Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Sinless cravings - eggless maple cake

Dear foodies,
Yes, I went off again, and this time I was not planning on doing that. I don't know what came over, I was checking my blog everyday looking for comments that were surely not there. I was coming by all the other blogs to0, but I hardly delurk. I don't know why. Just din't feel like it, I was still cooking and taking photos now n then, but somehow I lost interest. Suddenly nothing I cook pleases me and I've been getting home soup from Panera bread and calling it a day. Much more comforting that cooking something, disliking it from spoon two and then having to find ways to get rid of it! I guess its one of those phases, atleast I hope so :(
So well, a few weekends back I suddenly felt like eating something sweet and baked. A yummy cake if possible, I wish we got pastries here like we did in India. But I was not going to get any of the eggy, butter laden stuff from the store. I went into the kitchen and randomly put together ingredients to come up with this little coffee cake and was surprised by how it turned out given the lack of any butter or oil or eggs or sugar for that matter! I present to you a eggless coffee cake flavored by maple syrup. Pardon the quantities though, I was baking just for myself and so the tiny portion :)
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup - whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 tsp - Baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp - Baking soda
  • 2 Tbsp - Apple sauce
  • 1 tsp - ground flax seed + 2 Tbsp soy milk
  • 1 tsp - Vanilla essense
  • 11/2 Tbsp - Maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp - orange blossom honey (or use more maple syrup)
  • 6-8 - Blackberries ( or any berry you like)
  • Slivered almonds for the topping
Method:
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F and grease a cake pan, (mine was a 1 1/2" deep 6" dia bowl, seen in the first pic)
  2. Combine ground flax seeds and soy milk in a bowl and heat for 30 secs in the microwave, remove and mix rigorously with a fork, heat it for another 30 secs and mix again. Set aside to cool.
  3. In another bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to it and combine lightly. I like it less sweet so taste and add more maple syrup if you want.
  4. Add the berries and fold them into the batter, if using frozen (like I did) add them directly into the batter so they thaw in the oven while cooking.
  5. Smooth the surface and top with the slivered almonds. Bake for about 15-18mins. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center, it will come out clean when ready.
This was a more like a expt while baking, I kept a note of what I was adding just so I know if its gonna work or not. I am glad it did! No eggs or butter or oil or sugar and still you get to eat a cake, now thats really nice :) Its not cloyingly sweet and so is a perfect coffee/tea time cake, it was good for breakfast too. I'm going to try other flavor combos retaining the method, I got a few more cans of the applesauce too, the brownie trial is paying off more than I expected :)

And hey, this is perfect for Vaishali's Sweet Vegan event featuring what else but mouthwatering Vegan desserts! Her blog is filled with yummy recipes from all over the world but with her own spin on them. She makes them sound so simple & delicious you won't even realize they are all vegan, hop on to her blog for details.

32 thoughts:

Sonia said...

hey...long time no see...Priya.
ur maple cake look so tempting and make me craving:)
BTW, ur serving plate(bowl)is beautiful!

Priya said...


That was quick Sonu! I find those bowls to be really convenient, I get to try out new recipes in tiny portions. Make one for yourself now :)

amna said...

looks awesome!

Sonia said...

Sure Priya...will try it some day. but I love ur bowl...is it earthen pot...? Well, I'm still awaiting for ur reply to my mail...Sorry if I am too demanding:)
Take care.

Mrs.Kannan said...

Wawiiii the cake looks perfectly good,and mouthwatering,photos are aweeesome

Mythreyee said...

thank you so much for sharing such a healthy cake.

FewMinute Wonders said...

Its great that you posted something with maple syrup and whole wheat pastry flour. I have become a big fan of these ingredients.

I feel like singing this song to you" Everybody needs a little time away" by the group Chicago. So do take your time to go away its then you feel like coming back.:)

anudivya said...

Hey Priya, make anything with whole wheat flour and that too a cake, I am totally sold. It looks awesome, a perfect serving for one ;)

Uma said...

ooh, delicious cake.

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence, I too baked an eggless vanilla cake for my daughter's birthday and posted for celebrating my 100th post. The cake is looking so delicious.

sunita said...

Priya.that looks so beautiful...and yes, you don't need to ladle a cake with butter and sugar to make it delish!

jayasree said...

Thanks for the healthy cake. Good pics.

Anonymous said...

Looks so very yum...and sugarless, eggless,butterless..........wow...killer recipe...

SMN said...

Hey Priya ur maple cake without butter and sugar sound really intresting of course looks devine..

Indian Khana said...

Cake loosk yum...delicious and using wheat flour is great

Sangeeth said...

Priya yummy cake....even for me when I see no comments I feel very disappointed.....u have a great blog!

Priya said...


Nags, thank you :)

Sonu, its a ceramic, oven safe dish. You'll see a mail from me today then :)

Mrs.Kannan, it did taste really good. thank you :)

Mythreyee, do try it out. Before sending it into the oven I nearly added a pat of butter just cos 'a cake cannot go without butter' :))

Srimathi, You say the nicest things :) thank you soo much. >:D<
The maple flavor was great in the cake, the one I used was a locally made one that I bought from a Amish market.

Divya, yup, perfect :P Try it out, its easy peasy!

Uma, have some :)

Hima, do have any leftovers ? can I come ?

Sunita, yes, it feels so good :) This weekend its going to be stuffed naans though :)

Jayashree, thank you.

Rupa, less is more :) let me know if you try it.

SMN, the applesauce gave it the moistness it needed and the baking powder/soda took care of the leavening, so those two ingredients weren't missed at all :)

Priti, ya, I've been trying to replace all purpose flour in most recipes. Haven't had any trouble until now.

Sangeeth, they do make you happy na :) But last week was funny cos I had not posted anything and was still looking for comments. lol

Vaishali said...

Priya, this both sounds and looks incredibly delicious. I love all those flavors you have going there with the applesauce, vanilla and blackberries.
Thanks for sending this gorgeous cake to Sweet Vegan!

mitr_bayarea said...

Eggless maple cake looks so tasty and crumbly.

Sonia said...

Hey buddy,
Yesterday, I tried a Rasgulla, inspired from you. they turned out so well just beyond my expectations...!
Thank you Priya.
Sonu:)

Anonymous said...

I have to bookmark this. maple syrup, berries and everything yum.

Anonymous said...

Oh, this looks so good Priya! I just procured some locally-made syrup too, so this weekend for that sweet-tooth of mine...blackberries- great choice.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention: just read the Undrallu post; soooo tempting, even if not during the festival days now. So, where's the podi recipe? ;-)

Usha said...

I experiment regularly making bakes that are eggless butterless and sugarless but never thought to make it in coffee maple flavor....yours looks delicious...will give it a try:)

Shri said...

cool recipe!!nice try.got a surprise for you in my blog

anudivya said...

Priya, I have a little something on my blog for ya. Check it out.

Unknown said...

Looks scrumptious n delectable!!pretty pic..

Pallavi said...

This looks perfect Priya..Thanks for sharing..

Usha said...

Looks delicious...I love guilt free indulgences such as these :-)

Unknown said...

Hi Priya,
I tried this cake today with two minor variations - I used all purpose flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour and I doubled all the quantities to make a bigger cake. But with the said ingredients the batter became dry and the ingredients did not mix well at all. Even though I added a few extra table spoons of maple syrup, it did nothing to make the batter moist. Is it because I used all purpose flour or should I add some water/milk to the batter so it mixes well?

Awaiting your suggestions so I can try this cake once again.

Neel Kamal

Unknown said...

Hi Priya,
I tried this cake today with two minor variations - I used all purpose flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour and I doubled all the quantities to make a bigger cake. But with the said ingredients the batter became dry and the ingredients did not mix well at all. Even though I added a few extra table spoons of maple syrup, it did nothing to make the batter moist. Is it because I used all purpose flour or should I add some water/milk to the batter so it mixes well?

Awaiting your suggestions so I can try this cake once again.

Neel Kamal

Jay said...

Neel Kamal,

I tried this cake today. I used whole wheat and it was still dry. So I added two more tbsp of maple syrup, additional tbsp of apple sauce, couple of tbsp canola oil and 1/4 cup milk.

Priya,

Can you check the measurements again? May be something is missing?

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