Ekadasi Shrikhand Cake

This is an Ekadasi Mango Shrikhand Birthday Cake with mango slices on top. After making cakes for friends and family members the past few months I finally got to make one for myself! This is my very own birthday cake, and since my birthday happened to fall on Ekadasi it had to be a no-grain-cake. My husband had been asking me for years to make the same cake I made him for his birthday (on Ekadasi) when we just got married, some 11 1/2 years ago. He liked that cake very much, but would I be able to remember how I made the cake back then? I did have the recipe but it was kind of ambiguous. Plus the measurements were in deciliters! I prefer to weigh all my ingredients. Plus who in the world has a deciliter measuring cup? Back then we lived in Sweden and I suppose deciliters is what they use there when they bake something. Fortunately I brought a deciliter measuring cup with me when we moved to the States. So, that problem was solved.

The problem with Shrikhand is that it is too runny to use it as cake icing even though I started out with some really thick hung yogurt. When I added the mango puree and homemade powdered sugar (no cornstarch in it) it became a challenge to keep the icing on the cake without running down the sides. I think next time I would use something else than mango puree. It is just too liquid. I am sure if one could get the consistency of Shrikhand right it would make a great cake frosting.

Well, here is what I did with my runny Shrikhand. First I put it in the freezer to firm it up a bit, making sure to stir it every now and then. I spread a think layer of icing on the cake which I had poked with a toothpick to help it aborb the Shrikhand. Then I put the cake in the fridge for half and hour to let the cake absorb some of the icing. Another thin layer, back in the fridge, another thin layer, ... (you get the idea). Finally the cake was all iced and it went back in the fridge overnight. Next day it was ready for the final touches - the mango slices on top and the toasted sliced almonds on the side.

The more time you give the cake to absorb some of the Shrikhand, the better it tastes. By the seond day the icing was nice and firm, the cake was nice and moist, and it tasted great.

For my next birthday I will have someone else make my cake though. I was up past midnight to make the cake and on my birthday the kids woke me up way too early because they were hungry and wanted a slice of the cake, and I wasn't even finished yet decorating it!

Maybe I'll put the kids + husband to work next year to make ME a cake for a change. Not a bad idea!

Baby Shower Cake - It's a Girl!

I made this cake for a baby shower I organized. I messed up with the writing on the cake. I guess I was too tired when I got to the last touches. I wanted the writing to curve and it did work on the top part but the "Girl!" did not want to curve...

3 layers of vanilla cake with professional buttercream icing and powdered sugar icing for the basket weave and the writing and flowers on the top of the cake. The layers were sandwiched with raspberry buttercream.

Pretty basketweave. Takes a long time to do.

The baby is not marzipan or anything else edible. Since I did not have much time I just bought this baby at the Party Shop where they sell them as party favors. Still cute though.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Another birthday cake for one of my son's friends. This time the request was for a chocolate sheet cake with chocolate layers and icing. For the filling I used Raspberry Buttercream. To make Raspberry Buttercream I strained a jar of good quality raspberry jam to get out all the seeds and then mixed it with regular (not chocolate) buttercream.

This cake is very rich, with about 2 1/2 pounds of butter and about 8 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate in it. And very yummy too.....

LEGO Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my son's 8th birthday. Since Legos is his favorite toy we had a Lego themed birthday party and had to have a Lego birthday cake as well. I did not like any of the Lego cakes I found pictures of on the internet so I had the idea to put the Lego logo on the cake and my son thought this would be great.

This cake was in several ways different than my previous ones. First, I used homemade fondant for the first time and second, I used artificial food coloring. There was no way that I could have made the logo with natural food coloring. I put the Lego logo on wax paper and lifted it off the cake before I cut it but still lots of kids wanted to have a taste of it and the parents did not mind at all that they were eating the artificial stuff. The artificial colors sure make cake decorating a lot easier. I might just as well stick with it. Just use it sparingly. I am sure my kids will not get sick or die if they have the artificial colors once every few months. At least I hope so....

This cakes had 3 layers of my standard yellow butter cake, made with whole wheat pastry flour.
For the filling I made caramel for the first time and then turned it into whipped caramel cream. I really liked that filling. The icing was a classic buttercream, meaning I used sugar syrup instead of powdered sugar. For the vegetarian fondant I used a recipe I found on the internet and I was very satisfied with the result. Making the LEGO logo was quite time consuming. I think fondant is very similar to play dough in consitency. You can make all kinds of shapes and figures with it. I have seen pictues of cakes decorated with fondant that look like a piece of art, but for me the taste of the cake is more important than the looks. But I will see were fondant will take me... The possibilities are endless...



Not my prettiest cake. I did not have enough time to make it. The birthday boy liked it.


Speaking of the birthday boy - here he is, blowing out the candles. Happy birthday Janardan!

Soccer Ball Ekadasi Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my son's best friend for his 8th birthday. Since his birthday happened to fall on Ekadasi it had to be a grain-free cake. I used my buckwheat cake batter for the layers and a cream cheese-butter-icing for the frosting. Since I only use natural food coloring I could not make a black soccer ball but who said a soccer could not be orange? Turmeric was used for the orange color and wheat grass juice powder for the green color.

I find it challenging to make cakes in the hot summer weather here in Florida. I had to put the decorating bag in the fridge every so often because the icing was literally melting in my hands. That's why the cake looks a little bit messy.

Independence Day Cake aka 4th of July Flag Cake

My family was invited to an Independence Day BBQ (vegetarian, of course) party. We were invited kind of last minute and I only had short notice to prepare a dessert I was asked to bring. I immediately thought of making a flag cake since I had seen one a day earlier at the public library here on the cover of a magazine. I did not have the recipe, so I just made one up. I baked a sheet cake and frosted it with cream cheese buttercream icing and whipping cream. The hostess had requested to use spelt flour in the cake batter because her husband is allergic to wheat. I usually use whole wheat pastry flour for cakes but the spelt flour worked great as well.
The blue part is made with blueberries and the red stripes are obviously made with strawberries. Sorry, I do not have time to post the recipe. I have a very active 16 month old and I spend most of my day keeping him out of trouble and cleaning up the mess he constantly makes. He is a very naughty boy, and also very curious and very smart.



Yes, I did put 50 stars and 13 stripes on the cake. I like being authentic....
And I am not even an American, but the rest of my family is.

Basket Weave Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my favorite girl, my daughter Marisha. This year she wanted roses on her birthday cake and I wanted to experiment with basket weave decorations. I did make the mistake of using butter cream made with butter only, no shortening. I would not recommend it as the icing was literally melting in the decorating bag as I squeezed it. And what to speak of trying to make roses with it. The icing is just too soft and even though I refrigerated it to harden it a bit, it did not stay firm long enough to make nice roses. Next time I surely will remember to make the right kind of icing for roses or other flower decorations. Or at least I hope so...

Top view of the cake

A closer look at the basket weave decoration.

And here she is - the birthday girl. As you probably can tell, she really liked the cake...

Ekadasi Birthday Cake

My husband's grown-up son came to visit us on his 30th birthday. His birthday happened to fall on Ekadasi, so an ekadasi cake it had to be. I used my banana-buckwheat-batter which gives a nice moist cake layer and used buttercream icing. I usually use cream cheese icing for my ekadasi cake and I have to say it goes better with it than buttercream icing. The only problem is that cream cheese icing is too soft and runny for decorating purposes. Even though it tasted good I will definitely experiment some more with ekadasi cakes. Plus I have to figure out how to make some "guy colors" with natural food coloring. This one was supposed to be blue and red but no matter how much of "blue" and "red" I used, it still only became dark purple and dark pink. Maybe those colors are impossible to achieve with natural colors...

Another Birthday Cake

I did some more experimenting with natural food colors. I liked this yellow-orange combination. This cake tasted very good. I think I found the perfect combination of cake and icing. Still, it will not stop me from trying some other cake layer recipes....

Nimai's Birthday Cake

This is my second flower cake which I made for my son's first birthday. I found the perfect recipe for the cake layers and for the butter cream icing I used French butter cream. French butter cream is tricky to make but it tastes so much better and has a very nice silky texture. It is made with a sugar syrup and all butter, no shortening. For the colored decorations I used the "American" butter cream made with organic non-hydrogenated shortening, butter and powdered sugar. And the food coloring is all-natural again, of course. I need some more practice in the writing department though. But all in all I was very pleased with the result and everyone who tasted the cake liked it a lot.


Marisha did not think that pink roses very appropriate for a boy but I am sure he did not mind at all. He did take a few bites of the cake but otherwise he probably had no idea what this was all about.


And here he is: The birthday boy. My miracle baby who had a true knot in his umbilical cord and for several reasons caused me to have a lot of anxiety in pregnancy. Now he is already one year old and a happy camper. Where did the time go? Didn't I just have him yesterday?

Birthday Cake Experiment

I always admire well decorate cakes and I always wanted to know how to make those nice roses. And since there are several birthdays coming up this spring I thought I better get some more cake decorating skills. I am not very artistic. I can't draw a nice picture or paint, or sing, or do anything else that is considered an art. Still, I was determined to make some nice cakes this spring. Not that I have never decorated cakes before. I always bake my families birthday cakes and on a few occasions I have baked a cake for friends.

What makes it somewhat challenging though is the fact, that I only use all-natural ingredients and never use artificial food coloring. I have tried the SEELECT brand of natural food coloring before but did not like the fact that it was too liquid. For example, the color blue is blueberry juice concentrate. It made the icing too thin and runny. So I searched the Internet for a better solution and I think I found one. The India Tree brand worked just fine for me although you can only mix pastel colors which I like better than the strong colors you find on decorated cakes in the grocery store. India Tree's Natural Decorating Colors come in a set of three colors: yellow (turmeric), red (beet juice) and blue (red cabbage). If you want any other colors you will have to mix them yourself, and there is were the fun part starts.


I had trouble getting a nice green color. I just could not get a nice green and so my husband suggested that I use some wheat juice powder instead of the India Tree colors and I tried this on my next cake and it worked a lot better. I suppose one could also use spinach powder.

Now my next challenge was the icing. I knew that I probably could not make the roses without using shortening and shortening I did not want to use. I never bake with it. In fact, I never buy it. So one day I was walking the isles at Mother Earth Market and I saw a container of shortening. I was curious about it because I did not think shortening would be sold in a health food store, after all, it is not a healthy food. But is said "organic" on it. So it could not be so bad after all. And what really caught my eye was the word "non-hydrogenated" on the container. Wow, I did not know that such a thing existed. It is made from palm oil, has 0 grams trans fat and less saturated fat than butter. Not that I am going to use it instead of butter from now on, but to use it every now and than for those lovely roses on a cake should be okay.

The above cake was my first experiment. I was not totally satisfied with it. I thought the roses came out good considering it was my very first attempt making them. I did not like the grainy-ness of the icing though. I made powdered-sugar-half-butter-half-shortening icing for the entire cake and it was way too sweet for my taste.


Here is a slice of the cake. The filling was some strawberry jam and whipping cream. The cake layer was okay but I was going to try another one next time. Marisha loved the roses. She did not want to eat them because they looked too good according to her. Only after I promised to make some more did she eat her roses. Well, and since I had to keep my promise I made some more a few days later...

Apple Pudding Cake

The recipe for this cake is from "The Book of Eggfree Cakes" by Cintia Stammers. My husband was one of the editors of this book. As usual, I made my own version of the cake. First of all I used freshly ground whole wheat pastry flour and Sucanat instead of white flour and white sugar. Secondly I used arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch for the filling but I think I will go back to using cornstarch. I do not like the mouthfeel of arrowroot starch.


As you can see the cake looks more like a pie, just does not have the shape of a pie. The crust is also not as rich and flaky as pie crust. The filling is similar to pudding, hence the name Pudding Cake. First I cooked the apples till they were soft, then mashed them, added some spices, some Sucanat and the arrowroot starch and cooked it till it was thickend. Then I poured it in the pre-baked crust and baked it some more. When the cake was thoroughly chilled I topped it with wipping cream and sliced almonds. It is a very light cake and not at all filling.

One slice is never enough. I always have at least two or three.

And now you know why I still haven't lost all my baby fat...

My Version of Cheesecake

I am not a fan of rich cheesecakes. Mine is a cross between Austrian Cheesecake (called Topfentorte) and the American Cheesecake. Austrians use topfen for cheesecake, which is a lot less rich. Topfen is made from either whole milk or low fat milk. I usually make mine with whole milk. For this particular cheesecake I used 16 oz of topfen and 8 oz of regular cream cheese. I like to serve it with a fruit sauce. I like to use fruit in season and strawberries are in season right now in Florida.

Next time I make topfen I will take some pictures and post them here on my blog and I will
explain how to make it. I do not know if anyone is interested in it. I am sure there is already a lot of info on this topic on the Internet. Actually, I just did a search on how to make topfen and there is not really much out there, at least not in English. I guess I should do it. Stay tuned .... I can't promise though that it will be any time soon unless someone volunteers to watch the kids, clean the house, do my taxes, wash and iron the laundry, ....

Cherry Cheese Strudel (Kirschen-Topfen-Strudel)

Yesterday I made cherry cheese strudel. Strudel is a typical Austrian pastry. It consists of thin, parchment-like layers of dough which are wrapped around a filling, e.g. apple, cheese, and fruits like grapes, sweet or sour cherries. It can be savory as well, e.g. spinach or cabbage strudel.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about strudel:

A strudel is a type of sweet layered pastry with a filling inside, that became well known and gained popularity in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire.

Strudel is most often associated with the Austrian cuisine, but is also a traditional pastry in the whole area formerly belonging to the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The oldest Strudel recipe is from 1696, a handwritten recipe at the Viennese City Library, Wiener Stadtbibliothek. The pastry probably has its origins in the similar Byzantine Empire or Middle Eastern pastries (see baklava and Turkish cuisine), thus it is even related to the Balkan burek pastry.

The word itself derives from the German word Strudel, which in Middle High German literally means "whirlpool" or "eddy".^[1]

In Hungary it is known as Rétes, in Slovenia as štrudelj, in Czech Republic as závin or štrúdl, in Romania as ştrudel, in Croatia as štrudla or savijača and Slovakia as štrúdľa or závin). It is very popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other ex-Yugoslav republics.

I apologize to all the people who have come to my blog looking for a strudel recipe and I did not find one here. After getting numerous requests to post the recipe I have finally come around to do it. I usually try different recipes and stick with the one that works for me. So my recipe is actually a combination of recipes I have found in baking books. This one works for me but I have to tell you that I always weigh my ingredients and I cannot guarantee that the conversion to cups and ounces will work for you.

Recipe:

For the dough:

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour

1/8 tsp. salt

7 Tbs. water, plus more if needed

2 Tbs. vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 tsp. cider vinegar

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix to form a soft dough. Knead dough till it is smooth and feels like the lobe of your ear. I usually slap the dough onto the work surface a few times while kneading. Gather the dough into a ball and place it on a lightly oiled plate. Put a little oil on top of the dough and cover with stretch foil.

For the Sour Cherry Filling:

7 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. cornstarch

12 ounces fresh sour cherries, can us canned ones as well

1/8 tsp. almond extract

In a small saucepan stir together sugar, cornstarch, salt and cherries. Let sit for a few minutes so that the cherries start exuding their juices. Cook on medium heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Don't forget to stir. When the juice has thickened it is ready. Set aside to cool.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) of cream cheese, can use low fat

1/2 cup of sugar

2 large egg yolks (mine is vegetarian, I use egg substitute)

pinch of salt

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour creme

1 Tbs. cornstarch

With hand or stand mixer beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks or substitute and beat again. Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add salt, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Lastly, beat in sour cream and cornstarch until blended. Cover and refrigerate.

Bake strudel at 350 F on upper rack for about 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set and dough is nicely golden brown. Do not eat right away. Let the finished strudel cool for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before eating. I like to dust mine with powdered sugar.

Strudel dough is very similar to filo dough which is used for making Baklava.

I'll show you how I made my cherry cheese strudel. Keep on reading...

First I make the strudel dough. This is about the only thing I bake that is not made with whole wheat flour. I use King Arthur all-purpose flour. The dough needs do be brushed with oil and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. It needs to rest for at least 30 minutes. Mine probably rested for at least one hour.

While the dough is resting, I prepare my filling. In Austria quark is used for cheese strudel. Quark is called Topfen in Austria. Quark is what it is called in Germany. Even though both countries speak German, some things have different names in Austria. Like carrots are called Moehren in Germany, and Karotten in Austria. But this post is not about the differences in the German language so I will not elaborate further on this topic.

American cheese strudel recipes usually call for cream cheese instead of topfen. I use a mixture of cream cheese and topfen, sour cream, sugar, corn starch, vanilla extract, lemon flavor, and lemon juice.

This is the cherry filling before I cooked it. I used sour cherries from a jar, added some sugar and cornstarch plus a few drops of almond extract. Then I cooked it till it thickened nicely.


I use my dinning room table to stretch the dough. I use a big sheet to cover the table. The sheet is dusted with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. I put the dough in the middle, dust it with flour and roll it out with a rolling pin as far as it will go, which usually is about 20 inches in diameter. Then the fun part starts....


STRETCHING! I lift the dough up and gently stretch the dough with the back of my hands.


See how thin it is getting! You can easily see my hand through the dough. The rule of thumb is that it should be so thin that you can read a newspaper through it. While I have never tried that I think it might be possible. I just go by feel. When I am afraid that it might tear if I stretch it any further, I stop.


When the strudel gets to big I put it on the table and walk around the table, stretching each side as far as it goes.


Then I do the borders/edges. Professional bakers just trim the thick edges off and discard them. My kids love the strudel ends, so I leave them on. Trying to stretch those borders usually causes the dough to tear a little bit. Small holes are okay, especially on the edge. It would be a problem though to have a hole in the middle of the dough, especially a big one. That never happened to me, even when I made it for the first time. The secret is the right dough consistency. And of course, practice makes perfect.


All done stretching. As you can see, the dough almost covers the whole table. You can also see that I have a fairly large hole on the bottom right hand corner of the table. It happened when I stretched the dough over the corner. This hole is not a problem as it is on the edge. The dough is hanging off the the table edges. Now one has to work quickly or the dough will dry out in a matter of minutes and be like dried up filo dough.


Next I brush the entire surface of the dough with ghee. One could use butter as well. Ghee seems to give nicer layers though.


Put the filling on the short side of the dough, near the edge and fold the edge of the dough over the filling and start rolling, at first just a couple of turns.

Then I fold over the edges on the long side. This will prevent the filling from leaking out. Usually my edge is not as wide as this one. Brush the edge with ghee, since it used to be the underside of the dough which did not have any ghee brushed on yet. Then keep on rolling till the strudel is all rolled up.

Voila! All done.

Transfer the strudel to a baking sheet and brush it with ghee and bake.


And this is how it looks when it is all done. See the layers separating on the top of the strudel. Traditionally strudel is dusted with powdered sugar in Austria.


And this is the guy who asked me over and over again to make him cherry cheese strudel, his favorite. I did not make just one, but two. Actually, I always make two strudel when I make strudel. We had it for dinner and when we were all done, only one piece was left! I asked Janardan to rate the strudel and he gave me a million thumbs up. In reality he only has two though, as you can see.

Now Marisha wants me to make Apfelstrudel (apple strudel) next, her favorite. Since my husband will not be able to babysit Nimai till the end of this semester in school, it probably will not happen soon. Sorry, Marisha!


And this is what else I baked yesterday: Five loaves of unyeasted sourdough bread. Three are sunflower-sesame seed loaves, one just plain and one cinnamon raisin. No, we are not going to eat it all. Most of them are for my customers. We only started to eat the cinnamon raisin and I am not quite satisfied with it. Needs more sweetness and more cinnamon. There is always room for improvement.

And today I am taking the day off baking... Even a baker needs a break sometimes.....