Holiday Spiced Apple cake

Where to start,I'm not sure. What to share I'm not clear. But I'm just going with the flow. It was one winter morning that we got connected to each other.Thanks to FB without which we wouldn't have met. We took our time to know each other. The first thing  that clicked for me is the straight forward approach. Slowly we started understanding each other. From that minute to until now , this is one such relationship I would cherish my life time. What relationship am I talking about ? Any clues....

Whether I'm bored , whether I'm confused , whether I'm super energetic, I have something to share . This one such bonding has given me so much . I have grown in leaps and bounds as a person and as a blogger. I have realized my pitfalls and started working on them. When hundreds are ready to pull you down when you are confused, this one will  be there to guide you, help  and constructively criticize . My day never ends without OUR little time. It is very common to help whenever you have a free time. But this one is a super busy bee, who works full time , but always plans things perfectly , which I feel is the ultimate strength.

Those where the days we send greetings with personalized messages, handmade ones , then came telephones to pass messages instantly. Now everything is through FB and Whatsapp. But this one made our Diwali a memorable one with her hand crafted tea and a personalized message leaving us emotional.

If you are still clueless , it's none another than Dolphia Nandi Arnstein from Storyofcooks. And after all. November is about Thanksgiving. I don't cook a ThanksGiving meal , that's when I decided to cook something and dedicate a post to someone who has been special to me.

Now coming to this apple cake, this is simple and straight flavors, mild sweet making it perfect coffee or tea time cake. I didn't wanted it to be rich , but you can add chopped nuts or dry fruits , if you prefer.

I have used white wheat flour , as I like to avoid all purpose flour/ maida. It's totally your choice. You can chose a combination of whole wheat flour and APF combination too.

Ingredients

White Wheat Flour ...................................... 2 cups
Dark Brownsugar .......................................1 cup
Butter ....................................................... 1 stick / 1/2 cup room temperature
Milk .........................................................1/4 cup
Egg........................................................... 2 large
vanilla Exgtract ........................................ 2 tsp
Salt ....................................................... a pinch
Baking Powder ...................................... 1 tsp
Baking Powder ...................................... 1 tsp
Ground Cinnamon ................................... 1.5 tsp
Nutmeg ................................................... 2 pinches, finely grated
Cardamom ...............................................1
Cloves ....................................................2
Apples ..................................................1 cup grated
Apples ................................................ thinly sliced for garnish

Method

Grease a bundt pan with butter and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
In a spice grinder , grind cloves, cardamom  with nutmeg and cinnamon.
In a medium bowl , sift together the flour, spices, salt , baking powder, baking soda.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter and eggs one at a time.
Add in the sugar and beat well along with milk. Finally throw in the grated apples and stir well.
Now mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in batches.
Try not to over do the mixture.
Transfer to the prepared pan and place it in the top rack.
Cook for about 25 minutes or until the tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool the cake and move it to the serving platter.
Arrange the thinly sliced apples and dust with a bit of spices to garnish.

Deepavali lehiyam

Wish you all a Very Happy Diwali !!! May the festival of lights fill your homes lots and lots of peace and prosperity !

When Diwali comes , our homes will be filled with sweets and savories. In Tamil Nadu , we have a tradition of making sweets and savories , and most importantly this Lehiyam. This involves jaggery , so do you think it's a sweet ? This contains loads of fresh ginger, now do you think this is a savory? If you have chosen any one of these, you are totally wrong. This is a kind of medicine we prepare to aid digestion as we might end up eating a lot of sweets and savories.

The prior night of Diwali , friends will be coming for sleep over and all girls will be having mehandi (tradition and natural tatoo). That night will be filled with endless chats, giggles and laughter.

The Day of Diwali begins usually with a heavy and loud noise from the fireworks to help us wake up(?). Mom would have prepared a special oil with pepper and ginger and she would generously apply a handful on our head and we will have a hot water bath chanting the holy bath sloga
" Ganga Cha Yamuna Chaiva Godavari Saraswati, Narmada Sindhu Kaveri Jalesmin Sannidhim Kuru"

which literally means I invoke , water from holy seven rivers  into this water to become pure and blessed.

Mom would have kept our new clothes in front of God in a Manai( wooden plank). We pray God and get ourselves dressed up with all new clothes and accessories and lots of flowers too.The first thing that we eat on this day is this medicine to prepare our tummy. By that time Dad would have prepared a small hurricane lamp to help us with our fire crackers.  
Breakfast will be usually all the savories and sweets (Bakshanams) along with a tsp of this medicine. Some homes prepare Idli and chutney .

All these  traditional  and festival memories are so fresh , which i cherish the most and I feel it's my responsibility to pass it on further.

As you all might know about the medicinal properties of ginger , cumin and coriander, all these are the basic ingredients. If prepared in a correct manner this medicine stays well for up to an year in the regfrigerator. Every morning you can take a small marble size portion and help you regulate your appetite and aid in proper digestion.

Ingredients

Ginger ..................................250 gms
Cumin Powder .....................50 grms
Coriander Powder................50 grms
Jaggery.................................500 grms
Ghee ................................. 3 tbsp

Method

• Wash and peel the ginger, slice them into roundels and grind to a fine paste without adding any water to it.
• Now add the cumin and coriander powder and mix well and set aside.
• Mix jaggery and 1/8 cup water in a heavy bottom pan and heat in medium to let the jaggery melt.
• Now strain the jaggery syrup to remove any impurities and bring it back to the same pan.
• Heat in medium and let the jaggery syrup thicken to consistency that when you drop some in a bowl of water , you will be able to roll it well.
• Now add the ginger +cumin+coriander mix and cook in low to medium flame.
• About after 15 minutes of cooking , add 1 tbsp of ghee and keep stiring.
• later after another 5 minutes add another 1 tbsp ghee and again keep stirring.
• After another  minutes, you will see the mixture is becoming a single mass  now add the remaining 1 tbsp ghee and cook.
• In about 2 or 3 minutes you will see the mixture leaving the edges of the pan and resembles that of halwa.
• Turn off the heat and remove it from the stove.
• Let cool completely and transfer to a clean air light container,preferably steel one.
• After its completely  cools down , keep it refrigerated.

Serving Suggestion:

One marble sized ball every morning.