Easy Dessert Cake Recipe: Peach Cake

Fresh luscious peaches are made into a simple yet elegant cake with a crispy and caramelized topping. The fresh peaches lie at the bottom of the easy desserts for a wonderful surprise. Dry and crusty on top, soft and fluffy in the middle and moist and succulent at the bottom, this cake is a one-of-a-kind experience. You can also choose to turn the cake upside down and have the peaches on top with the crust on the bottom.

This is a buttery cake that is flavored with cinnamon and lemon. Moist yet not soggy, rich yet not dense, peach cake is the perfect summer treat. This also makes a thoughtful and pleasant birthday present or luxurious easy healthy recipes dessert for fancy dinners or important lunches. Buy the best fresh peaches you can find. Wait for peaches to come in season and make this cake recipe. Peaches are at their juiciest and sweetest when they are freshly picked from the orchard. In the United States, the largest producer of peaches is California. Georgia is also known for its peach orchards and claims to be the “peach state.” In the world, China is the number one producer of peaches followed by Italy.

Ingredients: 2 cups sliced fresh peaches, Fresh lemon juice, Ground cinnamon, ¾ cup + ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons butter, ½ cup milk, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 cup boiling water

Preparation Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the peach slices down in an 8 in. square baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice and a little cinnamon. In a medium sized bowl, stir together ¾ cup sugar, baking powder, flour, and salt. Stir in the butter and milk. Spoon the batter over the peaches. Sprinkle another ¾ cup sugar over the batter. Sprinkle the cornstarch over this. Pour the boiling water over the whole and do not stir. Bake for 45 minutes.

The best time to buy peaches is August, which is the National Peach Month in the US, although peaches ripen at different times depending on the region. In the south, for example, peach trees blossom in June and July, while in the northern parts of the US such as in New England, peach season runs from July through August. In California, peaches grow abundantly from early June until late October. When using peaches for desserts, choose freestone peaches as opposed to clingstone peaches. Freestone varieties have flesh that slips easily from the pit while the clingstones variety has flesh that is harder to remove from the pit, thus it is so named.

Source: www.gourmandia.com

Easy Dessert Cake Recipe: Milk Cake

Milk cake is one of the popular easy desserts in India. It is available in most sweet shops around the country, as well as in neighboring Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. This is a simple recipe that includes full cream milk, tartaric powder, fresh lemon juice, white sugar, and corn flour. The milk cake is flavored with saffron and finely chopped dried fruits. You can also garnish the milk cake with chopped nuts like pistachios, almonds, or cashews. Sweet, soft and milk, milk cake has a touch or sourness. Some like to add cardamom to give it aroma, color and flavor. The saffron in this recipe gives it a beautiful and elegant color and presentation.

You can prepare these easy healthy recipes dessert ahead of time and store it at room temperature or store it in the refrigerator as long as you put it in an airtight container. You can serve it at room temperature or chilled. Use a deep plate for setting the milk cake. Ideally, the cake should be a few inches tall, but sometimes it is made only an inch thick, which is fine. Grease a six-inch plate with some clarified butter or Ghee so that it is easier to unmold the milk cake.

Ingredients: 1 liter full cream milk, ½ cup full cream milk to pour in the end, 1/2 tsp tartaric powder, 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, 100 gm white sugar, 1 tablespoon corn flour, 10-12 threads of saffron soaked in little water, 1 tablespoon finely chopped dry fruits

Preparation Instructions:  

In a thick bottom pan, boil milk and tartaric powder with lemon juice. Allow milk to curdle and reduce it to half. Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the base. It should become thick and later throw in some corn flour, milk and saffron soaked in little water. Give it a good stir. Allow thickening before turning off the heat. Transfer the mixture on to a flat tray and cut into diamond shape. Garnish it with finely chopped dry fruits and serve. Store in an airtight container.

The milk is quite delicate so you want to be careful when boiling it. Use a medium fire when you start boiling the milk and then lower it to a simmer. Use a wide and heavy-bottomed pan for even heat distribution and to keep the milk from burning. You have to stir the mixture constantly so as to keep the milk particles from sticking to the bottom and the sides of the pan. Use a wooden spoon or spatula for stirring the milk and mixing the ingredients together. Once done, transfer the mixture to the plate and press on it firmly to form a square shape.

Source: www.gourmandia.com

Easy Healthy Cookies recipe: Carrot Oatmeal Cookies

Soft, moist and delicious, carrot cookies are made even fluffier and healthier with the addition of oatmeal in this recipe adapted from “Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook.” Pure honey is used in this recipe instead of sugar. The texture is a bit like cake but with a nice crumb and crunch on the outside. This simple recipe is made with all-purpose flour, quick-cooking rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, butter, pure honey, pure vanilla extract, egg, chopped nuts, and shredded carrots.

Carrot oatmeal cookies make a scrumptious breakfast, light snack, or lovely easy desserts with tea, coffee or milk. A cool alternative to the usual carrot cake, carrot cookies easy healthy recipes are delicious on its own served warm or a day or two after it is baked. You can use chopped walnuts or chopped pecans to add crunch to the cookies, or you can use a mixture of your favorite nuts for different textures and flavors. If you wish, you can add icing, glazing or frosting to the cookies just like dressing up carrot cake.

Standard drop cookies typically require creaming the butter and sugar before adding the other ingredients for a nice and fluffy texture. Because this recipe uses honey instead of sugar, you don’t need to cream the butter with the honey since the honey is already liquefied and creamy. The honey adds moisture and density to the cookies making it soft and chewy. For best results, allow the ingredients to come to room temperature before adding them all together.

Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1.2 cup butter, softened, ½ cup pure honey, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 egg, ½ cup chopped nuts, ½ cup shredded carrot

Preparation Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, butter, honey, and vanilla. Fold in the nuts and carrot. Drop this batter by rounded teaspoonful 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden. Remove from the cookie sheets and cool on a wire rack.

Orange glaze goes especially well with carrot oatmeal cookies. To make a simple orange icing, combine orange juice and orange rind with some butter an stir in confectioners sugar until you get the desired consistency for spreading onto the cookies. To make a simple cream cheese frosting, cream together some butter and cream cheese until nice and creamy then stir in confectioner’s sugar and vanilla until you get a nice consistency. Chill in the fridge and top over the warm cookies before serving.

Sources: www.gourmandia.com