BEET-COCONUT CHOCOLATE CAKE AND "THE THREE THINGS" MeMe!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU, MY BLOG FRIENDS! LET'S HAVE A JOYOUS AND HOPEFUL NEW BEGINNING FOR 2007!! :)

(Image from www.rhettsmith.com)

Guess what did I get for Christmas? Scroll all the way down!;D

What a wonderful end for 2006 and great start for a New Year!! A hope,a dream and a promise!I always loved water; lakes,rivers,Ocean!One day,I hope to live by one too!

Anyway,I am still in FL,having loads of fun.This is the eighth time in 12 years we are visiting Orlando but it never gets old!In fact,Universal Studios has lot of new rides!Kids are enjoying fully.We will head back home on Sunday!:)

My last dish of this year to begin a new one, a recipe for a delicious Beet-Coconut Chocolate cake with Beet icing or glaze rather! It tastes delicious and looks fabulously colorful.I wanted to do something different than just baking a chocolate cake with coconut to celebrate and welcome 2007 and for 'JFI coconut' hosted by Ashwini of 'Foodforthought' this month.I found this recipe at southernfood.about.com and made some changes adding sweetened coconut to the Beet Chocolate cake recipe.It worked out well as you can see.

Here is my beautiful Beet-Coconut Chocolate Cake with Beet icing or glaze with Coconut garnish! Welcome the New Year with a smile and a new hope in your heart!!




To bake this cake you Need:



Pre-heat the oven at 350F. Then gather all these; 2 cups all-purpose flour,1 1/2tsp baking pd,1/2tsp salt,1 1/2 cups sugar,1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.









3 large eggs, beaten,1 cup plus 2 tbsp Canola oil,1 cup grated beets, 1/2 cup sweetened grated cocnout,2tsp vanilla essence.

Cook beets covered for 5mins in the microwave without water ,squeeze and save about 1/8 cup of Beet juice for icing and use the rest for cake.







Beat eggs. Mix all the dry ingredients and put it in a Kitchen Aid or any blender you have with mixer blade.Mix on low, add in all the wet ingredients and blend gently until mixed well.









Pour into a attractive mould (I used a French non-stick fluted pan from Williams-Sonoma)but a Bundt cake pan is best.Tap the bottom to release the bubbles.Put it in the oven and bake for 30-45mins or the knife inserted comes out clean.Oven temps differ,so I cannot give you the exact time.If you use the ready chocolate box recipe ,follow the instructions on the back of the box.




Take the out and cool on a rack before you add icing. You need: 6 tbsps melted butter, 1/2 cup Powdered sugar, 1/4 cup whipping cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla,4 tbsp beet juice.Mix all these to a smooth, thickish mixture.Keep additional 4tbsp coconut to garnish the top separately.Now for icing; take a baking sheet pan,put the cooling rack on the pan with the cake still on the rack.







Pour the beet icing from top to cover the top and sides.Take a spatula,scoop the icing which falls through the rack into the pan and keep pouring it on top until the whole cake is covered with Pinkish red icing.Let it dry between the layers and keep coating the icing until you are satisfied with the even glazing!:)

A Delicious Slice of Beet-Coconut Chocolate Cake slice for you:





NOTE: If you don't want to go through all these steps,here is an easy option!

Take a store-bought Chocolate cake mix ,follow instruction on the box and add the cooked,squeezed 1 cup beet and 1/4 cup coconut as in the recipe above and proceed with baking.I should have done that instead all these!:)




For quick icing or Glaze: Take a cup of store-bought vanilla icing, mix in reserved Beet juice and heat gently in the microwave until little thin.Mix well and pour over the cake until cake is covered.That's it for this year! Enjoy!!!

After that delicious cake, let me take on a equally delicious MeMe!

"THE THREE THINGS":

I've been tagged by my beautiful friend Artizen Flair for 'The Three Things MeMe' of 'artizenkitschen' blog. Thank you for tagging me for this fun MeMe, AF!:)

Here they are, my life in three's!:D

Three things that scare me:

Going back to my early 20's ("horror" is more appropriate word here!),

my husband dying before me,

and my kids getting seriously ill!

Three people who make me laugh:

Myself,(one of these days I am going to kill myself with my own bad jokes!),

my 11yr old son Tushar with his imitations of Bollywood dances,

desperate parents who are trying to "keep up with Joneses", who buy zillion of toys to impress but I see their kids playing with boxes those toys came with!:D

Three things I love:

Being and feeling positive most of the time about life and such,

creating my food blog and to see how an empty page evolves into a beautiful post,

to see my kids are happy , healthy and laughing!

Three things I hate:

Unnecessary War and the results of that conflict all because of somebody's "misunderstanding",

Poverty around the world which includes children,

Paedophiles!(I despise them and war on these creatures is a just war!)

Three things I don't understand:

People who dicriminate against others because of skin color,race or Origin,

ultra rich people not trying enough to help the poor and needy,

emotional,verbal and physical abuse on women and children.


Three things on my desk:

My beloved LapTop,

loads of books,

a calculator!

Three things I'm doing right now:

Typing this MeMe waaay in advance before I leave for my Christmas vacation,

cooking dinner and doing the laundry at the same time,

and just realizing that I am famished and I need to eat something!


Three things I want to do before I die:

To see my kids go to Medical school as it is their dream and goal,

to see them grow up to be fine American citizens with my Indian values and philosophy firmly imbibed in them,(not easy but possible!),

would like to visit Egyptian Pyramids and walk on the 'Wall of China'!


Three things I can do:

Cook creatively , efficiently and deliciously,

read books like a thirsty woman who hasn't seen water for quite a while,

be kind to others and brutally honest when and if necessary.


Three things you should listen to:

Your sixth sense,(if you feel something is wrong,it probably, usually is!!)

sound of waves of the Ocean and chirping of birds on early mornings in Spring,

to kids when they walk in the house from school and yakking away about their day.


Three things you should never listen to:

Destructive criticism,

Fanatical Religious non-sense; people who are alive and breathing around you are always more valuable than anybody's personal beliefs,

to people who take pleasure putting you down!(I say,rise above them and look down!:D)

Three things I'd like to learn:

To be stress free and worry free,

to learn to say 'NO' to people articulately without hurting their feelings,

to relax and smile even more.

Three favorite foods:

Any and every Indian dish,

Crab cakes with spicy Remoulade sauce,

Strawberry Cheese cake.


Three beverages I drink regularly:

Indian masala Chai(Tea),

occasional Cocktail,

Water.


Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid:

Watched "Fraggle rock" every weekend,

Chandamama,(a Indian monthly kids' magazine with lots of stories)

Many, many 'Mills and Boon' and 'Danielle Steel" trash as a teenager!:D


Three blogger friends that I am going to tag:

Rooma of "myKhazanaofrecipes"

JayaK of "Watscookingdoc"

ViniK of "awhirlofaromas"

Pooja of creativepooja as well since she is back from her break!:)


Take up the tag only if you feel you can ladies,no pressure!:)


That's it for this year my friends ! I promise you, there will be no baking anything for the whole of January! I will post Indian food and only Indian food next month! Have a great New Year's celebration friends!I will see you next week! :)