The White Ramekins

food & photography

Strawberry Swirl Cupcakes

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It took me a while to get back to the business or should I say that I feared that I had almost lost my mojo to be back here. It was the start of new year and how strangely I was almost out of inspiration to bake or to photograph again. But the sense of losing it was there and I could easily see things getting out of my hand. I just wanted to end that state soon and hence started feeling a bit relentless within. Good thing is that the realization happened soon and it was as close as snapping my finger to come out of it….

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Mocha Cupcakes With Coffee Buttercream

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Finally the Rain God did some wonders and it rained this weekend. Just when I was packing up my stuff, wishing good weekend to my mates, I heard the roaring thunder and saw outside the window pane of my office. It was around 5.30 in the evening and the sky looked completely taken over by the mighty noir clouds. They looked really promising, as if they were ready to prove their strength to the pitiless Sun. All against the odds, they were surely going to win this time. To escape the long traffic jam due to heavy rains, I boarded the office cab hurriedly. I wanted to reach home as soon as possible.

There was something running parallel at the back of my mind. It was weekend, so was the time for the weekend ritual. I quickly ran through the ingredients list of these Mocha Cupcakes and started figuring out, what is that which I don’t have in my mini baking pantry at home. Apart from few of them, I had almost everything. I was relieved that remaining ones would be easily available at the local grocer of my community. By the time, it had started pouring cats and dogs. I still felt lucky to manage to escape from the traffic jam. You must be wondering, what is this rush, when I had a weekend at hand. Actually, this was the alternate weekend, when I had to visit my parents as well. I didn’t want to miss the fun of surprising the kids at home. It was really the moment of truth , I was surrounded by the kids and I was opening the box. And the excitement and the happiness on the face of each one of them, was something which can’t be compared with anything else.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

160 gm all-purpose flour
40 gm unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
½ cup strong brewed coffee
1½ teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100 gm butter at room temprature
½ cup sugar, powdered
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature

Coffee Buttercream

100 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons espresso powder
4 tbsp milk

Instructions

  1. For cupcakes, mix all the dry ingredients and keep aside.
  2. Whip the butter with both the sugars until light and fluffy.
  3. Add in egg and whip thoroughly.
  4. Mix coffee with vanilla extract and milk separately in a bowl. Add flour to egg mixture alternating with coffee and milk mixture until all the flour and coffee are incorporated.
  5. Divide the batter in 12 cups and bake in 180 degree Celsius oven for around 17-20 minutes or until cupcakes are springy when touched on top. Let them cool completely.
  6. For the frosting, whip butter at medium high speed for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy.
  7. Mix in the sugar and whip at low speed and then at medium high speed. Add milk and vanilla extract and whip again for 4-5 minutes.
  8. Scoop the frosting into a piping bag and apply onto cupcakes.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes With Marzipan Flowers

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Those are the best of the moments which I spend with my family. And it has doubled up the fun when I have taken off from work completely. I am almost re-living my summer vacations of school days. Though that one month long vacation has squeezed into one week, but experiencing the similar feelings back again has actually compensated for the shorter duration.

This is the time when most of schools in north India are closed due to summer vacations and kids get most of their pampering from parents. Or rather, when parents have to cater to their kids’s tantrums, demands more frequently, all day long.

I remember those days, when we used to complete our summer assignment from school during the first week of vacation itself, so that we could save the next three weeks for full time fun and enjoyment. There used to be two main rituals which we did almost every year; visiting our sweet grand mother followed by a short out station trip to mountains in north. Because of lack of time, that out station trip had to be snipped off and visit to grand mother’s place has been converted to my parents visiting me along with my whole big family, including the sweet grand mother of course. With time things have taken a new form completely {oops…sorry for this cliche}.

Time is flying so high, that I didn’t realize that it’s almost about to end.  Almost each day, I baked/cooked one new recipe, when everyone else except kids was having a nap after lunch and surprised them with these goodies with afternoon tea when they woke up. There was so much to do but I managed to take some shots for posting here later.

I started with these wonderful and colorful vanilla bean cupcakes {some more recipes would follow soon}.  I baked these especially for my niece, who dots on cakes and cookies. Her face got brightened up when she saw me cutting these marzipan flowers. She would come by and sneak out a flower or leaf out of my sight a couple of times. And I enjoyed pretending to ignore her. It was so much fun I must say.

Ingredients

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

100 gm butter, softened
100 gm sugar, powdered
1/2 vanilla bean
2 eggs
125 gm plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
4 tbsp milk

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 tsp unflavored gelatin
4 tsp warm water
1 cup low fat cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Liquid food color of choice

Marzipan

100 gm pealed and blanched almonds
50 gm powdered sugar
Liquid food color of choice

Instructions

  1. For cupcakes, beat butter, sugar and vanilla bean scrape together until pale and fluffy.
  2. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by flour, baking powdered and milk.
  3. Divide the batter into 8 paper cups and bake in a 180 degree Celsius preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
  4. Let cupcakes cool completely.
  5. For marzipan, grind the almonds in food processor, until very soft and they start to release their oil. They’ll pinch together once hold with fingers.
  6. Add sugar and pulse in food processor briefly. Take out and knead with hand until pliable.
  7. Add liquid food color one drop at a time. Roll out between the two sheets of cling wraps and cut flowers of different shapes. Let stand for some time.
  8. For the frosting, sprinkle gelatin over water and let it dissolve for 5 minutes.
  9. Whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until slightly thickened. While beating at slow speed, gradually add gelatin to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff.
  10. Add color and mix well.
  11. Apply frosting over cupcakes with spatula and stick flowers and leaves and let them dry for few minutes in refrigerator.