After 5 long years, I finally took the plunge and decided to change careers. Co-incidentally, on the weekend that I finished my last working day, I got an email from BlogAdda for a Canola Oil Cookout Event. The event included a nutritionist, a cardiologist and a chef, all talking about the benefits and uses of switching to Canola Oil. The literature, which is self explanatory can be viewed here. The Canola Oil Council, Canada conducted the discussion panel followed by an interesting repertoire between the nutritionist, the cardiologist and the chef, who after the discussion, chose to demonstrate 3 recipes- Kothimbir Wadi, Green Pea Karanji and Chocolate Samosa. For the latter, I got my hands dirty and folded my first samosa, although I must admit, it was rather lopsided!
- 2 cups all purpose flour (I use Bluebird Maida)
- 3/4th cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cup milk (I use Amul Lite)
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 2/3 cup caster sugar (I use Bluebird Caster Sugar)
- 1 1/4 cup canola oil (or sunflower oil)
- 2 tbs vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius. Grease two 8″ or 9″ cake tins with canola oil spray, such as Pam. If you don’t have any spray handy, fret not. Either grease with Butter and then flour lightly, or line with parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together the milk and the red wine vinegar.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and oil. Add the milk mix, and the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Sift once again into the wet ingredients mixture, and mix until incorporated.
- Divide equally between the two cake tins, by using a sprayed cup measure to pour the batter neatly. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a knife/toothpick comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for an hour on the cooling rack. Wrap each cake in cling film and refrigerate until chilled. Use 1/2 of the frosting on the first layer, and the balance to top the second.
- 500gm mascarpone cheese
- 2 tbs instant espresso powder, mixed with 4 tbs hot water, cooled
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate shavings, for topping
- Beat together the mascarpone and the sugar.
- Pour in the coffee liquid slowly, mix till fluffy. Make sure to whisk gently to prevent the cheese separating.
- Frost the cakes as described above. Top with the chocolate shavings.
- This cake is a crowd pleaser.
- If you have kids in the mix, skip the the cappuccino frosting for either a vanilla frosting or a ganache, or a rich chocolate one!
- You can convert this recipe into 24 cupcakes too.
bellybytes
September 27, 2013 at 11:13 am (11 years ago)I love this recipe. I used to make a lot of cakes using curdled milk and used whole wheat flour to make it a healthier option. I will definitely try this one out the next time I entertain
Joie De Vivre
September 27, 2013 at 11:43 am (11 years ago)Thanks! Yes you must, a real crowd pleaser without being too sweet. Add a dash of coffee liqueur to the frosting for a more adult twist! 🙂
Beerhat
October 4, 2013 at 9:27 pm (11 years ago)It’s really an informative and well described post regarding baking of cake. I appreciate your topic for blogging. Thanks for sharing such a useful post.