Recipe #10 Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cupcakes also called, Fairy cakes are small cakes designed to serve a single person. These cute cakes have gained popularity lately!!..Decorated with chocolate icing, chocolate ganache, butter cream or dusted with icing sugar makes these cupcakes look and taste delicious!!

Red velvet cupcakes when frosted with cream cheese icing is like cherry on the cake!!

Serves: 12

Ingredients

½ cup and 1 tsp white butter/unsalted butter

1 ½ cup caster sugar

1 whole egg

1 tblsp liquid red food colouring

1 tblsp cocoa powder

½ tsp vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

1 cup of yogurt

1 cup and 4 tsp of all-purpose flour (maida)

½ tsp cider vinegar

½ tsp baking soda

Method

-In a large bowl, using an electric beater, on medium heat beat butter and icing sugar till light and fluffy for about 5 minutes. Add egg and beat well

-In a bowl, stir salt and yogurt and whisk well. Beat into the batter. Add flour and cocoa powder and beat until flour incorporates

-In a small bowl, stir together cider vinegar, food coloring and baking soda. Add to the flour batter and mix well.

-Preheat the oven at 180deg c and line 12 cupcake casings in the cupcake moulds

-Pipe the batter into cupcake casings

-Bake at 180deg c for 20 mins or when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean

-Let it cool in the moulds for 10 mins and then serve it with either cream cheese or whipped cream! However, it tastes delicious even without any toppings!

Happy Baking!

Making of this chocolate fondant cake !!

Recipe #9 Rolled Fondant

Fondant icing, also commonly referred to simply as fondant, is an edible icing used to decorate or sculpt cakes and pastries. The word, in French, means "melting”. 

Rolled Fondant is the fondant used for decorating wedding cakes. Nowadays fondant is gaining popularity because of its versatility to mould it in whatever shape you like and make it look beautiful

This recipe is absolutely yummy and does not taste like those over sweet sugar fondants you get in the market!!

Makes: Enough for covering a 1 kg cake

Ingredients

2 ½ cups of white marshmallows (mini- if mini not available then tear the large ones into small pieces)

1 tblsp of water

3 ½ cups of sifted icing (confectioner’s) sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence/ extract

½ tsp of lemon juice/ lemon extract

1 tblsp of corn syrup

¼ cup vegetable oil/shortening/unsalted butter

Method

-Take a microwave proof bowl; grease it generously with vegetable oil/shortening/unsalted butter. Add the marshmallows. Heat it for 30 seconds in the microwave, remove it from the microwave and stir it well with a spatula and put it back in the microwave for 30 seconds or until completely melted

-To the microwave bowl, add vanilla essence, lemon juice/ extract, corn syrup (corn syrup helps in giving the required elasticity), using a spatula incorporate it well with the marshmallows

-Take a large stainless steel bowl; grease the bowl and your right hand generously with vegetable oil/shortening/unsalted butter. Add 2 cups of icing sugar and marshmallow mixture. Now knead it well until all the sugar is incorporated. If the fondant is sticky then add more sugar and knead it till a point where you stretch the fondant 20 cms and it does not tear.

-Wrap it in cling film for 10 mins before using and keep it outside at room temperature. You can store it for 9 months if wrapped in cling film and an air tight container, you just need to knead it again with some corn flour and 2 tsp of water to bring it back to the soft and stretchy consistency

Happy Baking!!

Weekly Tip #1 How to bake 2 types of brownies in 1 square mould?

 I'll be posting 1 tip every week for my beloved bakers to make their baking journey easier!!.. Hope these tips help you solve your doubts and helps you bake economically for your friends and family.

Special Thanks to Mubina Ladiwala for this idea of weekly tips!!

Baking is not about using fancy equipments but its about making the most of the appliances and tools that you have!!

Well then, how do you bake 2 types of brownies in 1 mould?

It requires a little craft work but believe me it will save you money for buying another pan

1st step- grease the entire mould with butter or vegetable oil

2nd step- Use a butter paper or parchment paper, cut it into strips in the size of the sides of the mould and the base

3rd step- Take a book, cut out the cover paper (because its thick) and cut it in the size of the width of the mould

4th step- Cover this thick paper with butter paper on both the sides twice and staple the edges with a stapler

5th step- place it in the centre of the mould - make sure it covers the bottom properly and pour your 2 mixtures on either sides and bake

And this is how is comes out!!

Happy Baking!!

Recipe #8 Chocolate Mousse

The all time favourite dessert loved by all- Chocolate Mousse!!..Mousse is a French word that means “foam/ froth”. Chocolate mousse’s texture is very light and creamy!

Serves: 5

Ingredients

·      4 large eggs- separated

·      1 tblsp coffee

·      ¼th cup of water

·      ¾ th cup of sugar

·      170 grams of cooking Chocolate (Morde)- Chopped

·      1 litre of boiling water

·      110 grams of unsalted butter

·      Pinch of salt

·      1 tsp of cream of tartar (optional)- This is used for making egg whites stable and smooth in texture

Method

-Using a whisk beat the egg yolks rigorously for 5 mins or until it turns pale colour or lemony colour and thickened a little

-Make strong coffee by whisking coffee and ¼ th cup of water, add sugar and melt in on medium heat, whisking continuously and let it come to a boil

-Whisk the egg yolks again a little and beat in the coffee syrup in a slow stream and keep whisking (This is done to cook the egg yolks)

-Melt the chopped chocolate on a double boiler (this is the safest method to melt chocolate. Double boiler method- Take a small pan and pour 500 ml of boiling water and put in back on medium heat, place a bigger bowl and place the chocolate in this bowl, with the heat of the boiling water chocolate melts swiftly)

-Again, take the egg yolk - coffee mixture, put it in on a double boiler on high heat and whisk the mixture continuously for 15 mins or until the mixture thicken to a mayonnaise consistency (To check whether its cooked- dip your finger in the mixture and if it feels really hot on your finger-not burning hot then its cooked)

- Now take an electric beater, beat the egg yolk mix in order to cool it down completely- do it for 5 mins or until it turns pale – ribbony texture

-Now beat the melted chocolate with a whisk to make it smooth and add butter and whisk it until incorporated

-Now pour the chocolate in the egg yolk mix and fold it with a spatula in the cut-in-the-centre-and-fold motion

-Beat the egg whites add salt and cream of tartar – beat this until egg whites are stiff and foamy

-Now take the egg yolk bowl, take a little egg white mix and fold it with a spatula until incorporated, then add the remaining egg whites and using the cut-in-the-centre-and-fold motion fold in the egg whites very delicately. Be careful not to fold, you need to keep the mixture airy and fluffy

-Now pour the mousse in 5 glasses of your choice and let it chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving and serve chilled!!

Happy Baking!!

Recipe #7 What's so royal about this Royal Icing

Royal Icing is a very versatile icing, which can be used for various deserts. It’s a hard white icing which is made using egg whites, sugar and lemon juice.

So why is Royal icing called ‘Royal’?

The title 'royal' was given to royal icing after being used on Queen Victoria's wedding cake in 1840. Francatelli, the Queen's famous French chef, published a book in l864 in which he describes how to ice a wedding cake with a mixture of egg whites, sugar and lemon juice beaten together. He wrote 'use this icing to mask the entire surface of the cake with a coating about a quarter of an inch thick'.

But, long before the above date this type of icing was in use. A cook wrote in 1789, that she spread it over cakes with the aid of a board or a large feather! And then placed it in front of 'a great fire' to dry.

So we can see royal icing has been popular for many years. The simple ingredients, egg white and icing sugar create a dazzling icing, making it the perfect choice for wedding cakes, decoration on cookies and acts as glue for fondant

Makes: 500 grams

Ingredients

2 medium egg whites

500 grams sifted icing sugar

4 tsp of lemon juice (You can use lemon extract too)

Method

-Put the egg whites in a dry bowl; lightly beat it with an electric beater until foamy

-Sift in half the icing sugar with the lemon juice. Beat of a very slow speed with an electric beater for 10 mins or until smooth

- Gradually sift in the remaining icing sugar and beat again until smooth and glossy white

-Keep the royal icing covered with a damp cloth until you are ready to use it, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. So when you are ready to use it, use an electric beater to smoothen the texture of the royal icing

-Pipe it on cookies and after 2 hours it will dry and the texture will harden

-You can add 1 tsp of glycerine in the mixture before beating in the sugar to have a softer royal icing

Happy Baking!!