Finger Millet Chocolate Cake Indian Buttermilk

Finger Millet Chocolate Cake with Indian Buttermilk

Have you ever been fascinated with the process of making clarified butter/ ghee at home? The aroma that fills the air when one makes ghee at home is sure to give the feel nostalgic feel. Agree the process is time consuming and cumbersome but when we put our heart into it, any chore is a piece of cake isn't it? Wondering where this is going when the title says Cake? Read along.

I have been making ghee at home regularly in the last couple of years by the traditional method, collect the cream, churn the butter, melt the butter. The good thing is that there is no wastage at any step. The buttermilk that is left over is definitely use able in many many ways. Drink it as it is, add spice into it, use it for pancakes, cakes, South Indian gravies and so on.

I have earlier experimented using them in banana cakes, unfortunately I did not make a note of the recipe. This time around I did make sure I note down the recipe when I was working with Finger Millet/ Ragi. Ragi is a staple in many house holds in the state where I am currently. It was only natural for me to experiment with the same when I wanted to include buttermilk in the cake. This is because there is yet another drink with butter milk famous in this state of Karnataka called Ragi Buttermilk or Ragi majjige.  Millet bakes have been around for long but

Purist may take to offense with what I have experimented but let me tell you one can never make out buttermilk is part of the ingredients. Coco powder does all the trick you see. I was lucky enough to have over ripe bananas stashed away in the freezer too all at the same time. Just could not stop myself from baking these Finger Millet Chocolate Cake with Indian Buttermilk. Whats not to love with these healthy cake bites. There is fruit, there is millets and goodness of natural sugar ie Coconut Sugar.This is an egg free recipe that I am sharing here. Refer notes below for more options.

Ingredients	Quantity
Whole wheat flour	½ cup
Finger Millet flour	½ cup
Cocoa Powder	½ cup
Baking Powder	1 Tbsp
Baking Soda	½ Tsp
Coconut Sugar	¾ cup
Butter milk	1 cup
Ghee	¼ cup
Ripe Bananas small	7-8
Vanilla Extract	1 tsp

My way of making
1) Preheat oven to 180C.
2) Prepare the bake tray with butter and dust the pan. Now use a parchment paper or butter paper and repeat the buttering and dusting and keep the pan aside.
3) In a large dry bowl sift together the whole wheat flour, finger millet flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and keep aside.
4) In another bowl mash well the ripe bananas (you could also use the mixer to grind them into a smooth mix if you do not like to bite into banana pieces in the cake). To this add coconut sugar and combine well.
5) Add in the buttermilk and whisk well. To this add ghee and vanilla extract.
6) Add the dry ingredients into the liquid in three parts.
7) Gradually mix them well until no lumps are seen.
8) Pour the mix into prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
9) Let cool and relish as tea time snacks.

Notes
1) You could use normal sugar or honey in place of coconut sugar.
2) Replace the bananas with 2 eggs if ripe bananas are not available.

Finger Millet Chocolate Cake with Indian Buttermilk