Ragi Cardamom Cake - Delicious and Oh So Simple!

The image of a cake made with Ragi (Finger Millet) flour can evoke a not so happy response from most people who think of cake as a sweet treat that is either made with lots of chocolate or then, is light and fluffy and has tons of icing on it.

Hello! Cakes can be healthy too, and with the right ingredients, can make a wonderful and delicious afternoon snack. Finger millet or "Ragi" as it is popularly know in the southern states of India, is a highly underutilized grain. It is packed with nutrition and is unfortunately associated by many as a breakfast grain, to be used to make porridge. Actually, it lends itself to baking very well and I have realized that it is a wholesome flour to use to make an eggless cake that is infused with cardamom.

Here is a the recipe. It was devoured very quickly by all at home and this is a recipe that I will get back to again and again. I was inspired by the chocolate cake recipe from Padhu to come up with my own take on the use of Ragi flour.

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour.
1/2 cup ragi flour (I used the organic flour from 24 Mantra).
1/2 cup dried sweetened coconut.
1/4 cup ground almonds (blanched).
3/4 tsp baking soda.
1 and 1/4 tsp cardamom.
Pinch of salt.
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of powdered brown sugar (this amount can be varied to suit your sweet tooth).

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup full fat yogurt.
1 cup reduced fat milk (infused with saffron).
1/4 cup canola oil

Method:

Take about three table spoons of the milk and warm it in the microwave. Place a few strands of saffron in the milk. The milk should get a lovely yellow color and aroma from the saffron in 15 minutes. Now mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients including the saffron infused milk. Now pour the wet ingredients' mixture in the dry ingredients and use a spatula to form a fluid batter. This is more fluid than most cake batter. Pour the batter in a greased (I use butter), square glass baking pan (8 inch by 8 inch), and bake in a preheated oven (350 F) for about 30 minutes or until done just enough to get a toothpick out clean, when inserted in the cake. This cake is meant to be moist. Cool and cut into desired size pieces. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee!

Ricotta Cheese Cake with an Almond Meal Crust

FOR THE HOLIDAYS - A PERFECT DESSERT

I have been reading up about the health benefits of Ricotta Cheese and while I admit that this cheese is high in saturated fat, a controlled portion can contribute to your daily intake of B-vitamins, selenium, protein and calcium. I came up with this recipe for a cheese cake when I was looking for wholesome and nutritious non-Indian dessert recipes. I used almond meal (from Trader Joe's) to make the crust of the cake. The end product was an immensely satisfying dessert that you can whip up in less than an hour of prep time, about 30-40 minutes of bake time and more importantly, it can be made the day before you entertain family or friends because it stores very well in the refrigerator. Just bring it to room temperature before serving and make the berry sauce fresh! Some of the photographs below are courtesy of my spouse.

Here are the ingredients:

Cheese filling:
1.5 cups Ricotta cheese

1.5 - 2 tbsp all purpose flour

3 egg whites

6 tbsp honey

3-4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Crust:

1.5 cups almond meal

1.5 tbsp fresh melted butter

2 tbsp brown molasses sugar

Berry Sauce:
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (strawberries will do to, or you can try a mix of frozen berries)
1/2 - 1 cup water
1 clove
1 small piece of cinnamon bark
1 tbsp brown sugar

To make the crust, brown the almond meal slightly in a pan. To this add the butter and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Once the mixture is cool enough that you can touch the flour, place the mixture in a pre-greased (with very little melted butter) pie dish.



Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Then, in a large bowl, beat the egg whites and add the ricotta cheese. Blend thoroughly. Then sequentially, add the fl our, honey and vanilla extract, blending at each addition. I used a spatula to blend the ingredients. Finally add the spices.

Now, pour this cheese filling onto the pie crust and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes or until when a fork, when inserted into the cheese filling comes out clean.

In the mean time, make the berry sauce by combining all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cooking the berries un til they are soft (but nor squishy!). Make sure you have some liquid in the sauce pan, it can be handy for decoration.

Serve a piece of the cheese cake in a serving dish and decorate with the berry sauce.

ENJOY!

Ricotta Cheese Munchies - A healthy sweet treat

I was introduced to Ricotta cheese by my aunt. When I first bought this cheese from the local Trader Joe's store, I was not sure how I could use it in dishes other than pasta. After following some interesting recipes on the web, I decided to make sweet munchies with this cheese. The recipe is really simple. No baking required, however, some patience is needed because you have to cook the cheese until all its water content is evaporated.

Ingredients:

1 box of Ricotta cheese: I like the one at Trader Joe's the best.

Few treads of saffron immersed in 1/8 cup warm milk: This releases the color and flavor of the saffron into the milk.

1/4 cup honey

Powdered cardamom seeds.

Jaggery or Brown Sugar as per taste.

Empty the Ricotta cheese into a heavy bottomed stainless steel pan and cook on medium heat until the water evaporates and a crumbly, dry cheese is left behind. To this, add, the honey, milk and saffron mixture, cardamom powder and jaggery. Mix thoroughly until any traces of milk are all gone. The mixture should be dry. Now, use your hands to shape small portions of the cheese into any form you like. I typically make "modak" shapes with this cheese. This shape can be easily obtained by gently shaping a ball of this mixture with all five fingers to form a tower like structure! You could also roll the cheese on saran wrap into a 1/2'' thick slab and cut pieces with cookie cutters. Store each piece in separate chocolate cups and serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey! The texture of the cooked and dry ricotta goes very well with the honey, saffron and cardamom. These sweet treats store well in the refrigerator and are so easy to make.

ENJOY!