Strawberry Muffin

I asked my niece last week what she wants me to bake next Sunday and she said ‘Strawberry Muffin’. In a place like Kutch where you never get strawberries when you need them, I decided to go ahead and make the muffins using strawberry filling. The muffins tuned out really nice. Since the strawberry filling is already a little sweet, adjust the amount of Sugar if you feel like to need to add a little less. I’ve adjusted the amount to Sugar as per the sweetness of the strawberry filling I had in hand. So here’s the recipe for my Strawberry Muffins. Enjoy!!!

 

Ingredients:

• 1¾ Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 Eggs
• ½ Cup Melted Butter
• ¾ Cup Strawberry Filling
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Essence

 

Method:

• Pre-heat Oven at 180°C
• Mix all the Wet Ingredients (Eggs, Butter, Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Essence) and Sugar together using a Manual Hand Whisk.
• Then mix the All Purpose Flour and Baking Powder in another Bowl.
• Now add the Dry Ingredients into the Wet Ingredients Mixture little by little and fold it in. Do not over-mix the batter.
• Now line your Muffin Tray with Muffin Liners and Pour the batter into each Liner with the help of two spoons.
• Fill each Liner a little more than half.
• Place the Tray in the Oven and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes and further 5 minutes at 175°C.
• Take the Muffins out of the oven and let the Muffins cool down a bit before you take a bite.

Cherry and Raisin Sponge Cake Truffle

By now I think you should know that I’m crazy about chocolates. I try to make quick chocolate goodies all the time. Bite size treats are the best, because it’s easy to stop yourself form eating a whole lot of charming treats. Always works for me. Truffles are one such bite size treats. Unlike the regular truffle, this one is quite different. Every time you have a small piece of vanilla or even chocolate sponge cake left, you could make a truffle out of it. You can also use crumbled brownies. It is up to you. So here’s another recipe that is super easy and quick.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups crumbled Vanilla Sponge Cake
• ½ cup deseeded and chopped Cherries
• ½ cup Raisins
• 2 tbsp. Condensed Milk
• 400 gms. Chopped sweetened Dark Chocolate
• ¼ cup grated White Chocolate (for garnish)

Method:

• Add the vanilla sponge cake crumbles in a mixing bowl and break them into finer crumbs using your hand.
• Add the chopped cherries.
• In a microwavable bowl, add the raisins and add enough water to submerge the raisins and microwave it on high for a minute. This will help the raisins get soft. Then add them into drain the water.
• Add the raisins to the mixing bowl.
• Now add the condensed milk and mix well with your hands. The mixture will get a bit doughy.
• Now make truffle size balls out of the mixture and keep them aside.
• Transfer the chopped Dark chocolate into a microwavable bowl and microwave it for 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate melts.
• Take a fork and mix the chocolate well and see that it’s not lumpy.
• Place a parchment sheet on a tray.
• Now pick each off the balls with the help of a toothpick and dip it into the melted chocolate. Cover them with chocolate and place them on the sheet.
• Now sprinkle the grated white chocolate on top of each truffle and keep the tray in the fridge until it sets.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

I love baking. It always ends up making me happy. It’s probably because of the end result, for it always looks perfect at the end. After a lot of trial and error, this is the recipe that worked perfect. That’s the best part about baking. Once you get it right, you can never go wrong. Note that this cupcake mixture recipe works just perfect but the only problem you could face is the timing. The timing always differs depending on the size of the mold. So when you are working with any baking recipe for the first time, just keep checking often. The ‘toothpick’ is gonna be your best friend. When the toothpick comes out clean, you’re done. Here’s the recipe for Vanilla Cupcake and Buttercream Icing.

Ingredients for the Vanilla Cupcake:

• 1½ cup All Purpose Flour
• ½ cup Softened Butter
• 1 cup Powered Sugar
• A pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Essence
• ½ cup Milk

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven at 175°C.
• In a mixing bowl add the Sugar and Butter and mix using a hand blender.
• Then add the Eggs and Vanilla Essence and mix again.
• Add the Milk and mix.
• Now add the Baking Powder and Flour and mix well until you get a smooth mixture.
• Place the cupcake shells on a muffin tray and transfer the mixture into each of the shells.
• Do not pour excess mixture; cover the cupcake shells up to 60%, as the cupcakes will rise.
• Place the cupcakes in the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes. (Note: the time taken to bake depends on the depth and width of the cupcake mold. I had used small silicone molds and it took me around 12 minutes).
• Allow the cupcakes to cool before doing the icing.

Ingredients for the Buttercream Icing:

• 2 cups softened unsalted Butter
• 2 cups Icing Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Essence
• 3-4 drops food color of your choice
• Cupcake Sprinkles for decorating (Optional)

Method:

• Add the Icing Sugar, Butter and Vanilla Essence and mix well using a hand held beater.
• Add the food color and fold it in using a spatula.
• Transfer the Frosting into a piping bag and cover you cupcakes with the icing.
• Decorate the cupcakes with the cupcake sprinkles.

Cherry Mascarpone Trifle

This is a very easy to make version of a Cherry Trifle and requires very few ingredients. If you want to cheat, you can use canned cherry pie filling, instead of making it from scratch. But I had some fresh cherries so I made the filling myself. You could also convert it into a blueberry trifle by just replacing cherry filling with blueberry filling. I just love desserts. If it was healthy I would replace every meal with desserts. Cheers to all the Dessert lovers and here’s a simple version of Cherry Mascarpone Trifle.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups deseeded Cherries
• ½ cup Sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Essence
• ½ cup Heavy Cream
• ½ cup Mascarpone Cheese
• 1 cup crumbled Vanilla Sponge Cake
• 2 tbsp. Condensed Milk
• ¼ cup Powered Sugar

Method:

• Add the Cherries, Vanilla Essence, ½ cup Sugar and Water in a saucepan and cook it together on low heat for about 10-12 minutes until the cherries get soft and mushy.
• Allow the Cherry mixture to cool.
• In a mixing bowl add the Powered Sugar, Condensed Milk and Mascarpone Cheese until its soft and get rid of all the lumps.
• Whip the Heavy Cream in another bowl and add the Mascarpone mixture and mix well together gently.
• In a serving Glass start layering the trifle.
• First layer it with the crumbled sponge cake.
• Then add a layer of the cherry mixture.
• Then add a layer of the cream and mascarpone mixture.
• Again a layer of Cherries.
• And finally one more layer of Cream and Mascarpone.
• Drizzle some Cherry liquid on top and Garnish with a fresh Cherry and cool it in the fridge for an hour.

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse

 

There are so many ways of making a Chocolate Mousse. You can make it with cream, without cream, with egg whites, with egg yolks, without egg yolks. It’s just endless possibilities. Each celebrity chef has his/her own way of making it. Well. This is how I make it. It’s simple, airy, feels light and sets in an hour! I usually feel like digging into my mousse even before it sets. But a little wait will double the pleasure. The cooking time for the mousse won’t take you more than 10-12 minutes. It’s one of the simple recipe that looks priceless!!

 

 

Ingredients:

• 200 gms. Sweetened dark Chocolate
• ¼ cup Milk
• 3 Egg Whites
• ¾ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Method:

• Cut the Sweetened Dark Chocolate into small pieces.
• Transfer it into a microwavable bowl.
• Add the Milk into the same bowl and microwave it for a minute.
• Mix the Melted Chocolate and the milk and see that it turns out smooth.
• Take the Heavy Cream in a large glass bowl and whip it.
• Take the Egg whites in another bowl and whip it too until it’s stiff.
• Take another large bowl to mix all the items.
• First add the melted chocolate mixture.
• Then add half of the whipped cream and start folding gently. Make sure you don’t use a whisk or else the lightness in the whipped cream will be lost.
• Now add the other half of the cream and fold again.
• Then add the egg white mixture and fold gently. Once all the layers look one, transfer it into the glass you want to serve the mousse and refrigerate it.
• It’ll set in an hour.