THANDAI NUTS CAKE
MARRIAGE- Marriage or Wedding is just not a word, its a commitment for life, care and respect and love for each other.
Two individuals coming from different backgrounds, different cultures, different families, different thinking take vows to be together for a lifetime.
To celebrate that special day every year we tend to make it special by having special moments, special treats.
You all must be surprised why I’m explaining the meaning of marriage for a Cake post…. Its because I made this cake for our Anniversary.
N for me this Cake truly symbolizes the meaning of Marriage where the Thandai which is truly Indian gels well with Cake which is Continental. All the ingredients compliment each other very well n are very well balanced n the result is a scrumptious delight. Just like marriage where husband n wife complement each other support each other through thick n thin and make the journey of life beautiful.
Special occasions calls for special treats. And if the Occasion is the closest to my Heart so obviously something very special should be there to celebrate it.
So to celebrate our anniversary I made this Thandai and nuts cake.
Tried to make henna designs on it. Though not a very clean design but the happiness it brought on my Hubby’s face was soul satisfying.
So lets start making the yummy delicious cake by having a look at the ingredients.
INGREDIENTS:
- All purpose flour(Maida) – 3 cups
- Baking Powder – 2tea spoon
- Baking Soda – 1tea spoon.
- Butter – 160 gms
- Condensed Milk – 1 can(approximately 400 gms)
- Sugar Powder- 200 gms
- Milk – 1 cup
- Rose Water – 1 tea spoon
- Dried Rose Petals- 1 tbsp
- Thandai powder – 2 tbsp (I’ve used store bought thandai powder)
- Chopped mixed nuts- 3 tbsp( I’ve used Cashews,Almonds,Pistas and Walnuts)
DIRECTIONS:
Start by sieving maida, baking powder, soda all together two times.
Now melt the butter.
Take powdered sugar and butter and beat them well for 2-3 minutes. I’ve used a stand mixer,however you can use either a hand mixer or a whisk.
Now add condensed milk in the mixture and beat it again.
Now start adding Maida mix little by little into the batter (lumps should not be formed while mixing it).
Keep on adding milk to the mixture as per the requirement to get the right consistency.
Beat the batter for 2-3 minutes.
Next add Thandai powder, chopped nuts, dried rose petals and Rose water.
Now take a pan and grease it.
Line it with parchment paper or wax paper. Spray some oil spray or grease the paper too.
Alternatively you can Sprinkle some dry maida into the greased pan to form a thin layer.
This will let the cake come out easily out of the pan.
Now pour the cake mixture into the pan.
Preheat the oven on 180 celcius.
Place the pan in the middle rack of the oven and set the timer for 30minutes at 180*c.
Now lower down the temperature to 160*c after 30 minutes and bake it for 20 minutes.
Now take a tooth pick/knife and poke to check whether it comes out clean or not.
If the mixture is still sticky, then bake it for another 10 minutes.
Check it again and turn off the oven.
Enjoy the cake as it is. OR you can decorate it with Buttercream in your desired design.
How to make Buttercream:
Butter- 100 gms
Icing sugar- 3 cups
Vanilla essence- 2-3 drops
Milk- 2tbsp
Food colors- According to your design
DIRECTIONS TO MAKE BUTTERCREAM:
Start by beating/whipping Butter with the help of stand mixer or hand mixer.
Sift the icing sugar.
Gradually start adding icing sugar.
Next add vanilla essence.
If you feel cream is towards thicker side add 1 tbsp milk. Mix it well. Add more if required.
Add 2-3 drops of food colors to the buttercream. If you want different colors then divide the buttercream in separate bowls and add different color to each bowl and mix well.
There are few important points which should be taken care of while making perfect Buttercream.
Butter should be at room temperature. Take it out of the fridge 2-3 hrs before from when you are planning to make your buttercream.
Never ever use cold butter. As it’ll lead to grainy n lumpy buttercream.
Never ever bring your butter to room temperature by microwaving it or heating it. Because this will lead to watery buttercream.
Sift the Icing Sugar before adding it to the butter.
Moisten the layers with SUGAR SYRUP.
In a pan put 1/4th cup water and 1/4th cup Sugar.
Just warm it till the sugar melts and gets completely dissolved.
Let it cool.
When its completely cooled add 2 drops of Vanilla Essence.
Moist the layer of cake with sugar syrup before applying buttercream and stacking them on top of each other.
I’ve cut this Cake in two layers.
Moistened the layers with sugar syrup.
Applied Buttercream.
Stacked the layers.
Next apply a generous coat of buttercream on the cake as we have to cover our full cake with buttercream.
This is called CRUMB COATING.
After doing the crumb coating keep the cake in fridge for 3-4 hrs or preferably overnight.
Take it out next morning and if you see that Crumb Coat is not smooth, it has ridges n bumps.
Don worry, a simple trick will solve this problem.
With a large metal spatula dipped in VERY hot water and dried, even out all the ridges and bumps on the cake.
Keep dipping the spatula in hot water and wiping it clean and go around the cake in section till you get even layered crumb coat.
Next we have to Prepare the Icing Bag.
First decide on the tip-it depends on the design you want.
Take a piping bag.
Cut the edge to make an opening large enough to fit your tip.
If you have a coupler, you have to fix that first followed by the tip.
I hope this post will be a help to you all in baking and designing the cake.