Nutella Cupcakes

With the clock ticking down hurriedly to a whole new surprising year and the festive season staring at us, some merry-making ought to be done. And then winters here in Oman bring life, color and sparkle to the beautiful nature with plenty of magical moments — some fun and joy .The weather forecast has predicted light winter rains for us thus creating a whole sense of renewed energy to the masses to expect great weather in the coming days.Also the usual November holidays are just within our reach here in Oman.

So its the weekend here and looking back its been an incredibly busy week so far packed with a lot of activities and juggling them to finish them within targeted times. I have been eyeing this weekend to cook something new, I thought of baking and then recollected that I am yet to display these attractive and delicate frosted treats on this space.

You can't have something more simpler to bake than these cute little cupcakes. With just 3 ingredients and with no requirement of either butter or Oil, these pretty cupcakes are a breeze to make. And yes, frosting is also terribly simple. Just make sure you have a bottle of Nutella around and you will be a star with the end result.


INGREDIENTS:

4 tbsp Self Raising Flour
3 tbsp Nutella
1 Egg

For Frosting:

Nutella 
Coloured Sprinkles 

HOW TO MAKE:
 
1) Take Nutella, egg in a bowl and mix well till combined.

2) Add in the flour and mix well to combine.

3) Now line a muffin tray with cupcakes cases. Spray it with some oil.

4) Spoon a tblspn of batter in each cupcake cases.

5) Preheat the oven to 180 Degree C / 360 Degree F.Bake it for 10 -12 mins.

6) Remove from the oven and let it cool down.

7) When it has cooled, frost it with some nutella using a piping bag or just using a spatula.

8) Top it with some sprinkles and enjoy.

Note:

If you cannot find self raising flour, you can use 3 tblspn of all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt

 

Pineapple cake

I’ve been on a pound cake kick lately. Last weekend I made one with vanilla. One plain and another with tooti-fruities. They both turned out really yummy.


Then, this weekend I wanted to try my hand at a pineapple cake. You know … adorable, tiny layered cakes filled with fruit or frosting and covered in whipped cream icing.

Looking back, I decided that I should be posting this soon. Because vanilla is too simple and dropping in the fruits doesn't make them outstanding. But pineapple is something that we would love always. I should have just sliced 1-inch thick pieces from the pound cake loaf and then then cut out tiny cakes with a cutter. But no … that would be too easy. So I cubed them and decorated a few pieces with some whipped cream and cherries. Some with flaked almonds and some I left them plain after just slicing them. Hubby likes them that way.

On to the recipe now:

INGREDIENTS:

190g unsalted butter, plus a tablespoon extra for greasing the pan

190g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

3/4th cup pineapple pieces (chopped into small pieces) 

190g  sugar

3 large eggs

60g ground almonds or almond powder

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp plain yoghurt

1 full tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp pineapple essence

 

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Preheat the electric /convection oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

2) Butter a loaf pan and keep it ready.

3) Cream together the butter, sugar until soft and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat well until creamy. Use an electric whisk preferably for this process.

4)  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.

5) Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Just fold them in. No need to beat them. Fold them until well mixed.

6) Add the yogurt, pineapple pieces, pineapple essence  and the vanilla essence and mix well.

7) Pour the batter in the buttered loaf pan.

8)  Place in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the sponge is firm on top and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

9) You can top it with some whipped cream and cherries if you like while you serve. Or else you can just cut it into slices n eat.

 

Orange- Almond pound cake

The month of August is here now and we have the most special birthdays looking down on us. My toddler who turns two on the 26th and hubby on the 18th. So a lot of planning is needed now to make these days joyous for them. And food is sure to play a big time role in this.

My oven has a lot to do now. And my shortlisted cake recipes will get a chance for sure. To be honest, its been more than a month since I baked a cake. So I thought of doing a practice session for myself so that I make no mistakes on the celebration days.

I  had a few oranges at home and converting them into a tea cake was the coolest idea for the day. A loaf cake was something interesting to imagine because it made use of my newly purchased loaf tin. A few almonds to enhance the flavor. The results were fantastic and something worth raving. A light, fluffy, moist and a moreish cake sat on my kitchen counter in an hour's time. The insides had an orange colored tinge and almond flakes greeted your taste buds in every bite. Not to forget the citrusy flavor of the orange zest that was generously used in the cake. The cake had a light golden crust that gave the cake a very spongy texture. The top layer of the cake was draped with almond flakes giving it an irresistibly incredible look. Oh, and I forgot to mention how easy the whole task was. You can never go wrong anywhere after weighing the ingredients rightly.

I found this recipe somewhere on the internet during blog hopping. I was instantly charmed by the whole idea of combining oranges and almonds. Its been in my to-do list since ages. And I am so glad that I tried it. Because now I can confidently go about the celebrations. After all, merry making becomes more merrier when everything is commendable.

This is a pound cake. So the ratio of flour, sugar, butter and eggs stands at 1:1:1:1.  Pound cakes are usually made in loaf tins.

The recipe goes like this.

INGREDIENTS:

190g unsalted butter, plus a tablespoon extra for greasing the pan

190g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tbsp finely grated orange zest

190g  sugar

3 large eggs

60g ground almonds or almond powder

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp plain yoghurt

1 full tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp orange essence (optional)

A handful of flaked almonds

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Preheat the electric /convection oven to 190 degrees Celsius.  2) Butter a loaf pan and keep it ready. 3) Cream together the butter, orange zest, sugar until soft and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat well until creamy. Use an electric whisk preferably for this process. 4)  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.  5) Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Just fold them in. No need to beat them. Fold them until well mixed. 6) Add the yogurt and the vanilla essence and mix well. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top of the batter. 7) Pour the batter in the buttered loaf pan. 8)  Place in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the sponge is firm on top and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
 

Banana Cake

It was a long and a refreshing weekend this time with a public holiday yesterday. I am still lurking on in the holiday hangover and have not yet come to terms that my working week has started. Thursday evening looked so lovely with the thought of 3 long days for all the fun and family time. The outdoor evening time is generally what we look forward to.

 Nothing significant happened in the last few days nor did the kitchen get busy even though I forced myself to line up a few holiday meals and even bought some of the ingredients. Baking was something that I was able to do and a few bananas asking for attention got what they deserved. I was eyeing banana cake or banana bread from quite a while and the former got the nod. I also wanted to whip up a dessert, but it somehow did not happen.

Now I am posting the recipe for this lovely banana cake that was made in less than 30 minutes. The cake works best with ripened bananas. I froze a couple of bananas so that they don't get spoilt. I also used some coarsely processed nuts (pistachios, almonds cashews). The cake turned out decadent - sweet, moist, fluffy and soft. I wanted to do a cream cheese frosting on it but failed on it. It was gobbled up within an hour of being baked. I used a loaf pan to bake my cake.

The recipe for this delicious cake is as below:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cups sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 teaspoon baking soda (add to pureed bananas)
2 pureed bananas, very ripe

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 stick butter, softened
4 tbsp cream cheese, softened
1-2 cups powdered sugar (1 lb.)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

HOW TO MAKE:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf baking pan or a 9"  round baking pan.

2) Cream butter, sugar and eggs till smooth and fluffy.

3)  Sift flour with the salt and baking powder and then add this to the creamed butter mixture. Add the milk and flour (alternating, beginning and ending with flour).

4)  Add vanilla and mashed bananas (with the baking soda added to the bananas) to this mixture.

5) Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes.

Frosting Directions:

Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth, add sugar and vanilla and blend well. Spread on cooled cake.

 

Simple Chocolate cake

Cooking is fun for sure but the joy is really in sharing your creation and serving people by putting your best foot forward. On my recent weekend baking spree, I chose to bake a simple chocolate cake with a simple frosting and ended up serving it to a small group of my colleagues at the workplace the next day. It was a welcome break for everyone from a busy loaded work day to see everyone relishing homemade bakes which eventually created a flow of gratitude and compliments as they enjoyed it.

This recipe will make even the most finicky Dessert eater a lover of sweets. The cake for sure is light and fluffy with loads of chocolate flavor – in fact the Chocolaty flavor is definitely mellowed. The cake is deliciously soft and moist and the type of fat used is unsalted butter at room temperature. However I also happened to read that oil also can be used in this recipe so that the softness and moisture is retained even when the cake is refrigerated. So don't be shy to make it in your own way. It is a lovely cake and the margin of errors is almost nil.

Now off to the recipe :

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups sugar

245 grams all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter        

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

 

Chocolate Frosting:

 

1 small can puck cream (plain flavored Danish cream with about 20% fat)

1/2 cup chocolate syrup

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

 

2) In another large bowl, cream unslated butter till soft and creamy. Then add sugar and continue to cream until the sugar has dissolved at least half. You can use a beater or a whisk for this process.

 

3) Add in eggs one at a time and  whisk together . Then add the milk and  vanilla extract. Beat until all the sugar is dissolved and the batter is creamy and fluffy (about 5 minutes)

 

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined.

5) Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 

6) Cool the cake and then frost it.

 

Frosting:

 

1) Whisk together the puck cream and chocolate syrup until creamy.

 

2) Spread it evenly on the top of the baked chocolate cake and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Velvet cake

What's the only thing better than walking through the door and smelling fresh cake being baked? That's right: eating it!

I am not much of a baker but I absolutely loved the experience last weekend when baking was the highlight of it.  I loved this recipe and I knew I will be making it ! Dense, moist goodness! Made two cakes out of this recipe and sandwiched them with whipped cream frosting. This is one of the most decadent cakes I've ever made.

Cakes don't need to be sculptures to be delicious! This was my first attempt with so many cakes all in a day and my house smelled like a busy bakery that day. I took these cakes to work the next morning and it was a hit. I could have done better, but still everyone loved them.

So break out a regular, great-tasting cake for your next get-together and wait for the compliments to come rolling in. Finish that delicious cake with a great frosting. It's easier than you think.

   
INGREDIENTS:

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Unsalted Butter

1/4 cup Oil

2 Eggs

2 tbsp  Cocoa Power

1.5 tbsp Red Food Colouring

1 cup Buttermilk

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tbsp Vinegar (white)

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1/2 tsp Salt

Whipped cream frosting - 1 tin (I used a readymade one)

 

HOW TO MAKE:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Take cocoa, food colouring powder, 1/4 cup of buttermilk and mix to a paste. Set aside.

2) Now take butter, oil, sugar, vanilla in a large bowl, Use a electric beater to cream this up. Add in eggs and cream again. Add in the cocoa-food color mix and mix well. 

 

3) Add in flour, salt, buttermilk and fold gently.

 

4) Now take baking soda in a bowl, add in vinegar. It will bubble up. pour this into the batter and mix gently. This will lighten the batter.

5) Divide this between 2 cake pans and bake for 25 to 30 mins.

6)  Cool the cakes and spread frosting between each layer of cake, sandwich the cakes, spread frosting all around the sides and serve.

 

7) I had some crushed nuts and I mixed it with the frosting while covering the cake.

Honey Coconut cake

Honey coconut cake was an unusual combo that I chose after I chanced upon a honey cake recipe somewhere on the web. It was the third cake that I baked for the weekend baking special session and I felt officially like a Master Baker once the cake was popped into the oven. I personally don't like honey in cakes, but, I mean, I just went onto to see how it works out and this is totally the best honey cake ever!      

Nothing says love like honey, especially when it's baked in a "coconutty" cake. It's sinfully rich with a delightfully sweet flavor. You'll be amazed how a little coconut really brings out the sweet flavor in these cakes. This top-rated recipe is a breeze to make with fresh coconut. Sooooo good!

Simply the best cake I've ever had! It was gorgeous and delicious and stunning for dessert. You can also use different flavours or purees as per the availability if you are not very keen on this combo.  I topped the cake liberally with grated dessicated coconut  and also used coconut liberally inside the cake.       

INGREDIENTS:

 

For Cake:

 

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

100 gms unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

2-3 tbsp milk

1/2 cup coconut

For Syrup:

 

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup dessicated coconut grated

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Take a baking pan and butter it well

 2) Take butter, sugar in a bowl and use a beater to whip till creamy.

 3) Add in one egg at a time and beat till fluffy and light.

4) Add in vanilla and then flour, baking powder and salt. Fold gently.

5) Add milk and fold gently.

6) Pour this into a prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 mins or untill a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

7) Remove it from oven and let it cool for few minutes.

For the Syrup:

 

1) Take honey, water and coconut in a sauce pan and bring it to boil, simmer it for 5 mins. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool for 5 minutes.

 2) Now use a toothpick to make holes over the cake. Pour the syrup over cake and chill this for an hour before serving.

Angel Food cake

Cooking is fun for sure but the joy is really in sharing your creation and serving people by putting your best foot forward. On my recent weekend baking spree, I chose to bake a simple chocolate cake with a simple frosting and ended up serving it to a small group of my colleagues at the workplace the next day. It was a welcome break for everyone from a busy loaded work day to see everyone relishing homemade bakes which eventually created a flow of gratitude and compliments as they enjoyed it.

This recipe will make even the most finicky Dessert eater a lover of sweets. The cake for sure is light and fluffy with loads of chocolate flavor – in fact the Chocolaty flavor is definitely mellowed. The cake is deliciously soft and moist and the type of fat used is unsalted butter at room temperature. However I also happened to read that oil also can be used in this recipe so that the softness and moisture is retained even when the cake is refrigerated. So don't be shy to make it in your own way. It is a lovely cake and the margin of errors is almost nil.

Now off to the recipe :

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups sugar

245 grams all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter        

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

 

Chocolate Frosting:

 

1 small can puck cream (plain flavored Danish cream with about 20% fat)

1/2 cup chocolate syrup

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

 

2) In another large bowl, cream unslated butter till soft and creamy. Then add sugar and continue to cream until the sugar has dissolved at least half. You can use a beater or a whisk for this process.

 

3) Add in eggs one at a time and  whisk together . Then add the milk and  vanilla extract. Beat until all the sugar is dissolved and the batter is creamy and fluffy (about 5 minutes)

 

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined.

5) Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 

6) Cool the cake and then frost it.

 

Frosting:

 

1) Whisk together the puck cream and chocolate syrup until creamy.

 

2) Spread it evenly on the top of the baked chocolate cake and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Cupcakes

Last weekend was a baking special one for us with the new oven busy to the core. I suddenly felt that I should really bake my heart out and was up at an early hour to start it . I was organized a day earlier with the plans chalked out and ingredients collected and de-frozen a night earlier. Next morning I set to work on the batters and in no time various cakes and savories were going one by one inside my oven for aromatic outputs. So this week's posts will be focused on my baking experiences of the weekend.

 

My first choice was the strawberry cupcakes. I had some fresh strawberries in my refrigerator waiting for attention. So I had to turn these sweet strawberries into must-have desserts for the whole family, or dress them up in easy, delicious cakes.

No other fruit shout spring like these sweet, delectable strawberries  My family loves snacking on the delicately crunchy and juicy flesh of this pretty pink fruit. It is a rich pack its share of nutritional punch including several anti-oxidants too. Did you know this fruit is budget friendly especially during winter? So I buy it regularly during these days and try to make as many desserts and salads with it as possible.

 

So now you can bring on the explosion of tart/sweet juiciness by giving these strawberries a crunchy topping, a cushion of cobbler, or a blanket of flaky pastry. It doesn't get better, or easier, than a dessert or a cake that calls for berries and bakes up beautifully every time.

 

 

 

Another thing to note is that these cupcakes are just not plain pretty cupcakes. They have bite-sized strawberry pieces mixed in them that give you a heavenly feeling with every bite. I did not add any color in the batter because the strawberry puree gives it a pretty pink color on its own.

 

And now the recipe.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1/2 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon  pure vanilla extract

1 cup strawberry puree

1 cup fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup light sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1)  Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

 

2) In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla essence and strawberry puree. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

 

3) In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda  and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. (This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking.) 

 

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough cakes will result. 

 

5) Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake cases.

 

6)  Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

 

7) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored for a few days at room temperature.

 

 

 

 

Eggless Chocolate Walnut Brownie

The new entry into my Kitchen is the Electric Oven. Earlier I used a Convection mode Microwave oven which gave me very poor results for baking. That oven was very good only for grills and Microwaving. I still have it and I only added an electric oven that I can use for baking- it also has options for grilling, Rotisserie and heating as well.

With a long list of recipes bookmarked previously for baking, I am having a tough time to choose as to what needs to be tried out soon and what can wait for a while.

Now I am cooking a ton and spoiling everyone with new treats.

Cakes and Brownies for sure will be my first choice followed by Puff Pastries and Casseroles and cookies.

So I thought of taking it one at a time and gradually try out each one and I am not very keen to repeat the ones whose outcome is satisfactory. My idea seems more like a practicing baking class that I am conducting for my own self.  He He . . .  

Brownies were my first choice. I had all these ingredients at home that day. So I chose this recipe.

Brownies are different from cakes but they do have a few similarities.. They usually are more chocolaty and seem to be a hybrid version of a chocolate cake and a soft cookie, they are flat and have a kind of rough texture compared to normal cakes.

The outcome was quite good and I felt more like a master Chef after baking these brownies. My presentation looked like I had toiled over the dish forever.  I garnished it with  some chopped walnuts that I always stored in my Nuts box on my pantry Shelf.. You could also add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to complete the medley of flavours. But trust me; you don’t really need the ice-cream.
Now get ready to shine a little fresh morning sun onto your meal with these fresh nuts topped brownies. Savor the sweet burst of chocolate with these brownie squares. The best bakes put the taste of the season right into your happy, happy mouth.

Diligently retesting the recipe as well, I listed down these ingredients for you and I suggest you try this soon.


INGREDIENTS:

Curd – 1 cup
Sugar – 3/4th cup
Baking powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Baking soda – 1 1/2 tsp
Flour – 1 cup
Cocoa powder – 1/2 cup
Vegetable oil – 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Chopped walnuts – 1/2 cup

HOW TO MAKE:

1) Mix the curd and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Add baking powder and soda, mix and leave to rise for 10minutes.

2) Mix the flour and cocoa powder and keep it aside.

3) Add the oil and vanilla essence to the curd mixture and beat well. Add the walnuts and flour mixture, and fold well.

4) Pour on to a greased baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or so. You can check if it is done by piercing the centre of the cake with a toothpick or fork. It should come out clean.

5) Let the cake cool and serve with vanilla ice cream (optional).