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November 12, 2010

Instant Microwave Banana Nut Cake



I've resumed cooking. It was something I had to do to bring in a sense of "normalcy" into my life. Attempting to cook in the serviced apartment without a pressure cooker was an experience in itself. I realized how much I took my kitchen in Gurgaon for granted. But I also realized that healthy meals are possible even if you have almost no appliances and only three utensils.

After we moved into our apartment, the first set of boxes we opened were the ones which would help me start cooking. Slowly, all my appliances came out of their boxes and I was thrilled to see the pressure cookers, the mixer-food processor and my wet grinder. Once I got into the groove of day to day cooking, I started missing baking. And I started missing my oven. For the moment, I only have a basic microwave. I decided to stick with it for the time being and invest in a combination oven in a couple of months. But (my friends know this) I needed to bake to feel really normal.

I've only baked two cakes in the microwave before this. I also don't have a fully stocked pantry as yet. So, I quickly stocked up on baking powder, baking soda and some vanilla essence. I started scouting for more microwave cake recipes with easily available ingredients. My research brought me to cooks.com and I found a banana nut cake recipe that seemed to call out to me. I decided to improvise with what I had on hand and also made several substitutions to make it a very healthy cake.

The final result was fabulous. The cake wasn't crusty on top, but I know not to expect that from a microwave cake. The texture of the cake was as good as, if not better than, most banana cakes I have baked in the past. This recipe is a sure shot keeper.

1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup Low Fat Milk
1 Egg
1 Ripe Banana
1/2 cup Jaggery, grated
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup Flour (Plain)
1/2 cup Mixed Nuts, chopped
1/4 cup Raisins
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

In a blender jar, beat the egg until fluffy. Add the banana and blend until there are no lumps. Add the jaggery, oil and milk and blend again. Add the flours along with the baking powder and baking soda and blend for a minute or two.

Grease a microwave safe baking dish. Pour the batter into the dish and stir in the chopped nuts and raisins. Bake on high (800) for 8 minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Cut into slices and dig in.

I'm glad to be back to cooking, baking and blogging as well. I'm even happier to be able to send this to an event I regularly participated in: The Monthly Mingle. This month, Deeba of Passionate About Baking is hosting this event and I am sending this to Deeba as my entry to Fruit in Baking.

21 comments:

Padmajha said...

Wow!That sounds so simple!A keeper for sure.Will be trying it out soon :)

Chitra said...

Very nice. Perfect !!

Unknown said...

Hey,

Beautiful dear...Love anything with bananas...:)

Dr.Sameena@

http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

Hari Chandana P said...

Woww.. looks very tempting and delicious..

Pari Vasisht said...

Hi Dear, Hope the new country is treating u well.
Banana, jaggery, wheat flour sounds a great combination in baking, must try such a healthy combination.

Vidhya said...

wow sounds so good and easy.. will try it soon

Deeba PAB said...

Raaga, how are you? Settled in Sin? Life looking up? Thank you for this fab cake. I am a timid microwave baker, but you make me feel brave already! This is wonderful. Thank you for bringing it to the mingle! xoxo

Pavani said...

I haven't baked too much in my microwave, not sure why, it's so much quicker. Your cake looks awesome.

FewMinute Wonders said...

Have you moved out of Gurgaon? Its nice that you are exploring what you can with the given appliances. The cake does look great for a microwave version.

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

awesome cake made in micro. you are giving me courage to try my new micro for baking too.

Priya Suresh said...

Fantastic cake..yumm!

AJ said...

Great looking cake Raaga!!

Unknown said...

I love baking using MW's Bread look perfect Raaga.

Mrs K said...

Raga,I added myself to your list of followers,and tried hard to find the tab for comments:( Missed it for some reason...I can totally relate to your write-up. I have gone through these moves more than often and I know how exactly it feels. The fact that you still found a way to resume baking is commendable. I would have probably taken far longer :( This is a terrific recipe,will give it a shot,soon. BTW I lived in Gurgaon before we relocated to the states in 2004 :)

Padmajha said...

Its me again.Prepared this cake last weekend and everyone loved it.Made a few changes [and its in my blog].Will be making this often.Thanks for the wonderful recipe :)

Priya Sreeram said...

first time to your wonderful blog and loving all the yummy recipes. this cake especially is prodding me to ditch my baking fears! good one!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Ok, you're back to normal I see. :) Your lack of an oven isn't a problem at all. Looks really good especially since you made it in the MW.

Nachiketa said...

Lovely results despite substitutions and less resources...

Cheers,
The Variable, Crazy Over Desserts - Nachiketa
Catch me on facebook @ Crazy Over Desserts

Sally - My Custard Pie said...

I've never cooked a cake in a microwave but I am intrigued. Years ago when I worked somewhere with a small staff canteen they made the best banana cake ever in the micro. So thanks for sharing this - got to try it.

codemaverik said...

This is the fastest and best breakfast cake we ever made. Fantastic microwave recipie. Definitely a keeper. Will try and mail you pictures of the same.
Rashmi and Arun

Unknown said...

I replaced the oil with butter and whipped the egg beforehand. I cooked it for 2:30 instead as well to insure it didn't get spongy. Topped it off with whipped cream that seeped wonderfully into the cake making it very moist. So good. Thinking about adding some chocolate chips next time too.

Breville Smart Oven