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I believe that salt is to food, what food is to life. In right proportions, it can heighten the taste of what you eat..and in the wrong - destroy! Even the most delicious sweets come added with some salt...to taste!

As for me, I've never enjoyed cooking. And as contrary to my owning a food-blog as it may sound, I always think about daily, routine cooking as a chore. But my tryst with the pots and pans began when I got a kitchen all to myself...I began experimenting and exploring new worlds in my own home. Some outcomes were excellent and some plain disasters. Then sprouted the need to keep track of all those good ones...and hence this blog!

Here, I share those experiments that pleased more than one palate!




October 6, 2010

Black Forest Cupcakes

What's better than good food and great company? Well, it is pretty simple - Good food, great company and LOTS of chocolate. And, what makes all this even better? Serving all this to a bunch of wide-eyed toddlers eagerly waiting at the door as you walk in with a box of freshly baked and frosted Black Forest Cupcakes. Pure joy, I say! That is precisely what I did for my little sonny S, when he moved from his playschool to prep-school early this September. I know, I know it is over a month now - How in the blue blazes did I not post it so long? Oh well, better late than never, eh?



The kids (and the class teachers) enjoyed this treat. I sure wish you would, too. Go on and make them. These gorgeous babies are only a whisk away!


Ingredients
For Cupcakes
1.5 Cups All purpose flour
1.5 Cup Powdered/Confectioners Sugar
1.5 Cups Unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 Extra Large eggs
1.25 tsp Vanilla extract
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
5 tbsp Cocoa powder
1/3 cup Whole Milk
Pinch of Salt

For Assembly and Decoration
15 Maraschino cherries in syrup (without stems)
1/2 Cup of the syrup in which the cherries are bottled
1 Cup Whipped Cream
Method

- Preheat oven to 350F and line cupcake/muffin pan with baking cups
- Cream together butter and sugar and set aside
- In a large bowl, sift together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.
- Repeat the sifting process into another large bowl to make sure you have a homogenous mixture of all these dry ingredients
- Now, break eggs into another bowl and beat until fluffy/frothy (about 10-15 minutes) and doubled in quantity
- Pour the beaten eggs into the creamed sugar-butter mixture and beat again until well mixed
- Add the vanilla essense to this wet mixture
- Slowly pour and fold in small quantities of this wet mixture into the dry ingredients using a flat spatula, as you combine it all together to form a smooth batter.
- This batter may be thick, so pour in the milk gradually until such a point where you are easily able to maneuver your spatula in the same and batter is creamy
- Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake/muffin pan (My muffins are of about 1 3/4" base diameter) and bake for about 30 or until a toothpick comes out clean when pierced in the center of a cupcake
- Once baked, allow to cool completely
- Place cupcakes on a large plate
- Drizzle each cupcake with about 1tbsp of Cherry syrup
- Using a star nozzle, frost each one with whipped cream
 
Makes 15 drool-worthy cupcakes.

This batch, I send virtually, to adorn Madhuri's Chocolate Fest as she celebrates one year of Cook-curry Nook.

7 comments:

  1. wow wow wow..looks simply irrestible and mouthwatering....absolutely tempting...

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  2. ooo... love the idea of black forest cupcakes!!! Looks great!! Bet it tasted fab too!

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  3. The cupcakes look so divine !!! Love the well written easy recipe too !!!

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  4. Cute looking and droolworthy cupcakes..

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  5. Thank you for all your comments everybody!

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  6. Holy Mother of Jesus! You know how to spoil that little one, and many other little ones as well, dontcha? ;)
    This is absolute mayhem I say. I want! RIGHT NOW! Ship me some, P.L.E.A.S.E!! Whatever you want in return. Really. Whatever! You name it, you get it :P
    PS: I want to be in S boy's play school too. Bah, someone make me little again! :))))

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