Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes - Happy Birthday to Prem..

Happy Birthday Prem ... May all the happiness be with you all the time...

I personally believe that siblings are the best gifts that you can ask for ... atleast when you are not fighting with each other and tearing each other's hair out.

Being the eldest in the family means adjusting to your siblings all time which is enjoyable most of the time and not so enjoyable sometimes. The age difference between me and my sister is just 13 months which made us look like friends rather than sisters.

When you know a person for more than 30 years, you understand things even without any words involved.....it is the same with me and my sister.

The above photos which were taken 30 years back are really close to my heart. The first one from the left is me and my sister with my parents, the second one is both of us with my mom. The small girl standing next to a beautiful lady is me and the bay one her lap is my sister.  The last one is my sister when she was 100 days old.

Career and marriage has brought a physical distance between us but in our case the very same long distance has brought us even more closer, not only with my first sister but with my second sister as well.

Now she is a mom for an adorable little cutie [Raghav Adithya] who is 8 months old...

I still can't believe that she is a mom as for me she is my sister who is not so soft spoken, sensitive, brainy and a CHOCOHOLIC ... There are so many dishes and snacks that she likes - lime rice, mutton chukka, thaen mittai [தேன் மிட்டாய் ], raw mango with chilly powder and salt etc, etc, etc... I had to go for chocolate based recipe as she is crazy after it.

I had a  tough time selecting a recipe for this post as I wanted something simple yet special ... something which has decadence. I stumbled upon this recipe in one of the foodie websites and I was impressed right away. I have altered the original recipe a little.

Moreover I used regular muffin tray and mini cupcake tray - cakes for mother and son. Prem , many more happy returns of the day.

These cupcakes are made especially for you and Adithya....:) Hope you like it..

For the original recipe go here 

For the cinnamon truffle:
Dark chocolate: 120 gms.
Double cream: 1/2 cups.
Cinnamon powder: 1/2 tsp.

Gently heat the double cream, chocolate pieces and cinnamon powder in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water. Let all the ingredients melt and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and cool completely. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for atleast a couple of hours until it sets.

For the cupcakes: Makes 12 regular sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes
Plain flour: 2 cups.
Cinnamon powder:1/2 tsp.
Ginger powder:1/2 tsp.
Cardamom powder:1/4 tsp.
Nutmeg powder: 1/4 tsp [optional]
Salt: 1/2 tsp.
Baking powder: 1 tsp.
Bicarbonate of soda: 1/4 tsp.
Light muscavado sugar: 1 cup.
Caster sugar: 1 cup.
Large eggs: 2.
Vegetable oil: 1/2 cup.
Strong coffee: 3/4 cup [at room temperature]
Semi skimmed milk: 1 cup [at room temperature].

1.Preheat the oven to 170 C /325 F. Line a regular muffin tray and a mini cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
2.In a large bowl sift all the dry ingredients starting from flour to bicarbonate of soda twice.
3.Add the sugars and mix thoroughly.
4.In another bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together for a couple of minutes.
5.Add the wet ingredients to the dfry ingredients and mix well. Do not over mix. The resulting batter will be very wet.
6.Spoon into the cupcake cases until 3/4 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
7.Cool the cupcakes in the tray for 5 minutes and transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Assembling the cupcakes:
1.Using a melon baller or a stainless steel 1tsp measuring spoon [this is what I used] scoop out the top portion of the cupcakes.
2.With the same melon baller or spoon, scoop out the truffle and place on the top portion of the cupcakes and press gently.
3.Proceed with all the cupcakes and place in a tray. Place the tray in the fridge until serving time.

For the sweet fresh cream:
Double cream: 400 mls.
Icing sugar: 6-7 tbsps.
Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp.
Cocoa powder: 1- 2 tbsp [for dusting].

Whip the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until stiff. Spoon into a large piping bag fitted with star nozzle. Pipe the cream on the cupcakes and dust with cocoa powder.

Serve chilled.

Notes: For the coffee decoction , I mixed 2 tsp of instant coffee powder with 3/4 cup of warm water and allowed it to cool to room temperature.

You can store the truffle for three days in the fridge. The left over truffle can be covered with melted chocolate and served as after dinner chocolates with coffee.

I have substituted light muscavado sugar [half the amount] for caster sugar. You can use only caster sugar if you wish.

Try different flavours for the truffle and the cupcakes.

Double flavoured and coloured frosting works just as well for the cupcakes - as given in the original recipe or combinations of your own like : Coffee and cream , Cinnamon and chocolate or Coffee and chocolate.

The cupcakes can be baked 3 days in advanced and stored in the fridge wrapped individually in cling film. As it is fresh cream frosting, make the sweetened cream just before serving.


Enjoy....

Scribbled by Reva

Spiced Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

The past 2 weeks has been quite tedious and I can't blame anyone else other than myself. The problem was simple - My card expired last month and so the automatic renewal of my domain address [www.kaarasaaram.com] did not go through. Probably the responsible party might have sent a reminder email but I didn't receive any and I can't figure out why..???

Anyway, on 24/12/2012 I wasn't able to view my blog nor did anyone else. A call to the help desk of the company/site that provides domain names for blogger revealed that the domain name has already been taken up by some other party. The person who spoke to me said they could ask the present owner to sell the domain name but the price was nearly 9000$ and in addition I had to pay 70$ for the mediator as well.

Just to confirm, I emailed to blogger help [google] which revealed that they had sent one reminder email but also mentioned that it might have gone into my spam box. As it was Christmas it took 2 days for me to get a reply. They also mentioned as the account had expired nothing can be done...


First of all, I don't have that amount to pay and second, the reason given for charging so much was based on the net value of my domain/website. I was shell shocked....

After a couple of hours of thinking and kicking myself for being so careless, I brought another domain and all the information was automatically uploaded.

So friends, please be very careful with your respective blogs/ domains/ websites. Mine is a very tiny one with no adsense or much viewership. There are blogs which are ever so popular and have more than 1000 hits a day. There are people who watch like hawks and grab any opportunity to make money in any possible way.  

So now www.kaarasaaram.com has been changed to www.kaarasaaram.org. I am not sure wether you are receiving my blog updates but please do update the new web address. I would be very grateful for all the support....


So now that everything is settled, here comes a delicious sweet chocolatey recipe to start the Newyear. I am not a chocolate fan but since it is the favourite for almost everyone else, chocolate is the main ingredient in this recipe [both the drink and cookies]. 

Hot chocolate ... even the name sounds very tempting, isn't it..!!! There are quite a few flavours which are very popular. I have added the two flavours which are my absolute favourite - ginger and cardamom. They lend a lovely sweet aroma and warmth to the drink which is incomparable to anything else.

Perfect for a cold evening or an after dinner drink. It is immensely flavourful, so serve in small glasses with loads of whipped cream.



Spiced Hot Chocolate:
Semi skimmed milk: 400mls.
Dark Chocolate pieces: 75 gms.
Milk chocolate pieces: 25 gms.
Light muscavado sugar: 1 1/2 tbsp.
Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp.
Ginger powder: 3/4 tsp.
Single cream: 2 tbsp.

To garnish:
Whipped cream and 1 tsp of light muscavado sugar.

1.Take a heavy bottomed pan and add the milk, sugar, ginger and cardamom powders. Gently heat on low flame. Do not let the milk boil.
2.Once heated through, remove from flame and add both the dark and milk chocolate pieces.
3.Whisk until all the chocolate is melted.
4.Return to the flame and add the cream.
5.Heat gently for a minute or so, just to make sure the milk, chocolate and cream are well incorporated.
6.Remove from flame and pour into individual glasses.
7.Top with swirls of whipped cream and sprinkle with muscavado sugar.

Serve immediately along with chocolate shortbread cookies....

I am sure most of you must have tasted shortbread cookies which is thick, soft, all buttery and sugary. This is a simple variation to the classic recipe. Very easy to make and taste yummy, a sure treat for anyone who loves chocolate flavour.


The cookies have to be on the thicker side as it is very soft and crumbles easily. Don't aim for perfect shapes as the uneven look makes it even more appealing.
  
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies: Makes 25-30 depending on the size of the cookies

All purpose flour: 150 gms.
Caster sugar: 55 gms.
Unsalted butter [softened]: 125 gms.
Dark chocolate pieces:75 gms.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: 1 tbsp.
Salt: 1 small pinch.

1.Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C / Gas mark 2-3/315 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking trays.
2.Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water.
3.Stir until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat.Set aside to cool.
4.Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt together twice. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
5.Add the cooled chocolate, sifted flour and cocoa powder. Combine with the help of a wooden spoon until it forms a soft dough.
6.Shape tablespoons of the dough into balls and place them on the baking trays well apart.
7.Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
8.Allow to cool in the trays for 5 minutes and then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled store in air tight container. These cookies keep well for upto a week.

Notes: You can omit the ginger and cardamom powder and flavour the hot chocolate with cinnamon, chilli , nutmeg etc. Also alter the amount of dark and milk chocolate according to your preference.

Try using white chocolate instead of dark chocolate for new flavour...

For the cookies, try dusting wth drinking chocolate powder just before serving. For a varied flavour for the cookies, try using milk chocolate or white chocolate or combine flavours for a marbled look for the cookies.

Enjoy.....

Scribbled by Reva.

Rose Chocolate Cupcakes

Its been along time since I've posted something in the blog .... Surely my time management skills sucks ..:(

You start to do something then hop on to another and then another .... another ... another... then nothing is completed and you think "what am I doing ?".... Well there is no other answer other than .... "Time Management Skills Sucks"....

So, I had to force myself to make something quickly, get on with the pics and then post it as quickly as possible....

But even though it is a quick cook and post schedule there should be something interesting for the readers and visitors for this blog [I am hoping that there are some readers /visitors for this tiny space or is it just my belief !!!! I don't know]...

So here comes "Rose Chocolate Cupcakes" ... for my lovely sister who is visiting me. She loves chocolate and I like rose flavour. So this cupcake has both flavours ... Basically this is a cake recipe but making cupcakes is more fun for some unknown reason ...

And then there is fondant [ready-made]. Actually I don't have any experience using fondant, so started with some simple flowers just to decorate the cupcakes.

I did learn a valuable lesson ... Do not put fondant on whipped cream icing as the colour from the fondant starts to bleed into the icing which doesn't look very nice. So please kindly stick on buttercream icing or use the fondant to cover the cupcakes/cakes completely with a thin sugar syrup coating on the cakes as a means of sticking the fondant to the surface.

For the cupcake:
Unsalted butter: 225 gm.
Self raising flour: 225 gms.
Baking powder: 1 tsp.
Medium eggs: 4.
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp.
Golden caster sugar: 200 gms.
Rose water: 1 tsp.
Cocoa powder: 1 tbsp.
Pink food colour: few drops.
Milk Chocolate chips [optional]: a handful.

For the Icing:
Double cream: 250 ml.
Condensed milk: 3-4 tbsp.
Pink food colour: a few drops.

1.Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ fan 170 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ gas mark 4. Line cupcake tray with paper cases.
2.Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl.
3.Add the butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar.
4.Beat until blended. Don't overbeat as we want a light sponge.
5.Take half the batter into a seperate bowl. Add the pink food colour and rose water and mix gently.
6.Add the cocoa powder and chocolate chips into the remaining batter and mix gently.
7.Add the rose flavoured batter into the chocolate flavoured batter and mix twice.
8.Scoop out the batter and fill upto two-thirds of the cupcake cases. So in each cupcake you would have a bit of both flavours.
9.Bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and springy to touch.

Cool and get the icing ready.

Whip the double cream with the condensed milk, and pink food colour until it comes to a whipped cream consistency. Apply a generous layer on the cupcakes to cover the top portion. Keep aside.

For the fondant flowers:
Ready made fondant : I packet [200 gms].
Pink food colour paste: as required.
Icing sugar: 2-3 tbsp.
Green food colour: 1-2drops.
Water: 1- 11/2 tbsp.

Slightly knead the ready made fondant just to make it soft. Add the food colour little by little into the fondant to get the colour intensity you want and mix well. Roll the fondant to around 5 millimeter in thickness.

Cut out flower shapes and keep them seperately. Of course you will get a lot of flowers, just dry them out in open air and store in zip lock bags for upto 2 months. Mix the icing sugar with water and food colour. Take the icing mix in a small icing bag and trim the edge so that you have a tiny opening. Place tiny drops in the middle of the flowers and allow them to dry.

Decorate the cupcakes with the fondant flowers ....

Enjoy...


Scribbled by Reva

Chocolate Cake - Egg and Dairy free...

December is the month of celebration as it is flooded with festivals and special times. It is the season when festive and party food are cooked, sometimes in excess and served with love and kindness. This month paves way to a new year, to new hopes and dreams.

I must say that this is the season where chocolate, cinnamon, mixed dried fruit and oranges fill our menus and their aromas fill our homes.

There are a few special people who don't prefer the usual chocolate cake with eggs and dairy added to it. This cake is for such special people. Personally this is the first time that I have tried baking a cake without eggs or dairy. I was quite apprehensive of how the cake will be but I must say that it turned out to be very nice.

It had a wonderful soft texture and "melt in the mouth" feel to it. Of course this recipe comes from a cookbook as I really didn't grow up baking cakes.

The recipe also gives an alternate to use rice flour instead of the self raising flour. I did try using rice flour. The cake came out well but with a slight grainy texture. I thought that the cake had a slightly different flavour because of the rice flour - more rice floury flavour than the normal cake.

You can make the cake either with the normal flour or rice flour - it is your choice. Be careful when handling the cake as it is very delicate and breaks quite easily.

For the Cake:
Self raising flour: 360 gms.
Cocoa powder: 60 gms.
Baking powder: 2 tsp.
Golden caster sugar: 400 gms.
Vegetable oil: 140ml + 1 tbsp for oiling the tins.
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp.
White wine vinegar: 4 tsp.
Water [at room temperature]: 400ml
Salt: 1 tsp.

To decorate:
Raspberries: 400 gms.
Icing sugar: to dust.

1.Preheat oven to 170 degrees C fan / Gas mark 3 1/2. Oil two 20 cm cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
2.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir in the sugar.

3.In another bowl, mix the oil, water and vanilla extract. The oil and water will not mix obviously but just give it a stir. Add the vinegar.
4.Add this to the flour mix and stir well until well incorporated.
5.Divide the batter equally into the tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer emerges clean.
6.Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the edges of the cake tin to release the cakes.
7.Turn out on a wire rack and cool completely.

8.Remove the paper and put one cake on the cake stand or serving plate.
9.Arrange a layer of raspberries and place the other cake on top.
10.Scatter the remaining raspberries and dust with icing sugar.

Serve with joy and enjoy with happiness...

Sending this to Food of Month - Party Food by Amy, Cakes for Christmas by Ramya, Baked Goodies and Winter Carnival by Radhika, Holiday Baking by Sravani, Christmas Delicacy by Julie, Jingle all the way by Kavi and Christmas Newyear Eve 2011 by Hema.

Scribbled by Reva

Edible Gifts - Pistachio Choco Fudge

Wow, it is that time of the year where everywhere you turn there are lights, cakes, bakes, chocolate - the whole Christmas preparation with all the trimmings. Time to make edible gifts again... But with no time in hand to do anything really because of my laziness..:)

I want to relax, have a cup of tea, watch TV and play with my daughter - you know just have quality time for myself. At the same time I can't ignore my lovely friends and work colleagues....

I have to give something to you guys for Christmas and I know most of you are real "Chocoholics" and the rest have a liking for chocolate..:) This is my gift for all my blogger friends for Christmas as without your support, nothing is possible..:)


So, this recipe is for all the "Chocoholics" out there..:)) Even my hubby who is not that much into chocolates was impressed with this treat... How do you like that!!!!

This sweet treat barely takes 10 minutes to make and taste superb. I have used dark and white chocolate as the sweet from the white chocolate and bitter taste from the dark chocolate offers just the right balance of sweetness.

Also the streaked appearance of the chocolates is lovely to look at..:)  You can very well double the recipe quantity and make large batches of these edible gifts.

For the recipe:
Dark chocolate : 250 gms.
White chocolate : 100 gms.
Condensed milk: 300 gms.
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp.
Pistachios [unsalted and shelled]: 50 gms.

1. Line a 6in by 9in roasting tray or a square cake tin with baking parchment. Let the papaer overhang the sides lightly.
2.Chop the pistachios coarsely to bits.
3.Put the dark chocolate and the condensed milk in a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water [double boiler method].
4.Stir occasionally and let this mix melt slowly.
5.Meanwhile, take the white chocolate in another heat proof bowl and place it on another pan with barely simmering water.

6.Melt the white chocolate slowly until smooth.
7.Remove both chocolate bowls from heat once smooth and shiny and let the chocolates cool slightly for a couple of minutes.
8. Stir in the white chocolate into the dark chocolate mix.
9.Mix very gently for  a couple of times as the fudge should have a streaked appearance.
10.Empty this into the prepared tray and level the surface. Sprinkle the chopped pistachio nuts on the surface of the fudge.
11.Press lightly, cover and chill for about 2 to 3 hrs.

Cut into squares and present as edible gifts.

Note: This fudge can be store for upto a month in the fridge. If you are putting the fudge into boxes wrap them in tissue first.
You can substitute white chocolate for milk chocolate or make the fudge entirely in one variety of chocolate... it is upto your taste and preference..:)

Sending this to Sinful Delights by Vardhini, Chirstmas Delicacy  by Julie, Winter Carnival by Radhika , New Year New Dish by Nupur, Love Lock with Sweets happening in Vidhya's Sweet Karam Kapi and Killer on the Plate and Innovative Pakwan by Swetha , Jingle all the Way by Kavi.

Enjoy...

Scribbled by Reva