Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes

 

It was my birthday again and this time I made some cupcakes as my husband got a cake .This was an easy peesy eggless cake which was soft and moist .I gave  frosting using nutella which only enhanced the flavour of the cake.

My daughter got her hands on experimenting with frosting and decorating the cakes with sprinkles.She enjoys doing that a lot:)).i recently started trying my hands on frosting and I think I am getting good at it slowly.last month I even baked a birthday cake for my husband .I currently have  very few nozzles.So I can't try more designs

Now to the recipe

INGREDIENTS

Lukewarm milk - 1/2 cup

Oil - 1/3 cup

Coffee powder - 1tsp

Water - 1tbsp

Powdered sugar - 1cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

corn flour - 2tbsp

milk powder - 1/3 cup

cocoa powder - 1/4 cup

salt - a pinch

vinegar - 1 tsp

HOW TO MAKE

preheat oven at 180 degrees

mix coffee powder with water and keep aside

in a bowl take milk ,oil ,coffee mix ,sugar ,vanilla essence and mix well

mix all the dry ingredients and sieve two or three times

add the dry ingredients to the  wet ingredients little by little and fold using a spatula

once done add 1tsp vinegar and give a final mix

pour the batter till 2/3rd of the cupcake mould

bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees

allow to cool completely

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE AND A BIRTHDAY

                               

                                                    This chocolate truffle cake was made on my birthday .Thanks to the lock down ,my husband tried to get a cake in the vicinity ,but failed.And I am happy  that he didn't buy a cake else I wouldn't be making this delicious cake.As it was my birthday  I wanted a fancy cake ,but   I was doubtful about the frosting part..I never get it right for some reason.But this time I got it right,in fact it was perfect.I was very excited for cake cutting

                                            Chocolate truffle cake is nothing but chocolate cake with truffle sauce on top and between the layers.. This is a rich ,spongy,creamy,yummy cake perfect for any special occassion. You can always customize the toppings on the cake.I used Ferrero Rocher  chocolate as the topping which only added the richness of the cake.

                  

                                     

                                       

                                    Let us see how to make this absolutely  yum-yum truffle cake

INGREDIENTS

Maida / All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

oil - 1/2 cup

milk - 1 cup

sugar - 1 cup

vanila - 1 tsp

vinegar - 1 tbsp

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

coco powder - 1/2 cup

sugar - 1 cup (powdered)

cornflour - 2 tbsp

milk - 1 cup

vanila essence - 1 tsp

Amul fresh cream - 1/2 cup

butter - 1 tbsp

Sugar syrup (made by adding  2tbsp of sugar with 3tbsp water and bring to boil)

HOW TO MAKE

preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes

In a bowl mix oil,milk,sugar,vanilla,vinegar and keep aside for 5 minutes

in another bowl sieve and mix flour,baking soda,baking powder and coco powder

now add the flour mix little by little into the  wet mix and fold gently untill everything is mixed well

your cake  batter is ready

bake the cake at 180 degrees for about 20- 25 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

allow the cake to cool completely,before you start applying the ganache

MEANWHLIE,let's make the ganache for the cake

take a bowl and add coco,powdered sugar,cornflour,milk vanila and mix well without lumps

now strain this mixture into a pan and start heating in low flame

keep stirring until the mixture thickens

once it thickens,add the fresh cream and mix well

now add butter and mix

switch off the flame and let it cool completely

you can refrigerate once its cooled 

LAYERING THE CAKE

take the cake and cut horizontally into two halves

make the top of the halves even 

place one half of the cake on a plate or cake stand  and apply sugar syrup on the top

apply the chocolate ganache generously on  top

take the other half of the cake and apply sugar syrup and place it on top of the first half of the cake

now cover the cake completely with ganache on all sides 

you can decorate the cake as you desire

slice and enjoy

SPONGY STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

These were the cupcakes i was talking about yesterday. I had some strawberries left in tte fridge. So when my daughter asked for a Christmas cake i thought of making strawberry cupcakes for a change.

These cupcakes were soft and spongy yummy as well.The whole house was filled with the amazing smell of strawberries while the cupcakes were getting baked.Though these cupcakes look very plain,because i didn't have anything for making frosting.So i added some sprinkles ,chocochips and tutti fruitty in few of them

INGREDIENTS

All purpose flour /maida -1 1/2cup
Butter -100gm
Sugar-1cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla essence - 1tsp
Baking powder - 1tsp
Baking soda  - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Fresh strawberry  - 1/2 cup

How to make

Preheat oven at 180degrees for 10 minutes
Add the strawberries in a blender and puree them
In a bowl add the flour baking powder  baking soda , mix well and keep aside
In another bowl add butter and sugar and beat well with hand mixer or electric beater
Now add vanilla essence and egg and beat well
Add in half of the flour along with some strawberry puree and little milk and mix gently
Now add the rest of the flour ,puree and milk and mix well
Grease the cupcake mould and spoon the cake mix
Fill each mould only till half of it
Bake them at 180 degrees for about 20 - 25 minutes
Insert a toothpick or knife at the center of the cupcakes to check whether its done.If it comes out clean the cake is done.
Allow to cool down  and enjoy the soft and spongy cupcakes.

SIMPLE VANILLA CAKE

Heloo guys..i have been looooong absent again from  my fav space...now it's our short vacation time here and got some free time to bake and post...My little one has been planning even before her exams that we have to bake cakes and cookies and so much more during this holidays..Plus my husband also demanded some healthy cookies for his office snacks..so i started the baking marathon today with this simple yummy aromatic  -Vanilla Cake:) ..Will be posting cookies recip

These were the only pics i could take ..Before i could take any photo my daughter started gobbling the cake.I can't blame her because the aroma was soooo tempting and the cake was melting in the mouth.It reminded me of the vanilla sponge cake from Jayaram bakery near medical college, our uncle used to buy for us whenever he paid us a visit..

To the recipe...........

INGREDIENTS

1. all purpose flour - 2 cups
2. baking powder - 1 tsp
3. baking soda - 1/2 tsp
4. butter - 100 gm(1 stick)
5. sugar - 3/4 cup
6. egg - 1
7. vanilla essence - 1 tsp
8. milk - 1/2 cup

HOW TO MAKE

• preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes
• in a bowl mix flour baking soda and baking powder and keep aside
• in another bowl mix butter and sugar well
• then add egg and mix
• now goes in vanilla essence
• mix well and add this into the flour mixture
• fold in everything
• now add milk little by little and mix well
• transfer this mixture into the greased baking mould
• bake at 180 degrees for about 20 - 30 minutes
• check wether the cake is done by poking the middle of the cake with a toothpick.
• if it comes out clean your cake is ready
• allow the cake to cool
• slice n enjoyyyyyy:)))))))))))00000

Chocolate cup cakes and my first frosting ever:))))))

chocolate cupcake

I am so excited to post this one.Finally I tried icing on the cake..that too on these wonderful looking and absolutely delicious chocolate cupcakes.My husband got me a brand new  blender few days back.I consider it my x'mas gift;).But the very first recipe i tried was not this icing but that of Mayonise....it came really well..Then i tried this frosting with butter and icing sugar.I even made orange juice with my blender..yaaa i looooooove my blender😙

Look at them!!!..aren't they real beauties?I love these many colours here.I  bought these lovely silicon cupcake moulds recently.I am on a baking spree since Christmas.i have baked some cookies, cupcakes, chicken and so on.

INGREDIENTS

All purpose flour -1 1/2 cup
Baking powder -3/4tsp
Baking soda -1/2tsp

Coco powder -1/2cup
Sugar -3/4 cup
Egg -1
Oil - 1/4 cup
Buttermilk - 3/4 cup(i mixed 1/2cup milk with 1/4cup curd)
Vanilla essence -  1tsp

For frosting

Butter -100gm
Icing sugar -200gm
Vanilla essence - few drops
Milk - 2 or 3 tbsp
food colour of your choice a pinch

METHOD
Preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes
In a bowl mix flour baking powder baking soda and coco powder and keep aside
In another bowl mix sugar and oil well
Add in egg and whisk
Now add vanilla essence followed by buttermilk and mix everything well
Add the wet mixture into the flour mixture and fold gently
Grease the muffin tray or mould and pour in the batter only till 3/4th of the mould
Bake for about 15-20 minutes
 Check whether the cake is done by inserting a toothpick or knife at the center .if it comes out clean your cake is done
while the cake is getting baked we can make the frosting
in a bowl add butter and blend at high speed for 5minutes
add icing sugar little by little and beat
finally add the vanilla essence and milk and beat again
your icing is ready
Allow the cake to cool once baked and apply the icing on the cake
Serve and enjoyyy...:)

PLUM CAKE/X'MAS CAKE

Helloooo folks....MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all.....Christmas has always been a wonderful time since childhood. Lot of fond memories are associated with Christmas. Of course it was always about  holidays that comes after looong tiring  exams and the last day of examination we used to have x'mas celebrations ...Once i became  Virgin Mary for the nativity scene with a real 7 month old baby in my hands as the baby Jesus:)...i still remember how the baby looked at me in my hands.May be he din't like all those make up in me . He showed his dislike by crying sooo loud..All the guests and audience were surprised to see a real baby .never before or after i have seen a real baby for a nativity scene:)))

Coming to present...I decided to give it a  try on  x'mas cake this time.I hated plum cake or x'mas cake right from childhood ..It was the black raisins i hated the most.It used to give a burnt taste which spoiled my taste buds.But this time i wanted to try a plum cake for x'mas sake  or for "blog" sake:)))....AND i am glad i tried:))))...I loved every bit of this cake....The original recipe called for black raisins..But i was very careful .I used the normal brown raisins.I added more nuts and tutti fruties and cherries than raisins.Plus i skipped  the traditional soaking the dry fruits in rum or so .The color the texture and the taste...everything was perfect with this yummy cake

INGREDIENTS

1. all purpose flour -1 cup
2. butter - 2/3 cup  
3. sugar - 3/4 cup
4.   eggs - 3
5. chopped cashews - 1/4 cup
6. raisins - 1/3 cup
7. chopped dates ,cherries,tutti fruty ,orange peels etc - 1/4 cup
8. cinnamon powder -1/2 tsp
9. clove powder - 1/2 tsp
10. baking powder - 1tsp
11. vanilla extract - 1tsp
12. sugar - 2/3 cup
13. a pinch of salt

for the caramel syrup

1. sugar - 1/2 cup
2. water - 1/4 cup

METHOD

• in a pan melt the sugar slowly in medium heat
• it will first melt and then turn into a dark brown goop.keep stirring and let it turn a deep dark caramel colour
• turn off heat and add about 1/4 cup water
• turn the heat back on and slowly heat the caramel mixture until sugar dissolves
• let this cool aside
• pre heat oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes
• mix the dry fruits and nuts with around 2 tbsp flour and coat it completely.this is to avoid the dry fruits n nuts to sink to the bottom of the batter 
• in a bowl mix the flour baking powder spices and salt and mix well
• in another bowl mix butter and sugar until fluffy
• add vanilla essence and mix
• next add one egg and beat.now add the flour mixture little and mix. likewise alternatively add egg and flour mixture and mix well
• add the cooled caramel and the dry fruit and nuts and gently fold in
• pour the batter into a well greased pan
• bake for about 30-35 minutes or when a skewer inserted comes out clean
• allow the cake to cool completely 
• slice and enjoy

WITCH FINGER COOKIES

 My eyes always get stuck in such colourful and creative things.The child in me suddenly awakes.Same happened when i saw this spooky witch finger cookies in yummytummy..There is a kick in making such beautiful cookies .Since the day i bookmarked this recipe;my little one has been nagging me to make them

As a first step i have bought all the ingredients required and kept.but still got busy with other works.But every now and then i used to get the reminder from my little one:)

These creepy looking witch finger cookies ,when i finally made few days back,came out really well.It was crispy and utterly butterly delicious.My little one was absolutely happy and surprised to see how the cookies came infront of her for real finally....I have packed few for my friend's kids and they all were surprised and  loved it.now to the recipe

INGREDIENTS

all purpose flour /maida - 1 3/4 cup
Baking powder -1tsp
Butter -100gm
Icing sugar -3/4 cup
Egg - 1
Almond extract - 1tsp
Vanilla essence -1 tsp
Green food colour -1tbsp
Strawbwerry /mixed fruit jam - as required
Almonds - as required



METHOD

•  preheat oven to 160 degrees for 10 minutes
• In a bowl mix the flour baking powder and keep aside
• In another bowl mix butter and sugar well
• Add in the egg  ,both essences,green colour and mix .
• Now add the flour into the egg mixture and form a soft dough
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes
• Take the dough from fridge and make small balls
• Roll it into long finger shape
• Make indention(small hollow)on one end as on our finger and place almond on it as nail
• make wrinkles on the cookies with a knife or fork as in our fingers
• Arrange in a baking tray and bake for 20 - 25 minutes
• once done remove the almonds and apply some jam there and place back the almonds.
• Allow to cool and serve ..enjoyyy

GHEE CAKE

HELLOOO  one and all.......WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY KERALAPIRAVI :)))))))...Let's celeberate this Kerala Piravi with  a delicious Ghee cake.It's raining cats and dogs here and what better way to enjoy the rain holidays other than this wonderful cake.

This aromatic melting yummy cake was made for my mom who came here for a visit...On a casual conversation she mentioned about the Azad bakery ghee cake which my sister used to buy and send to my mom.Then i remembered trying ghee cake looooong back...I wanted to make that again and surprise my mom...

This is a very very soft but not moist cake.Ghee is the highlight of this recipe.I used pure homemade ghee which my husband's grandmother made.There is nothing that can compete with homemade stuffs.While the cake was getting baked, our house was filled with the heavenly aroma.My mom said it tasted the same like Azad ghee cake:)..My father n little one made sure that it got over within an hour.....Now to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1. All purpose flour(maida)-1cup
2. Baking powder-1/2tsp
3. Baking soda-1/4tsp
4. Sugar-3/4cup
5. Eggs-2
6. Milk -1/2cup
7. Ghee -1/2cup
8. Vanilla essence-1tsp
9. sugar - 1tbsp

METHOD

• Preheat oven at  180 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Mix the flour with baking soda and baking powder and keep aside.
• Separate egg whites and yolks
• In a mixer add sugar and powder it.
• Then add ghee and blend well.
• Add in egg yolks one by one and blend.
• Now add the flour and milk little by little alternatively and blend.
• Now in another mixie jar ,beat the egg whites ,vanilla essence and a tablespoon of sugar and beat well till frothy.
• Add this mixture to the flour batter and fold gently.do not overmix at this stage.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. 
• Bake for about 30 -40minutes.
• Allow to cool and transfer the cake to a plate and enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyyy:))

WHOLE GRILLED CHICKEN

Today is a very important day of fasting prior to ramadan..i was thinking what to prepare for "nombtura".Then striked the idea of grilled chicken.It's my husband's all time favourite.My little one love the skin of grilled chicken whenever we buy from outside

It is actually very easy to prepare this grilled chicken.But it takes sometime for marination and cooking.This is the second time i am attempting this preparation..The first time i made whole grilled chicken was 2years back and of course could not post it.This time i got it right too.i used homemade masala powders.That did make a very good difference this time.Masala was well coated on the chicken and was tender and juicy .It tasted perfect!!.I was super excited with the end result:)




Ingredients

1. One whole chicken

To marinate

1. Butter - 2tbsp
2. Ginger garlic paste - 2tbsp
3. Red chilli powder - 1tbsp ( i used kashmiri chilly powder )
4. Corriander powder -1 tsp
5. Turmeric powder - 1tsp
6. Pepper powder - 1tsp
7. Garam masala - 1tsp
8. Soyasauce 1tsp
9. Sugar - 1/2tsp
10. curd - 2tbsp
11. lemon juice - 1tbsp
12. salt - to taste

Method

• Wash and clean chicken and drain excess water.
• Poke the chicken with knife or fork all over and keep aside.
• Heat a pan and add butter and sugar to it.
• mix well and switch off the flame.
• Add all the marinade ingredients to it and mix well.
• Now apply this masala all over the chicken.
• Keep the chicken inthe fridge for minimum 2 hours and more. may be overnight..do not keep the marinated chicken in freezer.
• Take the chicken out.
• Heat a big pan .
• cover  and cook  the chicken in low flame  for 15 minutes.
• When the chicken is being cooked preheat the oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes.
• In a baking tray keep an alluminium foil and place the chicken on that.
• Pour the chicken juice that came out while cooking on all over the chicken.
• Now bake the chicken for about 20 minutes.
• When done take the chicken out and pour the juice from the chicken all over again.
• Again keep the chicken back in oven and bake for about another 20 minutes.
• Repeat the same process and bake for another 15-20minutes.
• Now its done
• Garnish and serve hot.
• Enjoyyyyy your grilled chicken with your favouritr dip:)...

Whole wheat butterless cookies

Yesterday my little one was craving for some snacks.But nothing was in d pantry.She asked whether i could make something.So i made these goodies yesterday.

And i do not want this one to remain in draft forever:(..so thought of posting it .

Ingredients

Wheat flour/atta -1cup
Baking soda -1/4tsp
Salt - a pinch
Sugar -1/2 cup
Oil-1/4 cup
Vanila essence -1 tsp
Milk  - 1/4 cup
Cherry - to decorate

Method

Preheat oven at 180 degrees
Mix flour salt and baking soda and keep aside
Powder sugar finely
Mix powdered sugar oil and vanilla essence well
Now add the flour mix to it and mix well
Now add milk slowly and form a soft dough
Make small balls out of it and flatten slightly
Place cherry on the centre and press lightly
Arrange in baking tray with space apart
Bake for 10-12 min
Allow to cool and enjoyyyyyyy

PUPPY FACED COOKIES

                                                        

These cute looking cookies were made purely upon my little one's request.Nowadays she is making many such requests like..."mama ,i want you to make  me pizza" "please will you make some cupcakes for me!"oh!i love cookies..why don't you make some?"..it goes on..And that's how i resumed my baking.I was damn lazy to try anything new.Thanks to my daughter's continous pleads.                                          

I saw this puppy faced cookies in mummy ka magic by amrita raichand..this one is surely a kid pleaser and very simple recipe too..

Ingredients

1.maida-1 cup
2.baking powder -1/2tsp
3.sugar-1/4 cup
4.butter-1/2cup
5.egg-1
6.vanilla essence-1tsp
7.chocolate chips,chocolate vermicelli and chocos -as required

Method

Preheat your oven at 180degrees for 10min

1.Take butter sugar egg and vanilla essence together in a bowl and mix well

2.Add flour and baking powder to this mixture and form a soft dough

3.form small balls out of the dough and keep

4.fix two chocos on either side as to form the puppy's ears

5.next keep two chocolate vermicelli as the eyes for each balls

6.finally take one chocolate chip and keep it as the nose
And you r done

7.arrange them in a baking tray and bake for 10-12minutes at 180degrees
allow the cookie to cool completely. 

Buttermilk Tutti Frutti Cake

This is one of the easiest cake recipes i have tried.I saw this recipe in one of my favourite blogger nagalakshmi's blog:)..The other day my sister in law was asking why am i not posting any cake recipes. recently she started baking cakes and muffins.So she wanted me to post new cake recipes so that she can also try them.Then i thought i would post this cake which uses buttermilk.

I made this cake long time back and it was waiting in my draft to get it posted.Its a very easy and tasty cake.My husband is not a "sweet" person.But this one cake he loved it and finished it the same day i made.:).It had a very nice texture and taste.i strongly recommend you all to try this cake...To the recipe.

recipe for onebowl buttermilkcake

ingredients

1. all purpouse flour - 1 cup
2. sugar - 2/3cup
3. butter - 1/4cup
4. egg - 1
5. baking powder - 1/2tsp
6. baking soda - 1/2tsp
7. vanilla extract -1/2tsp
8. buttermilk* - 1/2 cup
9. tutti frutti - for topping

how to make

• preheat oven to 200 degrees
• in a bowl mix flour baking powder baking soda and sugar
• to this add butter egg vanilla extract and buttermilk
• put everything into an electric blender and blend well
• pour the batter into a greased tin/pan
• sprinkle on top with tutti frutti generously.

• bake for about 25-30 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

Notes

• for buttermilk i mixed 1/4 cup of curd with 1/4 cup of milk and kept aside for 10 minutes and then used it in mixing.
• electeic beater would be the best to mix the ingredients..but since i din't have one i went with my electric mixer.the texture of the cake was still sooo good.
• u can customize the toppings with nuts,chocolate chips or anything of your choice.

Watermelon Shaped Cookies

The moment i saw the video of making of these beauties i decided to make it.Look at them ..they are just beautiful.First i thought it will be a tedious job to do.But they are just easy to make. A basic butter cookie recipe with the addition of food colour and the time to set in the refrigerator.Its all done.

My first batch of watermelon cookies got burnt lightly.But they were soft and melted in mouth.My daughter had few of them even before they were cooled,so was me..:).She always love those freshly baked cookies,right from the oven;)...

Recipe for watermelon shaped cookies

ingredients

1. all purpose flour - 2 cups
2. baking powder - 1/2 tsp
3. salt - a pinch
4. butter - 3/4cup(1 1/2 stick)
5. sugar - 3/4 cup
6. vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
7. egg - 1
8. food colour(red and green) - as per needed
9. chocolate chips - as required

How to make

• in a small bowl mix flour baking powder and salt and keep aside
• in another bowl beat butter and sugar until creamy

                                          

• add in egg and vanilla essence and mix well

                                               

• add the flour mixture little by little and mix to form a soft dough

                                                  

• take one cup of dough and keep aside

                                                  

• with the rest of the dough add enough  red food colouring to tint the dough 

                                             

• mix well so that the dough is nicely tinted
• roll it into a long cylindrical log and wrap it in plastic wrap or cling film and keep in refrigerator for one hour.

                                                   

• divide one cup of reserved dough into two halves

                                        

• to one half add enough green colour to tint the dough .leave the remaining half of the dough plain.wrap each half of dough seperately in plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator for about one hour.

                                    

• on a floured surface roll plain dough into a rectangle shape just to fit the red log of dough in it.
• roll up and cover the red dough with the plain dough
• now take the green dough from the refrigerator and roll it into a rectangle .
• place the re/white log of dough along the short end of green dough.
• roll up and cover the red/white log with the green dough
• cover the whole log with a plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for atleast 2 hours

                                        

• take the dough ,unwrap it and cut into desired thickness in slices.
• cut the slices into two halves as shown in the pic
• lightly press the chocolate chips into each slice to resemble the watermelon seeds

                                              

• place them in a baking tray and bake for about 6-8 minutes or until the cookies are firm but not brown

                                                 

• allow the cookies to cool down completely.the cookies are soft while hot and they become firm when cooled.