Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes/Eggless Strawberry Muffins

Dear Foodies,

Hello everyone! I know I have been away for quite sometime but last two weeks have created quite a stir! First of all there is this never ending assignments and work in office, on top of this monsoon has finally hit India. Last couple of days have been a complete mess. It rained quite heavily here in Pune, with strong winds blowing there was quite lot of destruction. Several trees have fallen, cables wires have been uprooted, infact we almost had an accident in our office with the glass doors bursting due to strong winds! Thank god no one was hurt! With electricity gone for 2 days and maid not turning up for work I was really frustated!

So when V asked me if i could bake a batch of muffins for her office party I got the much needed break! She wanted something other than the usual chocolate and vanilla flavors. I had strawberry extract in my pantry, so thought of making some Strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing. She loved the idea and she wanted to use the same color combination which I had used for the cake which I made for my parents anniversary.

This is off to Bangalore Baker's Bake-Off event!

Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes/Muffins
Recipe yields - 9 muffins
Ingredients:-
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tin (200 gms) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp strawberry essence
1/4 cup limca or plain aerated soda water

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degress C, grease and flour 9 muffin moulds.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
• Beat butter, condensed milk and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the strawberry essence.
• Alternatively add flour and limca and beat well after each addition.
• Fill in the muffin cups to 3/4 full and bake the muffins for 15 to 18 mins until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool them completely before going ahead with icing.

Buttercream icing, recipe here

Verdict? I got great reviews on these cupcakes and everyone in the office loved them! As compared to other eggless recipe, i like this one the most as I have always got fantastic results! Muffins were light and fluffy, perfectly baked! With vanilla buttercream icing it was a winner! Do try these and let me know, you can replace strawberry essence with any other flavor and it will still work like a charm!

Celebrating 30 years of togetherness !!!!!

Dear All,

Today is my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. To celebrate I made Eggless Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing. Here's wishing my parents a very Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary and wish for another 30 to come :))

Making eggless cakes is always a challenge and since my mom doesn't eat eggs I had no choice but to make an eggless cake. The first recipe that i ever tried for eggless cake was with condensed milk and I was very happy with the outcome only that the cake isn't as soft and spongy as the cake with eggs. But there are ways to achieve a softer and spongier cake. The recipe used for this cake is perfect when you will be frosting and icing a cake. It uses Coke or Thunps Ups instead of milk and thats the secret ingredient. Somebody told me that aerated water reacts with the baking soda or baking powder to produces a softer and spongier cake. If you are making plain vanilla then use Sprite or Plain Soda water and for chocolate use Coke or Thumps Up. So without any further delay lets directly go to the recipe.

Eggless Chocolate Cake
Recipe below makes one 6 inch round cake
Ingredients:-
1/4 cup ie 60 gms unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 tin sweetened condensed milk ie 200 gms
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp coco powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 to 3 tbsp of coke or thumps up

Procedure:-

• Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and coco powder together and keep it aside.
• Grease and flour a round 6inch cake tin. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
• Beat together unsalted butter and condensed milk, until light and creamy.
• Add in the flour + coco powder mixture in 3 additions, beating well each time. In between the flour additions, add thumps up or coke little by little and beat well after each addition.
• Finally add in the vanilla essence and mix.
• Pour the batter in the cake pan and cake for 25 to 30 mins. Mine was done under 30 mins.
• Check by inserting a tooth pick, if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Remove the cake from oven and cool is completely before proceeding.
• Once cooled, depending upon your requirement slice the cake into 2 or 3 layers. For this cake sliced my cake in 2 layers.

Recipe for Buttercream Icing:-

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, about 225 gms

4 cups sifted icing sugar , approx 460 gms

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 to 2 tsp milk, if required

Food colors as required.

Procedure:-

• Beat butter and essence together until light and creamy.
• Add one cup sifted icing sugar at a time and beat well after each addition
• If making roses, make sure your consistency is stiff, add a tsp of milk or more for medium consistency icing.

Frost and fill the cake with buttercream and chill for about half an hour in the fridge before proceeding with the decorations. IMP TIP: Once the cake is chilled and the cream is firm to touch, take a butter paper or parchment paper and lightly press on the cake, very very gently, if the icing is firm enough it will not stick to the paper. This method helps to achieve a smooth finish on the cake surface which is always a very difficult job. Decorate the cake as required. I have made cornelli borders around the sides of the cakes and sweet peas on top. The color combination used is perfect for cooling in summers!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope my parents love the cake too as its a surprise for them..Shssssssssss..dont tell them!!!

Love

Buttercream icing and decorations!!

Dear All,

From a very long time I was planning to enroll for a cake decoration classes but unfortunately here we donot have anything like http://www.wilton.com/. Infact the only type of cake decoration done here is using buttercream and very little of fresh cream. When i came across decoration classes being held by someone who has done cake decoration courses from Wilton and New York Institute I couldnt resist myself and immediately enrolled.

The class I enrolled was for Basic Buttercream Decorations, it was a 2 day class and the final result is infront of you. We learned different types of buttercream, their consistencies and use. Buttercream can be of 3 types thin, medium and stiff. Thin icing is used for frosting the cakes, writing, leaves, wines etc. Medium consistency is for decorations like star, shells and flowers. Stiff icing is used mainly for roses.

Decorations we learnt in the class are Star borders, Shells borders, Balls and Beads borders, Star Drop flower, Swirl Drop flower, Rose Buds, Sweet Peas, Writing messages, Leaves , Vines, Roses, Fern and Bows.

The Cornelli Lcce design you see around the side of the cake is completely my addition, it was not taught in the class. Also i have mildly brushed the sides of the rose petals with pink color using a paint brush to give a vibrant effect!

Overall i thouroughly enjoyed the class and learnt many different styles and techniques. I would say that these classes were very close to what http://www.wilton.com/ offers keeping in mind the challenges faced for getting the baking and decorating materials. I cant wait to try out her other classes :-)

If anyone is interested to learn about these classes, pls contact me and i will be more than happy to share the details.

Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!!!