Day 29: ABRA-KADABRA BREAD AND SPEEDY CARROT CAKE

Got into baking class finally on Wednesday, it felt so good to go back to Sophia's, the buzz is all the same , but i feel so different , also this time I'm learning on a different floor...
I still remember sitting in designing class doing my work , when suddenly we would be accosted by wafts of the freshest aroma of bread just out of the oven , or chocolate rum balls or then cake...
Oh! God, that time was so much fun and stress, homework, exams and then attendance that i was always bad with... because i was also dancing and modelling, because yup the extra money i got , funded my designing extras...and I'm very proud of that, still remember standing in line for the bus and getting squashed in the train, but it was fun every bit of it..also once studied for a paper that i did not have...yup done all kind of crazy things....
This time around , I'm learning to bake only because i love it , i do not have to search for a job or make a career , so no pressure to do anything ...
My teacher is Sashi ma'am, who is soft spoken , has beautiful hands and is very very helpful , and on friday, in no uncertain terms , she told us , that if we do not wash what we use, we are going to have to scrub the entire kitchen in and out, we'll i always clean up after i finish working , and in all probability , all the rest of us will too...
I made bread in my first class, lovely wholesome , beautiful big fluffy loaf of bread, but under Shashi mam's guidance, and Zeke completely loved it , according to him , i can do anything he points out to from my numerous cook books , and that's the reason i really want to learn it all ,so today I'm on my own in my kitchen and am going to attempt making bread, its the most wonderful feeling in the world, so basic and yet so satisfying....
Carbs sweet satisfying carbs , here i come...

Flour - 250 gm
grain sugar - 5 gm
Yeast -5 gm
Margarine - 5 gm
Salt -5 gm
Water-150 ml

baking temp-200c
Baking time- 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes

Mix yeast in a little water along with sugar, and keep aside.
sieve flour and make a little well in the centre
Pour in the yeast mix and start mixing the dough , add as much water as in necessary to make the dough soft.
Mix margarine and salt together and rub into the dough kneading until smooth and pliable

Did all of the above and my dough rose beautifully, yeah yeah yeah its a wonderful Saturday, I'm actually making bread, then i beat it around a bit , folded the dough into a roll like i was taught in class and put it into my spanking new bread tin and left it to rise again.......

And in the mean time i made a carrot cake that i have been wanting to do for the longest time

2 eggs separated
225 g brown sugar
175 g melted amul butter
150g whole wheat flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice
25g chopped walnuts
25 g dried raisins
175 g grated carrot

Topping
1 cup full fat milk
3 tbsp flour
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup margarine
orange edible glitter

And so while i was waiting for my bread dough to rise , i creamed together the egg yolks, sugar and melted butter.
stir in 2 tbsp warm water.
place the remaining cake ingredients in a bowl and make a well in the center , add the egg mixture and beat thoroughly
Whisk the egg whites until standing in soft peaks, fold carefully into the cake mixture.
Spoon the mixture into a 20 cm cake tin and bake for 50 minutes in an oven that has been pre-heated to 190 degrees.

It really is easy and comes out beautiful and brown and then just cool it for a bit , it has the most amazing inviting aroma, so i was trying to resist biting into it, because frankly in my opinion , there is nothing better than biting into cake that has just come out of the oven , its heaven in a bite....anyway way now for the frosting , which i learnt from u-tube from a bakery called magnolia...

But now my bread dough has risen so i brushed it with some milk and into the oven at 220 degrees for 40 minutes

Back to the cake frosting , i put the milk in a non stick pan over a medium flame and whisked in the 3 tbsp of flour , kept whisking it so that it does not get lumpy, and becomes a slightly thick and cooked consistency..
Take it off the fire and keep whisking till it is cool , then add the butter and beat the mix with an electric mixi add the sugar a tsp at a time so that its nice and fluffy, and voila you're done...

My bread is also done and has come out of the oven looking so good , gee I'm so so so happy , its like you put in this dough in and "abra-kadabdra-kazaaam " beautiful fluffy fresh bread out of the oven, i toppled it out on to my counter, brushed it with butter and left it to cool....now back to my cake...Zeke is waiting to have it with butter, and so am i ...

After my cake is cooled , i added the frosting very very generously over it and left it rough and unfinished...and then added my new edible orange glitter that my sis juliet and my riend Kichie sent me...i love glitter...

Cut it into slices and bit into my "Saturday comfort slice of carrot cake " yummy , very very sinful only from "Maria's Kitchen"...
P.S. there is nothing more satisfying that actually baking bread from scratch and eating it with amul butter melting on it, sweet basic moments...