Coconutty Strawberry Cup Cakes and a Bleeding Heart!!!

Cupcakes are the first love of my kids... why only kids, I think, everyone loves to eat cupcakes! The cute and simple look of the cupcakes, the varied flavors and the easy-to-make nature -  all these have made the cupcakes so popular, I guess! 

All my baking projects are done in my microwave - and for the cupcake projects, I do really feel the need of an OTG. Because, in a microwave you cannot bake more than 8 cupcakes at a time. And 8 is not at all a considerable count, when it comes to cupcakes... you know, what I mean! So, I have bought another set of 8 cupcake moulds, which make it 16... at least this count of cupcakes will last for couple of days for my family. 

This strawberry cupcake recipe is so unique, probably you've never tasted it. The regular cake shops generally don't keep cupcakes, even if they do - you'll not get this one, I am sure. So the only way to taste this super-simple strawberry cupcakes, is to make them at home. 

I have learnt this recipe from my baking guru, Lynette. During the fondant class, she wanted to treat us with something unique, as the after-class snacks and then she brought these lovey-dovey cutey-cutey cupcakes. We were simply amazed to see her skill - these cupcakes were absolute delicacy and yet so simple to make. Perhaps that's the mastery of any art, which teaches you to make elegant yet simple art pieces - and baking is an art!!!

Coming back to the recipe - prepare the cupcake batter - it will be a simple vanilla batter which I've mentioned earlier in my blog - The Basic Vanilla Cake. Additionally for the decoration purpose you will need -

Strawberry Crush - 2 cups

Water - 4 cups

Desiccated Coconut - 2 cups

Preheat your oven at 160C. Do not put cupcake liners on the cupcake moulds. Butter the cupcake moulds nicely and then pour the batter into the moulds. The moulds should be only 3/4th part filled with the batter, as you need to keep some space for the cupcakes to increase in size while baking. Place the moulds inside the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 mins at 160C. Bring out of the oven and carefully remove the moulds. Place the cupcakes on a flat plate or sheet and allow them to cool at room temperature.

In a big bowl, mix the strawberry crush with water. 

Spread the desiccated coconut in another large plate. 

Take each cupcake, dip them in liquid strawberry crush for a minute or so and then immediately, roll over the desiccated coconut. Spread some amount of coconut on top too. Do this for all the cupcakes. As a final decoration, spread 1 teaspoon of strawberry crush on top. As an alternate, you can put 1 fresh strawberry slice on top. Allow the cupcakes to chill inside refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours before serving.

I had made only 16 cupcakes, so I had some extra batter. I decided to make another heart-shaped cake with that. 

And here is what came out from the microwave.

Again sprinkled the desiccated coconut on top and drizzled some amount of strawberry crush... which ultimately looked like a bleeding heart!!! Huh....

Happy baking! See you again!!! :)

Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Hello friends!!!

Off late I am getting irregular with my posts and I am extremely sorry for that... Couple of family get-together and then my elder daughters results were out this Monday... so I was quite busy during this time. But that could not stop my weekend baking projects - I made few easier projects of cupcakes in last few weekends. Those will appear in my next posting - images are queuing up to be watermarked... so I am back with a bang, you can say!!

So let me pick up from where I was in my previous blog - A Vanilla Sponge Cake. I used a vanilla sponge cake to prepare this fresh strawberry cake. My baking guru - Lynette, shared few tips and after applying those tips it came out quite well. But, I won't say I was super successful in this project. After assembling the cake, I kept it in refrigerator for over-night and the next day I carried it to my brother-in-law's place, which is in 40-45 mins distance from my house. The car a/c was put on High and my hubby tried his best to give the cake a smooth ride - but still the cake got little soggy and the fresh cream icing was almost going to slide from the cake. The cake was immediately put into refrigerator. but it didn't come back to its previous shape. Here is a lesson learnt for me and for all of you - that don't carry a fresh cream cake for long distance, and even if you do, you should have proper logistics.

Here are the items you will need to prepare this cake -

A vanilla sponge cake

Blueberry whipping powder - 2 packs

Fresh strawberries - 1 cup, vertically sliced

Strawberry crush - 1/2 cup

Light sugar syrup - 1/2 cup (add 2 tablespoon of sugar in 1 cup of water, boil and cool down at room temperature)

Step 1:

Slice the cake horizontally in 2 parts and evenly soak the bottom layer with some amount of sugar syrup. This will make the cake moist.

Step 2:

Spread 1/2 part of whipped cream on top of the bottom layer. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of strawberry crush on top of the cream filling. You can also add few strawberry pieces into it.

Step 3:

Place the other half of the cake on top of the filling. Soak the top portion with remaining sugar syrup and then cover the top part with whipped icing.

Step 4:

Place the strawberry pieces on top of the icing in a nice way. If you want you can make designs with it too. Also add few pieces on the sides.

Step 5:

Put little amount of strawberry crush on top of the strawberry pieces to keep the strawberries fresh and moist.

Step 6:

After assembling, refrigerate the cake for over-night, so that everything is nicely set.

A Vanilla Sponge Cake without Oil/Butter

Hi friends!

I am back after 2 weeks of hibernation!!! In this 2 weeks, I went for a short vacation to Goa and enjoyed to the fullest with my family. It is a place of beautiful scenic locations, good food, warm and caring people and unlimited shopping! So, I would recommend this place to all of you.

Anyway, back to my topic! This is not a travel blog - but may be I should soon open one travel blog too, to share my travelling experience with all of you. :)

There are several recipes pending to share with you. Today, I am going to talk about one of my latest bakes - a fresh strawberry cake! This one I baked for my sister's birthday and it came out quite well. But there were few issues, which I experienced while working on this cake. I'll share those too, later on. Let me first begin with the vanilla sponge cake.

This fresh strawberry cake I prepared using a vanilla sponge cake and it was made without oil or butter. When I put a lot of icing on top of the cake, I try to balance the fat-quantity by making the cake fat-free. You have to keep a track of the health quotient too, while preparing the desserts. A sponge cake is also light in weight, so it does not give you that heavy feeling after eating.

It is very easy to prepare this basic cake. You will need only few ingredients.

The dry ingredients are -

Flour or maida - 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon

Powdered sugar - 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon

Baking powder - 1 teaspoon

The wet ingredients are -

Eggs - 4 large

Hot water - 1 1/2 tablespoon

Vanilla essence - 1 1/2 tablespoon

The process is very much similar to the chocolate sponge cake recipe. Please note that you should be very careful in measuring the items.

In a large bowl, sieve in flour and baking powder. Blend well and keep aside.

Break the eggs and separate the white and yellow parts in 2 different bowls. The white part should be kept in a large bowl.

Use the electric beater to beat the egg white until stiff peaks arise. Gradually add sugar by couple of tablespoons at a time and keep on beating. Once all the sugar is used, add the egg yolks and again beat for some time. Next add the vanilla essence and mix well.

Now gradually add boiling water in few drops and beat well. Now the mixture will be light, fluffy and almost 3 times in volume.

This is the time to set your oven in preheat mode (180C). Also prepare your cake pan by greasing and dusting.

Slowly fold in flour into the egg mixture. While doing this, don't add all the flour at a time. Sprinkle in small amount on top of the batter and fold in nicely.

Pour the batter in the pan and place inside oven to bake at 180C for 30-35 minutes.

The cake will leave the side of the pan, when it is done. Also the top will spring back when you touch on top. Insert a knife to check the doneness and if ready, then remove from oven.

Allow it to cool down at room temperature and then bring out the cake from the pan. Wrap the cake with a cling wrap and place inside refrigerator for future use.

In my next blog, I'll share the fresh strawberry cake making procedure using this vanilla cake.

Till then, ciao!