Vanilla Cupcakes

I had always wanted to try my hand at making cupcakes. First few attempts were disastrous. My son , for whom I was trying to make it refused to even touch it after the first bite. But then as they say practice makes perfect I finally found the right recipe and made these yummy cupcakes. They are soft and crumbly.

How do I know they are yummy? My son has two a day!!

The original recipe can be found at http://www.joyofbaking.com. My modified version is as below.

 

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, bring it to room temperature
1 Cup granulated white Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla essense
1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour (Maida)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 Cup milk at room temperature

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees C for 5-8 mins. I do all my baking in microwave oven with convection mode. 
2. Line the muffin cups with paper.
3. In a deep bowl , beat the butter till its smooth. Add sugar to it and beat further till fluffy.
4. Now add the eggs and vanilla essence and beat again. 
5. Separately, sift the flour and baking powder 2-3 times so that the baking powder assimilates completely in the flour. divide it roughly in 3 portions. 
6. Now add the flour and the milk to the butter-sugar-egg mix alternately. Start and end with the flour.
7. Add it in this pattern Flour-milk-flour-milk-flour. After each addition beat the mix nicely. 
8. Batter is ready. It would have a idly batter like consistency and should make roughly 12-13 cupcakes. Scrape down the sides and evenly fill in the muffin cups with a spoon. 
9. Bake for 19-20 mins or until the toothpick when inserted into it comes out clean.

Let it cool down and enjoy!

Tips:

• Fill the muffin cups to the 3/4 levels that way your cupcake will remain inside the paper cups when fully baked.
• Place the muffin cups on the wire mesh inside the microwave, that way they will get heated optimally.

  And finally this is my entry to Beulah's  Bake Fest #34 an event started by Vardhini

  

Sooji Ka Halwa (In Microwave)

Weekend breakfasts are the high point for me. Me and A both have not one but 2 sweet teeth, love to have something sweet on sundays(and whenever in the week if its possible!). Therefore I love making Sooji ka halwa on sundays as an add on. These days I make it in Microwave.

The following recipe will easily serve 4 people.

Ingredients

3/4 cup of Sooji (semolina)

5-6 Tbsp of Sugar (or as per taste)

3 Tbsp of Ghee (clarified Butter)

2 Cloves

Handful Raisins, cashews

2 Cups of Water

Method

1. Heat the Sooji in a bowl/broad dish in Microwave at 450 for 8 mins. Stir in between at 2 - 2.5 mins.
2. Take it out and add the 2 Tbsp ghee (save some for later). Mix well and heat it again at 450 for 3 mins. Stir at every 1 min. Be careful not to let it burn. If not stirred regularly the sooji at the bottom and the edges will burn.
3. Take it out.It should be golden brown by this time.
4. Add 2 cups of water ,sugar and clove. Mix well.
5. Keep the mix in Microwave for at max power till the water dries off and the mix is soft (usually it will take 8-10 mins). Take it out
6. Roast the raisins,cashews (preferably seperately one by one) in 1 Tbsp ghee in a MW safe dish for 15secs-30secs at max power(900 for me). They should turn light brown.I prefer to do this part on stove since the raisins sometimes turn sour and hard in MW.
7. Add the raisins/cashews to the Sooji Halwa, mix and serve it hot.

Sending this over to Ruchika's Event Virtual Party - Snacks and Smitha's Microwave Easy Cooking - FESTIVE DISHES

Coconut Laddoo

Our office basement where i park my vehicle just got whitewashed last week. The fresh smell of whitewash can evoke just one memory in me- Deepawali! As kids we waited for almost month long holidays to start - starting from dussehra up to deepawali. As we grew up these holidays did come down to around 10 days but still the enthusiasm was the same!

The preparation for Deepawali used to always start with whitewashing and selling off 'Raddi' Old news papers-magazines-tin boxes anything that can be used in the reusable market. Then came the vendors selling artificial flowers and other knick-knacks who would shout at the top of their voices around the streets. Of course now that the house is cleaned of the unwanted stuff, its time to decorate it!

The last few days of the rundown to the the D- Day, the entire neighbourhood would be filled with such delightful aromas of different goodies being made. And we knew that we would have a share in it since everything that is prepared would be shared amongst neighbours!

I am starting my rundown this week with Coconut Laddoos, fairly easy and quick to make.

You would need

6 cups of Shredded dessicated coconut (khopra)

400 ml Condensed milk ( I used Amul Mithai Mate)

10 pods of Green Cardamom

1 Tbsp of Sugar

1 Tbsp of Ghee (clarified butter)

1/3 Cup of Raisins (kismish)

Separate 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and keep it aside for rolling the laddoos at the end.

Remove the grains from inside the cardamom and powder it with sugar. I did this using a mortar and pestle. Keep the mix aside.

Heat the ghee in a pan and add the raisins. Once it starts popping take it off the flame. Keep it aside.

Heat the remaining 5 1/2 cups of shredded coconuts in a thick bottomed wok. Keep the flame low and keep stirring. Do not let it Brown. When heated add the condensed milk and mix well for roughly two minutes.The entire mixture should become heated just enough for us to be able to hold it in hand. Remove it from flame at this point.

Add the fried raisins and the grounded cardamom seeds to coconut and mix well. Immediately make it into balls and roll the coconut balls in the shredded coconut we had kept aside earlier so as to cover them entirely.

Delicious laddoos are ready to savour!

Things I learnt while making these laddoos. We went about shredding the dessicated coconut with the hand grater. I found cutting it into small pieces and running it through the mixie also produced the same desired results. It would have definitely spared my hubby of half an hour of sheer hard work :)

Also prior to shredding, the outer brown cover of the dessicated coconut can be scraped off and not used. I used them which gave my laddoos a darker shade.

This is my entry to Yummy Festival Feast - Diwali and JFI - Festivals- Deepawali

Gajar Ka Halwa

Come winters and I start waiting for red carrots for making halwa. Unfortunately in bangalore both winters and red carrots come very late around december end. But still the wait is worth it!
I prefer the red carrots over the orange ones, for making gajar ka halwa.

The recipe is very simple so usually I end up making it every weekend and keep it in the refrigerator. No doubt by the end of winters both me and hubby would have gained a few kilos!

Ingredients

1 kg finely grated carrots. The finer the carots are grated the better is the taste.

1 cup sugar (can be increased or decreased as per individual's taste).

1/3 cup clarified butter (ghee) for the halwa

100 gms cashewnuts, raisins

2 Tbsp clarified butter(ghee) for frying the the dry fruits

100 gms Dried whole milk (khoya, mawa).

1/2 ltr milk

Before starting on the halwa make sure that the khoya is soft. Mash this khoya with hand and keep aside

In a pan heat 2 Tbsp of ghee. When heated add the cashews and the raisins and fry till golden brown. Keep aside. I erred and you can see the black cashews in the photograph!

Cook the grated carrots and the milk in a thick bottom wok till no more milk is visible. Add the sugar and the fried dry fruits to this mixture and cook further. The sugar will dilute. Cook until the water evaporates. Now add the ghee to this mixture and let it saute on low flame. Keep on mixing it at regular intervals so that the halwa does not stick to the bottom. Its done when you see that the color of the carrots have changed to a dark maroon. Also it would start exuding the ghee. At this point add the mashed khoya, mix well and keep on mixing it for another 10-15 mins at regular intervals.

Bingo! we have the gajar ka halwa ready....never mind the calories!

Let it just melt in your mouth :)

Besan Ka Halwa

Now this recipe is special...u know why..because it comes from the better half.
One of the few dishes he prepares for me.

1.5 cups chickpea flour(besan)
3/4 cup clarified butter(ghee)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Sugar
cashews and raisins

Take a 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the raisins and cashews and keep it aside.
Now roast the flour in the remaining ghee till golden brown. Add the raisins and the sugar to it and immediately add the milk. Keep on stirring till there are no lumps and it becomes dry.
And the besan ka halwa is ready to eat!