Strawberry Cheese Cupcake



There are so many pending post well actually post is not written just that I have so many pictures of cakes, dessert etc.... which is just pilling up in various map. Just that I have to edit them , watermark and write a post and recipe.
Well I made these, as I think for a year shyama has been asking me when are you going to make that strawberry cup cake which taste like Ben and Jerry Cheese ice cream. That is what she says about these cupcakes.
I always reply to her it is not strawberry season  etc..... so as it has been strawberry season here I made these last month.
I have posted these in my blog before, but then that time even thought they were delicious they were not looking that good as I over filled them and wanted to make the icing less sweeter so I didn't add that much sugar so they just stayed a but liquid, but this time I did enough powdered sugar so that the icing was thick and I could easily pipe them.



Ingridients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar ( I added only half of this sugar as i didn't want the cake to be tto sweet)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter milk
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 tsp or less red food colouring ( optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and cut into small pieces



For the frosting.
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
Few tbsp of strawberry syrup from Monin.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, salt and set aside.
2. In a another bowl, mix , buttermilk, melted butter,eggs and vanilla essence.
Add liguid ingridients to dry indridients and beat well with a wooden spoon.
Fold in the strawberries.
3. Spoon batter into cupcake paper, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or untill a tester inserted and it come out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool them before you frost.

For the frosting:

1 With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2 Add the strawberry syrup and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness.

3 Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cake or cupcake.



Chocolate Cups



I have met a lot of people through my blog virtually.

And with some of them I have become really good friends

But one of the friends I have met through Facebook is Caroline Martis, she doesn't have a blog but she cook up a storm in her kitchen especially in baking.

I do hope once she will start blogging all her goodies she makes in her kitchen.

So one fine day she tagged few of us in FB with this particular link and there was this video of making chocolate cups.

I have been wanting to make chocolate cups for a while, but I was always lazy saying it took too much effort to make them untill I saw this video, it was so easy that I had to try it and as you can see below it is indeed easy, so a big thankyou to my Dear FB friend Caroline for sharing the link with me.



Iced Shapes

Dipp them into the chocolate

Keep them upside down.

Ready to use.

  

Actually there is no recipe for this.

What you have to do is fill a flexible pan  ( any design you like) with water the day before .

I filled it and then when the water was half frozen poked a stick inside each of the shape.

Next day you melt 200 gm chocolate or depend on how many cups you want to make, take the pan out from the freezer take a shaped ice cube , dip into the melted chocolate and keep on a rack upside down and after few minutes the chocolate gets hard and you can easily remove it from the ice shape.

Leave it too fully dry.

You can only do one case with one shaped ice. I tried to use second time but the chocolate didnt get sticked.
You also have to work fast, with the chocolate ,as after sometime with the left over chocolate i wanted to make it didnt work, don't know why, will tell you next time when I make this again if it was the same.

Soon I will post what I did with these chocolate case.



Coffee Ice Cream With Chocolate Pieces



We have had Shyama at home for whole two weeks as she is having exams soon and they have been havinh two weeks of study holiday.
She will be off on this sunday back to her place and exams starts on tuesday.
Ok no to be honest it has been good for me she beeing home as I could bake and make desserts for her, but for her it is a different story, only thing she has been doing is learning, learning and learning, and when she wants to have a break she takes the bycycle and goes to her grandparents place and play with their dog Couscous. Who is alwasy excited to see Shyama as she makes him wild by playing with her.
When we are there and if Shyama is not there, my MIL to tease Couscous ask him were is Shyama ? and couscous in return run to take his tennis ball and then go and stand infront of the living door expecting Shyama to come in.
The reason he does that , grabbing the tennis ball is as Shyama plays with the ball with him.

Now to the recipe, I love home made ice cream, and I have been making for years home made ice cream from the time I bought a ice cream machine. And you woudnt believe if I told you, I have had this ice cram maker 1993.
My favourtie ice cream i indeed Coffee ice cream, I just love it.

As for most of my cake recipes and dessert recipes I less the amount of sugar as here at home we all think that a ice cream should be refreshing not just so sweet that your lips just get stick to each other.





Ingridients,
 6 tbsp Nescafe Instant Espresso powder  ( we love strong coffee taste , add according to your taste )
8 tbsp if cream
2 egg yolks
75 gm of sugar ( I only added 60 gm sugar)
2 tsp of corn flour
300 ml milk
200 ml thick cream
30 gm of chocolate in small pieces.



Heat the 8 tbsp of cream in MW and add the Espresso powder and mix well and keep aside to cool down, I will be a real thick mixture don't panic.
In a bowl add the egg yolks , sugar and corn flour. Cream them till they are light and fluffy, in the mean time heat the milk in a havy bottom pan, and add to the egg mixture a little by little in the begning so that the egg mixtures doesnt curdle.
Pour this mix back into the pan and in a low heat stirring it always to make a custard. Dont boil it other wise it will curdle, you will see that it gets a bit thiker.
Add the coffee/Cream mix into the custard and leave it to get it cold.
When the custart os cold whipp up the cream into soft peak and fold into the custard.



If you are using a ice cream machine use it according to the manufactures instruction and then when it is finished churning you can serve it straight but I alwasy keep in the freezer for few hours before serving.
I add the chocolate pieces 5 minutes before the churning time is finished.
If you dont have a ice cream maker.
Pour the mixture into a plastic box and keep in the freezer after a hour or two just whipp it up usinf the hand mixer or a fork. Do this atleat twice so you get a soft ice cream.

Chicken balls in Sweet and Sour Sauce

When ever I make this dish Shyama just loves it.
And what isn't there to love aobut it, they are deep fried and have a silky sauces and they are spicy and sweet.
I don't remember when I made these dish, but whta I know is that it has been lying in my draft for so long that I thought that it is time that I posted them. And I am sure it has been there for months and months.........
And I cannot find a reason why I didnt post it as it is such a delicious dish.

Ingredients for meatballs

500 gm Chicken Minced. ( Use chicken thighs, if you use chicken breast the balls are drier )
2 spring onions – finely chopped
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
4 fresh  chilies finley cut ( optional or use less amount of chillies)
1 tsp garlic puree
1 tsp ginger puree
3 tbsp of cornstarch + Extra corn flour for rolling the balls before frying them.
 1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste Take care of the amonut of salt as there is salt in the soy sauce and th oyster sauce..
Oil for deep frying

1. Put all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well and let it marinate for an hour.

2. Form it into little balls . Roll them lightly with the extra corn flour.
Heat the oil and deep fry them till golden and keep aside.

Ingredients for the sweet and sour meatballs:


For the sauce.
1 cup of pineapple - cubes
1 big onion sliced in chunks
I tomato cut into chunks
1 carrot - sliced thinly
2 clove of garlic - finely chopped
1 small piece finley chopped ginger
2 chillies chopped (optional or use less amount)
2 tsp soya sauce
Sauce
4 tbsp of tomato ketchup
2 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp of sugar
1 to 2 tbsp of cornstarch
1 cup of chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set it aside.

2. Heat some oil in a pan, stiry fry garlic, carrot and onions, ginger until fragrant.

3. Add in the sauce, bring it up to a boil, add in meatballs , pineapple and tomato. Stir well until sauce reduce and thicken.
Serve with plain rice or noodles.