Monday, September 29, 2008

Simply Delicous Eggless Semolina Cake

Eggless Semolina Cake

I have for a long time now been on the lookout for a good recipe for eggless cake and there are a quite a few on the net. Some advise the use of extra baking soda and some instruct you to use sparkling soda water. I even went looking for those egg replacement substitutes in my food store but could not get my hands on any. So I tried my hand at one recipe which had a substantial amount of soda-bi-carb in it. What happened was initially the cake rose beautifully but a few minutes after I had removed iy from the oven it fell flat. So flat that it got a stodgy texture and was simply impossible to eat. Even my 6 year old son who normally eats anything sweet quite happily refused to accept this one. So I gave up on it for some time.

Some days back though when I was planning the menu for a tea time get together for my friends I recollected this awesome eggless semolina cake that my aaji (granny) used to make in a non-stick pan when I was a child. At that time the concept that my aaji could make any kind of cake was itself very amusing to me . I mean I come from a middle class marathi family where cake baking was done only by a few moms in those days so something like that done being done by a grand mom was simply unheard of.

Now to come back to the cake , I remember I loved it and always ended up eating quite a lot of it. So I called my mom in Pune and asked her about it. She said that the recipe was in some old marathi cookbook and she would look it up for me. And so she did .

It's my habit now to try out a certain dish in a small quantity first before cooking it in a larger quantity for entertaining. That's what I did with this one as well and the end result was so good that this recipe has gone into my lists of personal favourites forever. Thanks to you Aaji!!
The only hitch here is that the cake is made with semolina and not flour so it has a grainier texture than an ordinary cake. But believe me it tastes awesome. So do try it out.

Recipe:
1.5 cups semolina,
1 cup milk,
1 cup plain natural yogurt,
1/2 cup butter,
1.5 cups sugar,

1 tspn baking soda,
1 tspn vanilla essence or almond essence (almond essence is lovely),
3 to 4 tblspns of sliced almonds for sprinkling on top (optional),
a pinch of salt

Method:
1. Mix the sugar and yogurt thoroughly so that the sugar completely dissolves,
2. Then add all the other ingredients to the yogurt. Now let this batter stand for an hour. Keep it covered . This enables the semolina to soften completely before baking.
3. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 200deg C and grease and line a baking tray with baking paper.
4. After one hour pour the batter into the prepared tray and sprinkle the sliced almonds all over the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it is golden in colour and a cocktail stick inserted comes out clean . Wait for it to cool before slicing it. If it does not easily come off the tray do not force it out but slice it in the tray itself and remove the slices carefully with a broad knife or a fish slice.

It's a great after school snack or even a lunch box treat for kids. Store it in the fridge after a day and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds every time you serve it. Tastes even better after a day or two.

By the way I did not make this for my last tea party as I was not feeling too well ,but it's a must make next time I have my friends over.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow!they look good.Will try them soon.Is there a need to add baking pwd/soda?

priya

Anupama said...

Oh Yes !! I don't know how I forgot to type that. Silly of me. I have added it now to the list of ingredients. Thanks so much for asking.

Pavani said...

First time to ur blog,u have a wonderful blog,cake looks awesome

mitr_bayarea said...

Semolina cake looks so soft and spongy, almost like mysore paaku at a first glance.

zobars said...

Hi Anupama,
You must be so lucky to be coming from a family with a grandma who bakes. I absolutely love the photos and cannot wait to try it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Mahek said...

Thanks for this recipe anupama , i always wanted a good eggless recipe as whenever we have abirthday party my mom in law does not have a cake because of the eggs and so i wanted to try a non eggy one for all those non egg eaters.

Supriya said...

Hi Anupama, visiting here after a long time. Loved all ur Diwali faraal items and also this eggless rava cake. I recently found an interesting recipe for eggless cake on Wah Chef. He has a good theory behind it too. I intend to try it out soon.

zobars said...

Hi Anupama,
Thanks for sharing this recipe I made it last night and my husband liked it. My kids haven't tasted it yet. I loved it too and I am going to share it with a friend of mine who does not eat eggs. Hopefully she will like it as well.

zobars said...

Hi Anupama,
I don't know why my previous comment did not show up. anyhow we all loved this cake and my kids loved it too. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

Unknown said...

Hi Anupama,
I am new to this blogspot, infact just joined in today morning and am really enjoying browsing. Must compliment you on the fantastic collection of recipes. I plan to try the semolina cake but would like to know whether this recipe works in a microwave oven, and if yes then how long will it need to be cooked in it. Am looking forward to going thru more vegetarian recipes in your blogspot. Thanks very much.

Anonymous said...

hi.wow. very nice blog.very nice recipes.one question.. can we make this cake in cooker? i really want to try ur eggless rawa cake but i dont have a oven. i have microwave and cooker.can i make?

Anonymous said...

Did you preheat the oven for an hour?

Anonymous said...

Did you use melted butter?
Thanks

Anonymous said...

cake turned out to be delicious - thanks Anupama..

Anonymous said...

the cake tastes like suji ka halwa!! its not a cake but baked halwa!!

shameema said...

hai this cake has become our familys favourite, i have posted the result of your recipe in my blog do have a look and give us ur precious comments

meena said...

Hi Anu........Long time i was looking out for an semolina eggles recipie , ur recipe looks awesome , gonna try it tomorrow,,,,,Good luck to me

Food Like Amma said...

Looks delicious! can't believe it's eggless...most recipes use condensed milk etc. I love the simplicity of your recipe. Best Regards. Georgia

Anonymous said...

Looking so delicious! Can I also put in 1 cup of ground almonds?

Anonymous said...

Had tried this recipe ystday...turned out soooo delicious...my family just love it....thank u sooo much..

obat herbal wasir said...

hello,, i'm just visit,, have a nice day :D

Anonymous said...

Can we cook the same in microwave???