Old friends and new (and old) enemies await when 'Trigun Stargaze' premieres in January.

'Remember...with great power comes great destruction.'--Godzilla in this new anime, probably.

From the Greek physa, a bladder, an allusion to the inflated calyx (Solanaceae). A genus of 100 or more species of which the two most well-known are P. alkekengi, the Bladder Cherry or Chinese Lantern Plant, with its brilliant, flame-coloured, air-filled calyces, and P. peruviana, the Cape Gooseberry, which is a greenhouse species. They are annual and perennial herbaceous plants, […]

The post Physalis – Perennial Plant, How to grow appeared first on Backyard Gardener.

What’s up for this Christmas?

This is an email sitting in my blog account currently to which my favourite answer this year would actually be ” lots and lots of work! ” if you are also working in an industry that goes on a peak season during Christmas, well,the Christmas-based posts are practically non-existent. There is no energy to make all those lovely goodies. Literally running on dal tadka for most nights.
At the same time, you want to make the season a bit special. So finally took a few minutes off on a quick day to pop something in the oven. Guess what the sweetest smelling whole orange cake loaf with dried cranberries.

Why are blender cakes successful?

Baking certainly gives us a lot of joy. It is the whole process that makes it special. However, when you are pressed for time, there is nothing better than having some appliances that will help you through. The blender gives a smooth paste of the liquid ingredients to which you can add the flour and pulse to mix. When baked, the blender cakes are a bit springier than the ones where you have whisked each ingredient. I love using the blender as it is one simple wash-up and not many parts.

Ingredients for this cranberry orange cake

Oranges: I swear by the navel oranges for this recipe and the orange muffins. In fact though the navel oranges are not the best when you want to have fresh, they taste best in baked goods. In fact, there is no bitterness with these navel oranges when you bake with them.
Eggs: the fluffiness of the blender cake comes from the eggs. Bring the eggs to room temperature to use. OK! There is nothing wrong with cold eggs, but the blend is better with eggs that have stayed on your countertop for atleast 2 hours or more. This whisks much better than cold eggs.
Sugar: cakes are sweet, so just granulated sugar will do perfectly.
Oil/butter: I use one tablespoon of oil just to emulsify the batter. For this recipe, olive oil or coconut oil is fantastic. If using butter, make sure it is just melted, so can mix well.
Flour: self-raising whole wheat flour is what I have used. To make your own self-raising flour that is good for cakes and muffins is actually simple. 2 teaspoons of baking soda for a cup of plain flour, is the proportion to mix for self-raising flour. You can use whole wheat flour too, if using the Indian whole wheat atta, sift it a couple of times before adding the baking soda.
Cranberry: I would love to add fresh tart cranberries to this recipe. However, I have not found any this year. The dried cranberries are what I have used, they are slightly sweetened and added as a layer in between by coating them in flour.

The recipe card below the image has step-by-step instructions to make this easy blender cake. Hope you like it and will share your feedback in the comments. 

Can I bake this in other shapes?

Yes, the cake batter will give you the best in a round tin and as a sheet cake.
Make sure you have a little above the halfway mark to get a lovely rise for the cake in a round tin. If using a sheet pan, reduce the timings and check for doneness using a skewer. 

Decorating the orange loaf

If you are celebrating something special with this loaf cake you will need to jazz it up to look better than a loaf cake. The simplest is to dust some icing sugar. To make a glaze, mix the icing sugar with a bit of orange juice and pour over the whole orange cake loaf. Sprinkle golden sugar or something edible or decorative to bring up the cake.  This heightens the orange feel and the festive spirit.

Stay connected

So this slightly lazy cake, the best cranberry orange cake,  is what we have for Christmas plans. However, if you are looking for that spiced plum cake, try this eggless version we made earlier. There are also some fun cookies (I highly recommend roasted almond cookies) and bakery-style funfetti cake. At any cost, enjoy the festive season, have lots of fun and go check out the Christmas decorations whenever possible (check out our Instagram as we bring you Christmas decor from Sydney).
Wish you all a fantastic festive season.

Strawberry season always means a burst of colour and these flavours pair beautifully together. This Eggless Strawberry Orange Tart Cake is a great cake for high tea, for birthdays, as a gift or then as a snack. Play around with the flavours, use a chocolate ganache filling, perhaps a layer of bitter orange marmalade ... so many variations for one simple one bowl cake!

The post Eggless Strawberry Orange Tart Cake… fresh and exciting! appeared first on Passionate About Baking.