Eggless Whole wheat Strawberry Muffins | Butterless Strawberry Muffins | Strawberry Cupcakes

My family exhibits varied emotions towards strawberry.. The hubby won't touch it, my son loooveeees it and I love it in forms of cakes and shakes and likes but not a great fan to eat it raw. My son loves the sight of it and is always happy to eat them as such. I should say as of now coz his interests change really quick ! Anyways, I had no difficulty in finishing off that box of strawberries thanks to Dhruv but I had been wanting to try this muffins recipe from Aparna's blog for quite some time and so this time I did it.. 

It is made of half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour and so it is a bit dense. Deeps liked it and gave a thumbs up and that should actually translate to "great" coz he is not a cake lover.. And as for Dhruv he likes muffins so he too loved it.. It's so easy to put up, just mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and fold them together and bake.. Easy right? And if you too do not want to eat strawberries raw but want to try some cake out of it, here is the perfect recipe!!

Recipe Source: My Diverse Kitchen

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Makes : 12 medium sized muffins 

I Used:

Strawberry	-	1 cup (chopped) (around 200 gm)
All purpose flour/Maida	-	1 cup
Whole wheat flour	-	¾ cup
Granulated sugar	-	½ cup
Baking powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Salt	-	½ tsp
Milk	-	½ cup
Oil	-	¼ cup
Thick yogurt	-	2 tbsp
Vanilla essence	-	1 tsp

The Way:

1. Take all the dry ingredients - all purpose lour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well

2. Add the chopped strawberries to the flour and mix gently. Ensure that the strawberries are coated well with the flour

3. In another bowl take the wet ingredients - milk, oil and vanilla essence and mix well

4. Add the wet mixture to the strawberry-flour mixture and gently mix together in a folding motion about 4 to 5 times

5. Do not over stir. The batter will be lumpy and floury. I had to add 2 to 3 tsp of milk extra to eat up all the flour. But that is fine. With whole wheat flour it will be like that

6. Fill the muffin tray with liners and fill the batter in the liners. This batter will not rise much and hence you can almost fill the liners with batter

7. Bake them at 190 degree C for about 25-30 minutes till done and the top turns golden brown. Then cool for 10 minutes and unmould and serve

Cheers,

Chitz

1 minute Vanilla Mug Cake | Easy Vanilla Mug Cake

 

Today's recipe is very simple and very quick to make. As the name suggests, it is a 1 minute microwaved mug cake. As it is a 1 minute cake, the quantity is less. So if you are a cake person whose cravings are difficult to satiate, I guess you would have to microwave 3-4 cups at a go ;) But this is a quick fix recipe for those sudden hunger pangs or craving callings. Today was one such day when I wanted to have a cake. I know this mug cake is best with chocolate, but I didn't have cocoa powder in my pantry, hence had to feel contented with the vanilla version. 

The best part is that, it looks like DD fell in love with this cake. He was coming back from his encounter with his toys every now and then for a nibble. When I wiped the ramekin clean, he leaned over and took a nice look at it. Made sure, it was empty and then returned back to his toys :D :D I feel I have a cake lover son. That thought does make me very happy indeed :D So, this recipe is to many more cake testing and eating together with my DD :) :)

Other Cake Recipes:

1 minute Vanilla Mug Cake

Cheesecake

Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake

Ultra Moist Chocolate Cake

Eggless Strawberry Banana Yogurt Muffins

Eggless & Butterless Vanilla Cupcake

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 minutes

Serves : 1 person

I Used:

Dry Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida	-	2 tbsp
Sugar	-	1.5 tbsp
Baking powder	-	¼ tsp
Salt	-	A pinch

Wet Ingredients:

Milk	-	2 tbsp
Oil	-	¾ tbsp
Vanilla Essence	-	3-4 drops (As much as you prefer)

The Way:

 1. In a bowl, take all the dry ingredients and mix them together. 

2. Add the wet ingredients to it and mix them well. The sugar should dissolve completely.

3. Now transfer the contents to a microwave safe ramekin or mug or glass.

4. Set the oven to microwave setting at the highest temperature for 1 minute. I set to 900 W.

5. Bake them. Check after a minute if a tooth pick inserted comes out clean or is without moisture. If not keep for a few more seconds according to how much the cake is moist at that point.

Serve hot. 

Notes:

• If you let them sit for long, they become hard or rubbery. If you need to serve it later, transfer to another cup or serving dish

• I doubled the measurements and made, as my ramekin is bigger in size. Hence I microwaved for 2 minutes

Cheers,

Chitz

Vanilla cupcake | Easy Vanilla cupcake (Eggless & Butterless)

I do not want to start the post with yet another apology for being away ;) as it is just the beginning of another fabulous year & also I am in a happy happy mood to share with you all the arrival of our bundle of joy - Dhruv. He is nearing his 4th month now & so you would all be understanding my busy schedule & lack of time to concentrate on other affairs :D But many a times I had been wanting to visit this another baby of mine as well, but you see, Dhruv takes precedence :D :D

I was planning to post this cupcake recipe on his 100th day as a celebration but was not able to. This cupcake stays close to my heart for another special reason as I craved for it the most during my pregnancy time. Weird or cute, you guys should say, but this muffin stays top on my list still ! It is super easy to make with quite a few calories loaded as it has no egg & no butter. And it is fluffy soft and moist and just melts in your mouth and you can relish it absolutely fine without any topping or frosting or icing. So I am sure you would want to try this out today eve itself with your coffee & do let me know how it turned out :) 

I Took : 

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Baking Time : 40 minutes

Makes : 20-25 muffins

I Used:

All purpose flour/Maida	-	1 ½ cups - 3 tbsp
Corn flour	-	3 tbsp
Sugar	-	¾ cup
Baking powder	-	1 tsp
Baking Soda	-	½ tsp
Oil	-	½ cup
Curd	-	1 cup
Vanilla Essence	-	1 tsp

The Way:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C
2. Keep the muffin tray ready with the muffin liners or if you want to bake it as a cake, grease a 6 or 7 inch pan with butter & dust it with a tsp of flour
3. Sieve well the all purpose flour & corn flour in a bowl and ensure that they are evenly blended & mixed
4. In another bowl, mix well sugar & curd. Now add baking powder & baking soda into the mixture & mix well and allow it to rest for 2-3 minutes
5. Now to this frothy mixture add oil & vanilla essence & mix well
6. And then add the sieved flour, one tbsp at a time, and whisk well
7. Once all the flour is mixed, pour in 1-2 tbsps of the batter into the muffin liners (or the baking pan)
8. Bake them for around 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
9. Allow them to cool for about 10 minutes & serve with ice-cream or chocolate syrup or any dressing of your choice

Cheers,
Chitz

Eggless Strawberry Banana Muffins | Strawberry Banana Yogurt Cupcakes

I love strawberries, but they have to be sweet. Now that's an ambitious request right? Very seldom I come across fully sweet strawberries. Most of the times it will be semi-sweet or sour. Then I resort to milkshakes or smoothies or yummy bakes, as they would need a small amount of sugar & would taste out of the world :) Last week we had a guest for lunch & they bought us a lot of fresh berries - blue, black, red & straw ;) And also we had a small outing to a nearby lake during the weekend. Then I thought I would bake some of these muffins & make it a tea outing that day ! I should admit that I thoroughly enjoyed baking these cuties, as they filled my whole house with a yummilicious smell. Do try them out as they are very simple & less time consuming and also you are guaranteed of a fabulous outcome !

Recipe Source: Joy of Baking 

I Took: 25 minutes (Prep) + 25 minutes (Baking)

Makes: 12 regular sized muffins

I Used:

Strawberry - ½ cup - cut into bite sized pieces Banana - 1 big sized - mashed All purpose Flour - 1 cup + 2 tbsp Butter - ¼ cup Yogurt - ¼ cup Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp Granulated Sugar - ¼ cup + 2 tbsp Baking Powder - ¾ tsp Baking Soda - ¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon - ¼ tsp or an inch stick mashed with banana Salt - ½ tsp

The Way:

1. Mash the bananas. If you do not have ground cinnamon then add the cinnamon stick to the banana & mash it
2. Melt the butter (in an oven or saucepan) & allow it to cool to room temperature
3. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degree Celsius in conventional mode 
4. In a bowl whisk together yogurt, vanilla essence & mashed banana. Add the melted butter & stir to combine
5. In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon (if available) & salt. You can sift it for 3 times for even mixing of the dry ingredients
6. Then gently fold in the strawberries into the flour mixture making sure that they are coated well with the flour. This helps the berries to prevent from sinking during baking
7. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients & stir gently so that they are combined. Do not over mix, else the muffins might become hard
8. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or butter the muffin cups in the pan 
9. Place 2 spoons of the batter in each cup using a spoon 
10. Bake it for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted through it comes out clean. Do not mistake the fruit within the muffin to be wet batter. Mine was done in 25 minutes

Cheers,

Chitz

Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake - Baking Partner Challenge #12

So Baking Partners are back with a bang to celebrate it's one year anniversary of successful baking.. Yes, we have turned 1 year old. And this time there were 2 suggestions for baking the recipe of the month 'Cakes'. Humi suggested 'Medovik/Russian Honey Cake' & Saraswathy suggested 'Chiffon Cakes'. As I had an eye on baking Chiffon or Foam cakes from a long time, I chose Chiffon cake for this month's challenge. Thanks Saraswathy & Swathi for this wonderful challenge. Now let me share some facts with you that Saraswathy shared with us on Chiffon cake.

Chiffon (pronounced She-fon) cakes are a type of foam cakes and are light & soft & definitely yummy !! They contain egg yolks and whites separately whisked and folded in together with vegetable oil, all which makes them moist, soft & light.. This cake doesn't call for butter & the lower quantity of sugar gives me an extra reason to savor this low cholesterol cake;) Use of oil instead of butter aides in the airy quality of the cake & gives a longer shelf or refrigeration life. Refrigeration makes the oil in the cake soft & the cake becomes all the more tender. Deeps liked to have it chilled & directly from the fridge. He said, 'It tastes better when chilled'. Even my neighbor & friend 'P' was very happy with the cake & said it tasted awesome :D

The chiffon cake was created by Harry Baker, a Los Angeles insurance agent, in 1927.  Baker carefully guarded his secret technique for almost two decades, only selling his cakes to celebrities and the famous Brown Derby restaurant. The popularity of his cakes grew quickly, and he eventually sold the recipe to General Mills in 1947. 

I have halved the recipe here & used some substitutes for ingredients not available in this town. Refer the notes too while baking this cake, as they can help you get a perfect cake on your first attempt itself. The whisking of the egg whites is the most important part.. U get that right, consider half the work done. So lets see how to make this soft & tender cake. I have used normal buttercream icing & strawberries for serving.

Recipe Source: Adapted from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Serves: An 8 inch round cake pan with a ramekin in the middle

Store: Stays fresh for 3 days in room temperature, 10 days refrigerated, 2 months frozen

 

I Took:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Baking Time: 50 minutes

Cooling Time: 85 minutes

I Used:

Dry Ingredients All purpose Flour - 1 cup (refer notes) Corn flour - 2 tbsp Caster Sugar - ¾ cup Salt - ¼ tsp Baking Soda - ¼ tsp Lemon Zest - ½ - 1 tbsp Wet Ingredients Canola/Sunflower Oil - ¼ cup Large Egg yolks - 1 no / 65 g Water - ⅓ cup Lemon juice - 1 tbsp Vanilla Essence - ½ tsp For Meringue Cream of Tartar - ¾ tsp (refer notes) Sugar - 1 tbsp Large Egg Whites - 3 nos
The Way:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients. First work the sugar & lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is grainy & very aromatic. Add the all purpose flour, corn flour (or the cake flour - refer notes), baking soda and salt to it
2. Whisk together until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. If you have a stand mixer, use the beater attachment & beat on low
3. Then make a well in the center of the ingredients and add the oil, egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix until the batter is smooth & has no lumps. In a stand mixer, mix for about 1 minute on medium speed
4. In a second large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Add lemon juice (or cream of tartar) & beat (if on stand mixer, beat on medium speed) until they reach soft peak stage. This happens when the whisk or the beater start to leave a trail or when the peaks fall over when the whisk is raised
5. At this stage add the 1 tbsp sugar & continue to beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks when the whisk is raised
6. Using the balloon whisk (or a slotted spoon) add ⅓ of the egg whites to the cake batter & gently stir until incorporated. Add the remaining egg whites to the cake batter and very gently fold them into the batter until they are incorporated and no trace of egg whites remain
7. Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan and run a metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets. If you do not have a tube pan but would like to have a similar shape, then place an oven usable ramekin in the centre of your round pan and pour the batter to the sides of the ramekin as I did
8. Preheat the oven on conventional mode at 165 degrees
9. Bake in the lower rack of the oven for 50-55 minutes (refer your oven manual too) or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed in the center
10. Once cooked, take the cake pan & immediately turn it upside down on a bottle (or another ramekin or tumbler - whichever suits best for the pan). Allow to cool completely which took about 85 minutes for me
11. Use a palette knife and loose the sides of the cake. Pull out the sides and work similarly on the bottom. Turn it over on to a plate upside down & sprinkle with a dusting of icing sugar or a topping of your choice & serve

Notes:

• Do not grease or line or flour the cake pan. This will hinder the cake from rising up
• Always use large eggs as called for in the recipe. Do not use medium or small sized eggs
• Try to use castor sugar than normal ones 
• The recipe calls for cake flour, but since I could not get it here, I used the substitute. Take an equal amount of All purpose flour. Remove 2 tbsps of flour from it & replace it with 2 tbsps of corn flour (NOT corn meal). This works just fine
• Cream of tartar is used to stabilize the egg whites while beating up. Since I couldn't get those, I used the substitute lemon juice. Works perfectly OK
• Make sure that the bowl used to whisk egg whites are clean & grease free. Traces of grease or egg yolks will not guarantee you proper whisking of whites
• Proper & correct whisking of egg whites is essential to ensure the texture of the cake. Under or over beating can cause the cake to collapse or become too hard. Do the 'Overturn bowl test' to ensure that your whisking is the right amount. When you overturn the bowl of the whisked egg whites, it should hold & must not fall off
• Do not let the egg whites sit for long once whisked. Immediately fold it onto the cake batter as this stage of stiff peaks is short lived
• Take care while folding in the egg whites as over folding can cause the egg whites & thus the cake to deflate. Fold in gently using a whisk
• Before pouring the batter into the pan, take the bowl and hit against the kitchen counter. This will cause bubbles to rise up to the top and pop. Do not hit the pan after pouring the batter as this may cause the formation of more bubbles

Here are some links that helped me greatly. Hope you guys too find it useful !

http://allthatmatters2rei.blogspot.no/2008/07/chiffon-cake-tips-and-trouble-ii.html

http://www.ironwhisk.com/2012/07/tutorial-chiffon-cake/

http://www.ehow.com/info_8399101_chiffon-cake-tips.html

Cheers,

Chitz

Wanna see what the others in the Baking Partners group baked?? 

Cheesecake - Baking Partner Challenge #9

Hello, my dear pals.. Hope u all had a wonderful Vishu or Tamil Puthandu or Pohela Boishakh or Gudi Padwa or Ugadhi. Yes, the names are very different. But they all mean the same and every one of them is celebrated in a very similar way with their own lil' twist & turn. Just like how we tweak our recipes to suit our individual taste buds or to incorporate the ingredients available at hand or locally !! So now that the festive mood is over, let's get back to business :D

Challenge of the month for the 'Baking Partners' group was Cheesecake.. U could have your pick from Japanese Cheesecake or Eggless Cheesecake or No Bake Fruit Cheesecake or the Perfect Cheesecake ;) Yup, you guessed it right, I went for the Perfect Cheesecake. Yea, you could say that the name fancied me, alright !! But the actual reason ,was the tiresome & grueling chore of shopping with a Norsk translator in hand and many a times some normal ingredients are exotic ingredients at this small beautiful village ;) So finally the Perfect Cheesecake seemed to fit into the profile..

But did it turn out to be actually perfect?? That's now an interesting question.. Coz, I don't know to judge this particular piece. I have not had cheesecake before. And certainly it did not appear similar to the pictures I have seen or from the source. I could feel a slight taste of the eggs & the sourness from the sour cream. And it was a litttttle dense too, not on the very fluffy side !! Having said all these, I must also admit that Deeps & I enjoyed having it. though it was a different taste from the normal cakes ;) So I don't know, is this a success or disaster or semi success story, you experts tell me :)

Recipe Source: Simply Recipes (in turn from Dorie Greenspan cookbook)

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Baking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Idle Time: Overnight

Yields: 8-12 servings

I Used:

Crust
Digestive biscuits	-	1 cup / 8 nos (original recipe calls for Graham Cracker biscuits)
Sugar	-	1 tbsp
Salt	-	A pinch
Unsalted butter	-	35 gm (omit salt if using salted butter)
Filling
Cream cheese	-	450 gm
Granulated sugar	-	135 gm
Salt	-	a pinch
Vanilla Essence	-	1 tsp
Eggs	-	2 large
Sour cream	-	80 ml
Heavy whipping cream	-	80 ml
Topping
Sour cream	-	200 ml
Powdered sugar	-	20 gm
Vanilla Essence	-	1 tsp

The Way:

Prepare Springform pan

1. Prepare a 16*16 inch square of aluminum foil. Place the springform pan in the middle of the foil
2. Gently fold up the sides of the foil around the pan
3. No holes should be created in the foil as you do this as the presence of holes will allow water to get into the pan and ruin the crust. Press the foil around the edges of the pan
4. Place a second large square of foil underneath the pan and repeat gently folding up the sides of the foil around the pan and pressing the foil against the pan 
5. Gently crimp the top of the foil sheets around the top edge of the pan

Prepare Crust 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with the baking tray in the lower third of the oven
2. Blend the biscuits to a fine powder
3. Place in a wide bowl and mix in sugar and salt to it
4. Stir in the melted butter and mix well into the biscuit powder
5. Place this biscuit powder mix in the springform pan. Use your fingers to make an even layer at the bottom with a slight rise along the inside edge of the pan
6. Place this in oven for 10 minutes
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degree F

Prepare Filling

1. Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Then beat on medium speed them till smooth, soft & creamy
2. Add sugar and beat for 4 minutes
3. Add salt & vanilla essence beating after each addition
4. Add eggs one at a time. Beat for a minute after each addition
5. Add sour cream, beat until incorporated
6. Add heavy cream, beat until incorporated
7. Pour this into the springform on top of the biscuit crust and smoothen the top with a spatula

Cook Cheesecake

1. Prepare 2 L of boiling water
2. Place the springform pan in the baking tray, Pour the boiling water into the baking tray to create a waterbath for the cheesecake
3. Water should reach halfway up the springform
4. Cook for 1.5 hours or until it turns slight golden on the top. In my case it took 1 hour and 15 minutes
5. Turn off the heat. Open the door of the oven 1 inch and allow the cake to cool for another 1 hour. This is to prevent the cheesecake surface from cracking
6. Cover the top of the cake with aluminium foil so that it doesn't touch the cake and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight

Prepare topping

1. Stir in the powdered sugar & vanilla essence into the sour cream
2. Unmould the cake form the springform and spread the topping over the cake. If interested you can top it up with a fruit coulis of your choice

Cheers,

Chitz

Ultra Moist Chocolate Cake

I had been thinking for quite a while now to post a cake recipe. But the main reason I didn't do so far was because, I hadn't baked one for about a month now. Not because of anything else.. But with the New Year and all, I was thinking on reducing the calorie intake. You know !! 

But I couldn't hold out for long. As always, New Year resolutions are meant to be broken ;). So I just found out the perfect excuse and the apt reason for me to bake one :D It was the birthday of three of my darling friends Iman, Pallavi and Lavanya on yesterday, day before and last Saturday.. Yes, we all are part of the same gang who used to hang out together for every breakfast, lunch and tea on weekdays. Quite a co-incidence na that the birthdays are so close !! And yes, we all love foooooodd... So here is it, a dedication from me to you guys ;) So here is my all time favorite dessert, moist chocolate cake which I had with a scoop of ice cream. Trust me, they tasted heavenly 

Recipe Source : Maria's Menu

I Took: 

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 50 minutes

I Used:

Milk                           - 1½ cups Butter                        - 100 gm Oil                            - ¼ cup  Cocoa Powder              - ½ cup Self Raising Flour        - 1 cup (refer notes below) Egg                            - 1 beaten (room temp) Baking Soda                - ½ tsp Sugar                         - 250 gm

The Way:

1. Preheat the oven @ 180 C for 10 minutes before baking
2. Grease your cake mould with butter and keep aside
3. In a pan mix together milk, butter, oil & coco powder and heat in a medium flame till the butter melts. Then allow it cool to room temperature
4. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and sugar
5. Add the beaten egg followed by the cooled wet ingredients to the flour mix
6. Beat it using a beater till its mixed well
7. Pour the batter into the greased cake mould and bake for 35-40 minutes @ 180 C or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Notes:

Substitution for Self Raising flour
        All purpose flour - 1 cup
        Baking powder   - 1 ½ tsp
        Salt                   - ¼ tsp

Cheers,

Chitz