All his favourites in one, Birthday Cake.

My lil one turned 2 today and I am in denial. Its seems strange that me, who still cannot believe that she is married and a mum, has a toddler in his twos. Wow! Anyways, this post is not about my denials but about him  my superstar, lil Z. So like any other toddler, Z has a couple of things he loves. Wake him up in middle of the night and he will happy to devour them. His favourite foods and my guilty food cause I usually turn to them only when a) he is not eating anything else and b) because its all the "wrong foods" for him. Anyways, since this being a momentous occasion and all, after all you only turn 2 once, I decided to bake him a cake with all his favourites. So, what are his favourites you ask? Lemme list it for you.

1. Fruit loops
2. Cream cheese frosting
3. Chocolate chips
4. Sprinkles
5. Crayons ( Dont ask, I have crayons with bite marks on them all over the house)
6. Cupcakes

So then, I thought and thought and thought as to how I could incorporate all his favourites into one and voila..'All his favourite birthday Day' aka Rainbow cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated with fruit loops, sprinkles and liberally strewn with chocolate chips. 'I left the waxy crayons out and drew inspiration form their lovely colours. Needless to say, I think it was his best birthday yet. :)

Here is what you need,

• One packet white cake mix. Any box cake will do. I used a Pillsbury white cake mix
• Food colouring

For the frosting,

• 8 oz of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 stick of butter also at room temperature
• 2 cups of icing sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence

For extra garnish,

• 1 small box of Ferraro Rocher
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Handful of fruit loops

Method:

1. Prepare the cake batter as per the instructions on the box.
2. Now divide them into 7 equal parts and add the food colouring of your choice and mix well.
3. Now, proceed to put on colour in to the baking tray and as it spreads in the tray, put the next colour on top. Keep putting all the colours in concentric circles ( the cake tray will resemble a dart board at this point) untill all the batter is in the tray.
4. Now bake it according to the instructions on the box.
5. While it is baking, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
6. Then add the icing sugar and continue to mix it using an electric whisk.
7. Now add the vanilla essence and whisk until fluffy.
8. Refrigerate the frosting to set a bit.
9. Once the cake is baked and cooled, proceed to frost the cake.
10. Then decorate it using any of the garnishes mentioned above or just about anything of your choice.

Stuffed Bananas

Ok, so we haven't done sweet in a while and so today I thought we would make something yummy, sweet! Wanted something exotic and not the everyday cookie, so I ended up making these flavoursome, most definitely sweet stuffed bananas.  I admit its not an everyday treat, but on those days when you feel particularly exotic or wanna surprise your guests with a luxuriant dessert, this is the way to go. Very few ingredients required but the product is particularly lovely.

Here are the things you need,

Medium ripe bananas - 3-4
Grated coconut - 1 cup ( I prefer freshly grated coconut to the desiccatied variety because the juices from the freshly grated ones impart such a different flavour to the dish)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Granulated Sugar - 3 tbsp
Broken Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
Raisins - a handful
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - For frying

Steam the bananas until tender, but not overtly tender and then mash it.

Divide the mashed bananas into fist size balls and keep aside.

Heat the butter and toss in the nuts and raisins and roast them.

Then add the cardamom powder and the coconut and fry it until the coconut loses more than half of its juices.

Turn off the heat and then add the sugar. Combine it well.

Now, take a banana ball and flatten it using your palm, scoop in some of the coconut mixture to the center and seal off the edges.

Then fry it in oil until lightly brown

I've chosen to do a missile like style while shaping the banana balls, though you may chose the style you like.

Marble Cake

One of the simplest tea time treats. Stores well and liked by almost everyone.

Things you need:

Butter - 2/3 cups (but really you can never have too much butter.)
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Flour - 1 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cocoa - 4 tsp
Curd - 1 cup
Orange essence - 1 tsp ( i decided to give my marble cake a twist and replaced vanilla with orange essence. If you are not a fan of orange or if you like the traditional way, stick to vanilla essence)

Pre heat oven to 180 degree Celsius
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
Then add the eggs one by one and whisk until the mixture is light and airy.
Then add the curd and whisk for a further 50 seconds on medium speed. Do not whisk excessively lest the mixture loose its air.
Now add the essence and mix with a spoon.
Fold in a mixture of flour, baking soda, baking powder in to the egg mix gently.
Once the mixture is well combined, divide the mix into two portions.
Fold in the cocoa to one part.
Now on a well greased baking tray, pour in the mixes alternately.
Once done, drag a toothpick through the mix to create the marble effect.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Serve.