Really Dense Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes with a wonderful Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

My mil's birthday was yesterday and we needed  an eggless recipe - the first eggless recipe I have tried and I think everyone seemed happy to eat these lovely cupcakes and they were approved by my son too! My family has always been very supportive of my baking and have eaten whatever I have put in front of them - when I first started out my cakes were very amateurish and kiddie looking and I didn't think they tasted great but were always met with rave reviews from my hubby and his parents. Back in time, I didn't know you could get whipped cream in India and didn't know fine sugar and butter would make a lovely cloud like, ethereal and fluffy white mousse like mass with which I could decorate my cakes and cupcake with but I have definitely come and long way from there  :)!

So there really easy chocolate cupcakes have one key to their softness - stir in the same direction - do not change directions. This should make about 11-12 cupcakes. Bake for about 18 minutes but check after 15 - since one of my cupcakes got slightly burned from the corner.

1.5 cup flour
1/3 cup good cocoa powder - like Hersheys
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fine sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk (milk + 2 tsp lemon juice)

Sieve the dry ingredients. I used a hand mixer to mix the sugar and oil. Then added the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Then to this I added the dry ingredients and mixed it together with a spoon. I found that I needed to add a couple of teaspoons of milk to this to make the consistency right. The vinegar was added in the end and mixed and immediately poured into the cupcake liners. But I had switched off the oven b'coz od some incessant bells and the cupcakes still rose inspite of discovering it after a whole 5 mins of the cupcakes being inside - maybe coz the oven was already hot - I don't know but my guess is that the recipe was good?

Vanilla Buttercream frosting:

1/2 a vanilla bean
3:1 sugar and butter ratio - depending on how much frosting you want to make i.e. 3 cups sugar and 1 cup butter
2 tablespoons whipping cream

Whip together with electric mixer to form a cloudy mass. I frosted the cupcakes by piping the frosting on and then added some chocolate chips on top to give a nice contrast on the top.

The pictures were taken in the evening so aren't very bright but should be on soon.

And the carrot cupcakes got over before I could take any pictures... so am going to bake a batch soon to have them on here!

Do you want cupcakes, cookies, biscotti especially made for you???

I have had friends, family and all tell me that they are liking what they are getting and so I think I want to try my hand at giving more people what they want... so I decided to customize cupcake, cookies, bar cookies and tarts for people who just want healthier desserts for their family or dinner parties.

I will be putting together a formal menu with pictures and prices soon. But I can be contacted at: rbhatnag@gmail.com for any inquiries.

Healthy Carrot Cupcakes - yes, you heard it right!

I have been back for a couple of weeks and am a couple of pounds lighter!

Hanoi - was full of cooking adventures - like making Indian Aloo Paranthas without a chakla and belan (Indian Potato Flatbread without a rolling pin) and the likes - it didn't leave much time for posts. All I was doing was cooking and playing with the baby. So a little bit of running behind your tot and being too tired to eat can do wonders for you :)!

Well, so I have been on a slightly health food trail trying to keep that weight down now that I am back - oats and fruit in the morning, salad, soup and sandwich in the afternoon - you're getting the drift.

Now, I was craving cake and carrot cake seemed like the healthiest option at the mo. A little bit of googling around - toying between eggs and buttermilk, looking for something soft and moist enough not needing the cream cheese icing and I hit jackpot.

The recipe I have is for 6 cupcakes. I went through sooo many sites that I can't remember which one it is from... now all that I am waiting for is that the camera battery should charge soon so I can get pictures before the cakes vanish!

Recipe:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
3/4 cup carrots - grated very finely
1 egg
a little bit of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180C. Just put all the dry ingredients in the bowl. Beat the oil and sugar together. Add the egg and beat. Add the essence and mix. Now add the flour bit by bit and mix. In the end I just added the grated carrots and mixed it with a spoon - till just mixed.

Spooned the mixture into my cupcake tin till the cupcake holders were 3/4 cooked and baked them for 18 minutes.

These babies turned out to be super soft and almost melted in the mouth. My son ate them warm... waiting for the hub to be home and tell me what he thinks. They could do with a little drizzle of icing sugar mixed with water if you want to do a glaze but if you want to keep it healthy stay away from all the glazes and cream cheeses in the world. Also, I don't think anyone could tell they were made with whole wheat flour but I am still testing...

Will be back with pics soon.