Eggless triple chocolate buttermilk cupcakes

Not the snappiest of titles for a post - or a recipe - but on the plus side, there's no room for misunderstanding as to what it is, I guess. Perhaps I should have called it "Eggless triple chocolate butterfree buttermilk vanilla scented cupcakes" and done away with the ingredient list altogether...

Never mind, I'll save that ingredients-as-title idea for another post. Never let a good idea go waste. Recycle, recycle, recycle, isn't that the mantra?

The reason I made these cupcakes was because I stopped Pete from buying cupcakes from the supermarket with the promise that I'd make some at home. (Honestly, the list on the back of the package had E-ngredients rather than ingredients! I'm all for Pete having a long, long life - no-one could pray for that more - but I'd rather he retained his human qualities through all of it rather than become an artificial life form through ingesting manufactured chemicals.)

Anyway, since my mother's a chocolate fiend but not one that devours any chocolate derivations with egg in it, I made the cupcakes eggless. The recipe is more or less from Nic at Baking Bites, with a few changes.



Here's a cupcake before the ganache went on. I took a bite out of it just to see what it was like - and because I'm not terribly fond of icing or frosting. Glad to say that the cupcake was just as delicious in its double-chocolate version as with the final chocolate addition.

Recipe for: Eggless triple choc buttermilk cupcakes



Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups self-rising flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1-1/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
¼ cup oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels

For the ganache:

4 ounces (110 gms) dark chocolate, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Bring the cream to a boil in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Take it off the heat and add the butter and chocolate, stirring till it's all melted and thickened and shiny. Place in the fridge for the ganache to get to a spreading consistency, if preferred.

Method for cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with paper cups.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.



3. Pour in the buttermilk, oil, vinegar, vanilla and stir till just combined.



The batter will be quite thick.

4. Put 1 tsp batter in a cup, add about 10 mini morsels,



then cover with another tsp batter. It’s ok if the morsels don’t stay in the centre. Finish up the rest of the batter the same way.



5. Bake for 15 minutes or till done when tested with a thin skewer.





6. Cool, then dip the tops into ganache (or spread the ganache with a small spatula)



and set the cupcakes aside in a cool place till the ganache hardens.

Savoury methi-mustard muffins

I like baking muffins - they're so quick and easy to do. Unfortunately I enjoy the baking part way better than the eating part, because of my under-developed sweet tooth. Pete likes muffins warm from the oven but once they cool down, they lie around neglected. And his kids, aged nearly 11 and nearly 13, dont like muffins at all - yeah, practically unbelievable, but true. So I dont do muffins nearly as often as I'd like to.

However, today I was in the mood. I had a basic recipe for herb and cheese muffins, so I decided to see what I could do with mostly Indian ingredients, but with a slight western touch. To that end, I picked about a cupful of coriander and fenugreek leaves. Then, because I didnt want to use cheddar cheese with those particular herbs (yep, methi leaves are classified under "herb" rather than "greens" for this recipe!) and didnt quite know what else to add, I rummaged around in my kitchen shelves to see what I could come up with.

That turned out to be a jar of whole-grain mustard with black pepper and white wine, with about a heaped tbsp remaining. Wondering all the time whether it was a good idea, I emptied out the mustard and added it to the batter. And still on an experimental note, I sprinkled parmesan cheese on some of the muffins, and added drained, chopped sundried tomatoes in oil to the rest, and set them to bake, hoping for the best.



Boy oh boy, it turned out to be a tremendous success - Pete liked them (didnt bother trying them on the kids - they're SO resistant to anything different, it's amazing) although, since he was expecting sweet muffins, he was taken aback at first by the savoury flavour. But he agreed that they would be perfect with soup - or even parma ham (which combination he's welcome to try - I dont touch the stuff).



As for me, I absolutely loved the muffins! They would, as Pete said, be the perfect accompaniment to soup and salad for a light, healthy meal. If I can keep my hands off them before dinner, that is.

Next time I would probably add some chopped green chillies, because I think I would like the muffins even better with some added zing. Yummm....

Recipe for: Savoury methi-mustard muffins



Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 cup butter/margarine
1/3 cup chopped fresh fenugreek leaves and coriander leaves
2 cups self-rising flour
1 heaped tbsp whole-grain mustard
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup low-fat/whole milk (use according to preference
Optional
3-4 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F). Spray/grease a 12-cup muffin pan lightly with oil

2. In a medium bowl, beat the butter/margarine and mustard till well mixed

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between additions.

4. Mix in the chopped herbs

5. Add the salt, baking soda, flour and milk to the batter and fold in quickly but gently till the ingredients are just mixed. Do NOT overbeat or the muffins will turn out tough

6. Spoon the batter into 6 of the muffin cups, leaving the tops rough. Sprinkle the tops with the parmesan cheese.

7. To the remaining batter, add the chopped sundried tomatoes, mixing lightly. Spoon the batter into the remaining 6 cups.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or till the muffins are golden brown and done.

9. Serve warm as they are, or with soup and salad.