Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes! I'm just realising I've never said the word like an adult.. Never! It's always accompanied with childish glee and that sense of playfulness. To me, cupcakes signify fun, laughter and all things nice and colourful. Not to mention that excitement you sense while baking them, since you're dying to see the end result. 

Contrary to popular belief, they're quite simple to make. Not very time-consuming either. And totally worth all the effort. I decided to make chocolate cupcakes and I fished them out of my latest possession, The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. This book is one of the many goodies I received from an extremely dear person, Thanks RB! I hear this bakery in London makes the most legendary cupcakes, so I knew I had to give it a try. Still have the 14 other cupcake recipes to try!

This recipe uses a devil's food cake for it's chocolate base. The cocoa powder gives the sponge a dark and chocolatey kick. But the most fun element is the frosting bit. You could make a million combinations with the frosting in every possible colour and a myriad of cupcake sprinkles. I whipped up some cream cheese frosting, which by the way tastes swell! You could also do a chocolate frosting, if you're a chocolate maniac. Cream cheese was just more exciting.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
 Makes 12

Ingredients:
100g / 3.5 oz plain flour
20g / 0.70 oz cocoa powder
140g / 5 oz caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
40g / 1.4 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
120 ml whole milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting: (Should suffice about 15 cupcakes)
300g / 10.5 oz icing sugar, sifted
50g / 1.7 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g / 4.4 oz cream cheese, cold


A 12-hole cupcake tray, lined with paper cases

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 deg. C/325 deg. F
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder and add to it the sugar, salt and butter. Use a handheld mixer and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is well combined.
3. Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Then slowly pour half of it in the flour mixture, beat to combine and turn the mixer upto high speed to get rid of any lumps.
4. Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture. Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth. Don't overmix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the pre-heated over for 20-25 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer/knife inserted should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tray before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely (bless the microwave stand!).
6. When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the frosting on top and decorate with cupcake sprinkles.

For the frosting: 

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter using a handheld electric whisk on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
2. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat it until it's completely incorporated. Continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, atleast 5 minutes. Don not overbeat as it can become runny.

My Notes:

• Use only Philadelphia Cream Cheese. It's a sin to use anything else. 
• Make sure you don't spoon more than two-thirds of the batter into the paper cases or the cupcake will flow out.
• Do not overbeat the cupcake mixture, as the sponge will be too heavy.
• If you don't find unsalted butter, regular butter will do. In that case, skip the pinch of salt.
• The richer your cocoa powder, the richer your cupcake! Use Belgian cocoa powder, if you can lay your hands on some.

Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)

Pronounced as: Som (as in from Som-nath); Taam.

After a little sweet, comes a little salty! All the calories from the brownie, make you want to look at a healthier option for your next dish. I came across this salad a while back, and developed a liking for it immediately. It was healthy and tasty (in a healthy sort of way), and I just had to try this at home. So I marched off, to one of the bigger vegetable markets near home, and got myself a fresh green papaya. Now, they're not the best smelling things, nor the cleanest. But when you devour the final outcome, it's all worth it.

This green papaya salad comes in like a thousand versions, really. Some have added garlic, kidney beans, cucumber, french beans and on and on. You may pick whichever you like. I am more than comfortable with the ingredients I've mentioned below. Easily available ingredients is what makes a dish more fun to make. No point getting stressed about it, honestly. 

I served it at a family get-together at home, and I'm not bragging here, but by the end of it, the bowl was clean! Everyone loved it! It definitely is a welcome change from the crap we sometimes end up eating in the name of salad. This salad keeps finding it's way to my dining table thanks to a beloved friend who keeps the papayas coming in. Anytime, you've overstuffed yourself at lunchtime and want a very light dinner, a bowl-ful of this salad is just perfect. I love mine chilled!!

Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)

Ingredients:

1 green papaya (you may take half if it's very big)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts and/or cashews, (plain roasted or honey-roasted)

1-2 cups bean sprouts

1-2 tomatoes cut into thin, long strips, deseeded

1 thai red chilli/regular dry chilli, minced (deseed it, if you want a milder salad)

3 spring onions, sliced long

1/2 cup fresh basil (tulsi leaves)/mint roughly chopped

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Dressing:

2 tbsp oil, preferrably olive

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp brown sugar (optional)

1 tsp ground bean paste (if you can find it, else optional) 

Method:

1. Mix all your dressing ingredients together. Use a little less honey if your peanuts/cashews are honey roasted, else it tends to taste a wee bit sweeter. Make sure your honey is well dissolved in the dressing. Mix really well.
2. Peel the green papaya. While peeling make sure you remove every visible green well since that outer periphery tends to be bitter. Let a thicker layer be peeled off. Cut into half, then cut into long pieces and grate. Place in a big bowl.
3. Add to it sliced tomato, spring onions, chilli, bean sprouts and most of the basil/mint. 
4. Add the dressing and toss well.
5. Add the peanuts and/or cashews. You may leave them whole or chopped. Toss again. 
6. Taste the salad. Adjust chilli for a spicier palate, honey for sweeter or lemon juice for that extra zing. Ideally the above quantities suffice.
7. Serve in individual bowls or on a serving platter. Garnish with remainin basil/mint and fresh coriander.

My Notes:

• If you want you can keep the salad ready beforehand: Combine all ingredients except nuts and dressing and leave it in the refrigerator covered for several hours or overnight. Jus add the nuts and the dressing at the last minute. Toss and serve.
• If using brown sugar, reduce honey quantity to 3/4th tbsp. 
• Scrub the papaya clean with your hands before peeling. Knowing our beloved country, God knows how many dirt areas it's traveled and dropped in your hands!
• You need a lot of sweetness for this salad, in order to balance out the sharpness of the papaya and the lime juice. The dressing should taste sweet along with being spicy, sour and salty.

Snickers Brownies

What better way to start off an exciting blog venture with a recipe of something chocolatey and rich! Brownies! I wasn't prepared to make a cake immediately, so, to me brownies sounded just perfect. And what better chocolate to pick then the very delicious Snickers! You could pick any of your favourite chocolates, really. Maybe a Mars, Galaxy, Hersheys or even Toblerone. If I were you, I'd give wafer biscuit chocolates a miss. As much as i adore them, they're just not brownie material. Of course dark chocolate would be your best bet! Those heavenly pieces from Godiva or Ghirardelli...Mmmm..Need I say more?

My pick was Snickers, simply for the range of flavours it provides. Chocolate, nougat, caramel and peanuts together can hardly ever go wrong. And the result? An impeccable brownie, well-crusted on the outside with a soft, gooey inside. The intermittent bits of peanuts do a world of good!

                                    

Snickers Brownies

Serves: That honestly depends. Could serve even 1! But ideally 5-6.

Ingredients:

3 bars Snickers chocolate (59g each) 

                  or 

200g / 7.05 oz dark chocolate/any else you prefer

100g / 3.5 oz butter (preferably unsalted) 

60g flour (maida), sifted(passed through a sieve) 

3 eggs

100g sugar (you could use 125g if you enjoy it a tad sweet)

icing sugar/cocoa powder, to dust

A 7-inch square baking tray, ideally

(I used an 8-inch, as available)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg.C/ 320 deg. F
2. Mix the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the base    of the bowl touch the water). Keep stirring so as to not let the peanuts stick to the bottom. Leave until melted and smooth and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, take the eggs and sugar and whisk thoroughly till you reach a frothy consistency. Add the sifted flour and fold in gently. Make sure your batter is well mixed before proceeding.
4. Stir in the melted chocolate-butter mixture until smooth.
5. Line your baking pan with parchment/butter paper and spoon in your batter. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check by inserting a thin knife/skewer. If it come's out clean, your done. If not, let it sit a minute or two longer in the oven.
6. Remove from the oven and pull out using the parchment/butter paper. Place on a cooling rack and let cool completely (I use my microwave stand as a cooling rack. Works for me!).
7. Dust with icing sugar/cocoa powder, cut into pieces and serve.

My Notes:

• Never melt chocolate directly over the stove. NEVER.
• If using milk chocolate, stick to 100g of sugar or the brownies turn out a little too sweet.
• Use a hand-mixer if possible, saves a whole lot of effort.
• Do not overcook the brownie, or the edges tend to get hard and too crunchy.
• The default way of eating leftover brownie is to heat it, most people will say so. But try a cold piece right out of the refrigerator. It's how I love it and it sure tastes as divine if not more!

Hello!

A warm welcome to my blog 'The Mango Epicurean'!! 

I'm Shweta Parikh, a 20-something from Bombay (don't like calling it Mumbai), who's just finished her MBA, here to share my trysts with baking. This blog stems from the push I've gotten from some beloved people who saw potential in the food pictures I'd occasionally put up on Facebook. I absolutely love gorging on desserts and baked goodies. That's where the passion to learn the process comes from! 

You will also find here, in due course of time, non-baked items which excite me. Any break from gaining calories  should be welcome! :) 

I'm a poor eater. There are so many things I hate eating (my friends and family will vouch for what a pain it is to dine with someone who won't as much as touch paneer). I know! Can you believe it?? I still try to work around these hitches to come up with something that people enjoy.

Cooking and baking for me are, apart from being my biggest stress-buster, an extension of my love for people. That one smile from a dish of mine someone tasted, means the world to me. All the measuring,whisking, folding etc. etc. becomes so much more worthwhile! So when someone goes 'yumm', I'm like 'yayy'!!

Which is why, I'd like to say to you, dear reader, that any sort of feedback/suggestions/comments will be more than welcome. I'd be delighted to hear from you. D.E.L.I.G.H.T.E.D. 

Thanks!

Cheers and enjoy!