Tea-Cake Recipe : Dry Fruits Delight

Tea and cakes are a complete package of flavour and appetite filling characteristics and when it comes to dry fruit cakes. My personal favourites are cakes without icing and cakes baked with simple ingredients. While I was craving a bakery-style dry fruit cake, I tried this recipe and it turned out sumptuous. 

Here’s me sharing it with you and explaining both the methods- with oven, and without oven. 

Ingredients :

Wet ingredients :

• Yoghurt – ½ cup
• Unflavored Cooking Oil – ¼th cup
• Vanilla Essence – ½ tsp
• Milk (Room Temperature) – ¼th cup + 1 tbsp

Dry Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour – 1 cup + ¼th cup + 1 tbsp
• Powdered Sugar – 3/4th cup
• Baking Powder – 1 tsp
• Baking Soda – ½ tsp
• Dry Fruits – 1/4th cup + 2 tbsp
• (Any dry fruits you like)

Process:

1. Take a mixing bowl and add all your wet ingredients except milk. Whisk them for 2 minutes or so until oil is combined well with the rest of the two.
2. Now, take a sieve and sift your flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients in batches and mix well.
3. Add milk and make a smooth batter.
4. Now, chop your dry fruits and dust them with 1 tbsp all-purpose flour.
5. Add them to the mix.
6. Preheat your oven at 180 degrees for 5 minutes. If you do not have an oven, preheat your microwave at convection at 180 degrees for the default time period. Or if you do not have both, use a pressure cooker without the whistle. Create a thin layer of salt inside the pressure cooker, place a low rack and preheat for 10 minutes on medium flame.
7. Grease your baking tray and line it with the parchment paper or butter paper.
8. Now, pour the batter and top it with some dry fruits and tap the tray twice.
9. Place your tray inside the preheated oven, microwave or pressure cooker.
10. Bake it for 20- 25 minutes at 180 degrees in both the oven and the microwave convection until the toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean at once. Or bake it for 25-30 minutes on medium flame. 
11. Check the cake by inserting a toothpick. 
12. Cool it down and serve with tea or coffee.

Tips to Remember :

• Use a mix of dry fruits for a flavorful cake. I used a mix of walnuts, almonds, cashews and tutti frutti. 
• Use a pan which is not prone to heat if you bake it on the stove.
• Dusting you dry fruits is important. Do not skip that step. 

A simple yet delicious cake to rely on when you are hungry and craving for baked goods. Try it on until we come up with another recipe on “The Taste Palate.”