Eggless Almonds Banana Chocolate-Chip Muffins / Eggless ABC Muffins

These days its raining cats and dogs here in Bangalore. And every time it rains, my mind starts playing kabbadi with my stomach, in short I have a carving almost every time it rains. And sometimes you do get bored of your favourite onion pakoda's and want some warm ooey-gooey cakes. So this time I decided to give the deep fried crispy's a miss and hot baked muffins a catch. So a healthy combo of the goodness of fruit and nut in a cake was what made the rains a memorably ''sweet'' experience. And the hide n seek of the dark chocolate chips balances the banana so well, that it just doesn't seem like a fruit cake. So, lets get baking with this moist, soft, gooey , sweet, nutty,chocolatey Eggless Almonds Banana Chocolate-Chip Muffins or lets call this the easy-peasy - Eggless ABC Muffins


Ingredients

• Banana – 1 (fully ripened)
• Milk – 1/2 Cup
• Vinegar – 1 Tsp
• Plain Flour / Maida – 1 Cup
• Sugar – 3/4 Cup
• Baking Soda – 1/2  Tsp
• Oil – 1/3 Cup
• Vanilla Essense - 1 Tsp
• Chocolate Chips – 1/4 Cup
• Almonds - 1/2 Cup, chopped (Frozen)

Method

Preheat the oven at 200 C for 10 minutes.

For the batter, start by mixing vinegar in the milk, give it a good whisk and keep this aside (this is the buttermilk we use in baking).

Mash a banana using a fork, then measure it. We require  half a cup of mashed banana.

In a mixing bowl, add in flour, fine/castor sugar, baking soda and mix it.

Add the mashed banana, vanilla essence and oil to the buttermilk (milk+vinegar) mixture and mix it well.

Dust the chocolate chips with flour, so that they don't sink to the bottom of the muffin tray.

To the dry ingredients mix, add in the chocolate chips and fold lightly and do not over mix it.

Then pour in the wet ingredients and mix it slowly and gently until everything is well combined.

Pour the batter in the Muffin tray/liners 3/4th the way .

Top with frozen almonds and  bake for 20-30 minutes. Check at 20 minutes with a toothpick, if its comes out clean, muffins are ready, if not, bake for a couple of more minutes .

Enjoy this warm, it tastes heavenly!

A Few Tips:

• Do not use regular homemade buttermilk(chaas) , as this is not the buttermilk we use in baking. In baking buttermilk means a mix of vinegar and room temperature milk mixed and kept aside, untouched for about 7-10 mins.

• Banana's are also used as an egg substitute, but it is only used in recipes which mostly include banana, as it has a strong flavour and fragrance which can be intimidating. 

• Also note, that the banana must be ripe for best results. 

• If you have too many banana's at home and they are turning brown, just put them in a zip-lock bag and deep freeze them and when ever you want to use them just let it thaw(come to room temperature) and use it for your muffins, milkshakes, ice creams etc.

• Chocolate chips can sink in the batter and settle at the bottom of the tin, so it is advisable to roll them well in plain flour and then use them. Or you may add them in intervals while you pour the batter.

• We do not use toasted almonds, as, while baking in high temperature, they might burn and taste bitter and of course spoil the muffins overall taste. We use frozen nuts as they toast in the heat produced by the oven.

• Always stock your dried fruits in the fridge, they never get spoilt.

Do try this and leave me a comment!

Flour Butter Cream Icing

 Butter cream is usually extremely sweet. The bakery cakes which we eat, often uses this sweet cream, of-course with margarine, which isn't healthy (and to cut costs)..... That's when I started surfing the internet baba for eggless butter cream recipes.

There are different kinds of BC-IMBC, SMBC, ABC etc. Hence stumbled upon a few. And I liked this one and few alterations made to suit my taste-buds.

For my eggless vanilla cupcakes (recipe click here) I made this Floury Butter Cream icing. First when I started reading...I could only think of white sauce pasta because of the flour and milk procedure hahaha. And was going crazy thinking of pasta and butter cream..How will the taste be? Creamy? Floury? Too sweet?

This buttercream is creamy,light, fluffy and delicious. It is made by first cooking a simple pudding made with milk, sugar and flour. Once this pudding base has cooled to room temperature, you add it to beaten vanilla-butter by the spoonful.
And the result? A light and creamy buttercream with a pale ivory color. Although, this buttercream is hardly any different to the  Classic American Buttercream, just for the flour and is a little less sweet and more subtle in flavor.

I am doing a step wise picture tutorial for better understanding. Hope this helps as well.


Ingredients

• Milk-1 Cup
• Flour-4 1/2 Tbsp
• Sugar - Half Cup
• Unsalted Butter-1 Cup, room temp
• Vanilla Essence- 1Tsp
• Salt- a pinch(optional)

Method

Whisk together milk and sugar in a medium saucepan until the sugar dissolves.

When you dissolve sugar into the milk, the buttercream is guaranteed to be creamy and smooth! No sugar crystals crunching between your teeth.

Whisk in the flour. Give it good whisk to eliminate lumps.

Place the saucepan over low heat and bring this to a boil, whisking continuously, cook for about 1-2 minutes. 

Remove this custard from the heat. 

By whisking the flour into the sugary milk, you minimize the risk of getting flour lumps in the pudding base. 

This custard should hang from the whisk but should not pour down as a stream from the whisk.

Immediately cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly against the pudding's surface, so that a crust is not formed.

In a mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter until smooth and fluffy and lightened in colour, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla to this and mix well.

Add the cooled pudding one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add a pinch of salt(completely optional) and beat until buttercream until it looks thick, smooth, and creamy (about 3 minutes). Beat the mixture until it is stiff enough to pipe and hold shape.

By beating the softened butter until it's pale and creamy and then adding this to the pudding base one spoonful at a time, the buttercream comes together very easily.

This is the just whipped and coloured Flour Butter Cream Icing.

These are different designs I could pipe.

                                                             
                                                                Vanilla Cupcakes (recipe click here)

Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week. 

To use buttercream that has been refrigerated, first allow to come to room temperature then beat until smooth and spreadable again. Cakes/cupcakes decorated with this buttercream generally keep up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

A few Tips:

• You can make this buttercream allergy-friendly by using gluten-free flour instead of the all-purpose, and also lactose-free milk. No lactose, no gluten! (which is the new trend catching up in India)

• The custard should not be too thick. If it becomes thick, make sure to pass it over a sieve to discard the lumps.

• Salt is added to enhance the flavour of the butter cream, so just add a pinch not more. And please never use salted butter.Always use unsalted butter for icings.

• The custard must be at room temperature while adding butter. If it is hot, then the butter will melt in the custard and your buttercream will not be creamy nor will it be able to hold stiff peaks.

  

Do try this and leave me a comment !! Would love your feedback.
And do let me know, if you like my picture tutorials and would like to see more of this.

Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes/Sponge Cake 1

So here goes my first post on Eggless Bakes. I love cakes, cuppies, cake-jars, anything to do with cakes. I have been baking cakes for almost 7 years now. Just that, at that point, I never took pictures.. It is only off-late that I started my blog and I knew I had to take ''good pictures'' to increase one's appetite..hahaha....
   I have tried endless vanilla cake recipes and there are a couple of versions which turn out great. I will be sharing others as well in separate posts..For now, this is a no fail Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes/Sponge Cake recipe, which includes butter in it. It is extra spongy, melts in your mouth,when you take your first bite (if you include optional ingredients) and disappears in no time. The aroma of vanilla is so pleasant the it actually calms your mind and will definitely make you forget what you were busy thinking of. Excited ?? So lets get baking...


Ingredients

• Maida - 150 Gms
• Butter- 60 ml (room temperature)
• Condensed milk- 250 ml
• Baking soda - 1/2 Tsp
• Baking powder - 2 Tsp
• Water- Half  Cup
• Vanilla essence/Powder - 2 Tsp

Optional Ingredients

• Milk Powder- 2 Tsp
• Plain yogurt(Curd) - 1 cup (250 ml)
• Cooking oil - 2-3 Tsp
• Milk - 2 Tbsp

NOTE : Use curd at room temperature


Method:

Measure all the dry ingredients and sieve maida ,baking powder, baking soda, milk powder,vanilla powder twice to incorporate air which make the cake light and fluffy.

Cream the butter, till it turns pale and fluffy. You can either use a hand mixer or stand mixer. If  you don't have either, then, you could use a hand whisk and work your arm muscles!!

Add the condensed milk, vanilla (if using extract/essence), water, optional ingredients (liquids) and beat well for about 3 minutes.

At this stage, if it looks like your batter has curdled, don't worry, at the end it will all combine to form a smooth batter.

Now add the sifted dry ingredients mix (optional ingredients as well),  spoon by spoon, till it all combines well. Do not over mix. Mix only until you see no lumps.

Preheat your oven at 180 deg Celsius for 10 mins.

Meanwhile grease your cake tin with butter at the bottom and the sides, put  parchment paper on the bottom and pour the batter into the tin and keep it ready.

If using cup cake/muffin mould, then line the cavities with cup cake liners and use an ice cream scooper and scoop out equal amounts of the batter in each case. Fill only 3/4th of it.

Bake this for 35-45 mins or once a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

These two images are shared by my sister Divya Ostwal.

Allow the cake to cool down completely and then once cool,  invert it on a cooling rack and remove the butter paper. Then you could enjoy it as is or frost it..

A few Tips:

• Don't get frightened looking at the additional ingredients. This is a standard recipe, where the actual ingredients makes a soft sponge, but, with what I have experimented with, is the usage of these additional ingredients makes my cakes extra moist and buttery soft. 

• Also after the batter is ready, do not allow the batter to sit for more than the preheating time as baking soda reacts faster.  Cakes might get hard if the batter is left for 30 mins after mixing.

• I make both cakes and cupcakes from this recipe.

• Always select a pan such that the batter is close to 3/4th of it or slightly above 1/2 of it. And the time for baking depends on the cake pan and oven too. Mine usually  bakes in 35 mins.

• While inserting a knife/skewer or toothpick, try checking the centre of the pan. If it hasn't cooked completely even after the specified time and is slightly sticky. Just cover the top of the cake with butter paper/foil or leave it as is and bake it for another 5 -8 more mins, it will be perfect. The butter paper covering will avoid more browning on top at the same time the centre will be cooked perfectly.

• In another  recipe post I will be teaching baking basics for beginners and also how  to cut layers, torte, fill and frost a cake with fresh cream,butter cream and ganache.

Watch this space for more....

Do try this and leave me a comment!

Home-made Condensed Milk

Condensed milk has always been a favourite since childhood. This creamy, thick, gooey milk is loved by children and a lot of bakers use this for making buttercream icings, flavoured whipped cream, cheese cakes, mousses, cake flavours, ice creams etc. The possibilities are endless..

Lets talk about the store bought condensed milk tins. Sure they are tasty. But a lot of preservatives go in them, which are harmful for health. Besides, they are super expensive as well, which not every person would like to spend on.

So, I thought, why not try to make a home made version and lets see how its made and how would it taste. There are a lot of recipes floating on the internet with a lot of ingredients. I always try and make things less complicated and easily available and quick to prepare. So my recipe calls for just three ingredients, easily available in your pantry and you could make Condensed Milk any time at home. Its fairly simple but does need your attention for a rich final product.

Use this to make your eggless cakes, I will be posting the best ever eggless vanilla cake recipe soon on my blog, which uses my home made condensed milk. You will love the taste, the softness it brings and the crumbly melt in your mouth feel.

So lets get cooking..


Ingredients

• Milk - 500 Ml
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Soda bi carb - 1/4 Tsp

Method 

Take a heavy bottom pan and boil the milk. Once it starts to bubble, add the sugar and stir constantly, so that the bottom of the pan does not burn.

Boil this mix for about 10-15 mins on low - medium flame. Reduce the milk to quarter of its quantity.

You will notice a light yellow tinge in the milk, as the sugar here starts to caramelize. This is the color we are looking for.

After it has reduced to quarter its volume, turn the flame on low and add cooking/baking soda stirring continuously .

This milk and sugar mix will double in volume and will start to boil out, so let the gas be on low flame, stirring continuously.

Let this simmer for a few minutes. And then turn off the flame.

Now, this milk will have thickened and it should coat your spoon or the mixture should be forming ribbons in your bowl...That's how, you can check the consistency of your sweetened condensed milk.

Let the Condensed Milk cool...

If you feel you mix doesn't look like the store bought one's yet and needs to be more thick , you can always re- cook this and thicken it as per your taste.


A Few Tips

• You can use whole milk. I used regular milk.

• This Condensed milk can be refrigerated for upto a week.

• Use this for eggless cakes (Egg Substitute). This condensed milk makes the most soft, crumbly and moist cakes. (I will be posting a few recipes soon)

• This is also used in making a lot of desserts, ice creams- as base and sweets like chewy coconut ladoos. 

• Kids love this with chapatis. Just spread this on a chapati and roll it and cut it into two pieces and pack it for their lunch... 

• You can make your own ''Dulce De Leche'' . Just cook this condensed milk until it turns a deep brown color. This is nothing but your toffee sauce.  Used in chocolates as fillings, cookies, cakes, toppings for waffles and ice creams etc.

Do try this and leave me a comment!