Eggless but not Mango-less!!

It is largely unfair for the whole vegetarian/vegan lot to be bombarded with yummy looking things they really can't eat.I'm neither a vegan/vegetarian myself,nor do i fancy eating meat everyday.I'm somewhere in the middle trying to balance the two.Most of the days we eat a normal homecooked vegetarian fare and to say the least;it is anything but boring.At the same time i love my indulgent meat/dairy days too.

Having said that and considering that i've to continue with  the "Mango Marathon" week,i'm here with a beautiful cocoa-mango cake with a bright yellow mango glaze that looks yummy and tastes even yummier.It is completely vegetarian and if you use vinegar instead of the buttermilk,it becomes a vegan cake.In the end i've also tried to compile different ways eggs can be replaced in different dishes.I hope it helps people who avaoid eggs in their food.Here it is:

Eggless Choco-Mango Cake with tangy  Mango Glaze 

Ingredients:

(for cake)

1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3Tablespoons dark cocoa powder

a pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 tblspns vegetable oil

1/2 cup finely chopped mangoes

1 & 1/2 cups thick buttermilk

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

(for glaze)

250 ml/1 Cup of mango(pureed) about 2 small to medium, very ripe mangoes

2 tspn lemon juice

500 gms of  powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the cake tin. Set aside.
• Sift together all of the flour,cocoa,baking powder and baking soda and salt.
• Mix the pureed mangoes with the oil,vanilla extract,buttermilk and sugar.In place of buttermilk you can use a tblspn of white vinegar/apple cider vinegar and add a cup of apple juice to adjust liquid content.I haven't used vinegar ever in my cakes but from what i learnt from some people is that it works.You may give it a try.
• Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones spoon by spoon using a flat spatula to fold them together.
• Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (17 minutes for cupcakes), until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Mix together in a blender the mango puree,lemon juice and vanilla extract.Now keep adding the sifted sugar in small quantities till you get the desired consistency.If the mangoes that you have used  are juicier then you might consume a little extra sugar than the given quantities.This glaze can be kept inside the refrigerator in an airtight container without spoiling or discoloring for a few days.

General guidelines for replacing eggs in different recipies:

The most common substitutes for eggs are:

Soy Milk/Milk:

As a thumb rule,use 150 ml of Milk/Soy milk for one egg in general.If you have soy powder instead you can use 1 heaped  tblspn in place of one egg.You can also use condensed milk in some cases(you will need to alter you sugar quantities though) keeping in mind that you can use a 100 ml for every two cups of flour used in the recipe.

In some cake recipies you can replace 1 egg by 2 tbsp flour+1/2 tbsp butter+1/2 tbsp baking powder.

Buttermilk:

This is one of the preferred substitute for eggs specially in eggless cake recipes.Add half a cup of buttermilk in place of one egg.Keep in mind to check on the quantity of other wet ingredients in the recipe.

Pureed fruits:

Although the resulting cake might be a little bit more crumbly,it is good idea to use it if you are allergic to eggs.Use three tblspn of pureed banana in place of one egg.Alternatively applesauce can be used too.

Flaxseeds:

Grind 2 tblspoon of flaxseeds in a coffee grinder or take flax meal ready available in the market.Soak it in warm water for 10 mts and use it in place of 1 egg.In case you mind all the fibre from flaxseeds you can strain the liquid after soaking the flaxmeal and use it.

Vinegar/apple cider vinegar with baking powder:

Take a tblspn of vinegar and water each in a small bowl and mix it with a tspn of baking powder,mix it well to form a paste and use it in place of one egg.

Egg replacement powders:

Available in the market in health stores,they usually have some sort of gelatin and proteins derived from different sources.Sometimes they also contain egg whites so people with allergy issues should always read the labels.

Evil evil of them all !!!

No women can deny the fact that they love their chocolates as much as their men love to drool over super hot shot gorgeous looking women...if not more.We all give in to our temptations sometimes but chocolate is something we give in to most of the times.I know of some women who religiously eat their dark chocolates everyday as their secret formulae to keep their skin glowing and swear by its feel good effects too!! I'm pretty sure theses claims are true but i always eat my chocolates for only one good reason.... that they are sinfully delicious.But more often than not...i like using chocolate in some form in my desserts instead of eating bits out of the bars.

Now there is no dearth of ways we can use chocolates to create desserts ....be it a rich chocolate truffle cake or gooey and warm chocolate brownies(that both me and my sister loved to eat with a chilled scoop of icecream during our mid night hunger pangs) or a more complicated melting chocolate centre cake.Whatever it is,chocolate has always given me numerous ways to express,feel and enjoy and i can vouch i'll never be tired of trying more ways to do that.

Here is a very quick recipe for a  dark chocolate souffle that i made last evening after i had this sudden urge to eat it(though i can always cover up by saying my kids wanted it!!) and all it took me was ten minutes of preparation and fifteen minutes for it to come out of the oven.....and in less than two minutes it was on its way to our tummies.Now a souffle is suppose to be light,airy and puffed up and is meant to be eaten immediately after it comes out of the oven or else it goes flat after a few mts and then is a big dissapointment.

here is the recipe:

Super Easy Double Chocolate Souffle

Ingredients:

a stick of butter(about 125 gms) / half a stick of butter(75gms)+a tblspn oil

2 tblspoon all purpose flour

a cup of shredded dark chocolate

3/4 cup of milk

a tspn of vanilla extract

2 eggs(at room temperature)

a tblspn of rich cocoa powder

a tablespoon and half of castor sugar

Method:

• The first step is to make the base creme sauce.In a pan melt the butter(or butter and oil).Once melted add the flour and mix well.Cook it for a minute at low heat stirring continuously.Now add the milk slowly,stirring the mix so that no lumps are formed.Once all the milk is consumed and starts to bubble away,add the sugar , switch off the heat and let it cool.
• Meanwhile breaks the eggs and seperate the yolks  from the whites.Add the yolks to the creme mixture and stir well.Now add the chocolate shards,vanila extract and cocoa to it and mix well again.
• Whip up the egg whites in a seperate dry bowl to soft peakes.Scoop some of the whipped white into the creme and chocolate mix now and stir to incorporate.
• Now transfer the dark chocolate mix into the bowl of remaining egg whites.Carefully fold them all together taking care not to remove any air out of the mix.

• Grease the ramekins or small bowls with butter and dust with sugar.Discard the excess.Now pour the chocolate mix into theses  ramkins or bowls almost  upto the rim and transfer them to a preheated oven.Cook them at 220°C/400°F for appx 12 mts or until a toothpick comes out clean.

• Dusted with icing sugar,the souflle should be served with alarming quickness.It is quite a task to bring it on the table and click without the souffle settling down by a few centimeters.By the time i had the shot ready it had already begun to fall flat but is still in good shape.They dont say"souffle never waits for anyone" for nothing!!

Health tip:

Well its wonderful taste aside, chocolate contains phenylethylamine - the same chemical that is released in your brain when you fall in love; leading to that increase in the pounding of your heart, feeling of a sudden gush of excitement. "Love Chemical" is what some would call it. It is also believed by researchers that phenylethylamine in turn causes the brain to release mesolimbic dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain, another chemical where its presence is at peak during an orgasm.

Nevertheless, the sweetness from chocolate also triggers the release of endorphins. Think about those blissful feeling you had after a wonderful session of lovemaking. That is the effect from the production of endorphins in your body. Perhaps that is why some women actually remarked that they felt a feeling of elation when eating chocolate.

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