Vanilla and Coffee Cake

Soft like cloud cake with a comforting combination of Vanilla and Coffee

Let me begin by asking you, what’s opinion about simplicity? Hmmm!! Good question. If I turn the table and take the question myself, I would say “it depends”. It depends on time, context, occasion and mood. Sometimes an elaborated brunch does wonders but other time just a simple lunch is satisfying. But when it comes for breakfast I still like hearty, healthy and simple things. I have been exploring breads, muffins and cakes for breakfast. Coffee is an intriguing flavor to work with. I was very much exited to combine two wonderful flavor, Vanilla and Coffee, as I mind both together create a soothing sensation. Is there a thing like it, yes there it is. Try this recipe and you would now.

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup Granulated Sugar

3 Eggs (use 1½ cup curd, if you don’t want to use egg)

 

1 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

¼ Cup Vanilla Custard powder

1 Tablespoon Coffee powder

1½ cup Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Milk

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcake liners

In a bowl beat the butter and sugar together with a handheld mixer whisker attachment on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until creamed and fluffy

Add eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until everything is combined, about 2 -3 minutes.  Set aside 1/3 of the mixture

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside 1/3 of dry mixture

Now add shifted Vanilla custard powder in the 2/3 portion of dry mixture

Add coffee powder to 2 table spoon of warm milk and dissolve properly

Slowly add the dry ingredients, Vanilla mixture to 2/3 portion of wet mixture and remaining 1/3 dry mixture to 1/3 wet ingredients plus coffee, in 3 additions and stirring by hand after each addition

Mix until just combined, do not over mix. This batter will be thick

Line a cake tin with baking paper. Now pour the vanilla cake batter in the pan followed by coffee batter on top. Tap the tin on a flat surface couple of times to release in trapped air

 

Bake for 35 minutes at 190 °C, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Oreo Vanilla Cupcake with Tempered Dark chocolate Icing

Do you want to dig into pure pleasure of dark chocolate crunch followed by vanilla sponge and taste gooey dark chocolate Oreo Bites?

Then read on…

Experience is a wonderful thing, irrespective of whether its good or bad. A good one definitely make one feel good but even a not such a nice on leaves with a learning. This goes word to word for me and my baking. To tell you very honestly my equation with cake batter has not changed much, remember my confession here

Kitchen still feels like boxing ring where batter calls me for a face off every time I pick up a recipe to try….But as I mentioned before, experience is teaching me tricks and tip even if batter gets the upper hand some times.

I have learnt the most important thing is that I need to give it love and attention to make it behave. Accuracy in measurement and patience while mixing and baking, is doing wonders. So yes, we are getting better in terms of sweet successes. 

This newly acquired trait “Experience” has given wings to creativity, now when I see some good recipe I don’t hesitate to try and even I think of new recipes and  ideas(Ahuum Ahumm J). As an ardent fan of “Masterchef Australia” I have learnt one thing to look at recipes as building block and use them to create something new altogether.

So what have I done so special that I am writing so much about it..well nothing indeed. Yes really just took my vanilla cupcake recipes and added Oreo and choc chips to have this divine vanilla chocolate cupcake.

Just that?? Yes!!!. Its that simple that indeed it’s feeling silly to write the recipe. Mind you!!! These cupcakes are only simple to make but the flavors are to die for. I am big fan of Oreo and have seen few dishes incorporating it. What is so great about this cookie is when baked it converts into such wonderful soft gooey texture. My plain vanilla cupcake came alive with its dark and dense chocolate taste with vanilla cream melted in the cake to intensify the vanilla taste.

Shall I talk about the dark chocolate icing…Let me do a quick dance first!! I am excited and thrilled to share this here that my first ever Chocolate tempering effort is a success. 

If you are wondering what Tempering is??? Its defined as process of producing small cocoa butter crystals to get the uniform sheen and crisp bite of properly processed chocolate is tempering.

It is actually a simple yet technical thing to do. Chocolate is melted in a double boiler which is not boiling till it reaches 46-48°C (depending on milk or dark chocolate) then a small amount of chopped chocolate is added in the melted hot chocolate. The mix is stirred to maintain the same temperature though out and then again the temperature is increased till 46-48 °C. For Dark chocolate the chocolate is melted at 46-48°C. Tempered chocolate get spread or poured warm and the temperature is maintained placing the pan back on double boiler when ever required.

I tried tempering with a small batch of chocolate  and without thermometer, just going by my instinct.Luck was on my side and my temperature instinct worked. I coated my cupcake with warm tempered chocolate and in the end I had this wonderful shiny and full of bite chocolate layer on top.

It’s a sin full delicious cupcake…don’t trust me??? you have to bake to believe. 

For the cupcake 

1/2 cup  Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup  Granulated Sugar

2 Eggs (use 1 cup curd, if you don’t want to use egg)

1 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1½ cup Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Milk

¼ Cup Chocolate Chips

6 Oreo Cookies chopped in big chunks

For frosting

200 gm Dark Chocolate Chopped

2 Tbsp Milk Chocolate grated (Optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

In a bowl beat the butter and sugar together with a handheld mixer whisker attachment on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until creamed and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until everything is combined, about 2 -3 minutes.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions and stirring by hand after each addition. Mix until just combined, do not over mix. This batter will be thick.

Fold in chocolate chips and Oreo chunks with spatula.

Divide the batter between 12 liners in your cupcake pan. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For Tempered Chocolate icing

Prepare a Bain Marie (Double boiler) by placing a saucepan on stove with some water. Take a slightly smaller pan and put ¾ of the chopped chocolate in it.

Place the smaller pan in the simmering water pan, making sure only the bottom of the pan touches the water. PLEASE MAKE SURE THE WATER IS NOT BOILING and you be careful about no water droplet gets into the chocolate pan. PLEASE FOLLOW this to the “T” or else you will not be getting tempered chocolate at all.

When the chocolate is melted remove from heat and add chopped chocolate and stirrer this with a spatula until all the chocolate is dissolved. Place this pan again in the simmering water pan and stirrer gently for 1 min and remove from heat.

Your chocolate must be shiny and super smooth. Cover the top of your cupcakes generously with it and sprinkle grated milk chocolate.

Leave you cupcakes alone to get the chocolate set on the top. You can tuck these shiny babies in the refrigerator for 5 min, if you are in a hurry to eat them: D

Vanilla Bean Muffin with Cheese Cream Frosting - Baked in nostalgia of Coorg

Vacations are always good and those vacations where you have had a wonderful time lingers for long time on your mind. I have been really busy with work and so many things, on my to do list for few weeks now. As I was dealing with fatigue and stress, I just remembered my vacation in Coorg couple of months back. We all had awesome time in Coorg and even here I would like to thank, our host Mr. and Mrs. Ganapathi of Coorg Classic home stay. One of the exciting thing was to visit coffee plantation and there we got to see spice garden. It was so thrilling to see black paper bunch which was still green. Cardamom, Cinnamon and various other spice are grown in this region of south India along with coffee. The most exciting bit for me was “Vanilla Pods”. Its smell so awesome and induced appetite for cake. Apologies for not posting those pics due to some technical issue with them but here is the pic of my Vanilla Pods.

So I have brought quite a few pod for baking.  I had decided to do a recipe in which the vanilla bean will be the star and did not got a chance to do.  So now when Coorg poped up in my head again I decided to put everything on hold and take comfort in baking vanilla bean muffin.

It’s a very easy recipe, actually nothing much to do then mixing everything in one go.

Vanilla bean Muffin

1  cup Flour

1/4 cup Vanilla Custard Powder

1 tsp Salt

 2 tsp Baking Powder

100 gm Butter, softened at room temperature

 3/4 cup Powder sugar

1 egg (Use ½ cup of curd, if don’t want to use egg)

1 cup milk

1 Pod of Vanilla Pod scrapped (you can use 1 tps of real vanilla essence, if don’t get the pod)

Pre-heat the oven at 180 ºC

Line your muffin mould with butter and sprinkle flour evenly.

 (You can use paper moulds as well but as I don’t have them right now I am doing without it.)

Mix and sift are the dry ingredients together.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.

Add the egg (or Curd) and mix for 1 minute.

Then add the dry mixture small amount at a time and alter it with addition of milk.

Add vanilla beans in the batter. Mix well and pour the batter in muffin mould.

Bake at 200 ºC for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Let it cool in the oven then transfer on rack for further cooling.

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ Cup of Cream Cheese, Softened, at room temperature

 ¼ Cup Butter, Softened, at room temperature

1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Cups Powder Sugar

 Beat together the softened cream cheese and butter until creamy.

Add in the vanilla extract and beat for another 30 seconds.

Now start adding the powder sugar 1 cup at a time and beating in between each addition. You can make this frosting before and refrigerate. At the time of usages can give it a whisk and pipe.

I used a soft plastic bag for piping. Filled it up with frosting and pushed the cream in one of the corners and then tied a band to make my piping bag. Cut a moderated opening to pipe the icing on muffin. Start with outer edge and come circling till center. Drop some chocolate chips or colored vermicelli for fun.

You could see small beans in the muffin; they intensify of flavor and fragrance of muffins and make them shine.