Cakes are an all time favourite snack or a dessert. Though high in calories this food also has an equally good amount of protein. The nutritional quotient of this versatile food can be modified based on the ingredients added…. Walnuts improve it’s unsaturated fats and loads it with essential fatty acids, not to forget its omega-3 contribution. Carrots, bananas, raisins, berries add to the flavour, colour and fibre. Food historians trace the origin of cakes to the Egyptian period. Before the invention of the modern baking powder in 1856, yeast was used in cakes as a leavening agent. This living fungi would grow and breathe in the cake batter thus releasing bubbles of carbon di oxide that would ensure a soft a spongy cake. Eggless, milkless and butterless cakes were baked during World War I through World War II as there was a scarcity of these ingredients. Oil, mayonnaise or lard would be used as a substitute for butter while bananas, baking powder and baking soda would substitute the eggs. Later yogurt and milk concentrates were also used to substitute eggs in the cake recipe. Today I made a fruit and nut sponge cake using cooking oil and curd along with baking powder and baking soda. The result was a delicious, soft, spongy and moist cake with speckles of coloured fruit bits and nut slivers. As shared earlier this recipe is from my mother’s recipe treasure chest.
- CURD / YOGURT – 1 CUP
- SUGAR – 1 CUP
- OIL – ½ CUP
- VANILLA EXTRACT – 1 TSP
- PLAIN FLOUR / MAIDA – 2 CUPS
- TUTTI FROOTI – ¼ CUP
- BAKING SODA – ¼ TSP
- BAKING POWDER – 1 TSP
- SALT A PINCH WATER – ¼ CUP
TAKE ALL THE WET INGREDIENTS IN A DEEP BOWL ALONG WITH THE SUGAR.BEAT WELL TILL SOFT AND FLUFFY.
PLACE A SIEVE ON THE BOWL. ADD ALL THE DRY INGREDIENTD AND SIEVE INTO THE BOWL.ADD THE FRUIT BITS AND GENTLY FOLD THE MIXTURE TO A DROPPING CONSISTENCY.
POUR INTO A GREASED MOULD AND BAKE AT 180 DEGREES CELCIUS FOR 40 MINUTES.
