Chocolate Lava Cake

2 birthdays in the family a span of 4 days!! So this time thought of giving the usual sponge cake a miss..and made Lava Cake Muffins and one small cake in an aluminium foil rectangular container.

Ingredients :

*100g dark chocolate, chopped- I used Bournville Rich Chocolate 
*100g butter
*150g light soft brown sugar-I used 100gm normal white sugar
*3 large eggs
*1/2 tsp vanilla essence
*50g plain flour

*coffee powder / cocoa powder (optional)

Method

11. Preheat the oven to 230C. 

22. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of hot water (or alternatively put  in the microwave) and stir until smooth, then set aside to cool slightly for 15 minutes.

33. Beat the eggs and Mix in the sugar, and keeping mixing with the eggs, and add  into the chocolate-butter mix followed by the vanilla extract and finally the flour. 

  4. Spray/Smear oil in the muffin tray and the aluminium container. Sprinkle cocoa powder/coffee powder to line the moulds (optional) 

  5. Divide the mixture among the muffin moulds and aluminium container.

46. Bake the muffins for 7-8 minutes at 230 deg C and the aluminium container (slightly bigger) for 12-13 minutes or until the tops are firm to touch but the middles still feel slightly squidgy. Carefully run a knife around the edge of each pudding, then turn out onto serving plates and serve with single cream/vanilla icecream or have it just like that.

CUPCAKES ....

...To satiate sugar craving of two little girls....

To put an end to constant whining of two little girls on a weekday evening, when, with Maths exam looming large the following morning, made the option of going to a cake shop/bakery non-feasible, a quick fix solution was to bake these cup cakes.....

Ingredients
All purpose flour (Maida) - 1 3/4 mug (black & white)
Sugar - 3/4 mug (same mug as above)
Eggs -3
White Oil - 3/4 cup of same mug
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Coffee powder - 1.5 tbsp (may be more/less as per preference)
milk - 1/4 cup
vanilla essence - a few drops
dry fruits - anything ...cashew/raisin/walnut/almonds....I didnt use any due to non-availability
Chocolate sauce for topping

Procedure :

1. Beat the eggs along with the sugar.
2. Mix Maida and baking powder and if using cocoa powder, mix it along.
3. Mix the Whipped egg+sugar and oil in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the maida-baking powder mix to the wet mixture and fold it in.
5. Mix well to get rid of any lumps, if formed.
6. Add vanilla essence, coffee powder and mix.
7. Preheat a greased cup cake / muffin tray at approx 170 deg C
8. Pour the batter in the moulds upto 3/4 level.

9. Decorate the top of each mould (filled with batter) with chocolate sauce/dry fruits/any other sauce as per taste

10. Bake at 170 deg C for 15 minutes.

Delicious cupcakes / muffins are ready!!!

The girls gobbled down the hot cupcakes fresh off the oven...their giggles and joyous look of almost divine pleasure were enough to erase any memory of the nagging and whining of the previous hour.

Simplest of Cake Recipes

The simplest of Sponge cake recipes learnt during my school days.....which so resonates the tagline of my blog..."nothing fancy or out of the way...."

Have made it countless number of times and it has never failed to bring a smile on the faces of my loved ones....

Ingredients :
eggs : 3
Maida : 2 tea cups
Oil/Butter : 1 cup
Sugar (white/castor sugar) : 1 cup
Vanilla essence : a tsp
Baking powder : 1 tbsp
Cashews/Almonds/Raisin : as per choice
Coffee powder / Chocolate powder/Cocoa : optional
Chocolate sauce for decoration : optional

Procedure :
Preheat oven to 200 deg C
Whip the eggs
Mix Maida and Baking powder and Chocolate powder/cocoa
For ease of mixing powder the sugar (optional)
Mix oil/butter, sugar and add the whipped egg
Add the maida/flour-baking powder-cocoa mix into the wet mix of butter/oil-sugar-egg.
Mix well with ladle or electric mix.
Add the vanilla essence
If adding coffee powder, add now
Also, add the dry fruits now into the cake mix

Also preheat the oil/butter smeared container in which the cake is to be baked
Pour in the batter
Bake at 180-190 deg C for 20 minutes

Cool.
Unleash your creativity to decorate as you wish...my decorations are quite minimalistic ..
Sometimes I use milk powder with drops of milk to make a moist paste to "write" on the cake