LEMON BLUEBERRY CHIA SEED CAKE

Times are really tough and the raging pandemic in India has put us all in a questionable state in one way or the other. My husband started his travel back from India after completing his mum’s last rights to reach Muscat and spent 15 days in institutional quarantine in Turkey....undergoing yet another one in Muscat(Oman) for a week until he finally reaches home. Gone are those days when you could reach home (Muscat ) from India in just 3.5 hours. 😌

It seems far-fetched living up to a normal life after this catastrophe hit the world. Wishing everyone to be safe and praying this shall all pass quickly and we all live peacefully in a happy world again.

Baked a quick Lemon blueberry and chia seeds cake for my hubby the day he landed in Muscat to munch on while he is quarantined in his homeland away from home... Cake was baked in angel cake pan and I had to cut it into slices to pack it for hubby. Time felt short and had no time to capture the full image. Luckily few slices were left over after packing the whole big box and thought of capturing it for my audience. Guys I promise I’ll post that full styled image soon but until then enjoy these virtual slices of this delicious cake. Do give this recipe a try and I'm sure you will fall for it. Its just perfect as is and preserves better at room temperature in your air-conditioned kitchen for up to 4 days. You can also dress this cake with cream cheese frosting to make it an extra edge and making it a bit more special for an occasion.

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

BAKE TIME: 1 hour

SERVES: 20-25 slices

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus 2 tbsp, divided

• 1 3/4 cup caster sugar

• 3 eggs, room temperature

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 large lemon zested and juiced (2 tbsp juice is used)

• 1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

• 3/4 cup or 200g sour cream, room temperature

• 2 cups blueberries

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Thoroughly grease the 10 cup capacity angel cake pan or bundt pan. I lined the base of angel cake pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Keep aside until used.

3. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest together until fluffy, creamy and pale in colour.

4. Add one egg at a time and blend on medium high speed until all eggs are added and well combined.

5. In a small bowl add sour cream and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mix them together. Add it to the egg butter mix, blend for couple of minutes to combine.

6. Add the dry flour mix to the wet mixture in three batches until just combined, keeping the mixer on a medium-low speed. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula, to ensure the batter is well combined. Give a quick blend again for few seconds.

7. Add chia seeds and gently fold into the batter with a spatula.

8. In a bowl, toss the blueberries with remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Gently fold them in the cake batter and drop it in the prepared pan and level it with spatula.

9. Placing it in the middle rack of the oven and bake it for 50-60 minutes turning it once halfway through baking.

10. Insert the tooth pick to check. Bake couple more minutes if the batter is still slightly sticky.

11. Leave to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the outer and inner edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan to make sure its not stuck to the pan. Invert it gently on the cake plate. Remove parchment paper and let it cool slightly.

12. If you wish, brush the lemon syrup on the slightly warm cake if you want strong citrus flavour or tartiness in your cake. It’s not mandatory. To make lemon syrup check cook's notes.

13. You can serve the cake as is or can also ice it with cream cheese frosting to make it for a special occasion.

COOK'S NOTES

1. If you wish, brush the lemon syrup on the slightly warm cake if you want strong citrus flavour or tartiness in your cake. It’s not mandatory. Make sure your cake is still warm if you want to add lemon syrup else it will not penetrate inside the cake.

2. To make lemon syrup add 3 tbsp water with 3 tbsp lemon juice, bring to a gentle boil in amicrowave. Add 1/4 cup of sugar in it and mix until it’s completely dissolved. Brush it on the exterior edges of the cake until it’s all penetrated.

COCONUT WALNUT BANANA LOAF CAKE (GLUTEN-FREE)

Coconut Banana Loaf Cake as the name suggest is a perfect blend of tropical flavours. Using the coconut flour and coconut sugar adds that extra depth of flavours and keeping it away from those refined sugars and glutinous flours. Whether you are gluten intolerant or not this loaf cake is a winner for all.

It's such an easy to make one bowl recipe which requires no fancy equipments to make. Its those quintessential cakes which is made in minutes and just perfect for that holiday trips to take along while traveling miles driving down for your getaway. It's easily kept and stored without refrigeration for upto 2 days.

Do give this yummiest and healthy cake a try and I'm sure you're gonna love it and wont go back to your usual banana bread recipes.

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

BAKE TIME: 45 minutes

SERVES: 12 slices

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ripe bananas

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup coconut sugar

• 100g unsalted butter, melted

• 75ml sunflower oil

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 1/2 cup coconut flour

• 1/2 cup almond powder

• 3/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (I used Bob’s Mill brand)

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Equipment needed

• 8 X 4 inch loaf pan

METHOD

1. Line 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with the back of a fork, add eggs and vanilla. Lightly beat them with fork to mix with bananas.

3. Add sugar, butter and oil to the banana mixture. Mix them all together until combined.

4. Sift flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda together, add it to the wet mixture and fold in gently with the spatula until combined. Drop in the chopped walnuts and fold them in.

5. Pour the batter in prepared pan, top with some extra walnuts if you desire and bake for 40-45 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean.
   

COOK'S NOTES

• Ripe bananas work best for this recipe and is a perfect use of them in a cake.

• Coconut sugar adds the depth of flavour to the cake but if you can't get hold of that, you can replace it with soft brown sugar or jaggery powder (shakkar).

• Please note I used coconut flour not powder as many people think its the same but these two are entirely different. Coconut powder is also sometimes called or known as dessicated coconut.

• For the gluten-free all purpose flour I used the brand named Bob's Mill. If you are using another brand or a variant of gluten-free flour, the texture and taste of the cake might vary.

• All oven temperatures are different, keep an eye on the cake and check on it about 5 minutes before the completion of timer. Keep more or less time according to your oven temperatures. Mine was done in 45 minutes.

• Walnuts can be skipped or replaced with pecan nuts or dried fruits like apricots.