What's baking in the newsroom

In a world of Instagram-worthy cakes, the decadence of a no-frills treat always wins. Mommies to mid-day’s journos tell you what to try at chai time

Every now and then, a dabba opens in some aisle at the mid-day office, and out off wafts the aroma of divine, freshly Baked cake from someone’s home. Huddle, hush-hush and whoosh... in three minutes flat, it disappears. One thing is for sure, these simple-looking home-baked cakes—sans cream and frostings—can give store-bought ones a run for their money. And as always, the secret ingredient is love. We’ve noted down a few recipes for you (and for us, lest, we forget).

Jennifer Fernandes’ pound mawa cake

For Christalle Fernandes, mawa cakes are reminiscent of childhood when her mom would bring home parcels of six mawa muffins, wrapped in brown paper, tied with white taga (string) from a famous cake shop in Grant Road. “Recently, in a bid to re-create the taste of those mawa muffins,” says Christalle, who is pursuing an internship at Sunday mid-day, “she picked up her whisk and the bright red measuring cups tucked away on her baking shelf and whipped up a mawa cake from memory. The first time she made it, the kitchen was infused with scents of vanilla and of the secret ingredient. Our taste buds received a rush of nostalgia from long-forgotten flavours. The grainy texture of the mawa cake was a bite of the past.” 

Ingredients 

3 eggs
150 gms sugar 
100 gms butter 
170 gms maida 
1 heaped tbsp cornflour 
1 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp baking soda 
3 tbsp mawa paste 
1 tbsp curd 
1 tsp vanilla essence 
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Secret ingredient: Mawa paste 
3 tbsp milk powder
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp sugar

Method  
In a non-stick pan, add milk powder, milk, ghee and sugar. Stir for five minutes till it thickens. This is the mawa paste. Cream butter and sugar in a bowl, and fold in the eggs. Sieve maida with baking powder and baking soda. Gently fold this into the egg and butter mixture. Add vanilla essence. Add mawa paste and curd, and gently cut and fold. Add two big tablespoons of hot water to the batter before baking and stir. Bake for 35 minutes at 150C in an oven that’s been pre-heated for five minutes (at 180C).

PRO TIP: Add melted butter to the batter instead of chunks—this makes the mawa fluffier.

Madhu Lodaya’s no-egg walnut brownie

Cooking has always been therapeutic for Correspondent and Sub-editor Nidhi Lodaya’s grandmother. “I remember coming home from school to some new dish or the other served as evening snacks,” says Nidhi. “All her recipes came either from Gujarati food channels or newspaper clippings. We were her guinea pigs, but we never complained. Being a Gujarati household, finding a recipe with a good replacement for egg and one that was easy to make, was a challenge. This recipe comes from one of the newspaper clippings pasted in her thick, fat recipe notebook, sharing space with some handwritten notes. Up until a few years ago, even recipes from Gujarati mid-day would be found stapled here.”

Ingredients
1 cup maida
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Some milk
5-6 tsp curd
5 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup diced walnut
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method
Pre heat oven to 180C. In a bowl, sieve maida, baking soda and baking powder. Then add sugar and cocoa powder. To this, add melted butter, curd, and milk, and mix with a beater or a blender. Add vanilla essence. Apply some ghee and maida to the baking tray and pour in the mixture. Sprinkle chopped walnut pieces on top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes if done. Serve with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Martha Bhosale’s carrot cake

Tried first by chief sub-editor  and Sunday writer Arpika Bhosale’s mom in 1986 after tasting it at her friend’s place for dinner, this decadent cake has often been made for birthdays and Christmas since. “She wrote the recipe down in her book and would turn to it for special occasions to the point that she finally knew it by heart,” says Arpika. “Unlike other cakes that require special ingredients, this one needs just pantry staples and so it was made frequently at home.”

Ingredients
2 cups maida
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup refined oil
2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup nuts
Ghee, oil or butter for greasing

Method
Beat the eggs lightly first, then add sugar and oil, and beat well. In a separate bowl, sieve baking powder, flour and cinnamon powder, and gently fold in the eggs until you get a smooth batter. Add grated carrots and nuts and mix well. Line a cake tin with ghee, oil or butter, pour in the batter and bake in a pre-heated oven set at 180C for 30 minutes or until done. Use a toothpick to check if it is done.

Rita D’Almeida’s custard cake

For someone who bakes cakes way too often for Christmas, Easter and other special occasions, no recipe seems too difficult. But this fluffy and delicious custard cake is News Editor Sandra Almeida’s mother’s go-to for a quick and easy craving fix. “She stumbled upon this recipe in an old magazine and makes it often; especially if she has to take it over to a friend’s dinner party—it’s better than any store-bought treat,” says Sandra.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups maida
3/4 cup vanilla flavoured custard powder or cornflour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (if you are using cornflour) 
2 tbsp butter
11/2 cups milk

Method
In a bowl, add milk and butter and mix well. Add vanilla essence and whisk again. Then add sugar and mix till it dissolves completely. Sieve maida, custard powder and baking powder, and add to the milk-butter mixture until you get a creamy batter. Pour into a greased baking pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 35 minutes.

Uma Atray’s tea time walnut cake

Whenever Sunday mid-day editor Aastha Atray is at her Gurugram home, “cups of tea are never-ending. Along with tea, before and after meals [my dad’s only vice], the 5 pm tea is super important. And snacks with that. Many a time, my mother, after serving us chai in bed, vanishes into the kitchen. It’s only when you hear the whirring of the mixie that you get to know she is making a cake. And by the time, I drag myself out of bed and head into our open kitchen, not to help mind you, but to sit at the dining table and watch, the cake is already in the oven, and the air is filled with its warm aroma.

Uma Atray’s walnut cake carries a generous amount of nuts. It is crumbly and melts in the mouth

Gone are the days when my brother, Eklavya, and I  would help her by beating, whisking and licking the bowl clean. Now, we are lazier. Forty minutes later, the walnut cake is ready, and as you cut into it, it’s just the right kind of crumbly. It also has just the right amount of sugar, and the walnuts add a great crunch. My mom often first cuts out a bit to pack it up for our neighbours, who are fans of the cake, because she knows it won’t last long. What adds to the presentation is that she makes the cake in a heart-shaped baking tin. As if we needed more proof that she loves us...”

Ingredients 
1 1/2 cup refined flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Four eggs
1 cup cream
1 cup sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
1 tbsp milk
1/2 cup walnuts
Pinch of salt

Method
Mix sugar and cream, and whisk in eggs, one at a time. Then fold in the dry ingredients; add vanilla essence and milk. Mix the walnuts. Grease a baking dish and remove any air bubbles by tapping the mix. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 180C. Serve hot.

PRO TIP: Dust the walnuts with flour beforehand so that they don’t settle down at the bottom.

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