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For Chocolate Cake:
All Purpose Flour – 1 1/2 cups
Baking Soda – 1 teaspoon
White Sugar – 1 cup
Method:
Preparing Vanilla Cake:
There are days when I can not chose between a vanilla cake and a chocolate cake. One such day, led me to prepare this eggless and moist duet cake to satiate the craving for both vanilla and chocolate cake, with a strawberry layer and a classic buttercream frosting.
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Serves: 12
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Ingredients:
For Vanilla Cake:
All Purpose Flour – 1 1/2 cups
Thick Yogurt/Curd – 1 cups
Thick Yogurt/Curd – 1 cups
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Canola Oil – 1/2 cup (or any other vegetable oil)
Vanilla Essence – 2 teaspoons
Baking Powder – 1 1/2 teaspoons
Baking Soda – 1/2 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Canola Oil – 1/2 cup (or any other vegetable oil)
Vanilla Essence – 2 teaspoons
Baking Powder – 1 1/2 teaspoons
Baking Soda – 1/2 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
For Chocolate Cake:
All Purpose Flour – 1 1/2 cups
Baking Soda – 1 teaspoon
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 1/4 cup (loosely filled)
Cinnamon Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Fine Granule Sugar – 3/4 cup
Vanilla Essence – 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Fine Granule Sugar – 3/4 cup
Vanilla Essence – 1 teaspoon
White Vinegar – 1 tablespoon
Water – 3/4 cup + 2 tablepsoons
Vegetable/Canola Oil – 1/4 cup
Water – 3/4 cup + 2 tablepsoons
Vegetable/Canola Oil – 1/4 cup
For Simple Syrup:
White Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
For Buttercream Frosting;
Unsalted Soft Butter – 2 sticks (1 cup)
Finely Powdered Sugar – 4 cups
Salt – 1/8 teaspoon
Vanilla Extract – 1 tablespoon
Milk – 1 to 2 tablespoons
For Strawberry Layer:
Strawberries – 12, fresh or frozen
Sugar – 1/2 cup (adjust depending on the sweetness of strawberries)
Salt – 1/8 teaspoon
Cornflour – 2 teaspoons
Water – 2 tablespoons
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For Aid:
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Square or Round Baking Tins – 2 identical (I used 8″ inch square tins)
Cake Board
Piping Bag
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Method:
Preparing Vanilla Cake:
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- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 F.
- Grease and dust one cake tin.Â
- In a bowl, take curd and beat it until it is smooth and there is no lump.
- Add sugar and beat until the sugar melts.
- Now add baking powder, baking soda and salt to the curd mixture. Set aside for 3-4 minutes until it becomes frothy.
- Pour oil and vanilla essence. Mix gently until well combined. Do not over mix as the air captured in the mixture might be lost.
- Fold in all purpose flour, using a spatula. Mix gently until well combined. Do not over mix.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tins.
- Bake for approximately 40 to 45 minutes or until the skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake tins from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool down.
- Unmould the cake.
Preparing Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Grease and dust another cake tin.
- Sift together all purpose flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon powder and salt. Sift 2-3 times so that the cocoa powder is well combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, take sugar, vanilla essence, white vinegar and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Pour oil.
- Now fold in the sifted flour. Mix gently using a spatula until well combined.
- Pour the batter into prepared tins.
- Bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until the skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Place the cake tins on the wire rack to cool down.
- Unmould the cake.
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Preparing Simple Syrup:
- Take sugar and water in a saucepan and heat it until the sugar melts completely.
- Turn off the heat and allow it to cool down completely.
- Refrigerate until you use.
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Preparing Strawberry Filling:
- Core the strawberries, cut them into pieces and pulse them a couple of times to break them down into chunky puree.
- In a sauce pan, take chunky strawberry puree, sugar and salt. Cook on medium heat until the strawberry chunks soften little bit.
- Meanwhile, dilute cornflour with water and pour this mixture into the cooking strawberry mixture. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens slightly. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool down completely.
Preparing Buttercream Frosting:
- Take powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Add softened butter and salt. Using the electric mixer, mix on low speed until they are well combined.
- Now add vanilla extract and mix on medium speed for a minute.
- Turn off the mixer, check for the consistency. If it is too dry or thick, add milk and mix again on medium speed until it is light and fluffy.
Set aside in a cool place.
Assembling the cake:
- Trim the top surface of both the cakes such that they have flat surfaces.
- Place one of the cakes in a plate/tray and pour about 1/2 cup of prepared simple syrup until the entire cake is moist enough. Keep a check on the moistness as you do not want the syrup dripping through the cake. Repeat the same for the other cake. Refrigerate for 30 mins to 1 hour.
- Now place one of the cakes on the cake board, smear a layer of butter cream frosting on top of the cake. If you like a lot of frosting, keep the layer thick.
- Spread strawberry filling evenly on top of the frosting.
- Place the other cake on top of the strawberry filling, remove any excess filling that leaks out from the middle of the cake.
- Now evenly frost the layered cakes entirely with the remaining butter cream. The buttercream will be sufficient for thin layer of frosting and little piping. If you need more frosting, double the ingredients in the recipe.
- Top the cake with grated chocolate, chocolate swirls/lace and some strawberries.
- Cut and serve.
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Note:
- If you want more frosting, double the ingredients for buttercream frosting and strawberry filling. Then horizontally slice both the cakes, moisten them with simple syrup and assemble as mentioned above.
- You can replace strawberry with other fruits like cherry, mango, pineapple etc.