The tale of two cakes….

More than a year ago,when I was looking for an egg-less cake recipe,I came across Vandhana’s Egg-less microwave chocolate cake recipe and decided to make it as she had mentioned it would take just 7 minutes to bake it!!!

I put together the ingredients[I just made a small addition of a tablespoon of chopped cashews] and was about to start the baking process when that lil voice in me suggested I try a small one first instead of baking a large one.I took a small glass bowl,poured a little batter,shoved it into the microwave and set the timer.At the same time someone chose to ring the door bell.When I was about to answer one of the hundred questions the salesman at the door managed to ask me in a second,I smelt something burning.[No points for guessing where it came from….].Leaving the terror struck salesman at the door I shot off to the kitchen to find smoke bellowing through the vent in the microwave oven.I switched of the power supply but didn’t have the guts to open the microwave.I thought that was the last of the microwave and wondered what to tell mom.

Mom too rushed in and calmly opened the microwave.This was how the cake looked at the end of just 3 minutes in the microwave.The bowl was cracked and the cake burnt.

The disaster cake

After half an hour,I decided to try it once more in another microwave proof vessel and poured in half the batter and kept aside the remaining half-just in-case this one also got burnt.

This time I reduced the power to 60% and timed it for 8 minutes.Now the smoky kitchen was replaced by a drool-worthy aroma and I could hardly wait to taste it.I let it stand in the microwave for a few minutes.

Meanwhile,I decided to bake the other half on the stove.Years ago when I was in school,mom got an ‘oven’ that could bake cakes on the stove top.It has 2 layers.The bottom one has to be filled with sand and on the upper layer there is large pan and small cups for cupcakes.Mom used to bake cakes for me with this one and I wanted to use it .So the batter was distributed between the pan and the cups.In this method,the baking time was around 20 minutes.I had to check frequently if it was baked as I have never used this method.

The batter ready to be baked[left],Cake fresh out of the microwave[upper Right],Delicious cake ready to be served[Bottom right]

Finally I got 9 cupcakes and 2 large cakes.The taste was good but I wished I could do some icing.Lack of time lead me to serve them as such.Nevertheless the cakes were appreciated by my parents.Yes,I had baked it for my parents wedding anniversary last year.[Yes you read it right,I did say- last year!].All these days it was in my drafts and finally I decided to post it today as it is hubby’s B’day and here I am miles away from him.I would have baked this cake for him today but now am virtually sending it across to him 🙂

For this delicious eggless chocolate cake you need:

Maida/All purpose flour – 1 and 2/3 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Cooking Oil- a little less than 1/2 a cup
Milk – 1/3 cup(cold milk)
Curd – 1 cup
Cocoa – 3 tablespoons
Drinking chocolate-3 tablespoons
Soda bi-carb – 1 level teaspoon
Cashew nuts-1 tablespoon ,chopped

1. Sieve together maida and soda bi carb.
2. Toss the nuts in a little maida and remove the excess flour and keep the nuts aside.
3. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients and make a smooth batter.
4. Pour the batter into a greased microwave proof bowl[The batter should be up-to 1/4 level of the bowl only]
5. Microwave on 60% power for 8 minutes.To check if the cake is done,insert a skewer into the cake,if it comes out clean,the cake is done.
6. Let it stand in the microwave for 2 minutes.Take it out and let it cool a bit.
7. Cut and serve!!

Note-The timings may vary hence start checking if the cake is done from the 5th minute itself.

Try it out and let me know how it turned out….