Off late weekends seem to be the only time I end up cooking and you can imagine how chaotic things can become in the kitchen. For the past few months, I decided I should fix my dishes to be done and have big plans. Sometimes these plans work out and I end up cooking up nearly 6 -7 dishes. Sometimes nothing gets done and I am left feeling pathetic that nothing gets done. After going through ups and downs like this, I realized that my weekends seem to be focused only on cooking.
This has happened over the last two months over 2 -3 weeks. I suddenly realized I need to prioritize again and decided to have weekend nights just for the family. As with everybody, I don't want to cook all the time just because I want to experiment or do new things. So, my bakes are always what my kids eat, even if it's only chocolates. Then of course I can bake what Hubby dear likes. Konda has become neutral these days and is okay with anything I want to try.
Why I had to rant all the above, was the realization that I had just three bakes done for this week, the theme that got changed and I was left with limited options. My Sunday was spent writing this elaborate post on Basic Egg Substitutes and the science behind it. I am not sure how useful it is for others. I look at everything with scientific outlook and want an explanation for everything that happens. I strongly believe Arts and Science can easily be interchanged. I take an artistic approach to a scientific process and vice versa. And have the most irritating habit of writing down my entire thought process here and can never say anything in simple statements.
So the draft is, after writing such a lengthy post, I decided I must select recipes that showcase all the different ones I talked about. That got me into selecting a chocolate cake with Tofu.
I had got a bar of Tofu in the first week of April without knowing I will be doing this. Thinking it would have expired got another bar. Since I only used about 1/2 cup of the Tofu puree, I now have more than enough of it lying around. I am just giving heads up for more tofu recipes to come.
Getting back to the actual cooking, I decided to go all the way through the entire recipe, and after baking it, realized that I can't bake another cake anytime soon. The worse thing that can happen at home, especially when it is chocolate in baking, I have my kids hovering around me. Consider my small kitchen, with Athamma in tow and my kids. I hardly will have a foot's space to move around.
And on top, when they saw the frosting getting done, they just didn't move away. The reasons why I am saying all this is, to say I don't have a picture of the individual piece. I had to cut it and quickly click a few pictures. Then, the cake was scooped out and enjoyed many times over. And, in the process, I completely couldn't get a piece out for a shot.
The cake was so delicious, so chocolaty and yes Tofu ends up being dense, not in the actual dense sense, but with a heavy dense feeling after you eat. One can't eat more than a small piece in one go. I am only talking about elders, kids are never considered in this equation. Especially mine, when they think this is their lunch, dinner, and snack all the time!
For the Frosting
This cake is inspired by this recipe and I changed some parts of it. I have always wanted to bake a sheet cake. And though mine didn't end up being exactly a sheet cake, as I don't have a bigger baking tray, this cake turned out great. However, even with my changed measurements the cake with the final frosting was too sweet. On top of it, I had even added Choco Chips. It was such a delicious treat for kids. If you are weight watching or not sweet-toothed, this is not for you!
Recipe
Eggless Chocolate Sheet Cake with Tofu
Ingredients
For the Cake
Part 1
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 & 1/2 cups White Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- A Pinch Salt
Part 2
- 1 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
Part 3
- 1/2 cup Silken Tofu pureed
- 1/2 cup Buttermilk (I mixed 1 tbsp curds with 1/2 cup)
- Few drops of Vanilla Extract
For Frosting
- 1 cup Confectioner’s Sugar / Icing Sugar
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 1/3 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Choco Chips for garnish
Instructions
How to make the Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Preheat oven to 185 C. Grease a 11 x 7 rectangle baking pan.
- In a large bowl, sift together the Part 1 ingredients together.
- Bring the Part 2 ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and mix it with the dry flour mix.
- Puree the tofu well, if need be, add some buttermilk and puree well. Then, mix all Part 3 ingredients and stir it into the cocoa mixture.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 mins at 185 C. Then, reduce to 170 C and bake for 20 mins.
- Or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Check at 35 mins to ensure even baking.
- While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by bringing butter, milk and cocoa powder to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add the sugar and vanilla. Mix well.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, spread the frosting evenly on the hot cake and sprinkle with choco chips immediately.
- Let the cake cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- The pan I used was too thick for this and this resulted in the center part not being baked well. So, I had to bake for more.
- The entire cake is very gooey and very rich.
Tried this recipe?Mention @spicingyourlife_ or tag #spicingyourlife_!
Priya Suresh says
Woow, sheet cake looks absolutely alluring, chocolate loaded eggless sheet cake makes me drool.
Pavani N says
Loved your post -- you are such a cooking geek -- I'm sure you must look like a professor doing chemistry experiments in the kitchen 🙂
Very interesting chocolate sheet cake Valli with tofu. If the toughest critics like it -- then it's a success.
vaishali sabnani says
Valli my initial plan was to qork on recipes with different egg substitutes , though I have tried a feq but my plan fizzled! So glad you are posting according to the different substitutea . The Cake looks good and tofu is a great substitute.
Usha says
I love reading you lengthy rants. 🙂 I once baked with tofu long time ago and the cake was very moist. I made it from a magazine and now I can't find the recipe. This was in my early days of blogging or even before that.
Anyway, your cake looks good and bust have tasted good.
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
that is tempting.. such a lovely sheet cake!!! looks delicious..
The Pumpkin Farm says
when u run out of posts you end up making such elaborate cakes and writing such long detailed description, you are indeed the blogger queen , i loved the cake recipe, it is perfect recipe to keep you occupied in kitchen bookmarking
Harini-Jaya R says
From what I have read, tofu bakes tend to be a little moist. They usually look and taste better after a few hours of cooling. But the sheet cake looks very rich.
rajani says
Everyone wants to spend their weekend with their family,Valli. We bloggers are quite a class apart, I guess. Its great that you are able to satisfy the blog and the family with chocolate 🙂
Saraswathi Tharagaram says
I am a huge Chocolate lover too. This Eggless chocolate sheet cake looks perfect for enjoying with a cup of milk — YUM!
Kalyani says
never made a sheet cake, i can never get to eat tofu as it is...
But these look deceptively delicious :-))
Suma Gandlur says
The cake looks wonderful and must have tasted great going by your kids' reaction.
sneha datar says
A nice sheet cake, good for making pastries.
Srividhya says
Loving your series. Learning new thing each and every day
Nalini's Kitchen says
Sheet cake looks nice,never tried tofu in baking..bookmarked the recipe.
Varadas Kitchen says
I am having a hard time imagining tofu in cake. The sheet cake looks great.
Archana Potdar says
Bookmarking this one Valli. With daughters birthday approaching I have to bake sheet cakes. So thistried and tested is great for me.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Lovely substitution Valli and great effort. I would love to see the cut piece of the cake when you make it again 🙂
Gayathri Kumar says
Tofu is a perfect egg substitute and I can see why your kids couldn't wait for long. It looks absolutely sinful and delicious...
Priya Srinivasan says
Tofu works good in cakes, made 2/3 bakes with it. i personally like the way you explain the science behind the bake valli!!! The cake topped with yummm choco chips is soooo tempting, i can imagine, how it must been for the kids!! 🙂