LEMON & NUTMEG FLAVOURED COCONUT CAKE

The situation or the occasion is such that I had to take that tremendous pressure of baking ... ahh else some of my dear friends will take it to their heart.... take the example of Bianca Castafiore who is not in the right spirit at the moment either! However, baking a cake is never a cake walk for me, rather like a catwalk .... that too when you discover  some fresh 'borboti' hanging when out on a walk or a bunch of fresh 'laal shak' adorns your kitchen counter!.... Thats pretty painful ya! A winter wet market in Kolkata / India means greens and loads of greens.... from 'peyajkoli' to 'palong shaak'....

I hope the above pictures describe me pretty well and also the reason why it takes 3:45 minutes for me to complete a half marathon..... but yes, December in Kolkata is also about fresh bakes, and a ritualistic visit to the St. Paul's Cathedral or to the Park Street area, picnic starting with oranges in the bus and ending with 'mangsho bhaat' around 4pm, nonetheless to say "poush sankrantir pithe puli" is one major attraction. I wished to go simple and rustic today, there was a lot of rich cooking yesterday and the sight of food is not giving me much of comfort. In fact, this morning I planned not to go ahead with any recipe sharing in the blog, then back home from my walk and gym, I had a super soft chicken filled "bao"... local steamed bun... felt happy enough to share a Xmas friendly recipe for all my readers and friends who are celebrating... Even we do celebrate or celebrating Xmas since childhood with oranges & local bakery fruit cake. After the high nose senior came into my life, he started taking me out for turkey and wine if he was in town during the winter .... So "cake to banti hai yaar".... By the way, if you have come across my self boasting post of the platter I cooked for someone yesterday, you will pardon me for being so once a year. 

This morning, I felt there was nothing much to boast of compared to what the yesteryear ladies did on such special days.... starting from "panch rokom bhaja to chaler payesh"... not less than 10-12 dishes or even more... and they did not click pictures like me either. I was really expecting few people to take it on me, they did not .... a slice of this simple LEMON & NUTMEG FLAVOURED COCONUT CAKE for each one of you.

By the way, I will not give myself the sole credit of creating this recipe, neither can I give credit to anyone! Tell me how to?.... I perhaps had taken little from here, a bit from there... now totally forgot what from whom ... "kar theke kon angsho ta jherechi money kortey parchina chai, haaha"..... Do not expect this horrid baker to treat you all with a proper Xmas  cake.... I am not the one who will get all the ingredients required for it... moreover I myself will have all the wine before soaking the ingredients in it and start all kinds of drama to seek the attention of my men. Better I do an easy bake like this LEMON & NUTMEG FLAVOURED COCONUT CAKE so that you can have it as your teatime snack not only during Xmas season but on any day..... each day of our life counts! 

In this cake, I have used eggs with a mention of an alternative to it. It should work. Cheers to all those who consider a cake batter as "shinni".... just my kind!.... Please do shed off the idea of asking me questions on Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or about text books as such before entering through that door.... hope you guys are kind enough not to cause me an untimely heart attack. 

I think I am done with all my rubbish for the day and can dive straight into this basic cake recipe with coconut, lemon jest and nutmeg.... I am kind of allergic to artificial flavours, prefer natural flavours on my food.... Thai food is hence very much of a favourite... that Kaffir lime leaf... aha... Come let us bake this soft, with full of fresh flavours.... LEMON & NUTMEG FLAVOURED COCONUT CAKE together.

INGREDIENTS :

Refined Flour : 1coffee mug
Baking Soda : 1/ 4 tsp

Baking Powder : 1 tsp
Plain Yogurt : 1 medium tea cup
Sugar : 1 small tea cup
Oil : 1 small tea cup
Lemon Jest : 1 tbsp

Lemon Juice : 2 tbsp
Nutmeg Powder : 1tsp
Shredded Coconut : 1/2coffee mug

METHOD :

Take the refined flour, baking soda & baking powder in a bowl and mix well.

Take the sugar, oil, plain yogurt, lemon juice in another bowl and use a hand beater or an electric blender to beat. 

Once done, add the paste to the flour mix, add the shredded coconut, nutmeg powder and I used a hand beater to beat for 5-6 minutes.

Grease a cake tin with a little oil. Pour the batter in to it. I placed a wok on the gas top & placed a wired ring atop it, heated for 3-4 minutes!

I placed the cake tin atop the heated wired ring & baked on the stovetop for an hour at minimal temperature!

Once done, we would take the cake tin out & let cool; then turn over on to a plate.

Enjoy a slice or two with your tea or coffee!