Eggless Plum Cake

I know most of you would surprise to see this post at this time of the year as this cake is generally made during the Christmas time when the dry fruits have been marinated for days, weeks or even months to make the Plum Cake. 

My husband is a huge fan of plum cakes and he's been complaining ever since that I do a lot of baking and have never made things he likes the most like plum cakes, chocolate walnut fudge and fondant cakes. Although I did make a fondant cake which I have not yet updated on this blog. 
Here I am with freshly baked plum cake. 

Since we are just the two of us at home, I made a boozy version of this cake but booze is totally optional. The cake is very good on its own and does not need any frosting but still if you would like to frost this cake, reduce the amount of sugar from the recipe. The softened dry fruits makes this Eggless Plum cake very dense and moist. The good part, you don't necessarily have to marinate the fruits for days for this version of the cake.

Do I need to say that hubby just loved this cake?? :D He finished the entire loaf in just 2 days.

(Print this recipe)

Eggless Plum Cake 



Preparation time: 15 minutes 
Cooking time: 50 minutes 

Makes one 9X5 loaf 
(Source: www.cookingandme.com)

Here's what you would need to make this Eggless Plum Cake:

160 gms/ 2/3 cup of water 

105 gms/ 1/2 cup of brown sugar

110 gms/ 1 cup of mixed dry fruits (I mixed raisins, prunes, dates, dried cherries, tutti fruity)

2 tbsp brandy (optional)

1 tsp of baking soda 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

115 gms/ 1/2 cup of butter 

295 gms/ 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour 

2 tsp of baking powder 

1 tsp of salt 

1 tsp of mixed spices like cinnamon, nutmeg etc 

2 tbsp of finely chopped cashew nuts/ pistachio nuts (I used cashew nuts) 

2.5 tbsp vegetable oil

Here's how you can make Eggless Plum Cake:

Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease and line a 9"x5" load pan or 8" round cake pan, whatever you prefer. 

• Bring the water to boil in a pan and add the dry fruits (leave out the tutti fruity if using them), brandy and the sugar. Simmer for about 7-10 mins until the dates have softened but not mushy. 
• Turn off the flame, remove the pan and set aside for 5 mins to cool slightly. 
• Add the butter, vanilla (or zest) and baking soda. The mixture will foam a bit. Set aside to cool. 
• In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the spice powders and mix well to combine. 
• Add the cashew nuts and tutti fruity (if using) to the dry mixture. You can also add some chopped preserved cherries at this stage. 
• Add the cooled fruit mixture to the flour mixture and add the vegetable oil. 
• Gently fold until the batter has no flour streaks left in in it. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 50 mins. If the top seems to be cooking too quickly, loosely cover the pan with aluminium foil.

Hope you would also enjoy making this recipe as much as I did.

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Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been spending a lot of time at my office lately as there are some projects which needs completion asap. I know...too boring! Also, Mumbai has witnessed some heavy rains lately making the weather so beautiful and also making it even more difficult to concentrate on work. My time away from my oven coupled by the weather is making me so uncomfortable to work at office flipping through the various excel spreadsheets, reviewing the work of my staff. 

Gosh!!! I need some comfort. 

I need some cookies at my office so that I can collect my brains to concentrate on the work I have been trying to finish while sipping the hot cuppa tea and looking at the clouds pouring down heavily and heavenly. 

Talking of comfort, nothing has given me more comfort in my life than having Peanut Butter on toast for breakfast and rush for office for over 6 years now. That's the way I go whenever I am running late and there is always a jar of Peanut Butter sitting on my kitchen counter to save me from hunger. 

This is the first time that I have used PB in my baking and I am completely smeared by it. I loved the PB in cookies as much as I like it on my toast. Not only me, everybody in the house enjoyed these cookies so much as the jar of cookies was over the next day it was made and I had to bake the second batch of cookies the next day, the dough for which I had kept in the freezer. Yeah, these cookies are perfect for freezing and you can enjoy freshly baked cookies any time you want. 

Lets not wait more and have a look at the recipe I used.

Print this Recipe

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 45 cookies approx.

Here's what you would need to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies:-

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup/ 170 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup/ 105 grams light brown sugar
1/2 cup/ 100 grams caster sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup/ 185 grams peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) (I used Smooth)
2 cups/ 260 grams all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you using salted butter)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Here's how you can make it:

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

• In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
• In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). 
• Beat in the peanut butter. 
• Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. 
• Add flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated. 
• Fold in the chocolate chips. (If the batter is too soft to form into balls, place in the refrigerator for about an hour or until firm.)
• Roll the batter into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Then, using the tines of the fork that has been dipped in white granulated sugar, make a crisscross pattern.
• Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges. 
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before transferring to an air-tight cookie jar. 

How to freeze the cookies to bake later

• Place the ready to bake cookies on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet into the freezer to for 20 minutes to chill the cookies.
• Once chilled, transfer the cookies into a ziplog bag and write the date of freezing on the bag.
• When you want to bake the cookies, take out from the zip log bag. Let it come to room temperature and bake as described above.

Hope you would also enjoy baking these cookies as much as I did.

Happy Baking!