Chocolate Cupcakes

Hi everyone.Two things primarily keep me going .One is my passion for cooking and the second is my passionate hatred for Udhampur which inspires me to look at things that I perceive as beautiful.

The recipe that I am sharing today is chocolate cupcakes.My daughters love cupcakes and other sinful stuff and I love this recipe because it imparts the rich chocolate flavour and is pretty moist by itself.I mean even without the icing part.Thats because this recipe calls for a special technique which is pretty simple btw consisting of mixing cocoa powder with hot water before adding it to the batter.This extracts the rich flavour of cocoa and also makes the cupcakes moist unlike the other drier versions.

The recipe is as follows:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup    cocoa powder                                       1 cup             boiling  hot water

1 1/3 cups  flour                                                     2 tsps           baking powder

1/2 tsp salt                                                              1/2 cup    unsalted butter at room temperature 

1 cup granulated sugar(fine granules)                 2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence                                               

FOR CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING

120 gms chocolate coarsely chopped                   2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temp

1 1/3 cups icing sugar sifted                                  1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method     

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
• Lightly grease and line cup cake/ muffin moulds with paper liners.
• In a small bowl stir together the boiling hot water and cocoa powder until smooth. Let it cool to room temp.

Sieve together the flour,baking powder and salt in another bowl.

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

• Add beaten eggs to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until smooth.
• Add vanilla essence.
• Fold in the flour mixture.

• Add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.
• Fill each paper cup two - thirds full with batter and bake for 15-20 minutes or until done.
• Check with a toothpick.

• Cool the cupcakes on a cooling rack.

• Frost the cupcakes with icing when completely cooled.

Chocolate Frosting:

• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.Let it cool to room temperature.

• Beat the butter until smooth and creamy. It takes a minute to achieve the smooth consistency.
• Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
• Beat in vanilla essence.
• Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated completely.

Hope you will try this out and let me know how it turned out.

       

Banana Bread

Hi!Long time.I know.Haven't baked for a long time.Decided to do so today and since we have gotten rid of our intermittent internet connection I decided to blog this recipe too.

The recipe I am sharing with you today is Banana bread.It is actually a  cake but since the recipe calls it bread I shall do so too.I had a slice of it at a cafe ,slightly warm with a generous sprinkling of brown sugar.When eaten in  the right company,it is pure heaven.Anyways the single slice was way too expensive and did not look like something which could not be replicated.So I tried this recipe which  I modified slightly and ,since it came out better than the slice I paid through my nose for ,I decided to share it with you all.

So here it goes:

BANANA BREAD

Ingredients

All purpose flour   2 cups                                          Brown Sugar        3/4 cups

baking soda          1 tsp                                               eggs beaten          2

salt                         1/4 tsp                         mashed ripe bananas       2 1/3 cups

butter                    1/2 cup                                          vanilla essence        1 tsp

Method 

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
• Grease approx 9by 5 inch loaf tin.
• Sieve together flour,baking soda and salt.
• In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar.
• Stir in well beaten eggs , mashed bananas and essence.
• 
• 

• Fold the flour mixture into this well beaten mixture.
• Pour the batter in the prepared tin.
• Bake for an hour or until done.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• Serve slices with a generous sprinkling of brown sugar.

      NOTE-

• I have used castor sugar since the brown sugar is a luxurious thing in this part of the world
• It took me a lot of explaining for the all purpose flour too so I have used normal flour with 2 tsps of baking powder.

Hope you will try this recipe and if you do kindly let me know how it turned out and what you thought of it . Your feedback is very important to me .

Happy cooking.

P.S.Kindly ignore the bad kitchen.I am living with it. Have no choice .

 

Lemon cake

Hello friends!I know I have been neglecting this one .I try to be regular but it just doesn't happen .Any ways will cut that out and proceed with the recipe I want to share.

First of all it is easy peasy even if the ingredients sound alien to most Indians. Alright not ingredients but just one ingredient Crisco.So since I did not find that one and it is not my nature to give up on recipes (atleast) I researched the composition of Crisco and  figured out that a simple margaine or unsalted butter would do fine .

And fine it did.So here is the recipe .

Lemon Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup Crisco(unsalted butter/margarine )

1 cup sugar Castor or fine

2 eggs beaten

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup nuts optional(I skipped it not because I have no nuts but because I like it that way)

grated peel of 1 lemon or two limes

1/4 cup sugar castor/fine

juice of 1 lemon or two limes

METHOD

• Cream shortening(Crisco/butter/margarine) with sugar.
• Mix in well beaten eggs.
• Sift flour together with baking powder and salt.
• Add flour mixture and milk to the shortening mixture alternating the two and stirring constantly.
• Mix nuts (optional) and peel.
• Bake in a greased 9-5-2inch loaf pan at 50 degrees F or 180 degrees C for one hour or until done.
• Combine 1/4 cup sugar with lemon juice and pour over the top of the loaf while it is still hot from the oven.

Serve hot or cold according to preference. It is an extremely moist and juicy cake and I love it warm . You take your pick.

Happy cooking and let me know please if you try this out. I recommend it highly.

NOTE:-You  may use vanilla essenceor lemon essence( 1 tsp ) if you want . I did although the recipe did not say so 

Roast chicken

 I am very sorry ...no really I mean it . I have been too busy with my other blog and truly neglected this one .So without further ado would like to share a recipe which I hardly get to eat ....why? Because I never have any left for myself after it comes on the table . Thats Roast chicken for you. Simple and yummy.

Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken well cleaned             

FOR MARINADE                             

  Butter 1 tbsp                     Heat butter in a pan and add the rest

 Ginger  1 tsp                       of the ingredients to make the marinade

garlic 1 tsp          

salt and pepper to taste 

tomato ketchup 2 tbsp

Lemon Juice 2 tsp

FOR STUFFING
bread 5-6 slices
onion fine chopped 1
oregano 1 tsp

Method

Fry onion in butter .

Add salt,pepper,oregano & bread & mix.

Stuff the chicken with the stuffing.

Pierce chicken all over .

Pour marinade on top.

Tie the chicken legs .

Cover with foil & refrigerate for minimum 1 hour.

Remove foil.Pour butter and oregano on top.

Bake for one and a half hours at 250 ° C.

Serve hot accompanied with garlic bread and some salad.Serving mashed potatoes alongwith these won't hurt...lol...and since you are at it how about starting with some soup and ending with some dessert?

NOTE:#If marinated for longer time chicken will be tender and better.

          #In the baking dish pouring some water will ensure that chicken won't dry and won't burn.

Ain't that super simple?Try it out and lemme know how it turned out.I await your lovely comments .They make my day so kindly leave some love.

Hello and good evening.I know I am late and I do have a valid reason for that.first of all I was busy preparing for the International night . I had to cook for 70 people and then hosted coffee morning the same week.Amidst all this my status became carless since the driver met with an accident .Thankfully no one was hurt but  the car was damaged  and now I am dependant on public transport which is quite rare in Bandung.

It was Andrew Rees's (Nitin's coursemate)birthday last Friday and I baked this pumpkin pie for him.It was packed complete with a handmade bow and  a birthday tag in a corrugated box .Totally loved doing this project.

So here is the recipe for pumpkin pie which is slightly improvised since I have come up with a short crust pastry which is crunchy and the filling is very American . Over all its a simple and yummy recipe which even the pumpkin haters(my husband included) love.

Without any further ado here is the recipe .

                Pumpkin Pie

For short crust pastry

INGREDIENTS

castor sugar         3 tbsp                                  butter          150 gms
flour                      2 cups                                  egg yolk       1    
custard powder   2 tbsp                                  lemon juice  1 tbsp   
corn flour             2 tbsp                  cold water as per needed to knead the dough

METHOD

Mix all the ingredients to make a dough . This dough can be frozen and then reused if excess.

For the filling

INGREDIENTS

cooked pumpkin          1 cup                                        nutmeg      ¼ tsp
eggs                                2                                              cinnamon   ½ tsp
 juice of    ½ lemon                                                                                 
sweetened cond milk    1 tin                                        dry ginger   a pinch

METHOD

 

•   Sieve pumpkin and separate eggs.
•   Mix pumpkin,egg yolks,con.milk,juice and spices together.

•  Beat eggwhites to a stiff foam and fold into the pumpkin mixture.
•  Pour  the mixture into the rolled out pastry.
•  Cover the top with patterns with the rest of the pastry.

•  Sprinkle cinnamon flavoured sugar before sticking the pie into the oven.
•  Bake at 180°C for 1 hour or until done.
                                                                      
  Wasn't that simple?Try it out and let me know how it turned out. I am sure it will be fantastic and you and your family would love it.
  

You could serve it with whipped cream or icecream.Sinful but yummy.Ohh by the way Andy called this evening and said he loved the pie so you have his recommendation as well.

Happy cooking!

     

I love cooking .I am passionate about cooking ...so much that I could sleep in the kitchen and rise in the kitchen .I am a painful teacher with massive detailing as far as cooking goes.Also I do not believe in instant cooking .Cooking is an art and to achieve the right flavour ,colour and the appetising appearance one has to put in a lot of effort.What I assure you in this blog is foolproof recipes which have been tried more than once in my kitchen . The only thing you have to do is follow it to the T;that is if you are interested in trying out these recipes.

The first recipe that I am going to share with you is of Brownies.So what's special about making a brownie?First of all the recipe I am sharing is the one which uses cocoa powder and not the chocolate slab so it is relatively low on fat(If there is anything like that in baking). Secondly , despite that ,I assure you that you will achieve the fudginess in the brownie and it won't be dry and crumbly. 

The recipe is simple and the only thing you must keep in mind is not to mix the flour ,nut and cocoa mixture with the handmixer.You must fold it into the batter with a  spatula in the cut and fold manner(I warned you that I am painful).
If  the last part isn't followed the brownies are guaranteed to be crumbly and dry. I goofed up thats how I know.

Alright then the  recipe is as follows:

  BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS
Eggs           4                                                Cocoa Powder ¾ cup
Flour         1 and a half cups                      vanilla essence 2 tea spoons
Butter(unsalted)                                        Nuts 
 /margarine     1 cup                                 (walnuts preferably) 1 cup
Sugar               2 cups

Method
1. The sugar you chose should be fine. If it is not ,grind it in the mixer and use.
2. Beat eggs and sugar in a clean and dry container.Beat it until the mixture appears almost white and is thick in consistency.
3. Add butter to the mixture.
4. Mix the nuts into the sieved flour and cocoa powder mixture.
5. Gradually fold the flour ,cocoa powder and nut mix into the egg, sugar and butter mixture.
6. Pour this batter into a 8 by 10 greased and floured tin.
7. Stick it into your preheated oven and bake it at 180 degrees C for 35 minutes or until done.

Note: This recipe yields 32 bars and before sticking the tin into the oven you could sprinkle some nuts over it .Kindly note that sprinkling the nuts step cannot be done later.

I shall share the chocolate icing recipe for the brownies in my next blog.

Thanks for stopping by . If you try this recipe let me know how it turned out.

Happy cooking.