Fun and frosting

BENGALURU : Marble Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients
For the cupcake

•  Plain flour - 209 gm
•  Baking powder - ½ tsp
•  Baking soda - ¼ tsp
•  Butter - 115 gm

(melted)

•  Caster sugar - 200 gm
•  Vanilla essence- 2 tsp
•  Egg - 1
•  Plain yogurt - 60 gm
• Milk - 195ml + 1 tbsp
•  Cocoa powder - 21 gm
• Pink food colour - ½ tsp

For the frosting

•  Unsalted butter -225 gm
•  Icing sugar - 230 gm
•  Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
•  Chocolate - 170 gm

Method

•  Preheat oven to 177C.
• Line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners; you might need more liners as this recipe makes more than a dozen cupcakes.
•  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
•  In another bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in sugar, the mixture will be gritty. Chill in the fridge for a minute to cool it down. Add the egg to the mixture along with the yogurt, milk and vanilla extract.
•  Stir until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix till no lumps remain.
• Transfer ¾ cup of vanilla batter to another bowl to make the chocolate batter. Add in the sifted cocoa powder and 1 tbsp of milk. Stir until combined.
•  To make the pink batter, add 4 tbsp of the vanilla batter to a bowl along with the pink colour. Stir till combined. 
•  Fill cupcake liners with the vanilla and chocolate batters, alternating for each layer. Add in a tsp of the pink batter as well. Fill the cupcake liner till ¾ with batter. Use a toothpick to swirl the batters together to create the marble effect.
•  Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool down while you make the frosting.

Method for frosting 

• Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and allow it to cool down.
• In another bowl, beat the butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the sifted icing sugar in 2-3 additions mixing well after each addition.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl to mix everything.
• Once the chocolate has cooled down, pour it slowly into the mixture while it is beating. Keepbeating for another minute or until well combined and the frosting is smooth. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.

- Bryna Fernandez (@bee_omnomnom on Instagram)

Zucc hini and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

•  All purpose flour - 1 and ½ cups
•  Sugar - 1 cup
• Baking soda - 1 tsp
•  Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
•  Salt - ½ tsp
•  Egg - 1 lightly beaten (or curd - ¼ cup to make an eggless version)
• Oil - ½ cup
•  Milk - ¼ cup
•  Lemon juice or vinegar - 1 tbsp
•  Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Zucchini finely grated - 1 cup
• Chocolate chips - ½ to 1 cup as per your choice
•  Chopped walnuts -½ cup (Optional)

Method

•  Preheat the oven to 180 C.
•  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper muffin liners.
•  Combine and sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
•  Mix the chocolate chips and the nuts if using, into the flour mixture to coat it well. This prevents it from sinking to the bottom.
• Beat together egg or curd, oil, milk, lemon juice or vinegar, grated zucchini and vanilla extract in a bowl for a minute.
•  Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Do not over mix.
•  Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Baking time will vary depending on your oven and the size of the muffins.
• Enjoy soft and delicious muffins once completely cooled.

Tip: Covering any cake or muffins once cooled in a aluminium foil without any gap, will retain its
moisture and keep it soft for long.
- Serah Kurian (@23bakestudio on Instagram)

Zesty Orange Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients For cupcakes

•  Unsalted butter - 115 gm
•  Sugar - 115 gm
•  Eggs - 2
•  Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
• Orange zest - 1 tbsp
•  Orange juice - 1 tbsp
• Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
•  All purpose flour - 115 gm

For the frosting

• Dark Chocolate - 200 gm
• Fresh cream - 180 gm

Method 

• Preheat oven to 180 C. n Whisk together room temperature butter, sugar and vanilla essence till light and fluffy.
•  Add the eggs one at a time and whisk till combined. Add orange  juice and mix thoroughly.
• Sift together all purpose flour and baking powder. Add orange zest to this and fold gently into the mixture with a spatula.
•  Line a cupcake mould with liners and scoop the batter into each liner till 2/3 full.
• Bake at 175C for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Method for frosting

•  Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.
• Heat the cream over medium heat until it just begins to boil.
• Pour it over the chopped chocolate and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.
• Stir with a whisk/spatula until its smooth.
• Leave at room temperature for couple of hours until it sets.
•  Once set, with a frosting nozzle, frost the cupcakes.

- Nanikutty Sreedharan (@Knuttybaking on Instagram)