Chocolate Banana Cake

Came home one day, last week from work to a very generous slice of a decadent looking cake slice sitting on my table. On inquiring about its whereabouts, got to know it had been sent over by my neighbor who when saw her own daughter enjoying the cake so much, sent some for my baby girl and her Mommy. It was heavenly, one of the best chocolate cakes I have had... quite flavorful and moist without being overly rich or soggy - a fine line to tread that. I had to have the recipe. The next morning saw me at her doorstep.

I would call this the secretly healthy cake because the healthy stuff remains a secret behind all the good tasting stuff. I cheated a bit too on the recipe to up its health quotient a notch. I switched half the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. It did not alter the taste much but did make it a little more fudgier but the cake still retained its spring. It gets its moisture from the bananas, the milk and water, uses vegetable oil instead of butter so stays much longer.

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees C. In a big bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt and sugar till well combined.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg. Add the mashed bananas (I gave them a whirl in the blender), milk, warm water and oil. Next, add the vanilla extract. Pour the wet mixture into the dry one and fold till well combined. Here is my little one lending Mommy a hand.

Pour it into a greased 8 inch round cake tin and bake for 40 mins till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 15 mins and then take it out. Enjoy!

Psst... By the next couple of days, the bananas work their magic and it appears the cake has rum added to it ;)

Ingredients (for an 8 inch round cake tin)

200 grams Sugar

65 grams All purpose flour

60 grams Whole wheat flour

40 grams Cocoa powder

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Egg

2 mashed Bananas

120 ml warm Water

60 ml Milk

60 ml Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My first post on the blog. It had to have chocolate, the ultimate in flavor, texture, versatility - God's gift to humankind. Tell me, what is it that it can't set right? So, here are Chocolate Chip cookies, the vanilla in the cookie world, my favorite.

A colleague's birthday had come up and the cake promised to her (that's up next) couldn't live past the preceding weekend as it went away, one thin sliver at a time. This recipe is from Martha Stewart and turned out nice, soft, chewy cookies. I halved the ingredients to get around 2 dozen cookies. I tried varying the baking time to get a crispier version too.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Whisk the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl and keep aside. Combine the sugars - brown and white and butter (at room temperature) till well mixed and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add the salt, vanilla and eggs and beat further at a lower speed until well combined.

Add the flour mixture, mix and add the stir in the chocolate chips. As you would notice, I had just half the chips required, so I added roughly chopped milk chocolate.

Fold them in to get your batter.

Plop tablespoonfuls of the batter 2 inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking tray. The paper is important here to avoid an over crisp bottom.  Resist the urge to smoothen them and keep the tops rough for a final jagged look.

Bake for 8-10 mins till cookies are golden around the edges. And see them turn into these beauties.

Let cool in the baking tray for 2 mins and then on a wire rack for 10 mins. As you would take them out, you would find them to be puffier but they would become flatter as they cool. For a crispier center, bake them for 12 mins. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips