes. Mix sifted all purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and salt.

Stir in the dry ingredients into water which has butter, raisins and cranberries. Mix everything completely and finally add chopped nuts, tutty fruity or glazed fruits if any.

Mix it well and pour it into a sprayed bunt cake pan or any regular 12″ baking pan.

Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes depending on your oven. Tooth pick inserted should come out clean when done.

Allow it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, loosen the edges with a buttered knife, turn it upside down on a cooling rack and cool further for few minutes, before cutting the cake.

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Cakes n bakes

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroon

Ingredients:

Sweetened shredded coconut- 11/2 cup

All purpose flour– 1/4 cup

Sugar– 1/2 cup

Egg whites– 2

Vanilla essence– 1/2 Tsp

Salt- 1/8 tsp

For chocolate dipping:

Heavy cream- 1/2 cup

Dark chocolate/ semi- dark chocolate -14 oz

Preparation:

In a heatproof bowl, placed over a pan of warm water, whisk both egg white and sugar. Remove from heat when the mixture is warm to touch and creamy.

Add in salt, vanilla essence, sifted all purpose flour and sweetened shredded coconut and mix well. Cover this mixture and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

  

On a baking sheet, add a parchment paper or aluminum foil and place a scoop of mixture leaving spaces in between. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F or until it turns golden brown.

Allow the cookies to completely cool down. (We can have these by themselves or coat them with chocolate). In a small bowl, add heavy cream and heat until it comes to a boil. Now add chocolate pieces or chips and allow it to settle for 2-3 minutes. Mix them evenly, dip the bottom of the cookies and on top, decorate the cookies as per your wish. Allow it to completely dry before you put them into a air tight container.

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Cakes n bakes

Date Cake

Ingredients:

Pitted dates- 18 to 20

All purpose flour– 1 cup

Milk-3/4 cup

oil- 1/2 cup  (vegetable oil or olive oil)

Baking soda– 1 tsp

Walnut– 1/4 cup (optional)

Sugar-3/4 cup (powdered)

Preparation:

Soak dates in milk for 2-3 hours.(If using dry dates, you might have to soak it overnight) Blend dates and sugar until smooth. In a bowl add oil and blended mixture and mix well. Now add (sifted) all purpose flour, baking soda and walnuts (optional) slowly and mix well.(I used a hand blender and mixed for 3-5 minutes, scraping the sides often.)

Put the mixture into a 9 inch pan and bake for 35 – 40 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick comes out clear when inserted into the cake.

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Cakes n bakes

Banana, Walnut Bread

Ingredients:

All purpose flour-2 cups

Powdered sugar– 1 cup

Bananas- 3 (fully ripened and big ones)

baking soda-1 tsp

walnut-1/4 cup (chopped into small pieces)

olive oil– 1/4 cup

Preparation: In a large bowl mash the bananas really well and add powdered sugar and mix well. Add olive oil and walnut, mix until it has incorporated well into the mixture. Sieve all purpose flour along with baking soda. Divide the flour into 3 to 4 batches and add each batch of flour to the mixture slowly and mix. Make sure to have mixed the flour in one direction to avoid uneven mixing. Grease and flour the baking pan (I used 9 inch loaf pan) and add the mixture evenly. Preheat oven to 350°F and bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes clear when inserted in the center. Cool it for 5-10 minutes, Make sure the edges of the bread are clear from the pan (Insert a blunt knife and make it clear, making sure not to touch the base of the pan) before inverting. Do not keep the bread out for too long as it might loose its softness.

 

Linking this post to Fruit Fiesta.

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