Filled Cupcakes for the sweet punch

“Mama I’m hungry, I want something to eat” and a list of specifications follows for ’something’, the most prominent being ‘something different’. I am sure every mother hears this dialogue several times a day. Many times my son has specific hunger pangs;’ I am hungry for chocolate or hungry for oranges or raisins or some favorite snack’ Like every mother I find it challenging to come out with ideas to satiate the ever hungry boy!

This month’s Sweet Punch made my life easier at least for a while; ‘Devils food cupcakes with Vanilla cream filling’ to get me through a few hunger pangs for this week. The boy loves chocolate, even though he does not have a sweet tooth, so he was jumping with joy at the mention of Chocolate cupcakes.

 

A Sweet Punch is a monthly baking event started by three lovely girls  Ria, Maria and Divya, to make baking as simple as possible, bringing you a tried and tested recipe every month.’

This month’s punch was chosen by Divya and the recipe is originally from Baking bites. Thanks Divya I am delighted by your choice of recipe- Filled Cupcakes, a first for me.I don’t think I would had attempted the recipe without your instigation.

The recipe makes about 2 dozen cupcakes. I did not fill and frost all the cupcakes, left  few of them as it is. The cupcakes were rich and delicious even without the frosting. The little elf polished off a few even as they were still cooling on the rack.

Here’s the recipe:

Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream filling

Recipe source – Baking Bites

Makes ~ 2 dozen cupcakes

The recipe looks lengthy and consists of three parts:

a)Making the cupcakes

b)Making the filling

c)Making the frosting

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature (I used salted butter and skipped the addition of salt)

2 cups sugar (I used Vanilla sugar)

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or full) –(I used cream mixed with a tsp of homemade yogurt)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2-oz(~55 gms) dark chocolate

1 cup water, boiling

 For the Vanilla Cream Filling:

3 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 scraped vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

For the Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins (I used 4-6 cup muffin pans of different shapes)

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.

Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by cream and vanilla extract.

In a small bowl, sieve together flour, baking soda and salt.

Add half of flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix nicely and add the rest of the flour mix.

Stir well between each addition and mix until no streaks of flour remain.

Stir the cocoa powder and the dark chocolate into the boiling water

Pour chocolate water into the rest of the batter and stir until uniform.

Evenly distribute batter into prepared baking cups. Bake each tray for 13-15 minutes (it took ~20-22 minutes for me), until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.

Cool the cupcakes completely and then turn onto a wire rack to remove from the muffin pans.

For the Vanilla butter filling:

Whisk together the flour and milk and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until thick. This will only take a few minutes.

Stir continuously to prevent the mixture from clumping and do not bring all the way to a boil.

When thickened (consistency will be that of a thin pudding or custard), strain with a mesh strainer into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature.

When the milk mixture is cool, cream the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl until light. Add in the milk/flour mixture and the scraped vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract) and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 7 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip, or a large ziplock bag with the corner cut off, and set aside until ready to fill your cupcakes.

For the chocolate butter cream frosting:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat, with an electric mixer, until frosting is creamy, 3-5 minutes.

Add additional powdered sugar as needed to achieve a thick, but not stiff, frosting that is easy to spread.

Add additional milk, if necessary, to thin the frosting if it gets too thick.

Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip or a large ziplock bag with the corner cut off

Assembly:

Take a cooled cupcake and, using a small knife, cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the top.

Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a flat circle of cake. Set aside and repeat this process for all the cupcakes.

Take the cream filling and squeeze a tablespoon or so into each cupcake cavity, filling the hole up to the top with filling.

Top off with a flat circle of cake to plug the hole and keep the filling in place.

Pipe out the Chocolate frosting to cover the top of the cupcake.

Top with some vanilla cream if you have any leftover from the filling and some sprinklers.(I topped the boy’s cupcakes with sugar coated marzipan cherries)

Note: I found it difficult to unmold the cupcakes which did not use cupcake liners, while they were still warm. I had to wait for them to completely cool and then remove them from the pan.

I used a piping bag to frost the cupcakes, I found this easier

I used only 1 cup of powdered sugar for the Chocolate frosting, instead of the recommended 2-3cups.

 

Tiramisu Cake- A sweet punch

One of my resolutions (?) for the New Year was to explore baking beyond the simple basic cakes and cookies. This also meant an opportunity to try out different recipes from the several cookbooks I own; cookbooks which were just gathering dust on the shelves.Given my hectic schedule and the 6-7 hr daily power out(r)age I was getting nowhere near implementing my resolution.So when Ria, Maria and Divya announced –A Sweet Punch I could not resist the opportunity.

‘A Sweet Punch is a monthly baking event started by Ria, Maria and Divya, to make baking as simple as possible, bringing you a tried and tested recipe every month. It could be either from cookbooks or from other food-blogs.All we need to do is, follow the recipe and create magic!’

The recipe chosen for this month was Tiramisu Cake from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours

There were quite a few ‘firsts’ for me:

• This is my first Sweet Punch
• This is my first recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours , which I bought months ago from Flipkart
• I made my first batch of Mascarpone at home! I have been eyeing this on blogs and always planned to make it.

 The Sweet Punch rule was simple: ‘try to stick to the recipe as far as you can but you can make changes to suit your religious/ dietary requirements’ and I did just that!

I followed the recipe to the tee. The only change I did was to bake a single cake and then cut it into two, instead of the recommended two 9”cakes.

My first try at making Mascarpone was very encouraging and I was quite pleased with the results, moreover it was so simple to make…making me wonder why I did not try this before?

I made the Mascarpone 2 days in advance and the cake a day earlier.

The only problem I faced was, when I mixed the Mascarpone with the other ingredients for frosting it changed its texture (I guessed the heat here was too much to keep the cheese firm, any suggestions to firm up the frosting are pls. welcome). I did not have the time to keep it back in the refrigerator to firm it up so I just poured it on the cake and inbetween the layers and let the frosting drizzle from the sides.

I used mini chocolate chips for the filling and dusted the top with dark Cocoa. I had a small bottle of Amaretto liqueur, which a close relative had gifted us many many years ago (another first) and I am glad I added it to the frosting. The rich burst of flavors from the coffee and the liqueur made the cake almost divine! I am glad I used the entire syrup to soak the cake even if I had some initial doubts.

Thank you Ria, Maria and Divya for the intiative, lovely recipe and most of all for the detailed explanation to make it look so easy and simple! 

Here’s the recipe for Tiramisu Cake:

Tiramisu Cake

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

 For the cake layers:

2 cups cake flour (I used All purpose flour +Cornstarch)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk (I used homemade buttermilk)

 For the espresso extract:

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

2 tablespoons boiling water

 For the espresso syrup:

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy

 For the filling and frosting:

1 8-ounce container mascarpone (store-bought or homemade) (I used 250 gms homemade from the recipe on Deeba’s blog here)

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy

1 cup cold heavy cream

2 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or about 1/2 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for decoration (optional) (I did not have these so I skipped it)

Cocoa powder, for dusting

 Getting ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F ( I baked at 180 degrees C). Butter two 9×2 inch round cake pans,(I used only 1) dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

 To make the cake:

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.

 Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes,( took ~ 45 minutes for me) rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them, and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up.

 To make the extract:

Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside.

To make the syrup:

Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.

 To make the filling and frosting:

Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth.

Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.

 To assemble the cake:

 If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Place one layer right-side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup. Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – user about 1 1/4 cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling. Put the second cake layer on the counter and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup, then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling. Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.

 For the frosting, whisk 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling. Taste the frosting as you go to decide how much extract you want to add. If the frosting looks as if it might be a little too soft to spread over the cake, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so. Refrigerate the cake too.

With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top. If you want to decorate the cake with chocolate-covered espresso beans, press them into the filling, making concentric circles of beans or just putting some beans in the center of the cake.

 Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or for up to 1 day) before serving – the elements need time to meld.

Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa.

(Though the cake recipe looks exhaustive it turned out to be quite simple when I actually made it)

Check out the roundup for more scrumptious versions of this cake at A sweet Punch

Sweet Endings…

Yay…raced to the finishing line; 7 recipes on 7 consecutive days! That’s something for a blog which has seen a lull for a very long time!

Some more demanding priorities had forced me to neglect My Foodcourt for a long time. I wanted to get back here and Nupur’s call made me jump at the opportunity. The only hurdle was that, I was on the move for the first 2-3 days, but Auto scheduling posts took care of that.

Nupur’s enthusiasm is infectious and it was impossible for me to ignore her invitation. Thanks Nupur for instigating activity on My Foodcourt and for the lovely ’round-ups’ for all the past 6 days! 

The Marathon and the year will end on a sweet note : Peanut Butter Bites

This quick and simple recipe is from Tarla Dalal’s ‘The Chocolate Cookbook’. Me and my little one had a great time making these chocolate bites.

The choco bites have turned out a bit messy looking and not the perfect shape as I would have liked them to be, but with a 4 ½ old year helping me and kept busy I was least bothered about the appearance! These are absolutely delicious chocolaty bites; don’t go by the looks!

Peanut Butter Bites recipe:

125 gms dark chocolate (or light or white)

 For the filling:

1 cup peanut butter

1/3 cups icing sugar

¼ cups Cocoa powder

 Mix the filling ingredients together.

Roll out into small lemon sized balls. (Refrigerate if required)

Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Take care to see that the base of the bowl is not in contact with the water in the double boiler.

Once the chocolate starts melting, stir continuously till the chocolate melts completely and resembles a smooth sauce

Remove from the double boiler.

Cool the chocolate to room temperature stirring continuously, so that the chocolate cools evenly and no lumps remain.

Coat the peanut butter balls with the chocolate on all sides and place on a cookie tray with butter paper.

I decorated the bites with some colored sprinkles, though the recipe does not say so.

Refrigerate till the chocolate hardens.

Wish You all a very Happy New year ! See you in the New year…..

Wheat Sprouts Chocolate Pudding

When life gives you Wheat Sprouts you make Wheat Sprouts Chocolate Pudding!

I was at the local Food mart buying some groceries and saw some sprouts at the billing counter. The lady at the counter offered them for free..seems no one was interested in them. I grabbed 2 bags. I remembered seeing a ‘Wheat sprouts pudding ‘ recipe on the local TV cookery show. Couldn’t remember the ingredients in details nor did I remember the proportions. I made the Wheat sprouts chocolate pudding on similar lines and with my own measurements.

The result was an absolutely fabulous nutty chocolatey pudding ready within minutes. The only time consuming part would be the sprouting process..but if you get them readily sprouted for free ..ready in a jiffy.     The family could not believe healthy sprouted whole wheat went into this delectable chocolate pudding.

 Wheat Sprout Chocolate Pudding recipe

2 cups Wheat sprouts

3 Tbsp unsweetened natural Cocoa powder

4 Tbsp Vanilla flavored custard powder

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cups milk

Chopped nuts, powdered sugar for garnishing

Grind the wheat sprouts along with the Cocoa powder and custard powder to a smooth paste. Add a little water if required.

Heat the milk along with the sugar in a heavy bottom pan.

Add the wheat sprout-cocoa-custard paste stirring continuously.

Keep stirring the mixture till it thickens (~8-10 minutes).

Cool and pour in pudding bowl (or small individual pudding bowls)

Chill for ~1-2 hrs.

Garnish with nuts of your choice, powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream.

Marble cake with Cranberries

      

Some very good reasons prompted me to make this cake:

#- I found dried Orange flavoured Cranberries in the supermarket here. I had never tasted Cranberries before. Many people here don’t even know what are Cranberries. I was one of them! But I am very experimentive with my cooking and hence grabbed the packets of Dried Cranberries as soon as I saw them. ( that too at an offer I couldn’t resist1 pk. Free with the other! J)  

#- My niece turns three this week and came down from Mumbai to visit us this weekend. I wanted to bake a cake for her b’day – celebrating in advance. Kids generally like Chocolate flavoured cakes.

#-I had baked a plain Marble cake 2 years ago with one of my very good friend, Deepa’s recipe. My hubby kept on asking me to bake it again (that’s his way of appreciating my food!) But I never got around making it till now!

 Dried Cranberries, Chocolate Flavour and hubby’s request all put into one I baked – Marble cake with Cranberries.

(I have lost Deepa’s Marble Cake recipe which I scribbled on a piece of paper. So I just added the ingredients in proportions I faintly recalled J)

250 gm Maida (All purpose flour)

250 gm powdered sugar

250 gm butter (I used Amul)

4 eggs

½ tsp baking powder

3-4 drops Vanilla essence

2 tsp Cocoa powder

1tbsp Milk

¾ cup dried Orange flavoured Cranberries

Sieve Maida and baking powder together. Keep it aside. In a bowl cream the sugar and butter. Beat it in one direction using a cake spatula till light and fluffy. Beat eggs (just 1 spin in the mixer).Add some beaten eggs to the sugar-butter mixture and mix properly. Repeat till all the beaten eggs are mixed properly with the sugar butter mixture. Fold in some sieved Maida and baking powder mix. Repeat for the rest of the Maida. Add milk. The mixture should be of dropping consistency. Adjust the amount of milk accordingly.Add Vanilla essence and mix properly.Add the dried Cranberries and mix. Divide the mixture into two. Keep one portion as it is. To the other half add Cocoa powder and mix well. Grease a round (any shape will do) baking pan, dust it with Maida.Alternatively put 1 spoon of the Vanilla and Cocoa mixture in the pan.Bake it in a preheated oven at 180^oC for about 35-40 minutes or till a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.Cool on a wire rack.

   

I had three little helpers with me aged :3 yrs, 16 months and 10 months!They could hardly wait to cut the cake. So there was no chance of a photograph before the cake was cut!My little niece has cut this cake and mami’s(aunty’s) Marble Cake with Cranberries was a hit with her.

Have to bake it again next weekend for my dear hubby since he could get only a piece of it-indication that the cake came out really well!