Chocolate Muffins- Dark & Chocolatty

Someone has said somewhere ' Without children, your house is clean and your wallet is full; but your heart is empty'. It's absolutely true. I can't think of a day without children. When they were off to grandma's place for vacations, we were found rattling around the cottage having very little things to do or no work to finish off. The empty nest would rather eat us, even if the situation is not going to be the same for so long-not more than a week or two. It may take a few days to get used to not hearing the sound of your child's footsetps in the house or that silence at the dinner table. It is then that we realize the importance of children in our life and that they are the most beautiful gifts one can ever have in his life.

In India, Childrens Day is celebrated on 14th of November, the birth-date of Jawaharlal Nehru (the first Prime Minister of India). I've never thought of celebrating  or never gave importance to this day other than wishing my kids, whereas  they did never forget to give me a card on Mothers Day. So this year I wanted to plan something special for them on that day. Insha Allah ! A mere hug can bring smile on their lips as a result of which their eyes light up and their face gives off a glow that is expansive enough to reach you and effortlessly make you reciprocate a sense of well-being. So what if we could offer a handful of surprises on their very special day. Who else is there to join me? I'll be posting a few wonderful kids-friendly recipes these 2 weeks and hope you'll defenitely send me your feedback and suggestions regarding this.

Its a must try recipe from  Ina Garten . The texture and flavour of these cupcakes can help you win the hearts of your li'l ones on their very special day coming up.

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup good cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
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Method:

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Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.

 Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well.

 In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.

 In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

 On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount).

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Morning Muffins (with Apples, Carrots,Raisins & Coconut)

.A healthy way to start any day.  Packed with nutritious goodies such as carrots,apples, raisins,coconut and cinnamon, this muffin offers a tasty, sweet and healthy start to the day.

 Ingredients:
 (Makes 16-18)

Flour 2 cups
Sugar 1 1/4 cups
Baking Soda 2 tsp
Cinnamon 2 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Carrots,grated 2 cups
Raisins 1/2 cup
Apple, peeled & grated 1
Coconut 1/2 cup
Eggs 3
Oil 1 cup
Vanilla 2 tsp 


Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 C

2. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

3. Stir in the carrots, raisins, apple and coconut.

4. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, oil and vanilla and stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Spoon the batter into well-greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling to the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Linking this to Fast Food Not Fat Food Event

Choco-cherry Cupcakes

Ingredients:
   

Unsalted Butter 90gm

Castor Sugar 1/2 cup

Eggs 2

Self-raising flour 1 cup

Cocoa powder 20gm

Milk 2 tbsp

Cherry Jam 2 tbsp

For the icing:

Cherry Jam 2 tbsp

Butter 1 1/2 cups

Icing sugar 1  3/4 cup

Cream cheese 1/2 cup

Dark chocolate shavings

Cocoa powder 20 gms

Method:

As the first step of baking cupcakes, cream butter and sugar well. Add eggs slowly to the creamed butter and sugar frosting.Then mix flour . and add milk and cherry jam. Spoon this batter into muffin cup lined trays. Bake at 180 C for 16-18 mts.

For the icing:

Spread 1/2 tsp of cherry jam directly onto cooled cupcakes. Cream butter and icing sugar until light and, and mix in sifted cocoa powder. Spread icing evenly over the layer of cherry jam. Sprinkle chocolate shavings over layer of icing. Dust lightly with cocoa powder.

Linking this to Anyone can Cook Series hosted by Taste of Pearl City

Cappuccino Cupcakes

OMG!! I can't imagine that I've to type it all over again...Yeh Blogger bhi naa....grrr... I've posted this  a day before yesterday and now its gone..I was so excited about this as I ve baked something after so long..(after 3 months).. that I typed all these on a single day & published the same day.. If I would 've typed a day earlier this will be ther atleast in the editing section...but..ma luck!! :(

So coming to the recipe, the cakes themselves are a combination of strong instant espresso with a a hint of vanilla, whilst the tops (the froth on the cappuccino) is mostly made up of white chocolate. A wonderful combination!!

The words cappuccino, tiramisu, mocha or anything related with coffee tempt me always .. I've published some other related topics such as Pound Cake Tiramisu, Tiramisu Cupcake , Mocha Cupcakes & so on..

Ingredients: 

(Adapted from the blog named 'Baked')

3/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
7 Tbs. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 heaped Tbs. instant espresso
2-3 Tbs. milk

Ingredients: Icing
5.25 oz white chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup + 1 Tbs. sour cream
1 and 2/3 cup sifted confectioners sugar (icing sugar)
a little cocoa powder for dusting

Method: Cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. 
2. In a food processor add all the cupcake ingredients except the milk and pulse to combine. 
3. Add the milk and pulse again until the ingredients are well combined. 
4. Place 12 cupcake liners into a muffin pan. 
5. Spoon the batter into the liners.
6. Bake for around 20min (until a slight golden brown color).
7. Let sit for 5 min and then place the cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool down completely. 

Method: Icing
1. Melt the white chocolate and butter in the microwave. 
2. After it has cooled a tad, add the sour cream and stir.
3. Gradually add the sifted confectioners sugar until it is a good consistency (malleable, but not wet). 
4. Spread the icing on top of the cupcakes and then dust some cocoa powder on top. 

Banana Muffins....first post frm ma mom...

yea...u r right...the blog is named after her...still her first post??  was waitin for her to back in action. She was really bsy these days .. Now she is a bit relaxed & is back to baking & xperimenting.... bt easy recipes though...

I can't say much abt ths muffins as I did never taste it...bt ma daughter luvs ths a lot & requests  her grandma to make it for her on her vacations...

Here goes the recipe as said by ma mamma...

Ingredients:


eggs 3
sugar 1 cup
oil 1/2 cup
milk 1/2 cup
baking soda 1 tsp
cinnamon powder 1/4 tsp (original recipe is to add 2 tbsp)
maida 2 cups
banana 2
prunes/blueberry 1 tbsp(blueberry ws in the original recipe..she added prunes)
she added choco chips for kids...if u wish u can add 1/2 cup.

Method:

Sieve flour and baking soda together....add cinnamon powder to this & also the prunes/choco chips/ blueberry & nuts to it. Mix & keep aside.


Mash banana using a fork ..Its okay if ther's banana chunks here & ther.

Beat eggs & sugar until mixed well...u can beat it with hand too...add milk & beat again. 


Then pour in oil...mix well. 


Add mashed banana, mix well & then mix in the flour mixture..

Bake in muffin cups 170 degrees to 12 to 15 mts..(if small cups)

dust sugar powder or icing sugar on top... & her grand kids luv it hot !!

Strawberry Cupcakes

By now, you guys mst ve noticed  that I'm a great cupcake lover or rather a lazy (amateur) baker !! I love to bake cookies and cupcakes always; may be because of the easiness of the baking process. Nothing can go wrong while baking these...; i guess...

Recipe Courtesy: Friday Weekly
Photographed by Jeeju (Shefeek Mtp)


Ingredients:

Unsalted butter 90g
Castor sugar 1/2 cup
Eggs 2
Self-raising flour 1 cup
Natural yoghurt 2 tbsp
Strawberry jam 2 tbsp

For the icing

Butter-1 1/2 cups
Icing sugar 1 3/4 cups
Strawberry Jam 2 tbsp
Fresh Strawberries 12 sliced
Icing sugar for dusting

Method:



In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar, then add eggs slowly. Fold in flour and add yoghurt. Then strawberry jam and mix well. Spoon batter into muffin cup lined trays. Bake at 180 C for 16-18 minutes.

*For the icing, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Then add strawberry jam and mix. Spread icing evenly over cooled cupcakes. Add sliced strawberries as toppings and dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Tip
Remember to scrape the bottom of your mixing bowl as sometimes the blender may not mix all the ingredients thoroughly enough.

Sending this to Food palette series PINK

Vanilla/Chocolate cupcakes

These cupcakes are sweet and buttery & can be used as a basic recipe with any frosting like fresh strawberry frosting, chocolate or vanilla frosting. You can use this recipe to create fun monster cupcakes for Halloween too. I don't remember the source of the recipe as I've been baking this for so long; and was quite a bit over confident while baking too that I didn't check the exact measurement in the recipe & did mistake for vanilla cupcakes. I used more butter that it turned a bit crispy on the top; but it was fine...the inner texture was okay & the taste was awesome. You can try the chocolate cupcakes with the same recipe; just reduce the flour to 1 1/4 cup & add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder.  

Ingredients:

For Vanilla Cupcakes:

Butter 8 tbsp (room temperature) / 113g

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4cup sugar
2 large eggs ( room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whole milk
 

Method:
Preheat oven at 170 C

Sift together flour, cocoa powder,bking powder, & salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy ,about 4 minutes. 

Mix in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until well blended. 

Mix in vanilla.Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk in two batches, beating until combined after each.

 Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops spring back when lightly touched, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

For chocolate Cupcakes:

Reduce flour by 1/2 cup & add 1/2 cup cocoa powder.

That is; Flour 1 1/4 cup & Cocoa powder 1/2 cup. Rest all ingredients & procedures r the same

Sending this to Bake off Event  & Anyone can cook Event

Mocha Cupcakes

Love cupcakes/muffins in any form; may be becos I luv to bake ma kids' favorites ,like any other MOM. They just drool over it. Won't get much time usually to decorate the topping as they don't leave anything behind for that. They don't need the topping too..they luv to have it hot ..!!

Recipe Courtesy: 'Friday' Weekly


Among the  16 different types of cupcakes/muffins which I know, coffee flavoured ones are ma all time favorites...like cappuccino cup cakes, tiramisu, mocha cup cakes....Now this one is a hot favourite at Kitsch; the richness of mocha is complemented by the creaminess of chocolate topping to give a sinfully delicious treat. This recipe was published in 'Friday' weekly on last friday ;I couldn't resist by the luk of it that i made this the same day.

Ingredients: (Serves 12) 

Unsalted Butter 90gm
Castor Sugar 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp
Eggs 2
Self raising flour 1 cup
Cocoa powder 15g
Instant granulated coffee 1 tsp
Hot water 1 tbsp

For the icing:( I took abt 2/3rd of the below ingredients as we don't like too mch topping on the cakes)

Unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups
Icing sugar 1 3/4
Dark chocolate 50 gm

Method

Dissolve instant coffe in 2 tbsp hot water and set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence and add eggs slowly.

Mix in sifted flour and cocoa powder.

Finally add the dissolved coffee and mix well. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cup lined trays. Try to fill the cups equally so that they are baked evenly-abt 3/4 of the cups.

Bake at 170-180C for 15-18mts.

For the Icing:

Melt chocolate and set aside to cool a little in a bain-marie or microwave(High for 1 min.).
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then mix in the melted chocolate.
Spread chocolate icing evenly over cooked cupcakes before serving.


Posting this  to Bookmarked recipes-Every Tuesday Event  & also to Bake-off Event hosted by Versatile Kitchen

 

Tiramisu Cup Cake

Whenever browsing for some new recipes, i used to 'stop by' when i see the words tiramisu, cappuccino or coffee. As a hard core coffee lover, i always prefer its flavor in all my desserts; when it comes to tiramisu with saviordi biscuits, sponge cake tiramisu, tiramisu cup cakes or cappuccino cup cakes;all these are my all time favourites.

 For coffee syrup:


Water 1/5 cup (abt 40-50ml)...(used water instead of marsala in the original recipe)
Coffee 1/3 cup (80ml) can reduce the intensity if u don't want strong flavor
Sugar 1/4 cup (60ml)

Mix all these in hot water till dissolved & then let it cool


For Mascarpone frosting:

Mascarpone cheese 8 oz (227 gm approx.)
Heavy cream 1 cup (240ml)
Confectioner's sugar or Powdered sugar 1/2 cup (120ml)...

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy). In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.

Tiramisu Cup Cake


Ingredients: (Makes 18 large or 36 mini muffins)


White Flour   1 1/4 cup or 300ml
Baking powder  3/4 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Milk 1/4 cup
Vanilla bean-1, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped & reserved or Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Unsalted Butter 4 tbsp
3 large whole eggs+ 3 egg yolks, room temperature
Sugar 1 cup or 240 ml
Coffee syrup
Mascarpone Frosting
Cocoa powder for dusting


Method:
1.Preheat oven to 170 C (for mini cup cakes). Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. 


2.Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. 


3.Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds( or vanilla essence) in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod. 


2.With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. 


3.Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.


4.Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined


5.Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 13 to 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

6.To finish, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee  syrup; repeat; if u need strong coffee flavour; until all syrup has been used; otherwise brushing once is enough. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop or top frosting shapelessly onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.

NB: u can use cream cheese as well...i don't know why...bt i lik cream cheese mre than mascarpone for frosting...may be becos of the salty taste of that...Cream cheese frosting will be a bit runny..won't set like mascarpone..

Sending this to Suma's Anniwersary Event