Eggless Chocolate Cupcake

After making the vanilla cupcakes, i wanted to try my hand at chocolate, and see if I could make that work (this time at least!) with the new recipe. It worked!! So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Maida/All purpose flour (apf)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate powder (i prefer Hershey’s, you can use any other brand, but the taste may be slightly different)
• 1.25 cup thick curd
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (except olive oil)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp soda bi-carb
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven @ 210 deg C / 400 deg F
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the curd and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved.
• Add in the baking powder and soda bi-carb and let it rest. the mixture will start to “bubble” in 2-3 minutes
• Sieve the maida/apf and chocolate powder together and set aside
• Add oil and essence to the curd-sugar mixture and mix well.
• Gently add the flour and mix thoroughly to avoid clumps
• The mixture should now be in dropping consistency, else add a bit of curds.
• Grease your baking dish/cupcake moulds with oil and lightly dust with maida/apf
• Pour into the baking dish of choice and place in oven
• Bake for 10 minutes
• Lower the temperature to 150 deg C/ 300 deg F and bake for ~18 minutes at the lowered temperature.
• Test the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center. When pulled out, it should be clean, without cake stuck to it.
• Visually, the top should be lightly browned and formed a “crust”
• Let the cake sit for a few minutes in the dish before removing it.
• Let the cake rest on a wire grill to cool. Let it cool to room temperature before cutting.

I hope you enjoy making this quick and light cake!

As time progresses..

I just wanted to update a couple of recipes here. These are ones that I made well in the first place (else I wudnt have posted at all!!). However, recently I find myself improving every time i make them.  These improvements are both photographic as well as culinary!
however, I’m just posting the photograpic evidence… will wait for technology to provide the culinary proof!! 😉

• Thotakura pulusu-kura

• Thin Crust Pizza

Wishing everyone a happy new gastronomic year!!

Veg Thin-Crust Pizza

Last night at 7pm, Hubby decided that the best way to watch an action movie is if we have pizza! The normal pizza I always make is usually a part of my bread dough. I simply make a bit extra, and set it aside for the pizza after proofing. At that hour, there isn’t any way I can get proofed dough ready for the 9pm show. Also, we’ve stopped keeping ready-made pizza bases at home, in a drive to lead a healthier lifestyle.

So we got hunting for a recipe I could work with. A few blogs and sites later, I figured out what I wanted to do! The one I made has been inspired by all those blogs, but I made my changes to accommodate our tastes. The end result was definitely a perfect accompaniment to an action movie!!

Pizza!

This particular recipe is bound to be a favorite for all those who love thin crusts. For thicker crusts, you need to go through the proofing method before baking. 🙂

Ingredients:

Pizza Base: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour / maida
• 1 tsp instant yeast (or active dry yeast)
  • be sure to proof the active-dry yeast before using. Use water from the 1 cup mentioned below.
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 tsp salt

Sauce:

• 5 ripe medium-size tomatoes
• few fresh basil leaves
  • Can use 1/2 tsp of dried basil also
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4th tsp salt
• 2 garlic pods (optional; I did not use)

Toppings:

• caramelized onions
• sweet corn
• chillies
• chilli flakes
• diced capsicum
• cheese of your choice

Method:

Sauce:

• Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them in boiling water. After 2 mins take them out and drop in a bowl of cold water.
• Peel the tomatoes and roughly chop them.
• In a mixer jar, add all the ingredients except salt and grind into a fine puree.
• Add salt at the end and set aside.

Ready to be used sauce

Pizza:

• Preheat the oven at the highest temperature for 30 minutes
  • My oven goes up to 250 deg C. Please make sure you are able to achieve a good amount of heat within the oven. if your highest temperature is lower, then you may keep it for a few minutes longer.
• In a bowl, add the yeast and water and mix well.
• Add the flour and salt and mix well by hand till it becomes a sticky dough.

Basic dough, ready to be kneaded

• Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and drop the dough on it.
• Knead the dough thoroughly until it becomes smooth. This may take about 5-8 minutes of kneading. The dough at this point will not stick to the hand.

And now we’re ready to make Pizza!

• You may add a little flour if needed.
• Cover the dough while you prepare the toppings for the pizza.
  
  Note:To actually bake the pizza, I use the tray that I got with my oven. It is rectangular, but I’m ok with that! 🙂
• Spread some olive oil on the tray to prevent the base from sticking.
• Slowly, by hand, spread the base on the tray while keeping the base at least 1/4″ thick.
  • Any thicker, the base will not cook properly and may remain soggy.
  • This step needs a lot of patience. Do not rush this as the base may become too thin and burn or be too thick and raw.
• Spread the tomato sauce over the base evenly with a bit extra at the edges.
• Top the sauce with grated cheese.
• Over the cheese, add all the toppings of choice. You may add a bit of cheese over the toppings also.

Ready to bake

• Bake the pizza for 15 minutes.
  • Make sure to the keep checking as the amount of time varies of the temperature used and the size of the oven.
• Pull out of the over, cut and serve!!

These were almost gone before I remembered to take a pic! 😉