Surprise Cake!

How do you come up with a cake at a very short notice? We bake a cake for my dad every birthday. However, this year he was supposed to be traveling on his special day when his office trip got cancelled at the last minute. To keep the tradition of homemade cake every birthday, we had to get a cake ready in few hours.

This cake is so quick to make! We quickly rushed to the store to get a watermelon and whipping cream . My mom helped me cut the watermelon into a round cake shape, while I quickly whipped some cream, hid the cake in the frosting and then decorated with fresh fruit.

There you go! When my dad was cutting the cake...it was a bit hard than real cake, so he thought it was an ice cream cake. He was very pleasantly surprised to see the inside of the cake. Not only it looked beautiful but it was such a healthy cake!

The only thing I wished was that I had whipped the cream a little stiffer like my mom had advised me. However, I was super excited to put it all together so didn’t have the patience to continue whipping. As you see it started melting while I set it on the table! But that's how we learn....and as long as the cake did not reveal itself before my dad cut it, I think the purpose was served!

Banana-Walnut-Chia Bread

This is a healthier version of banana bread loaded with walnuts and chia seeds.

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 cups walnuts

4 tablespoons chia seeds

4 mashed overripe medium size bananas

4 tablespoons honey (or according to taste)

1/3 cup butter

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method

Preheat oven to 350F.

Thoroughly mix dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls.

When the oven is preheated, mix dry and wet ingredients together and pour batter into a greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Bake for 70 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for few minutes, and enjoy!