EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP
THEME: #250 LET’S CELEBRATE WITH CAKE
Theme this week on FoodieMonday/Bloghop
This week FoodieMonday/Bloghop is celebrating 250th theme. What better way to celebrate this milestone with some cake. We’ve had some interesting themes, some repeats and some challenging ones too. For a group to continue strongly for 5 years and that too with recipes every week of the month is no small feat.
My Journey with FoodieMonday/Bloghop
I joined the group on 14th march 2016 for their 31st theme which was Fusion Thandai Recipes. I made Thandai Kulfi thinking that I’ve definitely created something different. Unfortunately that was not the case, as other participants had made souffles, galettes, thandai barfi with cherry glaze, thandai baked yogurt etc. That was the first time I got to understand the actual meaning of fusion. With the No Cook No Bake theme, I made a Sorbet – Honeydew Melon Sorbet for the first time. For the 50th theme the group decided that the best way to celebrate would be with some traditional sweet. If it were not for this theme, I may never have attempted to make Mohanthal. I always felt that making Indian Sweets (besides kheer, shrikhand, doodh pak) was a difficult task. The theme allowed me to conquer my fear.
With the theme Chatakedar Chaat I made Idli Chaat which became an instant hit for my daughter’s pre-wedding celebrations. I made that for 50 people, with assistance from my aunt. Themes celebrating various festivals not only taught me more about traditions by reading blog posts by other members but also to experiment with unknown grains. It gave me the opportunity to use amaranth as a whole grain when I prepared Amaranth Fruity Pudding. I’ve used amaranth flour often but not the whole grain.
The 93rd theme Summer Fruit was when I learnt that Avocado which Kenya has an abundance of is actually a big berry! Did you know that?
FoodieMonday/Blophop Milestones
50th Theme
For the 50th theme the group decided that the best way to celebrate would be with some traditional sweet. If it were not for this theme, I may never have attempted to make Mohanthal. I always felt that making Indian Sweets (besides kheer, shrikhand, doodh pak) was a difficult task. The theme allowed me to conquer my fear.
100th Theme
For the 100th Theme members decided that no cooking post but to put some of our best dishes that we cooked for the group into a collage form. While the recipes for me were all foolproof, my photos said otherwise and I chose my best on photos that appeared reasonably ok.
150th Theme
Looking back, I’m surprised that we didn’t celebrate that milestone and I made the most simplest dish ever – Mixed Vegetable Curry.
200th Theme
The members during that time, decided that 200 definitely calls for a celebration and the theme was aptly names NOT OUT… yes some of us like Preethi, Sujata, Poonam, Priya Iyer and I have been there for quite a while. Preethi who blogs at Preethi’s Cuisine and Sujata who blogs at Batter up with Sujata are the oldest , not age wise members of the group. We decided to blog from a fellow members blog. That’s when I learnt what Robin Round meant and I had to cook something from Poonam’s blog. I chose to make No Bake Chocolate Swiss Rolls. At that time I was in Calgary at my sister in law’s place and the rolls were an instant hit. I made them again before I left Calgary. My sister in law made them for a Diwali party and ever since then she gets requests to make them for dinner parties within her friends circle.
250th Theme
After the 100th theme many old members left and new ones joined. As of today we are a group of 13 members. Through Kalyani’s initiative the group had a Zoom Call on 23/05/2020. There had been several occasions when we wanted to put voices to the faces we’d got to so well but it was not possible. The present Cover 19 pandemic made it possible for us to connect and chat away.
- Sujata – her entry(25/08/2015) into the FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group was with Aloo Paneer.Sujata is one of the oldest members of the group.
- Preethi – one of the oldest members of the group Preethi joined the group on 25/08/2015 with her recipe Multigrain Brinjal Rings.
- Poonam – Poonam’s Fig Banana Smoothie for the Vrat Special Recipes was her entry into the group on 16/07/2017
- Priya – joined us on 16th July 2017 with her first recipe for the group – Sago Fritters
- Sasmita – joined during the 102nd theme (24/07/2017) with her mango Donut Cake with Chocolate Glaze
- Kalyani – 19/11/2018 Kalyani joined the group with her recipe Badami Saag Paneer for the Saag Saga theme.
- Swaty – Swaty too joined the group during the Saag Saga theme (19/11/2018) with her lip smacking Kale and Spinach Saag with Paneer Koftas.
- Archana – joined the group on 26/11/2018 where she made Qorma -e – sabzi for the International Fest.
- Renu – 2 ingredient Cantaloupe and Strawberry Smoothie was the recipe that Renu joined the group with 06/05/2019
- Aruna – I remember when Aruna made Mango Mastani for theme 194, Summer Fruit Fest(06.05.2019), I wanted to make it. I still have to try the recipe out.
- Narmadha – Narmadha’s entry into the group was on 01/07/2019 with Eggless Brownies for the Chocolate theme.
- Waagmi – who left the group for a while and has re-joined recently. Her first recipe back when she started the group was
250th Theme – Cakes
After a very brief discussion we decided that we can celebrate the 250th milestone with a home baked cake. For this theme I had baked a Lemon Curd Cake earlier during the week. Then on Thursday 4th June I had to bake another cake! I didn’t know that my neighbor’s birthday was approaching, otherwise the lemon curd cake would have been her present from me! He hubby informed us that he would be sending full dinner to our place on Thursday, so I volunteered to bake a cake. Though they don’t believe in blowing out candles and cutting a cake for birthdays, they love home baked cakes.
Eggless Pear Upside Down Cake
Thursday early morning, I still hadn’t decided which cake to bake! I wanted to bake a cake that I already have on the blog but needs good photos. However, that plan was quickly thwarted when hubby shouted from the dining room “And what are you going to do with these pears that are taking forever to ripen?” That when a pear cake light bulb lit up in my head. Type pear cake on Pinterest and you get flooded with the upside down ones. So that’s what I decided to bake, using my eggless cake recipe. I must say, not only it came out really well, but it tasted awesome. The pears were a bit firm and just right for the cake. I shared the photos with my daughter for both the lemon curd cake and the pear upside down cake and she insisted that the latter on should be the one I use for the FoodieMonday/Bloghop theme.
Ingredients Required For Eggless Pear Upside Down Cake
- Pears – ripe but firm. They should not be overripe.
- Sugar – for both the cake batter and the caramel
- Butter – for the cake batter and the caramel
- Plain Flour – All purpose flour, maida
- Yogurt – Plain yogurt which is not sour. I used homemade yogurt. I find that yogurt as an egg replacement works well as the texture of the cake turns out soft and with fine crumb very similar to cakes baked with eggs.
- Soda Bicarbonate – Baking Soda as the leavening agent
- Fresh Ginger Paste – for both the cake batter and the caramel. Don’t omit this vital ingredient as pear and ginger pair up well and makes the cake taste awesome.
- Vanilla Extract – as added flavouring for both the cake batter and caramel
- Salt – to balance the taste
Dietary Tip:
- While there is no suitable substitute for the dairy yogurt, for a Vegan version use a Vegan yogurt.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
EGGLESS UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Ingredients
For the Pear Layer:
- 2 pears ripe but firm
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
For the Cake Layer:
- 2 cups plain flour all purpose flour, maida
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 125 g butter soft
- 1 tsp soda bicarbonate baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
Instructions
Preparation of the Pear Layer:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Grease a 10-12 inch round cake tin with butter. If you are using a silicon one like I did, then no need to grease it.
- Cut the unpeeled but washed pears into thin slices.
- Drizzle lemon juice over it and mix gently with your hands.
- Arrange the pear slices in the prepared tin.
- Heat butter, vanilla extract, sugar and ginger in a wide pan over medium heat.
- Keep stirring the mixture till it begins to boil. Don't let it become dark brown as it will still cook further in the oven.
- Take the pan off the heat. Pour the caramel over the pear layer. Spread it out well using a spatula.
Preparation of the Cake Layer:
- Sieve plain flour, soda bicarbonate and salt into a bowl.
- In another bowl add butter and sugar.
- Cream it till it becomes fluffy, creamy and whitish.
- Add yogurt, vanilla extract and ginger.
- Beat into the sugar butter cream till mixed well.
- Add flour mixture and fold into the creamed butter mixture.
- Pour the batter over the pear and caramel layer. Spread it out evenly using a spatula.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or till a skewer or cocktail stick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely in the tin. Don't be in a hurry to remove it.
- Using a spatula, run it around the edge of the cake to loosen it a bit.
- Using a plate, place it on the cake tin upside down.
- Flip the tin and plate over so that the plate is at the bottom and the cake tin on top.
- Tap the tin a bit and the cake should come out.If it doesn't flip it over, run the spatula on the edges again.
- Once the cake is on the plate, you need to place another one on top, upside down and flip it over. Remove the top plate so the pear layer is shown on the top.
- Serve with some tea or coffee or serve with ice cream as dessert.
Tips:
- Don't take a small cake tin otherwise the cake will remain raw in the middle. Its important to use correct size tins.
- I didn't peel the pears but you can if you wish.
- Don't try to remove the cake when it is still hot.Wait till it becomes cool.
- Don't reduce the amount of butter used for the caramel layer as it helps the caramel not to become too hard. If it hardens then its dificult to remove the cake from the tin.
- Preferred types of tins for upside down cakes are the loose bottom ones or silicon ones. I prefer the silicon one.
Pin for later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962