The cake, a book and some hot tea; joy in simple pleasures!
I grew up eating a lot of home-baked vanilla flavored cake with no frosting. We didn't have a cookie jar to dig in after school but we had a cake box that would hardly be empty. Ma didn't need any special occasion, she just needed some free time in hand and our lunch box would definitely have a piece of cake in it.
Ma's cake is still very popular in our family circle. If you were imagining a tall, fully frosted, beautifully painted cake, then you would be disappointed. Her cake was plain, soft, made with oil (no butter) and vanilla flavored. Period.
Over the weekends, my brother and I would often bake together with Ma. Our tiny hands would be busy mixing the flour with baking powder or rub oil on a white transparent paper before layering it on the baking pan while Mom would whisk eggs and sugar. There was no electric mixer in our home. Her power tool was always her hand and it still is. Every now and then, we would look through the glass on top of the oven to enjoy the magic and run back to tell her about how the cake is growing or changing color.
These days she doesn't bake as often as she used to but even today, we never order cake from bakery. Any occasion, be it small or big, she will happily get busy prepping the cake batter while Dad would take out the old oven and dust it clean. Everyone in our family loves her cake and whenever we have a get together, the house once again gets filled with the aroma of vanilla and our evening tea gets more delicious.
Few months back, I gave a tiny twist to Ma's cake. I added rosemary instead of vanilla! The inspiration to add rosemary came from Nigella Lawson's cookbook and even though it surprised me at the beginning, I realized later that how beautifully rosemary could work on desserts. Arvind is picky about cake; he doesn't like dark chocolate cake or any fruitcake. Thankfully, this one, he loves!
The woody, poky, evergreen aromatic rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. It gives the cake a mild refreshing flavor.
Just like Ma's cake, this cake also turned out soft and crumbly with crusty edges. And even today, I get tempted to lick the parchment paper clean, just like my little brother and I used to do as a kid!
Rosemary-Walnut Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup olive oil (plus extra to grease the baking pan)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (plus extra to dust the baking pan)
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
- ½ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- zest of one lemon
- 3 tablespoons milk
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 350F.
- Grease the pan with oil and dust it with some flour.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl.
- Add lemon zest, oil and whisk again.
- Add milk and whisk again.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary.
- Pour the egg-mix in the bowl and whisk until everything is mixed nicely.
- Finally, add half of the walnuts and give it a mix.
- Pour the batter in the baking pan and add the rest of the walnuts on top of the batter.
- Bake it for about 35 minutes or until it's cooked through. Poke with a skewer or toothpick and if it comes out clean, it's done.
Notes
2. Ovens have different cooking times. So, keep an eye on the cake as it bakes. It may take more or less time.
3. Walnuts can be replaced with any other nuts you prefer and can also be omitted.
Nutrition
Reem | Simply Reem
I love love love the last pic Kankana...
This is what I can relate to no fuss just pure simple delicious cake!!!
Beautiful!!!
Now I am missing the pound cake from back home 🙁
Deepa
I too have a fond memory of helping Ma in kitchen in sifting flour for cakes..Infact amar baking er poka ta onek choto bela theke Ma ke dekhe legechilo...
Love you styling here. Rustic look, usage of cups, boards ..too good
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
This cake, a book and some hot tea sounds just perfect to me!
rebecca
lovely cake u can play with kids i will have cake tea and read he he
Ameena
I love the love and appreciation you have for you Ma. I really envy it! And I hope that my little one talks about me like this one day.
(It's not likely but I can hope). 🙂
torviewtoronto
this loaf looks fabulous lovely pictures
anda
Wow, just wow! I'm glad you came to my website so that I can discover yours. You are so incredibly talented, your pictures and cooking are gorgeous!
Charles
I don't use herbs in cakes like this, but it's not the first time I've seen rosemary used in a cake! I love the herb, I can imagine it must make a wonderful addition! Great looking cake Kankana!
Meeta
A lovely flavor loaf! I love adding herbs like rosemary or thyme to breads. This looks perfect for a afternoon teatime snack!
Maureen
This cake is something I would really enjoy!
Nami | Just One Cookbook
Me too, first thing I noticed is the hat on the "Smile"! You draw that? You are very talented!
Aw, cake + book + tea...and the quiet time... I MISS THAT! In my household, that won't happen... maybe until night time...but then it's too late to eat the cake. LOL. Kankana, each photography is well executed after lots of thoughts into it. I enjoy coming here and learning from you. I'm still jealous of your cake book tea time... 🙂
Kankana Saxena
Thanks Nami. That hat is not drawn by me sweetie. I used Picnik to make the header and they had these inbuilt stickers. Unfortunately picnik has stopped using all these fun stuff in their software and made it a boring photo edit tool!
I know the quiet time with kids around is tough but there is no harm having a cake at midnight 😉 I do that a lot!
Vishakha
By the way, Love the new "summer" look on the blog header 🙂 Nice and bright!
Vishakha
The cake looks so simple and delicious and it's actually making me want to bake! As you can tell, I don't bake much but this one looks easy enough to excite me and I might just do it! What was the size of the baking tin you used? I have a round one and a rectangular one but I am afraid it might be too big for this cake.
What Liberty Ate
I love so much the rustic feel of this composition : the mugs, the wood, the fabric, the cake. It has transported me in a quiet and lovely cottage.
Sanjeeta kk
Good twist with rosemary..cake looks so soft and fluffy. Loved reading the post woven around memories.
Deeba Rajpal
As good as it gets. So much food nostalgia and connect. Love the addition of rosemary...and a envious of your plant. Mine died last summer!
Kankana Saxena
Thanks Deeba 🙂 Well, I have no rosemary plant. I am kinda horrible at gardening, failed number of times! Just this summer, got some luck with basil 🙂
Jacqueline
Kankana,
I've just come across your blog! Let me tell you - it's such a nice place to be 🙂 A fantastic name with beautiful photographs and wonderful accounts from your childhood.
I'm not a big fan of frosting on cake so this recipe sounds really intriguing.
Look forward to reading more of your posts!
Debjani
No matter where you are in the world, there will always be mothers who bake the most amazing cake that tugs our heat strings forever.
I wonder how my Ma's cake would taste if she had a KitchenAid stand mixer and a fancy oven. Probably couldn't taste any better.
Loved your post!
Shri
They look amazing! I love the texture and combinations!
Apu
Looks delicious! Great combo.