Cranberry Sponge Loaf

"Do you really think you will use it? I bet, it will end up as a clutter in your home!" she said as she handed it over to me. I nodded in disapproval as I packed and shoved it into my bag. On the way back to home her words kept ringing in my ears "I'm sure this craze won't last long. You will give up soon after a few flip flops." I was determined, I wouldn't... atleast not so soon.

It's almost close to 3 years now since the day I borrowed her legacy Racold oven with the baking tin. The old square 9" baking tin that was handed over to me by my mother and that's when I actually began my baking with. And the test baking with pressure cooker was my inspiration to begin with :) I still love this old round aluminium oven that I borrowed. It feels ancient and classy. Back then mom did everything with cooking and baking that I do today. Baking cakes, cookies, puddings, mac and cheese, everything that would make kids feel happy about food.

Soon Indian markets began to flood with baked goodies and most of these products were easily available in big supermarkets. So with time all this took a backseat and she focused on cooking traditional healthy food. Again, she comes from a school of thought which said "Why bake when you can get the same stuff at an affordable price with no efforts in a well presented way?" Also, since it's just a piece or two one would buy, we would not indulge in over eating as against baking at home where surplus quantities tempt you to eat more. She has a point. She was darn sure that at some point in time I would agree with her. But these flops seem to have made me a bold baker. And beyond feeding yummy goods to others, I find it a great stress buster which helps me forget myself.

For the moment I ain't retiring. In fact since my daughter's birth I haven't really cooked much apart from our typical Indian menu. Time has been my real enemy :( Sorry, I am cribbing about it again. Incidentally, I got a good chance at hand this weekend to bake something as dear hubby agreed I needed some time off for myself.

Nita Mehta's recipe for Eggless Sponge seems to be quite popular. Many blogs have appreciated the recipe as a successful attempt at using curd (Indian name for yogurt) as substitute for eggs. Sharmilee, a dear blogger friend from Chennai blogs on Sharmispassions and I have been an ardent follower of her blog for long. We have been good virtual friends and catch up online often. Meeting Indian bloggers has it's perks, since our wavelength with baking and cooking match well and it's easier to connect with them. When I saw this recipe on her blog, I was totally convinced that the resulting cake would be spongy. Her step-by-step recipe motivated me further and I had to give this a try. I went ahead with the basic recipe, used butter instead of oil, added a handful of dried cranberries and the resulting loaf was soft, buttery and excellent.

Cranberry Sponge Loaf

Inspired by Sharmispassions.com
Source: Nita Mehta

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 cup Thick Curd/Yogurt
1 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Butter
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
A fist full of Fresh/Dried Cranberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C for 10 mins. Grease a butter paper and layer it in the loaf pan.

Sieve all purpose flour twice and keep aside. Cream the sugar and curd until sugar completely dissolves. Add baking powder, baking soda to the creamed mixture and mix well. Leave aside for 5 mins and till bubbles appear on the mixture. Now add in vanilla essence and softened butter and beat well. Next slowly add all purpose flour in portions at a time and blend with wet ingredients. Beat well with a till creamy and thick.

Coat the cranberries in all purpose flour. Finally fold in the cranberries gently. Pour the batter to the loaf tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 180 deg C and bake it further for 30-35 mins. Check using a fork inserted into the center of the cake. It should come out clean. Allow the cake to cool down for 10 mins, then invert and remove the butter paper. Slice them into pieces and enjoy with a cup of milk or coffee.

This recipe is a keeper for sure. I have attempted many variations with this recipe. Tried cupcakes with the same recipe, they were an instant hit. Attempted a small increase in the amount of flour, did not beat the batter much, added a few chocolate chips and made yummy muffins, we were bowled by it's taste and texture. No one can tell they lack eggs in them. It's so simple that it needs no bookmarking and can be easily replicated anytime. The recipe for eggless sponge can be adapted to make different flavored cakes, gateaux, cupcakes, layered treats and much more. Just a few ingredients will result in a cake that is extremely yum, with the perfect sponge and excellent texture.

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Welcome to my kitchen! My baking essentials & shops I hop

I apologize for being so late on this. I probably should have done this post long time ago, but I am doing it here finally! I have been receiving many requests on fetching ingredients and equipments related to baking in Bangalore from my blogger pals and mostly from my non-blogger friends who follow my blog. From ingredients I use to the springform pans and white ceramics I fetch, where and what - these are the common queries I have received from many. Unfortunately, baking at home is not so popular and most Indian homes won't see many of these items. Keeping in mind, the hassles I went through personally while shopping for pans and tins along with the ingredients required, I have put in an honest effort at sharing baking essentials I use and the places I fetch them from in Bangalore.

Dairy products and Cheese

Milk: I use regular Nandini milk with 3% fat in it. Full fat milk is used when I make puddings, halwas, kheer or when a recipe specifies it. Else skimmed milk works just fine.

Cream: I use 25% fat Amul Fresh Cream for all my recipes and I love the fact we atleast get this one in market. Whipping Amul/low fat cream to stiff has been a common problem to most of us living in India. :) Weather makes it worse. I am sure most of you will agree on that. Although, that’s not entirely possible to whip it stiff, I can suggest alternatives here.

1) Make an old fashioned cooked frosting called Custard Frosting for recipes that call for whip cream/frosting. It holds the shape well and tastes pretty good.

2) Another alternative is to increase the fat content in low-fat cream you whip. The higher the butterfat content, the better it will whip, since the whipped fat traps the air bubbles. Introduce butter in slow streams while whipping cold low-fat cream till it holds stiff peaks.

3) If using gelatin is not a problem with you, add gelatin to low-fat whipped cream. The gelatin will help to stabilize the cream. Read here and here.

We get non-dairy Rich's whipping cream which most coffee joints across the city use, but since it's sold only for industrial/commercial use, getting access to it easily is another task itself. Apart from this, I've seen imported brands like President's Whipping cream and Whip cream sprays in supermarkets, however I have never used them.

Whip Cream powder: I bought whip cream powder only once. It was fetched from my trusted local bakery. And although it whipped well and tasted exactly like fresh cream, I did not go back to it again with the fear of using an unbranded product and not knowing it's constituents. I recently came across Bluebird products online and will be keen to order some soon. They have whip cream powder on their list.

Butter: It's Nutralite: Better than Butter most of the times. Amul Lite is my alternate choice. I have always used them confidently with results which are on par with butter. These are low-fat, low-salt table margarine derived from vegetable oils. That saves me from the task of adding extra salt.

Condensed Milk: I use either Nestle's Milkmaid or Amul Mithai Mate. It can be either and depends on which one is of the latest date.

Mascarpone cheese: I have tried Italian cheese available on stands in Foodworld. It's almost similar to what we can make at home. Bring some milk cream to boil, add in a teaspoon or two of lime juice and allow it to curdle. Give some standing time and strain using muslin cloth. Allow it to set in the refrigerator for atleast 2-3 hours. Mascarpone is ready to use. Homemade mascarpone cheese is better since it's fresh and free from additives and preservatives.

Mozzarella cheese: There are many brands out there, but Britannia or Amul are my trusted brand. I use it in pizzas with pretty satisfying results.

Cheddar cheese: It can be either Amul or Britannia.

Cream cheese: Philadelphia cream cheese is easily available in most supermarket counters. I've tried Britannia cream cheese, but since it's mildly salted, I'm not sure if it works well for a cheesecake, though they claim it can be. I haven't tried it yet. Again, about 180 gm pack costs about INR 150, which is way too expensive. So I am happy in trying alternatives for cream cheese if I'm making a cheesecake.

Greek Yogurt: This is something I haven't come across anywhere in Bangalore. If using in desserts, I substitute Amul Shrikhand. It works like magic in cheesecakes. I always have stock of homemade yogurt which we consume on a daily basis. So if it calls for use in eggless cakes or brownies, I use homemade yogurt only.

Oils

Oil: I use Saffola or Dhara vegetable oil. There's no certain preference over these.

Olive Oil: I'm currently using a Spanish product called Musa. I have always used Extra virgin olive oil and follow no particular brand. There are many available in the market, hence you can make your choice.

Flavored oils: Where recipes call for flavored oils like garlic oil or herb oil, I heat up some oil, add in the garlic and allow the flavors to infuse for sometime. I make mine at home and since it's fresh it adds great flavors. The same goes to herb oils as well.

Sugar

Sugar: Parry's superfine sugar works like a charm even where caster sugar is asked for. I use it in my daily tea as well as in baking.

Caster sugar: Eagle caster sugar is the best I use. When I don't have one at hand, I simply put my regular sugar into mixer and grind them fine.

Brown Sugar: It's been long since I purchased brown sugar. Imported variety of light and dark brown sugar is now available here, but they are expensive. They cost about INR 250 for 500gm pack and I think it's not totally worth spending that huge amount when baking at home.

FabIndia sells Organic Brown sugar and Damerara too. When in stock, I prefer buying my Brown sugar from them. At INR 125 for 500gm, they are the best deal I can get.

Demerera sugar: Again Eagle's sugar is my best choice.

Icing sugar/Confectioner's sugar: I pretty much use regular sugar powdered in my mixie.

Miscellaneous Baking Products

Flour: I use regular all purpose flour or maida for baking almost everything. We do not have easy access to highly refined flour or bread flour in India, hence this is the best choice. I sieve the flour once for cakes and cookies and twice to make breads and pizza base. I have never faced problems with that till date. Again, Bluebird products online have Super Sifted Flour on their list.

Self-rising flour: If you only have all-purpose, here's how you can make one at home. Measure the desired amount of flour into a container. For each cup of all-purpose flour measuring about 125 gm, add 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Sift well to combine.

Cake Flour: Make your own with one cup sifted cake flour with 3/4 cup (85 grams) sifted all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.

Baking powder: I use Weikfield baking powder and it gives me a good rise.

Baking soda: It's Weikfield again. The thumb-rule is to always keep it closed in an air-tight container and never use a wet spoon while handling baking powder or soda.

Yeast: I source fresh yeast from a local trusted bakery nearby, specially for baking pizzas and bread. I've used instant dry yeast from Eagle's and Baker's, they are good, but do not give the best rise. I've been told that Gloripan instant yeast works well too.

All spice powder: For an Indian, all spice powder would probably mean garam masala, but this does not suit baking. I always have a stock of homemade spice powder which is an instant rescue for recipes that call for it's use. My mixed spice is homemade and is freshly ground with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg going into it. I store it in air tight glass container and it stays fresh for months.

Vanilla extract: I buy my bottles of vanilla extract during my trips to hill stations. It's been long since I bid bye to the synthetic vanilla essence you get in markets. I've come across blogs which tell how to make vanilla extract at home and I know it's super easy, but I haven't attempted them yet. May be some day!

Vanilla Sugar: Honestly, I have never used it or did not see the need to use it.

Dark/Milk/White Chocolate: Morde and Marco chocolate compound. Those are the choices we have here. As much as I love Ghiradelli and Lindt, I don't see it's worth using them for my regular baking as they cost a bomb. And with a bar costing close to INR 550, I would rather enjoy eating them as is. :)

I buy my chocolates from Tuscany, Forum Value Mall. A little over-priced than what it costs outside, I buy it from here since this is the closest to where I live. You can fetch the same from many other vendors across Bangalore. I have purchased dark chocolate bars and chocolate chips from Nilgiris, Brigade Road and Durga Enterprises in Madivala. The ones sold in Durga Enterprises melt easily on heating. If you want chocolate chips that hold shape even after baking, look for them at Nilgiris. They work great in muffins.

Cocoa powder: I have used Cadbury's before Hershey's hit Indian market. I have been using Hershey's since then as I love it's dark, denser color and taste.

Canned/ Dry fruits and Nuts

Blueberries, Cranberries, Cherries: These fruits are not common in India, atleast I have not seen any of these in form of fresh fruits anywhere in Bangalore, though fruit jams are easily available in most supermarkets like Foodworld and Reliance Fresh. I use Mother's Maid and I pretty much like it. I get them imported from Dubai and these are canned blueberries that come in tins. I used to get fresh blueberries whenever my husband would visit the States, but unfortunately, they rot easily and have a short shelf life.

Unfortunately, we do not grow these in India. Northern part of India does grow peaches, plums and cherries, but these are very expensive in South. I use imported dried blueberries and cranberries from Ocean Spray which I got from US. It will last me for a couple of months. They work good in cakes and muffins.

Fruits and Fruit preserves: I always prefer using fresh fruits and organic preserves. I buy my jams, marmalades and fruit preserves from Fabindia. They have host of good organic products. They also sell organic vanilla pods and vanilla powder.

Cherries: I purchased a can of tinned cherries from Durga Enterprises in Madivala. When fresh cherries are available, I like to pick them then.

Hazelnuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts: Again these nuts are not so popular in India, but I have seen them in Hypercity mall, AECS Layout, Bangalore. I have purchased hazelnuts from there, but never tried bought Pecans or Pine nuts.

Cashews, Almonds, Pistachios: My parents used to buy almonds and cashews in bulk from wholesale dealer and I would take it from them, but I have now moved to buying in smaller quantities from supermarket. I buy half a kilo packets and use them as required.

Slivered almonds: Slivered almonds are ideal for baking and for making cookies and to me, beyond baking, the task of chopping almonds, powdering sugar, lining the tin, softening butter, happen to be the most boring. I wish I could avoid them! I used to buy packs of slivered almonds from Nilgiris, but again, it's expensive and hardly last for 2-3 bakes or so. So I have been doing this job at home in my kitchen. I suggest you follow the recipe given on this site. It works beautifully!

Dried herbs: I use Keya products for oregano, basil, thyme when fresh herbs are not at hand. They are freeze dried and are pretty good to serve the purpose.

Perishables

Herbs: Nothing beats the flavors from fresh herbs. I buy organic spinach from Namdharis. I purchase all my herbs from Foodworld, Whitefield. Whenever they get fresh stock of rosemary, parsley, lettuce or basil, I love to load my shopping carts with them. They have a wide variety of herbs which are uncommon to Indian cooking.

Vegetables and other products: Foodworld, Whitefield is my one-shop-stop for most products. It has a good range of fresh, local and imported products which satisfies my requirement for baking. It stocks many imported ingredients like variety of cheese ranging from Mozzarella, Parmesan, Cream Cheese to Flavored cheese, Whipping Cream Spray, Lindt Dark Chocolates, Haagen Daz ice creams, imported tinned fruits, imported soy milk, imported silken tofu, variety of local and imported pastas, gnocchi and lasagna sheets, Range of sauces like Teriyaki, Worcestershire, Tabasco. They also have fresh rare seasonal vegetables and fruits like Chinese cabbage, celery, broccoli, oyster mushrooms, asparagus, wheat-grass, lemon grass, fresh parsley, Granny Smith apples, prunes, kiwis, chinese pears, dragon fruit, mangosteen, plums, etc. Most of these products are available in Hypercity mall, AECS layout and Nilgiris on Brigade road where I shop often. For organic products, my choices are Namdharis and FabIndia.

DISCLAIMER: The products mentioned here are not meant for advertisement. This is not a paid endorsement or any kind or promotion for any product or shop. These are product I use and shops I visit. This has been posted with an intention to help others.

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