Coconut and Walnut Cake

Okay so finally I'm a blogger!

My love for cooking has developed over the years and I made my first solo dish when I was about 12 years old.

P.S I have a special love for baking!

Sometimes I feel that I'm in the wrong profession. Actually I was a bit late in realizing that I should have followed my heart instead of my mind. Oh well, I *wish* that I'll get there someday! For now, I'm the Master Chef for my family :)

So, in my blog, I'll post all the recipes that I've tried and tested. Some have photos and some don't. I am a health freak, so I love cutting down the fat and calorie content of the recipes that I come across. Sometimes, fat is yummy (!), so I add extra butter or oil just to get the right taste (:P). I do experiement a lot with ingredients and I confess, sometimes I've created disasters that are far from edible. But hey, everyone makes mistakes, right?

As the title of my post suggests, my first recipe that I'm sharing involves baking!!

Coconut and Walnut Cake

I baked this cake recently to celebrate my sister's birthday, so my first recipe is dedicated to her :)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups All purpose flour/ Whole Wheat flour
0.5 cup Freshly grated coconut
0.5 cup chopped walnuts
1.5 teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
0.5 cup milk
2 Eggs
1 cup sugar (brown or white)
1 cup Oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350/180 degrees
2. Grease the baking dish with oil and dust with flour
3. Sieve the flour and baking powder and add salt to it
4. In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs.
5. Add sugar and oil and beat again. You can just use a fork or a spatula to mix. You don't have to use a hand blender
6. Add the grated coconut and walnuts to this mixture
7. Add the flour mixture slowly (about 2 Tablespoons at a time) to the eggs-oil etc mixture and stir
8. Add milk once you feel that the mixture is becoming thick, 2 Tablespoons at a time. (You might need more than 0.5 cups of milk if you use whole wheat flour).
9. When all the flour has been used, check the consistency. Add more milk if you need.
10. Pour this mixture in the greased baking dish and let it bake for about 30 - 35 minutes.
11. When done, remove cake from the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes
12. Reverse the cake on a plate and let it cool on a wire rack.

Handy tips!!

1. It is always best to use all ingredients at room temperature. If the eggs are in the fridge, bring them down to room temperature by putting them in some warm (not hot) water for 5 minutes.
2. Milk should also be at room temperature
3. Don't open the oven door till the cake has risen completely from the middle.
4. To moisten the cake, when it is ready, make some holes on top of the cake with a fork. Make a syrup of milk and sugar (0.25 cup milk and 1 Tablespoon sugar) or any light fruit juice (like lemon, orange) and pour it with a teaspoon on the cake. The holes on the cake will let the syrup seep into the cake, and the cake will be moist.