Owl Cupcakes | Eggless Owl Cupcakes

 Learn how to make eggless owl cupcakes

Though this owl cupcake is easy to make, it is very time consuming. However, these are so cute and the kids will love them for sure. When I carried these for my son’s birthday party at School, the kids starting guessing the ingredients and enjoyed eating them so much. In fact, my son said.., whenever the other kids get cupcakes from stores, they scrape off the frosting and then eat the cup cake. But, in my case, most of the kids came to me and said.., they loved the frosting. They even thanked me for such cute cupcakes. So, all my efforts was well worth it. The icing of the cake was.., my son was so proud of his mom and he thanked me personally too.

Back to the recipe. I am not an expert in making cakes or cupcakes. I have got many requests to show how I made these owl cupcakes for my son’s birthday. You can customize it according to what is available at hand. Do not forget to refer the notes section as I am mentioning the alternatives to most of the items used.

Ingredients:

Chocolate cupcakes: About 2 dozens or as much as you want, refer notes

Chocolate buttercream frosting: 1 lb or 1/2 kg, refer notes

Mini Oreos: 1 pack.

Chocolate chips (mini) : 1 pack  |OR|

M&M Chocolates: 1 pack (chocolate color or dark brown color), refer notes

Colorful Skittles: 1 pack, refer notes

Method:

Open the mini Oreos carefully with the white cream intact.

Using a knife, cut the other Oreo cookie in half, refer to the pics below.

Spread about a tablespoon or more of frosting on each cupcake.

Place 2 Oreo cookies with the cream side facing up (as shown below).

Dab a little frosting on to the mini chocolate chips and place them on top of the Oreo cookie.

Press in the skittle in the center (for the nose)

Use the cut oreo cookies to make ears. So, your owl cupcake is ready. Repeat the same with the other cupcakes. I made about 40 cupcakes.

Notes:

• You could use readymade plain cupcakes or make it using the cake mix. I made the cupcakes from scratch.
• You could use store bought chocolate buttercream frosting and reduce your effort.
• Skittles can be replaced with Gems (easily available in India)
• M&M’s can also be replaced with chocolate colored gems or I am sure you get mini chocolate chips everywhere these days. 

Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls | Eggless garlic roll recipe

I have been making these garlic rolls for more than 3 years now and it is a huge hit at parties and potlucks. I avoid making breads and buns because of the efforts needed to knead the dough. However these are a breeze to make. The garlic pull apart rolls doesn't need kneading. It looks good, tastes good and you get compliments for making these. What else do you need? Hope I inspired you guys to try them at home. If I can, I am sure you all can too.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Baking Time: 25-30 mins
Makes : 16 rolls
Recipe Source: MySingaporeKitchen

Ingredients:
AP flour | Maida: 3 cups
Active dry yeast: 1 tbsp, refer notes
Warm Water: 1 cup
Salt: 1 tsp
Sugar: 2 tbsp
Olive Oil: 2-3 tbsp

For the garlic spread:
Butter: 1 stick, refer notes
Garlic cloves: 4 large or 1 small lobe
Salt: As needed, refer notes
Coriander leaves: 3-4 tbsp

Other ingredients:
Sesame seeds: 1 tbsp, for garnish

Method:
Bring the butter to room temperature
First important thing is to proof the yeast.  Add salt, and sugar to the warm water and mix.
Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water and gently mix. Keep the yeast mixture aside on a warm place for 5-7 mins (I always keep it in my oven with the oven lights ON). The yeast will froth and become goo-ey.

Meantime, sieve the AP flour.
Add the frothy yeast mixture to the AP flour and mix well. I let my food processor do it for me.
Add a tbsp of olive oil and knead for 2-3 mins (just like you knead the atta to make chapathi).
Coat the oil on the dough and cover it with a damp kitchen towel. Keep the covered dough in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough would have doubled in 60 mins.

During the dough resting time, prepare the garlic spread. Mash the room temperature butter well.
Grate the garlic cloves and add the grated garlic, salt (refer notes), coriander leaves to the mashed butter. Mix in well and let it rest.

After the dough has doubled, remove the damp kitchen towel and punch the dough back. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.

Take one of the dough balls, dust the kitchen table and start rolling the dough.
Make a slightly rectangular shape (about 6-8 inches long).
Take about 1 tbsp of garlic spread and spread it over the rolled dough. Roll it and cut them into 4 equal sizes.

Place the rolls on a greased baking tray. Keep the rolls 1/2 inch apart from each other. The dough will rise again and will stick to each other.

Repeat the same procedure with the remaining dough balls. You will get 16 rolls. Spread the garlic butter on top of the rolls. Garnish with sesame seeds (optional) and allow the rolls to rise again for 30 mins.
After 20 mins of resting, preheat the oven to 350F or 180C.
Bake the rolls for 25-30 mins. Keep a close watch after 20 mins. The rolls will start turning golden brown..
Allow the rolls to cool for 20-30 mins and dig in!!

Notes:
Yeast plays an important role to make any bread. So, it is very important to proof the yeast first. If the yeast doesn't become frothy, start it all over again or get a new batch of yeast.
I keep my yeast in the freezer for up to couple of years without any issue.
You could use about 2 tsp of yeast and allow it to rise for 1.5 or more hours.
Use about 100 grams  or 1/4 cup of softened butter. If you use salted butter to make the garlic spread, do not use additional salt. I normally use unsalted butter, hence add about 1/2 tsp of salt to make the spread.

Vegan Banana Bread Recipe | Whole wheat Vegan Banana Cake Recipe : Eggless recipes

From the last few weeks, my son wanted me to bake something for him. I kept on postponing because of the move and also because of his health. I saved couple of bananas to make some banana bread. This time, without fail I took the pictures for the post.

It's a vegan (no butter, no milk, no AP flour) banana bread recipe. I have used whole wheat flour (atta) to make this bread healthy. You can treat yourself with this once a while :)

Please excuse the unevenly sliced and crumbly cake. My son was so restless to eat it and I had to.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Baking Time: 30-45 mins
Baking Temperature: 350F | 180C
Serves: Makes a loaf or an 8 inch round cake
Recipe Source: Adapted from vegrecipesofIndia

Ingredients:
Ripened Bananas: 2 large (or about 1 cup mashed)
Whole wheat flour | atta : 1.5 cups
Sugar: 1/3 cup, refer notes
Oil: 3/4 cup, sunflower or vegetable oil (I have used olive oil too)
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Baking powder: 1.5 tsp
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp
Chopped almonds and cashew nuts: 1/4 cup
Chocolate chips: 1/4 cup

Method:
Sieve the whole wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Keep it aside for couple of minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C.
Meantime, mash the bananas thoroughly. There should not be any lumps. You can even blend it in a food processor or hand mixer.

Add the sugar, oil and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas and mix them well.

Now add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Throw in the nuts and chocolate chips too.

Fold the dry and wet ingredients gently. Do not whisk, gently fold in everything.

The batter will be a little tighter than the normal cake batter. Do not worry. It will be just fine.
Grease the baking pan and scoop the batter onto the pan. Level the batter and gently tap the pan.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake the cake for about 35-45 mins. To check if the cake is done: A tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean.

Notes:
Baking time varies considerably. Please keep an eye on your cake after 25 mins. Mine was a tad bit over baked this time. This was the first cake I baked in my new house and I was over confident about the baking time.
You could use any nuts of your choice.
If the bananas are not over ripe, you might have to increase the sugar to 1/2 cup. Adjust the sugar, according to the sweetness of the banana.
I repeat again, you do not have to whisk the batter vigorously. Just fold in the ingredients.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe | Chocolate Icing

 Last year, when I made these angry birds cupcakes.., my hubby didn't support me much. Not because he did not believe me.., but he didn't want me to take the trouble to make them. I took the initiative and did them for my pleasure. It was such a huge hit among children that this year, my hubby was like.., what are you planning to do? He in fact sat with me to browse the cupcake pics on the web. We decided on making the owl cupcakes together. He even helped me to take step by step pictures to put them on the blog.

However I did not want to buy the icing from the store. I wanted to make them at home. I made few small batches and once I was happy with the outcome, I made a big batch to frost the owl cup cakes.

Here is my version of chocolate buttercream icing using cocoa powder.

Preparation Time: 5-7 mins
Cooking Time : Nil
Makes: About 2.5 cups of frosting

Ingredients: 
Unsalted butter : 1 stick or 1/2 cup, refer notes
Cocoa powder: 1/3 cup
Confectioners Sugar: 2 cups, refer notes
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp
Milk: 2-3 tbsp, as needed

Method:
Let the butter sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature.

Add the butter to a big mixing bowl. Beat the butter until it is fluffy. I used a hand blender to beat it. You could use a food processor or you could whisk it manually using a whisker. (Refer notes)

Once fluffy, add the cocoa powder, 1 cup of sugar, a tbsp of milk, vanilla extract and beat again until all the ingredients are combined well.

Add another cup of sugar, a tbsp of milk and whisk.

If you feel the icing is very thick after mixing well, add few drops of milk and whisk.
I prefer to keep the icing a tad thinner.
Voila, your chocolate buttercream frosting is ready. Isn't it quite simple?

Now use this icing on your cupcakes or cakes

Notes:

• When adding milk to the icing recipe, remember that little goes a long way. Do not add too much of liquid to make the frosting thin. Add few drops at a time.
• If you do not like the buttery smell and feel much, you could replace half the butter with vegetable shortening like Crisco. Vegetable shortening is like Vanaspati (as called in India). I love my butter.
• Confectioners sugar is powdered sugar. You could add the same amount of finely powdered sugar too.
• I have made buttercream frosting using hand blender, food processor and also whisking it manually. One thing to keep in mind is, whisking buttercream frosting is not as hard as whisking whipped cream. You can easily whip it up manually. So, don't fret, if you do not have hand blender or food processor. 
• You can save the left over buttercream frosting for a week easily in the fridge. If you pop it in the freezer, you can save it for 2-3 months.