Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Vanilla cupcakes... I have always devoured the sight of these little beautiful fluffy yellow iced delicacy sitting like little showpieces on those glass cupboards in bakeries. I wondered if i could ever be an artist of that genre. There started my humble trials and toils with flour and egg batter. The result, which as my heart yearned were delicious and here I share with you one of my priced recipes...  

Ingredients

For the Cake

• Self Raising Flour: 2.5 Cups (1 cup = 250gms)
• Milk: 1 cup
• Vegetable oil: 3/4 Cup
• Eggs: 4
• Vanilla Essence: 1 Tsp
• Sugar: 2 Cups

For the frosting

• Butter: 220 Gms
• Icing sugar: 4cups
• Milk: 2 Tbsp
• Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp
• Pink food colour: 1/4 Tsp (Optional)

Method

1. Mix the sugar and eggs for a minute with an electric beater until creamy
2. Add all the other ingredients to the egg mixture and beat further. Do not over beat. Just mix until the dry ingredients are well incorporated 
3. Transfer the batter into a muffin tray lined with cup cake liners and bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 20-30 minutes until done
4. While the cakes are baking the frosting can be prepared. For this, beat the butter with an electric beater until light and fluffy and keep adding the sugar little by little and beat further. 
5. Add vanilla essence and food colour and beat further until all sugar is used up. Adjust the consistency of the icing with milk.
6. Once the cup cakes are cooled completely use a piping bag and nozzle of your choice to decorate the cup cakes.

Notes:

1. If using All purpose flour instead of Self Raising flour then add 1 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda to the maida. 

2. You can make half of this recipe for lesser number of cakes.

Happy Baking!!

Shabana

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Oreo Cheesecake

Creamy cheese cake on a chocolate cookie base topped with super fine oreo crumbs and set without baking makes an Oreo Cheesecake easy to make and truly delectable. All you need is..

Ingredients

• Oreo cookies : 25 nos
• Softened butter : 75gms
• Cream cheese : 500 gms
• Whipping cream : 500 ml
• Gelatin : 2 tbsp
• Sugar : 80 gms

Method

1. Separate each oreo cookies using hands and neatly remove the white cream using a butter knife. Keep the removed cream in a saucepan and add the biscuits to a blender.

2. Blend the cookies until very fine and keep aside 1/3 rd of this mix for decorating the cake.

3. To the blended cookies (the 2/3rd portion )  add the softened butter and beat further until a crumble consistency is obtained.

4. Add this to a springfoam cake tin and press well with a back of a glass to get an even base.

5. Keep this in fridge while we prepare the cake

6. To prepare the cake add the cream cheese (softened to room temperature), whipping cream, sugar and the gelatine powder to the saucepan in which we have the cream of the Oreos.

7. Keep this on low flame and mix well until it gets smooth. Make sure you don't boil this cream mix. Just a small heating will be enough to get the ingredients well mixed.

8. Pour this mixture slowly on top of the base which has been setting in the fridge.

9. Keep it back to set overnight and next day using a seive dust the powdered oreo cookies (1/3 rd portion ) on top of the cake generously.

10. Unmould the cake from the cake tin and slice this beauty.

Delicious cooking!

Shabana
 

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A very fun to bake cake which gives an ultimate feeling of accomplishment once baked and sliced! Yes, I am talking about the fantastic combination of vanilla and chocolate in a zebra stripe pattern. This Zebra cake would capture anyone’s attention because of the wonderful pattern it depicts and will keep people wondering how we got those stripes perfect! Let’s look into how we can get that vanilla- Chocó patterned cake which is a fantastic tea time snack or a dessert.



Ingredients

· All Purpose Flour : 1 1/2 Cup (300 gms)

· Eggs : 2

· Baking Powder : 1 1/2 Tsp

· Club Soda (Carbonated Water) : 1/2 Cup

· Vanilla Extract : 1/8 Tsp

· Sugar : 1 Cup

· Cocoa Powder : 2 Tbsp

· Vegetable Oil : 1/2 Cup

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs until foamy, add the sugar and beat further. To this add the oil and vanilla and beat well using an electric blender

2. Sift together the flour and baking powder

3. Add one third of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat well until just combined. Add half of the soda and mix again. Keep alternating the flour and soda into the egg mix until all is well incorporated.

4. Transfer half of this mixture to another bowl and sift in the cocoa powder and mix well to form the chocolate batter.

5. Grease and dust an 8 inch (preferable) round cake tin and keep both the batter ready to be assembled.

6. Pour a tablespoon of the chocolate batter and on top of it pour a tablespoon of vanilla batter and keep alternating this way until both the batter is all used up and you see concentric circles of vanilla and chocolate.

7. Pop this into a 180 degree C pre heated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

8. Allow the cake to cool before demoulding. Cut along the pattern to get perfect stripes on your cake.


Note: The soda can be substituted with milk and the quantity of milk or soda can be altered in order to get a flowing batter. If the batter is too thick they would not form pattern while assembling. You can also use a tooth pick to create patterns on the top layer of the cake. I just drew few lines from the centre of the cake towards the end and then some from the end to the centre to form a floral pattern. This pattern will not affect the stripes inside.


Happy baking!

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Tres Leche Cake

Tres Leche cake or the Three Milk Cake is a very traditional recipe from the Latin America. It is basically a white sponge cake soaked in three types milk and then topped up with whipping cream. I happened to see this recipe and being a milk lover I could not resist trying it and believe me this cake will be any milk lovers' favourite. So lets get started to make this lovely milk soaked cake.

Ingredients

 For the cake

•  All purpose flour : 1.5 cups
•  Baking powder : 1 tsp
•  Butter : 1/2 cup (room temperature)
•  Sugar : 1 cup
•  Eggs : 5 nos
•  Vanila essence : 1/2 Tsp

For the soaking milk mix

• Whole milk : 2 cups
•  Evaporated milk : 340ml
•  Condensed milk : 1 can

For the topping

• Whipping cream : 1.5 cups
• Sugar : 4 - 5 tbsp

Method

Preparing the cake

1. Pre heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Prepare a 9" by 13" cake tin by speading butter and dusting flour all over and tapping off the excess.
3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder and keep aside
4. Beat the butter with an electric beater until soft. Add the sugar and beat further till creamy.
5. Add all the eggs and beat until smooth
6. Add the vanilla essence and give a good mix
7. Add the flour mix to the egg mix 2 Tbspn at a time and mixing after each addition
8. Once the batter is ready transfer it to the cake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes in 200°C
9. Once baked take the cake out of the and pierce with a fork all over the cake.Allow the cake to cool

Preparing the milk

Mix together all the three milks using a wire whisk and set aside until the cake reaches room temperature

Preparing the topping

Beat the whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks are formed

Setting the cake

1. Pour the milk mix all over the cake once the cake is cooled down.
2. Set aside the cake until all the milk is absorbed by the cake.
3. Once the milk is all absorbed spread the topping all over the cake and allow to set in the fridge. Once cold (about 2 hours) cut into squares and serve cold this divine treat.

Note: Use a slightly deep baking dish so that you can accommodate the milk mix along with the fluffed up cake.

However the traditional recipe goes for a plain topping you can sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the topping or use cocoa powder too for a variation.

Sweet baking!!
Shabana

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Pineapple upside down cake

Bake a classic dessert. The buttery rich and caramelized pineapples takes a normal sponge cake to greater heights. Serve this as a cake or a dessert and people are gonna love it. Here's what you will need for this lovely caramelized upside down cake.

Ingredients

• Pineapple fresh or canned : 6 rings
• Butter : 100 grams
• Maida or all purpose flour : 200 gms
• Sugar fpr caramelisation : 5 tbsp
• Condensed milk : 1 can
• Baking powder : 1 tsp
• Soda bicarbonate : 1 tsp
• Pineapple essence : 1/2 tsp
• Aereated soda : 125 ml

Method

1. Grease a baking tin with butter and dust maida and prepare the cake tin. Pre heat the oven at 180°C
2. Arrange the rings in a good pattern . I arranged it to form a circle and then one ring on the centre too.
3. Add the sugar to a flat pan and allow it to caramelise . Do not stir. Just swirl the pan once it starts to caramelize. Once it turns golden brown pour it generously over the pineapple rings in the cake tin.
4. Melt the butter and allow to cool. Just bring it to the boiling point and switch off the flame and stir to melt
5. Sieve all the three dry ingredients
6. By now the butter should be cooled down. Now add the condensed milk and stir well until combined
7. To this wet ingredients add 1/3 rd of the sieved dry ingredients and mix well. Then add 1/3 rd of the soda and mix well. Keep alternating until dry ingredients and soda is completely blended with the butter and condensed milk.
8. Pour the batter on top of the caramelized rings and bake in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is completely cooked.
   Once cooled its time to demould this beauty by inverting on a plate and slice and serve this amazing delicacy as a cake or dessert!

Note : If you are using a spring foam tin to bake this cake then place the cake tin on a baking tray and bake rather than the wire rack as the caramel might melt out and make a mess in the oven.
If you are using the canned pineapples you can add a couple of teaspoons of the liquid in the tin to the cake batter. This gives a natural flavour to the cake.

Happy Baking!!
Shabana

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Pazham cake

Traditional kerala snacks always occupy a very special place in my heart. This beauty is one among them. Its kerala plantains fried in ghee and mixed with beaten egg and cooked on Stove top to form a cake. Let's look into the ingredients needed for this sweet cake.

Ingredients

• Aethapazham ( kerala bananas) : 4 nos cut into small quartered pieces
• Sugar : 8-10 tbsp
• Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp
• Eggs : 3 nos
• Ghee to fry the banana ( shallow fry)

Method

1.  Heat ghee in a pan and add the cubed bananas and fry till golden brown by flipping
2. In a mixer add in the eggs , sugar and cardamom powder and mix well till sugar completely dissolves with the eggs
3. Transfer the egg mix to a bowl and add fried bananas to it and mix well
4. Take a thick bottomed sauce pan or small biriyani pot and grease it with ghee and pour the mix into it
5. Heat a tawa on high heat and once the tawa is hot make the flame to low and keep the pan with the cake mix on top of the tawa and slow cook the cake without direct contact with the flame and with lid closed
6. After 20-25 mins of slow cooking allow the cake to slightly cool and flip over the cake to a serving plate.
7. (optional) lightly fry raisins and cashews in ghee and garnish the cake while its half cooked in the pan and then close the lid and cook again
8. Cut into desired shapes once its cooled down and enjoy!

Note: You can also bake this cake in microwave by setting the temperature to high and baking for 6-7 minutes

Happy Baking!!

Shabana

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