Rainbow Cupcakes (Eggless)

I am waiting for Spring. There is no better way to show it than these colorful cupcakes that I baked. I do not use artificial colours in the food I make and had no desire to use them in my baking. I had a basic idea of using natural foods to colour such as strawberry for red and blueberry for blue. So I scoured the internet to find a way to make more colours. I finally settled on carrots for orange, spinach for green, strawberry for red and blueberries for blue. These ingredients when juiced and added to the batter would impart the respective colours to the batter but not so much flavour as the quantity they are used in is very less. So the cake is going to taste like cake. I must tell you that the colours are not going to be neon bright when you use natural foods. They are going to be pastel shades but that is what I really like. My daughter loved the muted colour combinations as well and I had to fend her off in order to take pictures first. At this juncture I must say that she is the most encouraging person in my life and the enthusiasm is rubbing off on the hubby these days. He is open to being the guinea pig more often than not!

I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe that I have made before. The only difference is to reduce milk by 2 tbsp so that 2 tbsp of different coloured juices can be added to the batter later.

Rainbow Cupcakes

Servings: 10 regular sized cupcakes
Prep Time:  45 mins  Cook Time: 18 mins

Ingredients 

Basic Vanilla cupcake batter (minus 2 tbsp milk)

To make coloured batter

1 cup grated Carrot
1 cup Spinach (I used Fresh)
1 cup Strawberries Fresh/Frozen (I used Fresh)
1 cup Blueberries Fresh/Frozen (I used Frozen)

Instructions 

Making the colours

Orange Colour

Juice the grated carrot with 1 tbsp of water. I used a regular Indian mixer to do this.
Strain the carrot juice to get the fibrous part out.
Keep 2 tbsp of orange juice aside.
Green Colour
Juice the spinach leaves with 1 tbsp of water
Strain the spinach juice.
Keep 2 tbsp of green juice aside.
Red/Pink Colour
Juice the strawberries with 1 tbsp of water
Keep 2 tbsp of red/pink juice aside.
Blue Colour

Place frozen blueberries in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals till the blueberries burst and the juice starts oozing out. It took me 3 intervals.
Allow it to cool.

Strain the blueberries juice.
Keep 2 tbsp of blue juice aside.

Putting it all together

1. Divide the basic Vanilla cupcake batter into 5 cups. I scooped out 4 heaped tsps per cup. 
2. To the batter in the first cup add 1 tbsp of carrot juice and mix well to get orange coloured batter.
3. To the batter in the second cup add 1 tbsp of spinach juice and mix well to get green coloured batter.
4. To the batter in the third cup add 1 tbsp of strawberry juice and mix well to get pink coloured batter.
5. To the batter in the fourth cup add 1 tbsp of blueberry juice and mix well to get blue coloured batter.
6. Keep the batter in the fifth cup uncoloured. This can be used to improve consistency in the other batters or to get a cream layer in the cupcake. 
7. Add more juice to improve colour adjusting the consistency so that it doesnt become watery. 
8. There are  many ways of making the cupcakes clourful. 
9. Preheat the oven to 350°F
10. The easiest method is to layer different coloured batters one on top of the other in the cupcake liner.
11. Alternatively place separators in the paper liner and pour different coloured batters in each section. 
12. I started out making the separators using card. I made a 4 section one and a 3 section like that. But I found it problematic because the batters bled into other sections easily.
13. Then the hubby gave an idea which turned out to be brilliant. Use crackers/biscuits as dividers. I had Parle-G gluco biscuits on hand and used them. I got 2 sections and 4 section ones using this method. 
14. Whatever the method fill the liners to 3/4 full and bake at 350°F for 18 minutes. 
15. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them onto a wire rack and allowing them to cool completely. 
16. Decorate with frosting or ganache as desired. The cupcakes turned out so wonderfully coloured that I did not want to cover that up at all.

Update 8th Apr 2013 - Submitted this recipe as a celebration of everything colour to a contest hosted by Manjula for creative desserts for Holi/Easter. I won! ;)

Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

 

Cupcakes are an all time favourite. What could get better than them? Yes, mini cupcakes! These bite sized wonders are easy on the eye and in the mouth.

That day my whole intention of baking cupcakes was to frost them. I wanted to get it right this time after a huge flop show the previous weekend.

I had made a pineapple cake and had attempted to make frosting at home. The catch was that I was planning to make cream frosting without an electric beater. I did my youtube and google searches and found enough encouragement there to fulfil my desire to make frosting from scratch without the beater. It turned out to be a 2 hour high voltage drama. I must have given off sparks by the end of it going by the amount of focus and friction the whole act of beating by hand was producing! Although I dint lose hope by the end of the first hour when the liquid that I was beating steadfastedly remained in the same state, I threw the whisk into the sink by the end of the second one. Then I hit upon a brilliant idea of running it through my mixer and that resulted in churning the cream and butter back to nice butter. I did frost my cake with this buttery something and we did scrape it all (2 layers) off before eating the cake. Thus bringing to an end a saga that I am not about to repeat. And then I wrote to Sin-a-mon's Monika and she gave me the idea of making ganache.

Ganache has been an awesome discovery. I am going to experiment with different types of chocolate and post all about it here but my maiden attempt was with semi sweet chocolate chips and the heavy cream I had left over from my previously ghastly trial. I used the simple recipe from here.It gives a good idea on how one could use ganache to decorate cupcakes. And there are three different types - Glazing, Whipping and Piping. I did not want to Glaze since my family wouldnt like it so sweet. Whipping was out of question without an electric beater. So piping it was.This was my second time trying to pipe and the first time I did was just a whirl.


Getting back to the cupcakes on hand, this recipe is an absolute keeper. It is eggless and uses oil instead of butter. The texture of the cupcakes are dreamy soft and so delicate. It is easy to put together and with the right pictures it is easy to remember how to make them as well. I have had my share of tighter cupcakes or sunken ones, but this time I have got it right with the measurements mentioned. These cupcakes can be eaten without any frosting and would still taste great. Alternatively, a sprinkling of nuts on top or mixed inside would render a crunchy good flavour. Any kind of frosting would taste good on such a basic cupcake so its a base for creativity. I brought it with me for a party and got extremely encouraging feedback from the crowd that had gathered there. Many could not believe that it was eggless.

 

 

Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Servings: 24 Mini Cupcakes or 10-12 Cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 mins     Cook Time: 10-18 mins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Baking soda
pinch of Salt
3/4 cup granulated Sugar
1 cup Milk
1/3 cup Oil
1 tbsp White Vinegar
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
Nuts to garnish on top (Optional)

Basic Chocolate Ganache

12 oz Semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 bag of Nestle's)
1 cup Heavy Cream

Instructions

1. Prehaet the oven to 350.
2. Line cupcake tray with paper liners and keep aside.
3. Stir together milk and vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes. The milk should be curdled by the end of it.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
5. Once milk is curdled, whisk oil, vanilla extract and sugar into it till well combined and runny.
6. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Mix till smooth. Do not overmix. A little lumpy is fine as long as everything is mixed well.
7. Fill into cupcake liner till 3/4 full.
8. Sprinkle nuts on top if desired.
9. If making mini cupcakes, bake for 10 minutes. If regular sized cupcakes then bake for 16-18 minutes. A skewer inserted into the cupcake should come out clean and that tells you they are done.
10. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and allowing it to cook completely.

Decorating the cupcake with Ganache

1. Cool the ganache for atleast an hour in the fridge for it to thicken to piping consistency.
2. Fill a piping bag with the ganache and press down towards the nozzle so that air gaps are eliminated. This aids piping to flow out seamlessly.
3. I used a small round tip (not familiar with the nomenclature) and made my own twirly whirly designs by squeezing on the piping bag with my left hand and guiding the tip with my right hand.

Eggless Chocolate cupcake - so light you will bite

Valentine's day has never been this exciting for us. My dotzy has been having week long celebrations at her pre-school and has been gloating about the fact that she got to be the Valentine Queen too. I have had my share of education getting to know what a "valentine" is that kids give each other. It isnt such a anxious subject as it used to be in college.
The dotzy had a party at school and when I saw that most of the party supplies had a parent signed up for already, I decided to put in my name in the "Others" section and chose to bring them cupcakes.

I must admit that I am not really sure when it comes to children and sweets to know what they like. The reason for this has to do with the pallette my dotzy acquired from her dad which ensures she doesnt have a sweet tooth. I chose cupcakes for the simple reason that I find them the easiest to make. I have made a few varieties of muffins already but never a cupcake really. The biggest difference I found in this cupcake in comparison to a banana walnut muffin was in how dense the latter was and how light the former was. I made them eggless and also used oil instead of butter. For serving at the party I did use a readymade whipped frosting since I ran out of Vanilla. And since I did not have an electric beater, I did not want to slave at getting the frosting to the right pointyness.
Once V knew that I had signed up for cupcakes, she started me on a lecture (week-long) of how the cupcakes had to look. White on white said my darling but I was on the last few tiny drops of vanilla extract so in the last minute she heaved a huge sigh and said it was ok for light brown cupcakes. Ofcourse after baking them she was a little taken aback by the dark brown colour but she had licked the cupcake mix before it went into the oven and therefore knew they would taste good! She was also enthused to assist me on this task. She is more a supervisor than a helper I tell you.

To all her friends with love

And I assume they all love it with frosting (going by pure hearsay on how they devoured frosted cupcakes that were served by one boy's parents for his birthday)

Eggless Butter-less Chocolate cupcake

Serving : 15-17 medium sized cupcakes or 30 mini cupcakes
Prep Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 10-20 mins (depending on size of cupcake)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Sugar (I used fine grandulated. If using confectioner's sugar you could add another 1/4 cup)
1 cup Milk (I used 2%)
1 tbsp Vinegar
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin tray with paper liners.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. Sieve it all together and set aside
3. In another bowl combine the milk and vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes. The milk will curdle.
4. Then to this add the sugar and oil and mix till the sugar dissolves. Could take upto 5 minutes. 
5. Mix in the vanilla extract. 
6. Now add the dry ingredient mix into the wet ingredient mix and whisk till well combined. And some more. 
7. Pour the mix using a spoon into the cupcake liners till 2/3 full. 
8. Bake for around 10-12 minutes for mini cupcakes. Mine was done exactly on the 10th minute.Or Bake for around 18-20 minutes for the medium sized cupcakes. Mine was done at the 17th minute. 
9. Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool for 2 minutes. Remove the cupcakes (along with the liners) on to a wire cooling rack and allow it to cool completely. 
10. Serve it plain or frosted. 

Eggless Banana Walnut Muffin

Whats easier than making muffins? Apparently not many things as I discovered. I always enjoyed eating cakes and so did the better half. But cakes made in the 8 inch round pan in my house can last a lifetime given the absence of memory in me and sweet tooth in the hubby. How then could we still get to eat delicious stuff without the literally "extra" baggage? Lo, there entered into our lives muffins and it has occupied a place of pride on our palattes as well on my repertoire. Bake 6 of them at a time and polish it off in a day!
The banana walnut muffin is what I call les ordinairè yet is so extravagant in flavours and fills the senses in a way that satisfies every comfort sweet craving. I have made this with oil and butter and it turns out amazing on both counts. And it is eggless to boot. So try it and have fun!

Eggless Banana Walnut Muffin

Servings: Makes 12-14 muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 Bananas (preferably over ripe)
3/4 cup Whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup Walnuts
1/2 cup Sugar (1/4 cup if you want to reduce sweetness)
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (I used Canola) or same amount of Unsalted Butter
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1/3 cup Chocolate Chip (optional)
1 tbsp Milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Toast the walnuts by either baking them for a couple of minutes in the oven or using a frying pan on medium heat and stirring continously for 4 minutes. Chop the toasted walnuts into small pieces. 
3. Line a muffin or cupcake tray with paper liners. Alternately grease the cups and you could pour in the batter directly but its always a lot more cleanup without the liners. 
4. In a bowl mash up the banana with a fork. You could even give it a small spin in the blender.
5. Add in the oil and the essence to this and mix well.
6. In another bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder.
7. Make a hole in the center of the bowl with the flour and stuff. Pour the wet mix into this hole. 
8. Whisk it all together always making sure not to over mix. 
9. If the mix is too tight pour in a little milk so that you get a nice smooth consistency but not liquidy. 
10. In the end fold in the chopped toasted walnuts and chocolate chips and mix once.
11. Scoop up sufficient dollops of the dough and plop into the paper cup liners. 3/4 full is good.
12. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted comes clean. Be watchful after around 20 minutes because ovens differ. 
13. Remove from oven and let cool for another 15 minutes. 
14. Devour.