CASHEW NUT RAISIN BUTTERMILK CAKE

Let us be a little fair towards few wishes of the people who had been nice at different stages of my life! Cake does happen at this home but the simplest, basic ones.... the men's taste buds got used to it! For the rest like our favourite vanilla cream topping with fresh fruits like mango or pineapple, there is a Bengawan Solo, Icing Room within 100 mt of our home, I get cream cake or swiss rolls from the normal, wet market bakeries too.... We did not grow up eating cakes from the Flury's so our son need not.... The miser self do not ever buy organic food.... let us eat homemade food instead of tinned.... if we have the option of getting fresh supplies, we must avail it! You see there are certain advantages of being a miser.... the other day I got four peaches for five dollars.... that too on a discount.... the primitive self is not fond of it but got to pack their food boxes. Though they ate, all of us prefer mangoes.... the fresh batch of Thai Honey Mangoes arrived! If it is mango every day, then peach once every two weeks.... the miser concluded when a peach upside down cake went wrong.... self defence man!

 Let the sugar level go up in its own course... I was supposed to go to the doctor this morning.... but felt let me do some food talk and visit the doctor tomorrow.... Old doctor Chang is replaced by his son now and I hardly can have the pleasure to talk food there. The son always suspects I am in an unhappy marriage and hence look depressed! Till date I had been unable to convince Vincent... the junior Chang... that it is my nature to talk less and not to smile every now and then.... I am too unwilling to apply potato juice under eyes to look good. If there is any such impression of depression on my face, it is for my inability to have a Murtabak with tea every alternate day.... or a Biryani or a Cream Cheese cake every week. Do not ever try to bring Hilsa or Mutton in my restricted list ..... I will not tolerate! Coming to why a Cake today, well no one has couriered me fresh duck eggs or other produce from their garden or furnished me with the necessary tricks about how to take care of my small patch of greens.... everyone seems to be like our mother not in the habit of sharing the trade secret! You must enjoy her blooms  from at far.... do not try to go up her terrace.... it smells terrible with "khol pocha shar".... Our mother prepares her own organic fertilisers! She did not get us cake from Flurys often... not allowed Bapuji cake either.... and Nahoums once a month or once in two months .... She will love this cinnamon flavoured CASHEW NUT RAISIN BUTTERMILK CAKE prepared by her daughter.... It is she who got me an old fashioned cake oven when I was 17! She still stored that spoilt one..... she is not in the habit of throwing away anything.... Every Bengali home in a landed property has a loft atop the toilet or a storage room at the back of the kitchen.... "bharar ghar".....

The mother does not share her trade secret, some do not send me fresh duck eggs, some do not tell me how they manage a small scale business after managing a landed property with only a part time help.... our mother's daughter is me.... some do not even tell me how they got to be expert in cooking varied cuisines, also knowing the history behind them .... Oh my! I have every reason to be jealous.... Anyway, however poor I am at baking, I felt I should do something for qualitatively high people.... Then there are the kids who I love the most.... some for baking better than me and the one like my son who loves to eat mumma's homemade cakes as this CASHEWNUT RAISIN BUTTERMILK CAKE! 

Fulfilling the wishes of the deserving people is a wise thing to do as much as is wise to give a blind eye to vulgarity.... I asked at least three people yesterday how to handle the non-sense around? I got a little bit wiser yesterday and felt vulgarity is an "incurable" disease.... if one's good qualities are overpowered by vulgarity, the path for destruction is made clear and is near! The best I can do is give a deaf ear and blind eye and ignore such things I find nonsensical, indecent! I do not know how long I remain wise as this.... hahaha, even flat noses poke!.... My kind of wisdom is having a "plateful of panta bhaat, daler bora, peyaz, lanka, nun".... rice soaked in water overnight and then eaten with lentil fritters, onion, green chilli, salt with type2 diabetes.... a tongue that creates all the trouble!

There is more to it. I got a packet of spring roll sheets and planning some spring rolls tonight!

Though the doctors feel like tearing off my tongue, I love and worship it. I am also trying to get back the junior to mumma's camp in absence of the father. All said and done, I practice some colour matching these days.... it may seem wrong to you and vice versa..... like I feel there is a lot of tension between blue and green.... I try to bring them together, I find it wrong to accuse all for a few! If someone has shown you love you must respect that.... you are not a nut head like S! I feel proud to say that RED is static.... it embraces all & brings them together.... Since I do not aspire for "likes" anymore.... I will do what I feel is right.... Yes I am all about I, Me, Myself! This CASHEW NUT RAISIN BUTTERMILK CAKE has refined flour, buttermilk, condensed milk, vinegar, little sugar, cinnamon powder, oil, baking powder, cashew nuts, vanilla essence.... let us do it with people who gets as afraid as I get when it comes to baking!

INGREDIENTS :

Refined Flour : 1coffee mug
Butter Milk : 1 medium sized tea cup [I used homemade]
Sugar : 3-4 tbsp
Vinegar : 1tbsp + 1 tbsp [white]
Baking Powder : 1 tsp
Baking Soda : 1/4 tsp
Cashew Nut : 7-10 [halved]
Raisin : 10-12

Vanilla Essence : 1 tsp
Oil : 1/2 medium tea cup size [I used Sunflower oil]


PROCEDURE :

To 1 medium tea cup size of milk, add 1 tbsp of vinegar, stir & your butter milk is ready!

Preheat the oven to 180*C. I used my mini toaster oven!

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

In your mixer, add the butter milk, sugar and oil, 1 tbsp vinegar. Pulse for 2-3 minutes with intervals. It should be light with bubbles forming atop.

Pour it on the flour mix and beat with a table spoon. Remember it is for the novice baker as me. I do it for 5 minutes.

Add a few halved cashew nuts, raisins, the vanilla essence & mix well!.

Grease a cake tin with a little of oil. Pour the cake batter and tap on the kitchen counter!. Garnish with somehalved cashew nuts and raisins.

Place the low rack in the preheated oven, place the cake tin atop.

In the convection method of my microwave oven it took 40 minutes at 180*C to bake the cake!

Enjoy this simply made cake with few ingredients available at home & enjoy with tea!