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| Eggless Carrot Cake made in Pressure Cooker |
Since the last few days, I had been thinking about baking a cake in the pressure-cooker but was scared to attempt it fearing failure. But today I finally took the plunge and made Eggless Carrot Cake in the cooker; it came out amazingly good and tasted delicious. What made it special was that it was eggless, contained carrots and even better, it was sugar free! I have always had a major weakness for sweets and desserts right from my childhood. Well, who doesn't have? But sadly, sweetness comes at a price - read calories and other negative effects. Therefore those who are very particular about their fitness and health avoid eating sugar altogether. That's where Sugar Free Natura comes to the rescue, like a god-sent gift.
Sugar Free Natura is a healthier alternative to table sugar but without its harmful effects. It gives the same sweetness and taste of sugar but with almost zero calories. Thus we can now enjoy our favourite desserts without worrying about putting on weight. In other words, it is an ideal substitute to sugar for the health conscious and diabetic persons.
Sugar Free Natura is actually Sucralose which is highly heat stable. It means one can cook and bake using it without any loss in sweetness. Sugar Free Natura can be used for preparing a wide variety of desserts - sweets, cakes as well as in beverages.
So when I prepared the eggless carrot cake, instead of using normal sugar, I used Sugar Free Natura. It came out so nice that I am going to try making some more desserts with it.
You may also try making this cake with the following recipe -
Ingredients
Refined Flour or Maida, 2 cups
Grated Carrots, 1 cup
Beaten Curd, 1 cup
Sugar free Natura, 1/2 cup
Baking Powder, 1 tsp
Baking Soda, 1 tsp
Butter, 1 cup
Vanilla Essence, 1 tsp
Cashew nuts, Red Cherries, Tutti Frutti and Raisins, for garnishing
Aluminium Foil, to line up the inside of baking mould
How to make:
1. To begin with, take butter, curd and sugar free natura in a mixing bowl and stirring briskly, mix them all into a homogeneous smooth mixture. The cake mixture shouldn't be too thick nor be too watery, it should feel light and frothy. We can also add about 2-3 tablespoons of milk if the mixture feels too thick.
2. Now add a teaspoon of Vanilla essence to the mixture and stirring briskly, mix them all once again.
3. In another big bowl, sieve the refined wheat flour, followed by the baking powder and baking soda and mix them up nicely.
4. This maida mixture is then to be added to the the bowl containing the batter like mixture of butter, sugar free natura and curd and so also add the finely grated carrots (remember to squeeze out all excess water from the grated carrots) and the dry fruits to the bowl (keeping some dry fruits aside for garnishing later on). Once again mix them all nicely for about 5-6 minutes stirring briskly, till air bubbles start forming in them.
5. Now taking about 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker, place it over the gas burner to heat up, just the same way as we pre-heat an oven before baking. In the mean time, take a cake mould (you can even use a small bowl) that would fit inside the pressure cooker and grease it nicely with butter. Then line up its inside with an aluminium foil so that it would be easy to take out the cake once it's done.
6. Then pour the prepared cake mixture into the mould and tapping it gently, let the cake mixture to settle down evenly. You may now garnish the top of the cake mixture with rest of the dry fruits like cashew nuts, raisins and cherries. Now cover the top of the mould with another aluminium foil so that the steam inside the pressure cooker wouldn't fall into the cake mixture.
7. Now first place a stand inside the cooker, and then place the cake mould carefully over it inside the pressure cooker. Remove the rubber gaskit from the lid and so also take off the whistle of the cooker and then close the lid. Let it to cook over low heat for about forty-five minutes.
8. The cake usually gets done in 45-50 minutes. To check whether the cake has been fully cooked or not, we can prick the cake with a toothpick after opening the cooker’s lid. If it comes out clean, it means that the cake is ready. Or else we will have to close the lid once again and let it to cook for another 4-5 minutes.
9. Once the cake is ready, let it to cool down at room temperature. Then slowly take it out from the mould unwrapping the aluminium foil and place it on a plate. It can then be cut into smaller pieces and be served.
P.S.: This post has been written for Sugar Free dessert challenge, sponsored by Sugar Free Natura. To know more, visit their
website.
