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.

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. 

Eggless condensed milk cake | Eggless sponge cake

PS: I am a beginner in frosting the cake, so please bear with me until I perfect the art.

It's raining cakes & cupcakes at my home. I baked 2 large cakes and about 45 cupcakes for my son's and hubby's birthday. Both their birthdays are in the same week. It was a baking fiesta for me at home.

I normally use the yogurt/curd recipe to make the eggless vanilla sponge cake, but this time thought of making it rich using condensed milk and butter. I prefer this over the yogurt one. I have made it many number of times and it is always a hit at home :)

This is a basic sponge cake. You could frost it however you want or have it as is. I have tweaked the recipe a little as I did not have orange juice at home.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Baking Time: 35-45 mins
Recipe Source: My Diverse Kitchen

Ingredients: This cake yields about 16 pieces (I made it in 9" round tin)
Dry ingredients:
AP flour/Maida: 2.5 cups
Baking Powder: 2 tsp
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Salt: A pinch

Wet ingredients:
Sweetened Condensed milk: 14 ounce can or about 400gms
Butter: 3/4 cup or 1 & 1/2 sticks
Water: 1 cup
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Vanilla Extract: 2 tsp

Method: 
Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C.
Grease the baking tray using a non stick baking spray.
Sieve all the ingredients mentioned under the dry ingredients section.
Melt the butter.

To the melted butter, add the condensed milk, water, vinegar and vanilla extract.

Mix gently and keep them aside.
Scoop the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl & mix them gently. Make a well in the center of the flour.

Pour the mixed liquid over the flour & mix. Use a whisk or a spatula to mix them. Do not whisk. Just mix them gently.

Once both the ingredients are mixed well, pour the batter to the greased baking tray. Little lumps here and there is okay.

Tap the tray and bake the cake for about 35-45 mins. Mine got done in about 42 mins.
Remove the cake from the oven & allow to cool for 10-15 mins on a cooling rack.

After 15 mins, run the knife on the edges of the cake & flip the baking pan over the cooling rack.
Tap the bottom of the pan gently and remove the baking pan. The cake will slide off easily.

Allow the cake to cool for a minimum of 1 hour before slicing them.
To frost the cake, you need to cool the cake for couple of hours.

I frosted the cake with the left over chocolate butter cream icing and sprinkled some powdered sugar. I decorated it with some chocolate chips and the cake is ready.

Notes: 

• Baking time of the cake depends on the kind of baking pan/tray used. If you use dark colored pan like the one shown above, the baking time will be more. If using a aluminium foil or thin aluminium tray, the baking time will be less. So, keep a close eye on the cake after 25-30 mins. 
• To check if the cake is baked or not, insert a toothpick to the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is done.
• You could use Nestle's Milkmaid to make this cake. 
• I will give the chocolate frosting recipe in my coming posts. Stay tuned!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

For my son's birthday yesterday, I baked 5 dozen cupcakes, 1 9*13 cake, and 1 9 inch round cake. I was skeptical if I could do it alone, but gave it a shot & every one loved it. It was a huge success. I made about 30 vanilla cupcakes & 30 chocolate cupcakes. For the vanilla cupcakes, I followed this recipe. Some of you might have seen these cupcakes on my facebook already :)

This is one super easy cupcake recipe. It doesn't call for eggs, butter, milk or yogurt. I doubled the recipe to get about 33 cupcakes. Since the frosting is not vegan, I will talk about the frosting & the decorating part in the next post ;)

Here is my version of the angry birds cupcakes :) I am very happy since, it is my first trial with cupcake decoration!

PS: You have very few days left to participate in the giveaway. Do participate & win.

1. Cast iron griddle
2. Tarla Dalal Cookbook.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Baking Time: 20 mins
Baking Temperature: 350F/180C
Recipe Source: Showmethecurry
Makes: About 15-16 cupcakes

Ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
AP flour/ Maida : 1.5 cups
Unsweetened cocoa powder: 1/4 cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Salt: A pinch
Baking soda: 1 tsp

Wet ingredients:
Hot water: 1 cup
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Instant coffee powder: 2 tsp
Oil: 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (I used olive oil)
Vanilla Extract: 2 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven.
Line the cupcake tray with the cupcake liners.

Sift the all purpose flour, cocoa powder.

Mix in  the sugar, salt & baking soda to the sifted flour.
Scoop it onto a bowl.

Add the vinegar, instant coffee powder. vanilla extract, and oil to the hot water & whisk.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients & fold.

Add about 1.5 tbsp to 2 tbsp of batter onto each cupcake mould & bake it in the preheated oven for about 20 mins.
Keep an eye on the oven as each oven is different & baking time varies drastically from oven to oven. My cupcakes were done in 18 mins.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven. Let it cool in the tray for about 5 mins, before placing it on the wire rack.

Once the cupcakes are completely cool, frost them :)

Notes:
All the measurements mentioned above are leveled (for the dry ingredients).
How to check if the cupcakes are baked: A skewer inserted onto the center of the cupcake should come out clean.