EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE with ALMOND PRALINE TOPPING

So this must be the 100th time I'm talking about our Chicago trip. As you all know by now, we celebrated Easter in Chicago with Jobin's cousin and family.It was good fun.We both ate so much yummy homemade goodness for every single meal! It was like a seafood festival for me! There was seafood in every possible dish...I'm talking about the Malayali curries like Chemmenum Mangayum,Chomanna Meen Curry,Ayila Varuthathu,Chemmen Olathiyathu etc. The Easter lunch was a potluck so there was an enormous spread of Kallappam, Kappa Biriyani,Mutton Curry,Thorans, Mezhukkupuratti's, Rice, Puddings etc. I ate continously from the time I woke up till I went to sleep. Burp!

We left early morning on Saturday and took this cake with us as a surprise for his cousin who was celebrating his b'day that day. When we reached there, I got plenty of time to make the puddings for the Easter lunch that I had signed up before. Jobin helped me with the prep work as we were expecting around 40 guests. I made the Chocolate Biscuit Pudding and Cold Frost Pudding. Then after all that, we set out the cake and candles and waited for the birthday boy who had gone hiking with his cousins.

When they came back, he was in for a surprise because it's been 2 years since he cut a cake at home as he was away in other countries for his studies. The cake was a big hit and no one even felt that it lacked eggs or was made eggless. So I didn't bother telling anyone, except for the next day when an Aunty asked me for the recipe :-)

I have made this cake before and it was enjoyed by all who ate it. The almond praline topping is a quick fix of mine whenever I need a topping for a cake or a pudding. I love the crunch it gives the soft cake beneath it. It hardly takes anytime to make but the effect it has on your palate is worth enjoying! Amma uses praline a lot for decorating puddings and also in her Praline Vanilla Sponge Gateau.

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE with ALMOND PRALINE TOPPING
Recipe for the cake: Anushruti
Recipe for praline: Amma

Ingredients:
For the cake
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp sugar
1 tin condensed milk
150g butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
1 c water

Method: Preheat the oven to 300F/ 150C and prepare an 8 inch cake tin.
In a large bowl,mix the dry ingredients together. Add the melted butter and other wet ingredients to it and beat on high till there are no lumps, about 1 minute. Do not overbeat. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 25 -30 mins.Cool in tin for 5 mins and then invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

For the praline recipe, refer here

Assembly: Place the cake on a serving plate and cover it with a Chocolate Ganache (half qty). Sprinkle the praline over the cake and cover the sides too, if you like. Decorate the top  with rosettes/ stars using whipped cream. If you like, you can make some Lacy Oatmeal Cookies and pile them up in the centre.

This cake was loved by all irrespective of age & gender ;-) It has a nice texture with a delicate crumb. No one would ever guess it's eggless unless you mention it to them. This cake can be layered or used as whole, like how I did here. I am sure I will be using this cake again! If you want, you can bake them into cupcakes but keep an eye on the timing when you do so. It is delicious on it's own or you can dress it up with some icing and serve alongside with some real good vanilla ice cream. If you want to get adventurous, go drizzle some caramel sauce too!