Little Eggless Chocolate Delights!.....

Yes, that's what these are-- "Little Chocolate Delights" or if I say in Hindi "Bada Dhamaka Chota Pack" :D
These Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes were made specially for little nephew who visited us over the long weekend. He enjoyed these little cakes as much as I enjoyed making them. These chocolate packed petite cakes are a perfect treat not only for the kids but anyone who is in love with chocolate like me :) I loved decorating these cupcakes. These cakes were very moist and gooey! Frosting was creamy but light and perfectly sweetened.

                                                                   Aren't these cute?

My cousin, nephew and niece just left a few hours ago for their home and I am already missing my cute little angels! :( . Good thing is I will get to see them soon again. They live just 2.5 hours away from us.
I wish I had taken pictures of my nephew digging into the cake........he gets such a sparkle in his eyes and smile on face when he sees a chocolate cake. I love it! Actually my sister too got same kind of expression and smile when she ate the cupcake! Like Bua...Like Bhatija :) ( It means both Nephew and Aunt are alike).

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Cupcakes (Click here for printable recipe).
This recipe makes 6 medium. For making 12, simply double the Ingredients.

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder ( I used Hershey's)
1 Tsp Cinnamon Powder
1 small cube Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/6 Cup of Margarine or Oil (I used Canola Oil)
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Tbsp White Vinegar
1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 Tsp Salt

For Icing/Frosting:
1/4 Tub of Cool Whip Lite
1/4 Package of Instant Vanilla Pudding
1/8 Cup Sugar
1/8 Cup Milk
Food Colors per your choice

Method:
1. Grease and line baking liners into the Cupcake Pan or Muffin Pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.
3. In a bowl, add All Purpose Flour, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Cinnamon Powder, Baking Soda and Salt.
4. Using double boiler method, melt the cube of Semi-sweet baking bar. Add Oil and Water to it and mix. As soon as it starts boiling, turn off the gas. Take it off the gas and Stir in Vinegar and Vanilla Extract.
5. Now slowly add liquid mixture in 3 parts to dry ingredients while mixing using a spatula. Do not overmix.
6. Pour the mixture into the baking cups upto 3/4 Full.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. ( Reducing the baking time by a minute or two keeps the cupcakes nice and moist)
8. Let the cupcakes cool in the tray for 5-10 minutes before you take them out. Transfer to a wire-rack and let them cool completely.

Frosting/Icing
1. Add Vanilla Pudding, Sugar and Milk in a bowl and mix using a wire -whisk for 2 minutes.
2. Add in the Cool Whip and mix continuously for 2 more minutes.
3. Frosting is ready.
4. Just keep adding colors and decorate as you like.

Which one would YOU like to eat? 

                                                                An Ice-Cream Cone?

                                                           Whatchu lookin at? ...ME??

                                      Or you probably want to go with this pretty flower :)


ENJOY!! :)  :)

Sending this to Aathidhyam's Event: Bread Mania.    

Chilli Mushroom!

I might have told you before that there are two more ultimate love of my husband's life other than me .......One is Paneer and other is Mushroom. LOL. He can have Paneer and Mushroom any day in any form. We are never out of both of these.

This week I made 2 dishes for him of Mushroom. One is Mushroom Matar Masala and other is Chili Mushroom with Fried Rice! The recipe is quite simple and does not require much time to cook. It goes perfectly well with Fried Rice and/or with Chowmein/Noodles.

Here is the recipe (Click here for printable recipe)

Ingredients:
1 Large Green Bell Pepper (Washed, Seed Removed and chopped into Thin Strips)
1 Cup Button Mushrooms (Washed and chopped into medium size pieces)
1 Small Onion ( Chopped long and thin)
1 Small Tomato ( Chopped into thin long slices)
1 Tsp White Vinegar or Chili Vinegar
2 Tsp Green Chili Sauce (I used Chings)
2 Tsp Red Chilli Sauce (I used Chings)
1 Tsp Soy Sauce
Red Crushed Pepper (Per Taste)
Salt (Per Taste. You would need to put little salt as all the sauces we are going to add contains salt too)
1 Tbsp Corn Starch dissolved in 1/4 Cup Water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Method:
1. Heat Oil in a pan. Add Onions. Fry until Translucent.
2. Add Mushrooms and Green Bell Pepper. Stir fry until they are a little tender. Add the tomatoes and stir fry some more.
3. Add salt, red crushed pepper and all the sauces. Mix well.
4. Add Vinegar. Add the dissolved corn starch and mix. It will start to form thick and silky/shiny gravy.
5. Turn off the gas and immediately serve with Fried Rice or Chowmein/Noodles.

PS: I was out of Spring Onions. You can garnish with some Spring Onion Greens if you like.

 

VERY CHOCOLATY BUNDT CAKE

I post very less these days and its not that I am not cooking. I am cooking a lot but somehow not getting time to post the recipe as my sister is here for the summer and we are usually out spending time in this nice weather. I am not finding myself even surfing the net. I just check my emails on my iPhone and I am done! I will sure come to your posts that I have missed and enjoy your delicious recipes soon.

I couldn't miss posting this delicious Very Chocolaty Bundt Cake. I saw the recipe on Hershey's Website. It goes by "Heritage Chocolate Cake" . This cake looked so delicious that I couldn't resist but get up at once and make it immediately. Although it was a regular chocolate cake, but I decided to make it Bundt and not use the frosting at all. This cake is Moist, Soft and Chocolaty enough to satisfy your choco-craving. Everyone at home and my friends loved the cake.

Enjoy this delicious VERY CHOCOLATY BUNDT CAKE. ( Click here for printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened ( I used vegetable oil)
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk ( Add 4 Tsp of White Vinegar to 1-1/2 Cup of Milk and keep aside for 7-8 minutes before use)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 12-Cup Bundt Pan.
2. Beat Oil, Sugar, Eggs and Vanilla in large bowl until fluffy with electric beater on medium speed.

3. Combine Flour, Cocoa, Baking powder, Baking soda and Salt.

4. Add the flour mixture alternately with buttermilk/sour milk to butter mixture, beating just until smooth.

5.Pour batter into the prepared pan. 

6. Bake 50-55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 

7.Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then invert the cake from pan to wire rack. Cool completely and ENJOY this Chocolate Beauty :)

Sending this to Aathidhyam's Event- Bread Mania

Mixed Fruit Jam......... Fruitilicious!!

 It didn't take us long to finish off the Strawberry Jam I had made 3-4 weeks ago. It was delicious and I absolutely loved having Jam on my breakfast toast. As I said in my earlier post, once you start making your own homemade jam, you wouldn't want to go for the store bought ones.As I opened my refrigerator and saw the strawberry jam is hardly left, I immediately took some fruits out and decided to make Mixed Fruit Jam.

I used Apples, Strawberries, Grapes and Mango :). I know there aren't much Jam's that use Mango but I did as Mango is my favorite fruit so how could I miss putting this delicious fruit into the Jam. This Mixed Fruit Jam came out delicious. I am sure this Jar too would be finished in no time and I will find myself making some new flavor.

For now try out this delicious Mixed Fruit Jam. I promise, its very easy to make and turns out awesome! (Click here for printable recipe)

Ingredients:
Approx 1/2 Pound Strawberries ( Washed, Hulled and Chopped)
2 Apples ( Washed, Peeled and Chopped)
1 Ripe Mango ( Remove the peel and inner seed. Take the pulp out in a large bowl)
2 Cups Seedless Grapes
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp Cardamom Powder
1 Tbsp Butter

Method:
1. Put all the chopped fruits ( Strawberries, Apples and Grapes) into a food processor or mixer, and make them into a puree or mash them using a masher. ( Whatever suits you best)
2. Pour the pureed fruits into the bowl of mango pulp and stir them.
3. Add the Cinnamon,Sugar and Lemon Juice. Mix well. Keep it aside for 1 hour.
5. Heat a pan and add the mixture to it.Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
6. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil.
7. Put the flame to medium low and add the cardamom powder. Add the Butter now and Boil stirring often until most of the liquid is absorbed and mixture thickens. It could take approximately 25-30 minutes.
8. Perform a gel test: Place a spoonful of jam on chilled plate, and return to freezer. Wait 1 to 2 minutes; remove plate from freezer, Run your finger through the jam on the plate... if it doesn't try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger); its ready.
6.After jam passes the gel test, remove from heat. Pour warm jam into sterile jars. Give the Jar Water-bath for 20 minutes.
7. Seal and refrigerate for upto 3 months. ( IF you can save this delicious Jam that long....LOL)

Enjoy your Breakfast Toast with Mixed Fruit Jam!! Fruitilicious....:)  I already started...Look Below :P

Sticky Gooey Cinnamon Rolls!!

Cinnamon Rolls--- Sticky, Gooey, Delicious! Something I just can't resist. Whenever we go to mall and I see the Cinnabon place, I have to get one and satisfy my sweet tooth with this delicious cinnamon roll.

When I saw the cinnamon recipe posted by Ecurry's Webpage, I immediately bookmarked it. They looked so heavenly, I had to give them a try and so I did. They turned out awesome. I was so happy that these came out so good, just like Cinnabon's :). My Husband too loved these and enjoyed with coffee.
I followed the recipe exactly from Ecurry. Thanks for the wonderful recipe fellow blogger :) 
Only thing I did different is that I dissolved the yeast in warm water with a little sugar for 5 minutes so that it starts to work and also reduced the quantity to half and made 8 medium sized rolls.

Although the recipe is same from above, I am still going to post it right here. (Click here for printable recipe)

Sending these right to Champa's Bake Off Event.

Ingredients: (makes about 6-8 medium rolls)

1. 1.25 cups all-purpose flour and some more as needed for kneading.
2. 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
3. 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
4. 2 Tbsp Warm Water
5. 3 oz whole milk
6. 1 Tbsp sugar
7. 1 Tbsp butter
8. 1/4 Tsp salt
9. 1 egg
10. 2 Tbsp butter, just about melted
11. 2 oz packed brown sugar ( I used white sugar as I was out of brown one)
12. 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

For the sugar glaze:

1. 3 oz caster sugar
2. 1/2 Tsp melted butter
3. 2-4 Tbsp milk (or just enough to make a thick consistency)

Preparation:
To make the  Sugar Glaze:
Whisk together the sugar, butter and milk till it reaches a thick, but slightly pourable consistency.

To make the Rolls:
1. In 2 tbsp Warm Water, add a pinch of sugar and dissolve the yeast. Let it sit for 5-10 min. It will become foamy. This way you know yeast is active and working.
2.. In a large bowl combine 1.25 cups of the all-purpose flour and the yeast mixture. Heat the milk, 1/8 cup sugar, 1/8 cup butter and salt just until mixture is warm (not hot) and the butter is just melted, stirring slowly.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Add the egg and mix using spatula or electric beater on low speed while scraping the sides.Add some more flour and start kneading with your hand.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball.
5. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl & cover; let it rise in a warm place until double (about 1 to 1.5 hours). I had put in my Oven.
6. Punch dough down. Shape it into ball again, cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. On lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a rectangle/oblong.

7.Spread generously with 1.5 tablespoons softened butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the stretched dough. Roll up from a short side till the end and seal the edges.
8. Slice each dough roll into 6-8 pieces.
9. Arrange slices, cut side down, in a greased baking pan. Cover; let rise until nearly double (about 30 – 45 minutes). Do NOT skip this step. At this stage the dough may be refrigerated for  24 hours.Let the rolls sit outside for 30-40 minutes on the counter before baking.

                                                            Ready to go into the Oven

10. Place the rolls very close to each other on a baking tray. Bake rolls in a 350 F degrees oven for 20-25 minutes or until light brown.
11. Invert at once onto a wire rack. Cool slightly.
12. Drizzle rolls with the already made Sugar Glaze and INDULGE in these WARM, HEAVENLY, GOOEY DELICIOUS CINNAMON ROLLS.....YUMMMYYY!!