Cupcakes ~ Muffins

I just realised that a year has passed since my last post!! Oh what a year it has been... checked out couple of hospital facilities, lost few people, zipped through couple of weddings, gained two brothers, said goodbye to lot of good friends and  moved to a different country. So guess I will call it a nightmare sabbatical of sorts.  So rather than get depressed with all these changes (ahem..the first couple of days were hell), I choose to look forward to the new adventures that are calling. So to cheer up to a new  beginning  and a hopefully sweet journey, I am posting a simple cupcake tutorial for all those wannabe bakers. 

As a person who does not follow exact measurements while cooking, baking is a new frontier for me. The specific measurements and the high chances of failure (without any scope for recovery) had put me off baking for a long time... not to mention that I didnt own a convection oven.

So couple of months back I took the plunge and invested in the basic materials needed - couple of baking pans, a small hand held mixer and the ingredients. The first recipe I tried was a chocolate cake (recipe coming soon) that has become a huge hit with the family. This cupcake recipe is from the blog Easy Cooking. Its my go-to blog for simple baking recipes. The instructions are clear and simple and the pictures really help novices like me.

I have adapted the recipe for the simple vanilla cupcake and tried out three different variations. The leftover strawberries and blueberries in my fridge were used up to make a berry cupcake. I also tried a nutella cupcake and a cranberry walnut cupcake using some cranberry jam and chopped walnuts.

This is a basic recipe that is an open template. You can add fresh fruits like peaches / bananas. Any jam can also be added.

Cupcakes

Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour / Maida - 2 cups
• Baking powder - 2 tsp
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Butter – ½ cup
• Sugar – 1 ¼ cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Vanilla Essence / extract - 1 tsp
• Eggs - 2

Variations:

• 5 to 6 strawberries - chopped
• 1 TB Nutella
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts / almonds
• 7 to 8 blueberries

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Line or grease the muffin pans or you can use cupcake liners.

• In one bowl sift flour,baking powder and salt together. Keep aside.

• In another bowl beat butter and sugar well until creamy.

• Add vanilla and eggs and beat well.

• Add the wet mixture + milk to the dry mixture little by little and beat well on low speed.

• If you are using any of the items mentioned in variations - you can add them now and mix well with a spoon.

• Fill each muffin pan to ¾ th depth, and bake for 20-25 minutes till done.

• Remove from muffin pan immediately and cool on racks.

Notes:

• Mix in the fresh fruits/ nuts / Jam / nutella just before filling the muffin pan.

• The texture should be moist and crumbly.

• To check if the cupcake is done, insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean then the cake is done.