Chocolate Brownies Cupcakes

My car was still in the workshop so I had to ask a friend to pick up my girls. Trying to be thanksful for her deed I decided to make a sweet treat for her and her daughter Humaira who is Umamahs best friend too.

I don't know why I have this bad habit of wanting to try a new recipe almost everytime I want to bake something. So AGAIN I went recipe hunting trying to find a recipe that fits the ingredients available in my bakery cupboard. Finally I found a video on this recipe and I chose to try it.At this moment I'm typing this entry,the brownies which I made in a muffin pan is smelling wonderfully cocoalicious.

You know that wonderful smell of cocoa in the oven right? It smells good. I bet it tastes good too. Lets check out the ingredients. Very simple and basic ingredients only.

1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar
2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

 For the frostings.
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

 Directions
 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
 2. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
 3. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter.
 4. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
 5. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder.
 6. Spread batter into prepared pan.(I put my batter inyo small muffin pan 3/4 full)

 7. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

 To Make Frosting:
Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

5 Minute Microwave Chocolate Cake in a mug

I was going thru some recipes on the net when suddenly I felt I wanted to eat chocolate cake. Huhuhu. So I serched for a microwave chocolate cake recipe that was easy and fast. I wasn't sure how my microwave would turn the batter coz its just a simple microwave but I thought I'd give it a try. But it turned out sooo good, I ate it warm. Couldn't wait for it to cool.
Lets go over the ingedients.

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons whisked egg -
1 egg is too much, 1 egg white is too eggy, 1 yolk is too dense, but 2 tblsp is just right!( I ran out of eggs so I ommitted this)
3 tablespoons milk(I put 4)
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
splash vanilla
a pinch of baking powder (I added)
2 tablespoon of yogurt (optional, I added coz I ommitted the egg)

1. Add all of the dry ingredients to the mug and mix.
2. Add the egg and combine well. It gets pretty pasty at the point.
3. Stir in milk and oil.
4. Add chocolate chips* and splash of vanilla. Stir well.*if you don't have chocolate chips, try a broken up candy bar - I can't stress how much this amps the awesomeness of your cake.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-minute-Chocolate-Cake/?ALLSTEPS

Cakes for Teachers Day

The girls had requested to bring cakes on teachers day so I chose to bake my Chocolate Yogurt Cake and Red Velvet Cuppies using Laura Vitales recipe.

With love to all teachers that have been teaching and taking care of my girls whilst they are in school.

The decorations were made by my girls.

Laura Vitales Cinnamon Rolls-Soft and delicious

1 Package of Dry Yeast (7gms)
¾ cup of Whole Milk
¼ cup of Granulated Sugar
¼ cup of Water, warmed up to 115 degrees
¼ tsp of Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
1 tsp of Salt
¼ cup of Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups of All Purpose Flour
¼ cup of Melted Butter, to brush over the top before baking

For the filling,

1/3 cup of Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
¾ cup of Brown Sugar
¼ cup of Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp of Ground Cinnamon

For the glaze,

¼ cup of Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbsp of Butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups of Powdered Sugar
½ tsp of Vanilla Extract
3 to 4 Tbsp of Warm Milk 

Process,

1) In a small bowl, combine the warm water and 1 tsp of the granulated sugar, sprinkle the yeast over the top and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the egg, milk, salt, sugar and melted butter. Add 2 cups of the flour and the water, vanilla and yeast mixture, mix until its all incorporated and slowly add about 2 more cups of flour. Turn the speed up to medium and let it mix for about 5 to 7 minutes or until you have a smooth dough.

3) Oil a large bowl with some vegetable oil and set aside. Take the dough out of the mixer and pull it together with your hands to form a ball. Place it in the oiled bowl and oil the top of the dough with a little vegetable oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise for about 2 hours.

4) In a small bow, mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon for the filling, set aside.

5) When doubled in size, punch the dough down and roll it out onto a floured surface into a 15x9” rectangle. Spread the soft butter over the top and sprinkle evenly over the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Cut into 14 to 16 slices (make sure they are even) and place them cut side down in a well buttered 9x13 baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let put them back into a warm spot to rise for another 1 ½ hours.

6) Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

7) Once risen, brush them with some melted butter and bake them for about 30 or until golden brown.

8) While the cinnamon rolls cool for a few minutes make the glaze. Mix all the ingredients of the glaze in a bowl except for the milk, once the cream cheese is all mixed, slowly add the milk until you get a runny glaze consistency. Immediately pour the glaze over the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

Look at them rise.So gebu maa...

I just love to see the swirls

1 recipe makes 16 Cinnamon Rolls.

Perfectly baked!

Drizzled with creamcheese frostings.Just out of this world!

Paula Deens Red Velvet Cuppies

I had'nt been well throughout last week.I thought the dizziness I was having was due to my lack of sleep.My cough was so bad it always disturbs my sleep.But when the dizziness got worse and I was having imbalance and blackouts I went to the clinic and found out it was BPPV( Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo).
Finally on Friday evening after watching some videos to how to overcome the problem I followed the exercise and instantly felt better.Alhamdulillah.
And guess what I did when I felt better?
Bake...what else?Hahaha.
Had some cream cheese in the fridge so I decided to make Red Velvet Cuppie.tried Paula Deens recipe and method which turned out to be the easiet I've tried so far.And the taste?Out of this world!So delicious!
I brought it to my mums the next day and everyone enjoyed them.


2   large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cocoa powder (I used 2 tbsp since I wanted in to be a little more chocalatey)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
2 tablespoon red food coloring 
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers. 
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. 
4. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.(I just used my whisker)
5. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. 
7. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. 
8. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

See how easy it is?Prepare dry ingredients.Then prepare wet ingredients then cpmbine them together.Just like when you make muffins

For the cream cheese frostings I used a recipe from Allrecipe.

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

I love the size of these cupcakes

I poked a hole in the middle of the cupcake.Then nozeled into it some of the creamcheese frosting.And the bit that I cut out I used it to decorate the cupcakes.Used a strainer to make the into small pieces.

Just lovely!

Laura Vitale's Red Velvet Cuppies for Teachers Day

Syaima' had requested some Red Velvet Cuppies to take to school on Teachers Day.Since I only had leftover cream cheese topping and it wasn't much,I opted to make cuppies.Felt like trying Laura Vitales cupcakes this time around since the batter only makes around 11-12 cuppies.But I used smaller paper cups so I got double the amount.

1 ¼ cup of all Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
½ tsp of Baking Powder
½ tsp of Baking Soda
¼ tsp of Salt
¼ cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
¾ cup of Granulated sugar
¾ cup of Buttermilk
1 Egg
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
Red food Coloring


For the frosting.
2 Cups of Powdered Sugar
4 oz of Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
1 Tbsp of Milk
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract Process

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cup cake liners and set aside.
2) In a small bowl mix together the first 5 ingredients and set aside.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter, add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined and creamy.
3) With the mixer running on low, add half of the dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk, make sure its combined and add the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk making sure to combine everything together but not over mixing.Using a spatula mix the batter from the bottom to make sure nothing is left stuck to the side of the bowl, add enough food coloring to get the desired red color for your cupcakes.
4) Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop the batter evenly in your prepared pan and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until when you insert a toothpick in the center it comes out clean.Let the cupcakes cool completely.
5) To make the frosting simply put all the frosting ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until well combined and it has the consistency of a thick frosting.Frost the cupcakes either with a little spatula or using a disposable piping bag fitted with a plain large tip.
 6) Let cool in the fridge for about 10 to 15 minutes to set a little before serving (if you can resist them anyway) Enjoy!  

I did the ones in the glass bowl and Syaima' did the rest.

This is for Teachers Day

Chocolate Yogurt Cake

My eldest son Muaz is returning to his hostel this evening so I decided to bake a cake for him to eat with his friends later. I happened to buy a box of yogurt so I chose to do this recipe.
And I am very happy I did. It was so simple preparing the batter and the cake turned out so soft,fluffy and moist! Definately will do it again. Highly reccomended!I got it here.

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Dutch processed cocoa(I just used local cocoa)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup Dutched processed cocoa (I just used local cocoa)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), softened
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 teaspoon of cocoa and dust inside of a greased 9-inch bundt or tube pan with this mixture, shaking out any excess.

2. Sift 2 cups of flour and 2/3 cup of cocoa together with the baking soda; set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

4. Add the flour mixture, alternatively with the yogurt, in three parts.Do not overmix.

5. Stir in the vanilla.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.I used a bundt pan.

7. Bake in a preheated 175c oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a rack to cool completely.

You can serve it with seived icing sugar or pour chocolate ganache over it.

It rose high.

Added some chocolate ganache

My sweet toothed Umamah was the first to take a bite.
Its so soft and fluffy and soft. Yummy!
Will definately use this recipe again.