Saturday morning

Saturday mornings are like new promises unfolding slowly.

I can hold the cup of tea a bit longer. Can have a long gaze at my balcony garden and carry on a silent conversation with my greeny winnies.

Saturday mornings are a happy start. The kitchen seems a lot slower on Saturday and it should be!

I had not baked anything for a long time. A kind of inertia effect you may say! I was feeling a bit nervous about the proportions. But still the thought of a room filled up the smell of Carrot cake was a strong motivation to start the process of baking a cake.

While I sometimes hesitate on baking, on the other hand ,  my Maa has strong interest in baking. She bakes good cake and Nankhattai ( semolina cookies). Her cakes are simple, yet tad more delicious from the ones baked from stores. Back in 1980's when she started baking, microwave ovens had not make an appearance in the market. Maa had a simple electrical cake oven. It was probably Murphy brand. Sometimes the coil used to wear out and we had to get it fixed.
It didn't had any temperature control, but still the baked cakes were yummy.

Her ingredients were also simple - Vanilla essence and dried fruits. I have memories of helping her during the baking process. Sometimes she would ask me to whip the eggs or sometimes I would cut the butter paper in circles which would be used as a liner in the baking tray.

I looked into few Carrot cake recipes from the web and did little changes. The end results were very gratifying!

There is nothing better to me than sitting on the balcony with a huge coffee mug and savor a slice of Carrot cake!

Recipe for Carrot cake :

All purpose flour : 2 cups ( sieved)

Oil : 1.5 cups

Eggs: 4

Baking powder: 2 tea spoon

Cinnamon powder : 2 tea spoon

Ground Sugar : 2 cups

Salt : 1 tea spoon

Grated Carrot : 1.5 cups

Grated Coconut: Half cup

Sliced almonds : Half cup

Sieve the flour. Whisk the eggs thoroughly. Now mix together the flour, sugar, oil, eggs, salt and baking powder. You may do it manually or use the electrical cake beater.  Fold in the grated Carrot, Coconut, Almonds, Cinnamon powder as well.

In the meanwhile grease the pan, and dust it with flour lightly. I used a 9 by 13 inch pan. Preheat the oven at 325 degree C.
Once it is ready pour the batter and let it bake at 350 degree C. I baked for 35 mins and had to use another 15 mins of standing time.
It is not that difficult. Once you have the ingredients in your pantry, it is really easy!

Lil S trying to get his share as I try to capture an image