In My Kitchen – March 2015

I’m not quite home yet from my trip away with Pete.  I will catch up with you all this coming week. 🙂

Thanks to our friend Celia over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial who hosts our monthly IMK event, we are able to peek into kitchens all over the world.  Thank you Celia for the fun of being able to pop in and see so many wonderful things that everyone shares.

In my kitchen…

Were chocolate cupcakes with my first attempt at icing roses.  Up to now, I have had the incorrect nozzle.  What a different having the correct one makes. I am looking forward to practising a little more with my new favourite Ateco 852 nozzle.

In my kitchen…

Is a new 2 tier cake stand.  It had a gold handle which I didn’t like so sprayed it white until I can get hold of some silver paint.  It was ridiculously cheap.  Not sure why I never bought more!  They make fabulous gifts.

In my kitchen…

Are the cutest mini sauce bowls – I REALLY don’t need them but couldn’t resit buying a set.

In my kitchen…

Are pictures of our three cats.  I have been trying forever to get decent shots for Kim but alas this is the best I can do.  They are the most uncooperative four legged felines I know!

In my kitchen…

Is rhubarb seed, a gift from our friend Wayne after he heard how much Pete loves rhubarb.  Now, the pressure is on me to get these lovely little seeds growing and eventually to make a pie. 🙂

In my kitchen…

Is a second batch of lovely teas to sample, sent to me by Alison over at Teavivre.  I am looking forward to doing another degustation.

What’s in your kitchen this month?  Please remember to link back to Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial if you partake in the fun and drop her a quick note to let her know when your post will be up and please note Celia needs all IMK posts submitted by the 10th of every month.

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Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes which were meant to be a cake

But we know what I am like – a cake just has to be turned into cupcakes – I just cannot help myself!  I saw this recipe on the reverse side of a piece of paper for Kedgeree which I was supposed to make for Pete.  Oops!  Well, I never had any salmon or smoked trout on hand so couldn’t make the kedgeree anyway plus I have all these baking cases which need to be used and icing nozzles and piping bags and and and…  You know how it is, right?

This recipe was printed in the 24 March 2013 edition of The Sunday Times, I think, as we only kept the one page insert and it doesn’t make any reference to the newspaper at all on either side of the page.

The cake was titled – Wacky one-pan eggless chocolate cake, you know one of those recipes where everything is mixed in one bowl – my kinda recipe.

No matter where the recipe came from, its fabulous – quick, easy and results in a lovely light, moist and spongy cupcake.  I made my normal butter icing and if you replace the milk with water, it is still technically dairy free as butter is classed as a fat.

Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

1½ cups cake flour
¾ cup caster sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder sifted
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt – I would take this up to at least ½ tsp
5 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup water
Fresh berries to serve – I never used berries
Icing sugar for dusting – I made icing, recipe below
Whipped cream to serve – I iced the cupcakes instead

Icing

300g icing sugar
50g butter at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla essence
±2 tbsp milk (water)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Spray a 20cm cake pan with non stick cooking spray.  If you are making cupcakes, use a 2.5 litre jug.
3. Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarb and salt in this pan (jug) and mix.
4. Using a wooden spoon, make one large indentation in the mixture and two smaller ones.
5. Pour the oil into the large hole and the vinegar and vanilla into the smaller holes.
6. Gradually add the water mixing until just combined.  Don’t over mix.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes.  Cool in the pan before turning out onto a rack.  Top with berries, dust with icing sugar and serve with the cream.
8. Alternatively if you are making cupcakes, pour the mixture between 10 muffin sized prepared baking cases and baked for 15 minutes.  They dome beautifully.
9. Combine the icing ingredients for 3 minutes and ice cupcakes once completely cooled.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing

I have been craving a chocolate cupcake and wanted to try a new recipe so came about this one by combining, mixing adding and changing a whole bunch of recipes – got a little confused with what to leave in, take out, change, increase and decrease but in the end came up with what I believe it the perfect chocolate cupcake. 😀  They are light without being too much like a sponge cake, moist with the softest crumb and rose a little souffléish and settled down perfectly while on the cooling rack.  The icing is pretty much my standard with the added sparkle of fairy dust.  A few of my “taste-testers” also thoroughly enjoyed these, and highly recommend you give them a try.  Added bonus:  They keep very well so you don’t have to scoff them all in one day.

Ingredients

60ml cocoa powder
125ml boiling water
250ml cake flour
190ml castor sugar
5ml baking powder
2.5ml bicarbonate of soda
1ml salt
60ml oil
10ml vanilla essence
4 eggs separated (I am sure 3 would work equally as well)
1ml cream of tartar

Icing

60g butter
300g icing sugar
45ml cocoa powder
45ml milk
10ml vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Dissolve the cocoa in the water and allow to cool.
3. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a bowl and make a hollow in the centre.
4. Add the oil, vanilla essence, cocoa mixture and yolks and combine.
5. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until still and fold into the flour mixture, starting with a third of the egg whites.
6. Divide the mixture between 12 muffin sized tins lined with paper cases.
7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
8. Allow to cool complete before icing.
9. For the icing, beat all of the ingredients together for 3 minutes.

Nestle Cocoa Cupcakes

Not that I need another chocolate cake recipe in my arsenal BUT I just had to try the recipe which I found on the back of a Nestle cocoa wrapper and naturally turned them into cupcakes.  They were light, soft and spongy.  I was undecided on how to dress these airy treats – icing, glaze, caramel, whipped cream, jam, crunchy peanut butter, then I thought about a light dusting of icing sugar served with a scoop of ice cream would make a nice dessert.  Turns out our ate them undressed.

Nestle Cocoa Cupcakes

Ingredients

60ml cocoa
125ml hot water
250ml flour
10 ml baking powder
2.5ml salt
3 eggs seperated
60ml oil
220ml sugar
5ml vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Mix the cocoa with the water and allow to cool.
3. Sift the flour baking powder and salt together.
4. Combine the egg yolks, oil, sugar, vanilla essence and cocoa mixture
5. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix though.
6. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold gently into the cocoa mixture.
7. Divide the mixture into 12 muffin tins lined with paper cases.
8. Bakes for 12 to 15 minutes.

To Microwave – I did not try this metod

1. Pour the mixture into a 21cm plastic ring mould.
2. Microwave on medium high heat for 10 to 12 minutes.

Yoghurt Chocolate Cake Cupcakes

A while back, Tandy shared this Yoghurt Chocolate Cake recipe.  The cake is meant to be baked in a ring plan, which I do not have; beside if it can be made into a cupcake, that’s exactly what I will do, and they worked out beautifully. The unbaked mixture is fairly thick but the cupcakes turned out lovely and light  and were complimented with a thick vanilla butter icing.

Slightly amended from Lavender and Lime

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups self raising flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup plain yoghurt
2 eggs
5ml bicarbonate of soda
10ml vanilla essence
120g butter at room temperature

Icing*

300g icing sugar
50g butter at room temperature
10ml vanilla essence
25ml milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Divide into 12 muffin tins lined with cupcake cases.
4. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Allow to cool before icing.

Icing*

1. Beat all the ingredients together in a bowl for 3 minutes.
2. Spread over the cupcakes.

* You can add a little more milk for a thinner icing – I leave it thick because of our heavy heat and humidity.