Rainbow Cake - No eggs, No bake

 Making a Rainbow Cake is a lengthy process. It is rewarding at the end when you see rainbow in your plate though. The recipe is divided into three parts; cake, filling, sugar syrup.

Ingredients for Cake:

1. Condensed Milk - 12 oz
2. Powdered Sugar - 3/4 Cup
3. Vegetable oil - 3/4 Cup
4. All Purpose Flour - 3 Cup
5. Baking Powder - 3 TSP
6. Baking Soda - 3/4 TSP
7. Milk - 1  and 1/2 Cup
8. Vanilla Extract - 3 TSP
9. Food Colors

Steps:

1. In a mixing bowl, add condensed milk, powdered sugar and vegetable oil. You can use suffola or canola oil as well. As long as oil is not flavorful like an extra virgin olive oil, you can use it in place of vegetable oil. 

2. Mix well with a whisker. In only a couple of minutes, you will have a consistent mixture.

3. In a cake mixer bowl, sieve all purpose flour. Add in baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract and above mixture with only half of milk. Once you start to mixer, at level 2 for two min. Add in remaining milk. At the end, if the batter is thicker then add 1 or 2 TSP milk. The consistency should be thicker than pancake batter. Now divide the batter in 7 separate bowls; around 1/2 cup each. Add 1 to 1 and half TSP of food color in each. 

Red, Yellow and Blue are easy. Most of the food colors come in these colors. 

For Orange - Use 1 TSP Red + half TSP Yellow

For Green - Use 3/4 TSP Yellow + 3/4 TSP Blue

For Purple/Violet - Use 3/4 TSP Red + 3/4 TSP Blue

For Indigo - Use 1 TSP Red + half TSP Blue

4. Heat up thick bottom pan at least 10 inch wide. Grease with less than 1 TSP of oil. Now pour in batter for each color at a time. Here is red and purple. 

5. Cover the pan with lid. Let it cook for 4 to 6 minute at medium-low flame. At around 5 minute do the toothpick taste in the middle of the batter. It should come clean for taking it off the stove.

6. Let all cakes cool off to room temperature. Now refrigerate all for at least 2 hour to a day. I did here for 2 hours. Then you can use circle template to cut in circle shape. Since those are about 1 inch thick, I used bread knife to cut all in exact shape.

Ingredients for Filling:

1. Heavy Whipped Cream - 1.5 Cup
2. Granular Sugar - 5 TBSP
3. Vanilla Extract - 1 and 1/2 TSP

Method:

1. Add all ingredients in cake mixer. Use whisk attachment and whisk on highest setting - i.e. 10 for 2 to 4 minutes, until you have stiff whipped cream.

    2. For filling, I use ziplock bag by cutting off one corner.

Ingredient for Sugar Syrup:

1.  Water - 1 Cup
2. Granular Sugar - 1 Cup

Method:

1. In a thick bottom pot, mix in water and sugar. Keep the flame medium and continue to stir.

    2. Let the sugar dissolve and mixture will become translucent. Continue to stir to bring it to boil. At first sight of boiling, stop the flame. Cool off the syrup come to room temperature. Now add vanilla extract before storing it in air tight container in the refrigerator. It will be stay fresh for upto 3 months.

Now that we have cakes and filling, for assemble, I am using round tray.Start with dusking a bit of all purpose flour. Add a spoonful of filling at the center.

Place Purple cake on the top of filling. Brush it with sugar syrup.

Layer it with filling. Then place another cake; indigo colored cake layer. Repeat applying sugar syrup and then filling before adding blue colored cake layer. Work your way up to red. 

You can cover the sides with same filling and top and your cake is ready. Although I choose to use fondant to cover. I made a golden ninjago mask with fondant.

This is how it will look with cut. 

Slice is ready to enjoy!

Red Mung Beans Curry

 Red Mung Beans are also known Red Chori or Adzuki Beans. They are smaller than kidney beans, almost same color, reddish brown. They are much sweet in taste than any other beans. The texture is naturally creamy. I make it a vegan curry. Without further due, lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Red Mung Beans - 1.5 Cup

2. Onion - 1 Medium - White/Yellow

3. Tomato Paste - 1/3 Cup

4. Tomato - 1/2 Medium size

4. Garlic - 1 TBSP

5. Ginger - 1 TBSP

6. Curry Leave - 5-6 

7. Green Chili - 2 

8. Mustard Seeds - 1 TSP

9. Cumin Seeds - 1 TSP

10. Asafoetida - 1 pinch

11. Extra virgin olive oil - 2 TSP

12. Turmeric Powder - 1 TSP

13. Salt - 2 TSP

Method:

1. As red mung beans are soft enough, there is no need to soak those ahead of time. You can make this in pressure cooker or instant pot. For pressure cooker, heat it up at high temperature. If using instant pot, turn it on at saute setting for 7 min. Once hot, add cooking oil. I am using extra virgin olive oil. Follow up with mustard seeds, cumin seeds. Once those start to sputter, add in turmeric powder, asafoetida, curry leave and chopped green chili. Give a good stir to all the spices.

2. Add chopped onion, saute those 3-4 min, until translucent. Now follow up by adding pressed garlic, finely chopped ginger, chopped tomato and tomato paste. Once mixed well, let the mixture cook for a minute or so.

3. Now add washed red mung beans, salt and water. If using pressure cooker, you will need to add more water than instant pot, for about 2.5 cups. and cook for two whistles. If using instant pot, adding 2 cups of water to make sure all beans with mixture are covered. After the putting the lid with closed seal, set it on pressure cooking setting for 10 minutes.

4. In either pressure cooker or instant pot, let it cool down once whistles are done and timer is off; say about 15 min. then open the cooker/pot to cooked curry. Some may like it with added lemon juice on top. I like it without. Enjoy it with rice or roti.

Spirulina Latte

 Spirulina is usually described as a blue-green algae, but it’s technically a cyanobacteria. It grows in both fresh and salt water and can be consumed by both humans and animals.Cyanobacteria get their name from the bluish pigment phycocyanin, which they use to capture light for photosynthesis. Because of this, spirulina also contains chlorophyll, which is makes it healthy to us.

 Spirulina Latte is vegan recipe and takes less than 10 min to make.

Ingredients:

1. Spirulina - 4 gm

2. Oat Milk - 6 oz

3. Maple Syrup - 1 TSP

4. Cinnamon - to taste

Method:

1. Warm up an ounce of water and mix powdered spirulina. Then stir in maple syrup. You can chose sweetener of your choice.

2. Add in milk. I am using oat milk but any milk of your choice will do.

3. I use a hand frother to froth the milk, for about a minute. You can use any other device if you like.Heat the cup in microwave for a min. Then sprinkle some cinnamon for taste. Spirulina Latte is ready to enjoy.