Eggless Multi-grain Wholewheat Flour Black Forest Cake

Eggless Multigrain Black Forest Cake

"It is not the standard Black Forest Cake Recipe, but my choice of ingredients that Rules !"

Who does not love the gorgeous Black Forest Cake? Being a vegetarian, I denied my taste buds the pleasure of this very tempting chocolate and cherry-laden German cake, thinking that egg was an essential ingredient to prepare this; but, my joy knew no bounds when I actually created a vegetarian recipe for this and that too with common ingredients available in an Indian household !
For people who want to brush up their knowledge about the Black Forest Cake, it is essentially a chocolate cake with layers of frosting made of whipped cream and maraschino cherries. The distinguishing ingredient of this dish is Kirschwasser( a type of cherry liquor), which you might be familiar with as Kirsch ! Well, I used apple juice in place of Kirsch and there is a  good reasons for this. In our house, we do not drink any kind of hard drinks, and so alcohol( an important constituent of Kirsch) was not in my kitchen inventory. Not all Indians like to consume alcohol, especially when the item in which it is used will be eaten by even children and elderly people. Therefore, apple juice formed the base of my cherry extract. I soaked the cherries in apple juice and filtered that juice the next day and added it to my regular chocolate cake batter. Believe me, the result was just deadly !

" Thinking About the Health Aspect ? This Black Forest Cake Recipe takes care of it well ! "

If you are thinking about the health aspect of this black forest cake, then there cannot be a healthier alternative ! I used heart-healthy vegetable oil in place of butter in the cake, and most importantly used wholewheat flour enriched with soya flour, chickpea flour, oat flour, maize flour and Psyllium husk.  Moreover, you are aware that the world is turning vegetarian these days for health reasons...and this is a totally vegetarian cake !

Everybody Has the Right to Enjoy Good Food, Not Only the Rich !

My eyes used to fill with tears when I would watch kids from average Indian families desperately controlling their temptation while passing by commercial bakeries laden with utterly delicious, but very pricey cakes, of which the Black Forest was definitely one. I wanted to do something about this. I wanted to make the dish with healthy and commonly available ingredients. Items made with healthy, but economical ingredients can be prepared  in any Indian household.My motto is, good dishes should not be items to be relished by only a few; they should be within the reach of the masses too. After all, everybody has the right to enjoy good food.  This recipe is an endeavor on those lines. If you do not have an oven, you can use your pressure cooker to make this. Just do not use water in it and do not put the whistle on top.

So here is the recipe for the same...View the presentation below and give me feedback on the same...

Eggless black forest cake from Leenakomarraju
 

So How did the Black Forest Cake Get its Name and Who Invented It?

Since we love the Black Forest Cake so much, just a small trivia session will not do any harm ! So here are the facts about its origin ...The first time I came to know about this cake, I wondered why it was called the Black Forest Cake. Many of us might think that the chocolate shavings( which resemble the soil of the woods), and the cherries( which resemble the fruit bearing trees), against the white whipped cream backdrop( which resembles the snow), resembles a black forest. But that is not the reason... the cake gets its name from Schwarzwälder Kirsch from Schwarzwald, the German Black Forest.
The Black Forest Cake was not actually a cake, and the person who created it was a German baker named Josef Keller, in his kitchen in Bad Godesberg called Agner.

Are Black Forest Cakes Specifically Made for Any Holidays?

While the Black Forest Cake makes an utterly delicious item for any party, formally, you can see it prepared more on Washington's Birthday, also known as President's Day,  and there is an interesting story attached to this...Six-year-old George Washington cuts down the bark of his father's favorite cherry tree with his hatchet and when his father demands to know about the person who cut off his tree, George gathers courage and tells him the truth. George's father's anger just vanishes, and he praises his son for speaking the truth, saying that the virtue of his son to speak the truth in the face of adversity, was more worthier than a thousand such cherry trees  to him!

Baked Saffron and Dry Fruits Sweet Rice Pudding

Saffron Sweet Rice pudding

Saffron sweet rice pudding is a delightful variation of the conventional Kheer. I recommend this as an offering to Goddess Saraswati for Vansant Panchami and I have good reasons for that. Firstly, Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of learning, is fond of the colors, yellow and white. This is the reason you will find yellow flowers being offered to her. She is also depicted mostly clad in yellow clothes. In essence yellow is the color of prosperity in India. Taking all this into consideration, I thought of making a yellow dish for her this year and this extremely delicious saffron rice pudding stuck me.

Please follow the recipe presentation below:

Baked saffron rice pudding recipe from Leenakomarraju

 Healthy Variations

It is somewhat rich as it contains condensed milk and dry fruits, but it gives you ample scope to try out your own variations without the above mentioned rich ingredients. Even saffron rice, with honey and no condensed milk and dry fruits would taste as good as the one which has them.

Trivia

Saraswati, is the wife of Brahma, who according to Hindu mythology, is the creator of this world. Saraswati is the Goddess of Knowledge and is prayed by Hindus for intellectual and career oriented prosperity. Bengalis perform Saraswati Puja on Vasant Panchami day. People of other communities, such as the South Indians, worship the Goddess during Dussehra.

No-cook Instant Chocolate With Edible Jewelry for Valentine's Day

No cook instant chocolate with edible candy jewelry for valentine's day from Leenakomarraju
Valentine's Day is round the corner and how about trying out some very easily made quick chocolates for the day ? You could also make some fun, edible wearable jewelry for the occasion. It does not take you even half an hour to get things going as the basic process involved in this is just mixing the ingredients and shaping them. Unlike other chocolate recipes, you don't have to toil with stirring the chocolate and then allowing it to set inside and outside the refrigerator for long hours. Your chocolate is ready within minutes ! If you are a busy person and you want to creatively make something that is delicious and fun to have, you can try this out.
Watch the presentation for the step-by-step recipe of  no-cook instant chocolates for Valentine's Day.

Jiaozi with sweet sour soy sauce for the Chinese New Year

Jiaozi with sweet sour soy sauce from Leenakomarraju

It is time for the Chinese New Year and here is Jiaozi, which tops the list of New Year specials of the Chinese and many of the South East Asians. For those who are not aware, a Jiaozi is basically a dumpling, which is traditionally made with a filling of meat or vegetables and served with soy sauce. 

Classic Chinese cooking involves steaming or boiling the dumplings. Some people prefer the steamed or boiled dumplings to be pan-fried. I would also suggest that you could also try baked jiaozi and see which variety is liked by your family. 

The motto of a good chef should be “make the best use of what you have”. I had second thoughts about making a Chinese dish as I did not have all the ingredients traditionally used in making this dish. But I thought that non-availability of ingredients should not intimidate me and where there is a will there should be a way. So I had made use of ingredients that were commonly available to me at a small Indian town. 

Jiaozi Health Facts

You need all-purpose flour, vegetables or meat, salt, seasonings and water to make this dish.  The method of preparation makes this dish healthy. You steam or boil the dumplings and if it is vegetable filling, you are preparing them in the healthiest way possible as both boiling and steaming have been accepted and recommended as healthy ways of cooking. Traditionally you don’t have to use oil, but I have sauteed the vegetables lightly in some heart-healthy oil to suit our Indian palate better.  I have also tried a baked variation and it turned out to be simply fabulous !

The soy dip accompaniment also comes with the virtues of soy sauce and green chillies. 

Serving

Jiaozi are absolutely filling and traditionally they are served as starters or as an accompaniment dish, but I suggest that you could eat these tasty and nutritious bags  for breakfast too. 

Trivia

Do you know why a jiaozi is sometimes called a potsticker? - It is because it sticks to the bottom of the pan in which it is sauteed.
Jiaozi and wanton are not the same- you know about the former; the latter has a thinner skin, is conventionally rounder than jiaozi and served in a broth.