Cupcakes!!
Try mentioning this little magical word in your surroundings and I bet you won't have to wait for the after-effects! In a matter of seconds, numerous eyes will turn to you to capture the very sight of those gorgeous-little-lip-smackers.
In case you haven't got them, be prepared for the consequences!
Being a super dooper fan of cupcakes, this is how I would like to describe them.
Well let me introduce them properly, Cupcakes are small cakes baked in a cup-shaped vessel made of paper or foil and have icing on the top. An average cupcake is about 3" (7.5cm) inches in diameter.
From my research I've found out that the first ever existence of cupcakes is determined to be around 1796. Only a couple of hundred years of cupcakes, so it seems. However they only gained fame in the 19th century after being showcased in some popular Hollywood movies. They are vigorously shared on the internet with new and interesting recipes springing up each day.
Though a single cupcake serves only one person ('cos after all I don't like sharing), making them is easy-peasy and hence they are often prepared in quantity. With the readily available basic ingredients of flour, sugar, eggs and butter cupcakes are a home-chef's favourite dessert.
One can decorate, add flavours or customise cupcakes in any way imaginable.
With ever mounting personal expenses and limited disposable income, low cost cupcakes have become quick fixes in place of bigger and more elaborate professional designer cakes.
Other than the basic ingredients of sugar, flour, butter and eggs, goodies like chocolates, nuts fruits etc. adds to the flavour possibilities. Though the selection of the cupcake frosting is based upon what will match the cake and style of event that the cupcakes are for, some of the famous icings includes the butter-cream flavoured, chocolate fudge flavoured, strawberry cream flavoured and vanilla flavoured.
Cupcakes are a perfect example of innovation and creativity. The freshness of the batter, perfection in baking, synchronisation of flavours, creativity with the theme and decoration of the cupcake is what it takes to obtain a "wow" cupcake. Perfection comes with practice and here is a simple start-up recipe for beginners.
CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM CUPCAKES:
This is a really yummy cupcake recipe that your kids will love and adore. The ingredients required for this tasty innovation are:
Flour - one and a half cup or 225g for cake
Cornflour - one tablespoon for cake
Caster sugar - 230g for cake
Icing sugar: 170g for icing
Butter - 125g for cake (Sliced and preserved at room temperature) and 230g for icing
Eggs - two for cake
Milk - half cup or 125 ml for cake and one and half cup for icing
Vanilla extract - 1 tablespoon for cake
Dark chocolate - 220g melted with 70% cocoa, to be used for decoration
When you are ready with all the required stuff, the initial step is to preheat the oven in between 170°C to 190°C. Using the paper vessels, arrange fourteen muffin pans in a line. Take a large bowl and mix up the flour and corn flour along with sugar, eggs, vanilla and offcourse the milk. After you mix them well, itâ??s time to use your magnificent electric beater and beat the mixture on medium to low speed for about 4-5 minutes.
The outcome should be a pale and foam-covered mixture in your bowl. This mixture has to go likewise in each of the fourteen pans, making sure that all of them are filled up till two-third of their sizes. These should be allowed to bake for 15-20 minutes. After the baking is done, allow the cake to cool down completely. Till then we can concentrate on our delicious chocolaty frosting.
For the chocolate butter cream frosting of our cupcakes, we need to melt the chocolate in a container, which is heatproof. The melting is done over the boiling water kept on low flames. Be careful that the container doesn't come in contact with the boiling water.
Once the melting is done, add butter, milk, icing sugar and chocolate in the container and beat it for three minutes using the electrical beater until everything mix-up well.
Use a piping bag with a large star shaped nozzle to add the chocolate frosting on the cakes and decorate further with sprinkles, nuts and whatever you like. Chocolate butter cream cupcakes are a sure fire an appetising sweet treat for any occasion!
