Apple Cupcakes

Hoho... I'm on a roll! I've stopped baking for months. Ever since I was pregnant, I feel sick just thinking about preparing food. Now the joy of baking is back into my life! Oh joy! Anyway, I digress... I love making little cakes for my 3 year old Princess and her classmates, so I found this great recipe on food4tots for apple muffins.

The muffins turned out so light and fluffy that I would rather classify them as apple cupcakes. Also, I love how the author use these adorable little pink poka dot muffin cases. So sweet! I managed to hunt down the same ones from Phoon Huat, they are also slightly smaller than your average muffin cases, so it's perfect for little princess hands. I know, I'm sooo not original, but it really was the cutest design in the store.

Apple Cupcakes

Make: 18 – 24 small cupcakes

Ingredients:
100g unsalted butter
120g castor sugar
2 eggs
150g cake flour
50g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoons baking soda
120 ml milk
Pinch of salt

Apple filling:
2 large apples (about 300g each) – retain 100g as topping
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Pre-heat oven to 220°c.
2. Prepare apple filling: First, cut out one slice (about 100g with skin) to reserve as topping. Soak into salted water for a while to prevent discoloration and set aside. Peel, slice and core the rest into small and thin slices. Then add apple slices, sugar and lemon to a cooking pan. Using a wooden spatula, cook with medium high heat until the water is fully evaporated and the apple slices turn soft. Set aside to cool.
3. Sieve cake flour, plain flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
4. Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Add in lightly beaten egg and beat until well mix. Then add in salt and mix again.
6. Add in half of the milk and mix well. Sift in half of the flour mixture. Use a hand whisk to gently fold in the flour mixture. Continue with the remaining half of the milk and flour mixture until well combined. With a rubber spatula, scrape off any mixture that is sticking to the side and bottom of the bowl.
7. Add in apple filling and stir until just incorporated.
8. Spoon batter even into the muffin cups until 85% full.
9. Take the reserved apples and cut into tiny strip. Sprinkle on top of the muffins.
10. Bake in the oven at 200°c for 10 minutes and then reduce to 180°c for another 8-10 minutes or until the muffins have risen and turned golden brown. Insert a toothpick into the center to test. If it comes out clean, it means that the muffins are cooked.
11. Transfer to a cooling rack. Best to serve warm.

I'm in love! I love the light and fluffy texture of the cake and the warm apples among the cake. I ate 4 pieces at one go! :P On the other hand, my little Princess wasn't that exactly that enthusiastic about them. I think she doesn't like the chunks of apples in the cake. Maybe next time I'll purée the apples before adding them into the batter. Besides that, thumbs up for Apple cupcakes!

Bon Appetit!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I've got some leftover pumpkin, so I searched the web for a recipe for pumpkin cakes. Unfortunately, majority of the recipes included adding spices I didn't like, such as nutmeg and cinnamon. It took me quite awhile before finding this perfect recipe by My Kitchen. You can check out the original recipe here.

She baked the cake using a 7" x 7" square pan, but my little girl likes cupcakes, so I made them into cupcakes instead. To cute-tify the cupcakes, I used cookie cutters to cut out cute slices of pumpkin to put on top of the cakes while they bake. Also, instead of pineapple-cane sugar, I sprinkled with regular brown sugar. I really like the little crunch of the sugar crystals as contrast to the soft and fluffy cakes. Oh, and I don't like lumps in my cake, so I opted out adding steamed pumpkin cubes into the cake.

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes
250g Unsalted Butter
180g Castor Sugar
3 Large Eggs
150g Steamed Pumpkin, mashed
300g Self-raising Flour
20g Corn Flour
60g Milk
Pinch of salt
Pumpkin slices, for topping (optional)
Regular brown sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 175ºC. Line muffin tin with paper cups.

2. Cream butter together with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and cream until light and smooth or the colour turned pale.

3. Stir in mashed pumpkin and mix until well blended.

4. Sift together flours and salt, fold into the mixture alternate with milk. Mix until well combined then stir in diced pumpkin.

5. Scoop batter in to lined muffin tin, arrange pumpkin slices on the surface and sprinkle with brown sugar.

6. Bake for 20mins. Remove from muffin tins and cool on rack.

It's not really golden brown enough, but I like my cupcake nice and moist, so it was perfect. The cake was very light and fluffy, with a beautiful fragrance of pumpkin and eggs. My little princess loved it!

Definitely would make this again for my girl's little friends in school. Afterall, it's nutritious as it is delicious isn't it?

Bon Appetit!

Chocolate Mud Cupcakes

Bought a book titled 500 Cupcakes on impulse the other day, so I thought I try out one of the recipes.

300g plain chocolate chips
300g unsalted butter
5 eggs
115g caster sugar
115g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Place paper baking cases in the muffin tin.

2. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring well. Leave it to cool a little.

3. Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick. Fold the flour into the egg mixture and then stir in the melted chocolate and butter until well blended.

4. Spoon the mixture into cases and bake for 20mins. The cupcakes would be soft and gooey in texture and appearance. Remove tin from oven and cool for 5mins. Then remove cupcakes from the tin.

5. Serve swiftly, dusted with cocoa powder.

I didn't dust with cocoa powder, but it still tasted delicious!!!

The book used the word "gooey", but it's not. Maybe I have to under cook it by 5 mins in order to get that consistency. But still, it was crazy moist and chocolatey! It's really simple to make and this batch was quickly snatched up when I brought it to a friends's party. I will definitely make this again.

Until then, Bon appetit!