ONE- BOWL VANILLA CAKE

On Saturday, we Indians, the cricket crazy people waited with baited breath to see who would win the Finals of the Cricket World Cup. And we WON! Yeayy! So as usual my Facebook news feed was filled with Cricket updates and I thought of asking my friends how do they want to celebrate? 'Something sweet' was the most common answer , so we decided to cook/bake something sweet to celebrate the 'massive' victory.

The minute I saw this cake on her blog, I knew I would try it that day itself and I did. I couldn't help but lick the batter just to see how it tasted with custard powder as an ingredient. It tasted like a box cake to me...I mean in a good way as I really like the Betty Crocker boxed vanilla cake. The city where we live, Minneapolis, is the 'home' of Betty Crocker. I don't know how many of you know that 'she' is just a fiction. There is no  real 'Betty Crocker' , sadly! How I wish there she was real and she lived even today...maybe I could have gone and met her :-)

Also, it's exactly a year since we moved to Minneapolis, our first home. It's been an incredible year! Coming back to the cake, it's a very easy one-bowl cake as the name suggests. It has nice vanilla flavour and  is a very light cake with a good crumb. A perfect cake for tea time or any other time you feel like snacking on a piece of cake ;-)

ONE-BOWL VANILLA CAKE
Original recipe: Betty Crocker Cookbook
I found this recipe on Aparna's blog.

Ingredients:
1/2 c unsalted butter,room temperature
1 1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 c custard powder
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C .Line and dust an 8" round cake tin.

Using a whisk cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add in the egg and whisk till incorporated and fluffy.
Add in the remaining ingredients one by one and whisk together for 2 mins.
Pour into the tin and bake for 55-60 mins or till done.
Cool in the tin for 10 mins, remove and cool completely.

* The design on the cake is natural , that's why I left it plain :)

Verdict: As I said before, this is an easy cake which is so full of vanilla flavour. Anytime you are pressed for time or otherwise, just use this recipe to get fabulous soft cake.

If you read through the recipe, you should have noticed that this recipe doesn't even call for an electric hand beater...it just needs a 'whisk'! Looks like I am in a 'Vanilla' mood...did you see the Vanilla Cupcakes with Glossy Frosting that I made a few days ago?

You can serve this cake plain , dusted with confectioner's sugar or even fruit sauces. I'm sure you will like it!

BARBECUE CHICKEN MEATBALLS... Chak De India!

Last Wednesday was a fantastic day for all the Cricket lover's from India. I didn't wake up early to watch the match but followed it closely after I woke up. All thanks to Namitha for sending me the link to watch it online. It was fun watching the match and it was great fun to see the live updates on Facebook about it. That's when it all began...

A simple innocent question of mine 'Who was Vivek Oberoi with?' just to find out who he really was with then, in the stadium lead to a 'wild' discussion ranging from Bollywood to Cricket to The Royal Wedding (William & Kate) to Bollywood (about John Abraham & Arjun Rampal this time) to Dr.Ria ( ahem! ME!!) prescribing medicines . That simple question of mine currently has 427 comments (and it's still counting)! I didn't even realise that until someone along the way pointed it out to us. I don't think I have the energy to go back and see who it was because I'm sure I'll get lost in between all that discussions once again!

Later, in the cricket spirit, I thought of asking my fellow Indian Food Bloggers if they wanted to join me in cooking something to add to the spirit of cricket as we watch the World Cup Cricket 2011 Finals today (India Vs Sri Lanka). So now, 'we' are cooking together to munch on and will be posting one by one in our respective food blogs. No rules, nothing...it's just for the fun of it! So here am I...with my Barbecue Chicken Meatballs...perfect for a game day!

BARBECUE CHICKEN MEATBALLS
My own recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb/500g ground chicken
1/4 medium onion, grated or ground to a smooth paste (It makes the meatballs moist,so go for it!)
1 pod garlic, grated ( You can sub it with 1 tbsp garlic powder)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp lime/lemon juice
Salt to taste

1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 c Barbecue Sauce ( I used Famous Dave's)

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 450F and oil a cookie sheet, lightly.

In a large bowl,mix together the ground chicken,onion,garlic, cumin,lemon juice and salt.
Divide it into 18 balls (you can wet your hands to make it easier) and bake for 12 mins (Do not over bake it, it will become hard).
Melt butter in a pan on high,add the barbecue sauce and mix.
Add the meatballs to it and mix well for 2-3 mins until they are well coated.
Serve hot*!

*You can serve it with a dip but I chose not to.

Verdict: Very succulent meat balls!The cumin flavours the meatballs really well, you don't need any other spice/herb in it.  I always imagined how restaurants got it so soft and nice...the trick is to bake it only for a short time . You might get tempted to bake for some more time to get a nice crusty meat ball but that will just ruin them. It will turn out dry.

We love anything with BBQ flavour so this was a hit with us!I can't wait for it to be Summer so that we can grill to our heart's content. If you get a chance, do try this. It's a perfect party appetizer as it tastes and looks like your fingers have some sort of a magical touch  :)

Go India, go! Wishing you all the luck!