Cranberry Sponge Loaf

, , 21 comments


"Do you really think you will use it? I bet, it will end up as a clutter in your home!" she said as she handed it over to me. I nodded in disapproval as I packed and shoved it into my bag. On the way back to home her words kept ringing in my ears "I'm sure this craze won't last long. You will give up soon after a few flip flops." I was determined, I wouldn't... atleast not so soon.

It's almost close to 3 years now since the day I borrowed her legacy Racold oven with the baking tin. The old square 9" baking tin that was handed over to me by my mother and that's when I actually began my baking with. And the test baking with pressure cooker was my inspiration to begin with :) I still love this old round aluminium oven that I borrowed. It feels ancient and classy. Back then mom did everything with cooking and baking that I do today. Baking cakes, cookies, puddings, mac and cheese, everything that would make kids feel happy about food.


Soon Indian markets began to flood with baked goodies and most of these products were easily available in big supermarkets. So with time all this took a backseat and she focused on cooking traditional healthy food. Again, she comes from a school of thought which said "Why bake when you can get the same stuff at an affordable price with no efforts in a well presented way?" Also, since it's just a piece or two one would buy, we would not indulge in over eating as against baking at home where surplus quantities tempt you to eat more. She has a point. She was darn sure that at some point in time I would agree with her. But these flops seem to have made me a bold baker. And beyond feeding yummy goods to others, I find it a great stress buster which helps me forget myself.


For the moment I ain't retiring. In fact since my daughter's birth I haven't really cooked much apart from our typical Indian menu. Time has been my real enemy :( Sorry, I am cribbing about it again. Incidentally, I got a good chance at hand this weekend to bake something as dear hubby agreed I needed some time off for myself.

Nita Mehta's recipe for Eggless Sponge seems to be quite popular. Many blogs have appreciated the recipe as a successful attempt at using curd (Indian name for yogurt) as substitute for eggs. Sharmilee, a dear blogger friend from Chennai blogs on Sharmispassions and I have been an ardent follower of her blog for long. We have been good virtual friends and catch up online often. Meeting Indian bloggers has it's perks, since our wavelength with baking and cooking match well and it's easier to connect with them. When I saw this recipe on her blog, I was totally convinced that the resulting cake would be spongy. Her step-by-step recipe motivated me further and I had to give this a try. I went ahead with the basic recipe, used butter instead of oil, added a handful of dried cranberries and the resulting loaf was soft, buttery and excellent.


Cranberry Sponge Loaf

Inspired by Sharmispassions.com
Source: Nita Mehta


INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 cup Thick Curd/Yogurt
1 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 cup Butter
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
A fist full of Fresh/Dried Cranberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C for 10 mins. Grease a butter paper and layer it in the loaf pan.

Sieve all purpose flour twice and keep aside. Cream the sugar and curd until sugar completely dissolves. Add baking powder, baking soda to the creamed mixture and mix well. Leave aside for 5 mins and till bubbles appear on the mixture. Now add in vanilla essence and softened butter and beat well. Next slowly add all purpose flour in portions at a time and blend with wet ingredients. Beat well with a till creamy and thick.

Coat the cranberries in all purpose flour. Finally fold in the cranberries gently. Pour the batter to the loaf tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 180 deg C and bake it further for 30-35 mins. Check using a fork inserted into the center of the cake. It should come out clean. Allow the cake to cool down for 10 mins, then invert and remove the butter paper. Slice them into pieces and enjoy with a cup of milk or coffee.


This recipe is a keeper for sure. I have attempted many variations with this recipe. Tried cupcakes with the same recipe, they were an instant hit. Attempted a small increase in the amount of flour, did not beat the batter much, added a few chocolate chips and made yummy muffins, we were bowled by it's taste and texture. No one can tell they lack eggs in them. It's so simple that it needs no bookmarking and can be easily replicated anytime. The recipe for eggless sponge can be adapted to make different flavored cakes, gateaux, cupcakes, layered treats and much more. Just a few ingredients will result in a cake that is extremely yum, with the perfect sponge and excellent texture.

21 comments:

  1. That looks soo fluffy n soft..That too an eggless recipe:-) yummy

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  2. Even after reading the whole post(didnt read the recipe though :)) didnt realise you had tried from my space...Thanks for trying and glad to kow that u liked it.Very nice variation of adding cranberries...looks super soft and yum

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  3. Nice recipe .. I love the flavour of cranberry

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  4. Old tins have thier own charm, I have a couple of my mother-in-law's with me. Great idea to use butter in this recipe to make an eggless tea cake. Looks awesome Mallika!

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  5. Nice recipe, love the flavor or cranberry in it..will give it a try soon..

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  6. beautiful looking spongy fluffy dessert

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  7. that looks really yummy spongy and perfect..loved that color.

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  8. Moist & lovely...Nice addition of cranberries...And a huge THX to u for the delightful Coffee biscuit pudding..Tried it last mon when we had guests over & they somply loved it...I had actually tried it out for the first time..I usually make new dishes in small quantities few days before any parites as a trial round..Made ur oudding the previous day of the party & then just kept my fingers crossed..But of course..it was a mega hit..just like urc hocolate biscuit pudding!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  9. Gorgeous cranberry cake, loved the texture.

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  10. Wow so spongy love the cranberries addition to it.. they r divine .. wonderful..

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  11. wooooooww...without using eggs,,,it looks so perfect....i cant wait to try this out now....pic is so so so perfect.....loved them..

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  12. Nice and Spongy loaf...I luv cranberries...yumm..

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  13. Loved the loaf and mst give it a try, i have dry prunes on hand maybe can use that instead of the cranberreis.nad ur clicks are awesome.

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  14. The texture is beautiful n spot on! Fantastic first picture!
    USMasala

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  15. YOu won't believe I still have 5-6 old tins with me. And I use them regularly...Your loaf has come out so good. And the pictures are eye-catching. Sounds so good without eggs..

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  16. First time here and I am amazed! You have an awesome stuff here, some great great photography and drooling recipes. Good work!

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  17. Thanks for the taking the time to leave a comment on my site :-) I'm a big fan of cranberry cake, this one looks lovely!

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  18. I came to this site through a google search for eggless cakes and I am so glad to visit this page. I know eggless recipes are not easy and fail easily. Your site gives me a hope that my cakes will look and turn as beautiful as yours. Thanks for sharing these recipes and keep them going. :)

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  19. i have also tried today n this reciepe is yuummmmm... thanxxxx

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