Cupcakes topped with icing!

Recently my mom got me these silicone cup cake holders and I bought a box cup cake decorators to go with it. Mainly because they looked so pretty,  Pink and purple hearts, golden sprinles and stuff like that. So  I have been dying to to try these out.
The cup cakes I made are plain vanilla cup cakes and I used chocolate and vanilla icing on the top.

Ingredients:
150 gms butter
150 gms casto sugar
175 gms self raising flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Procedure
Beat the eggs together with a fork till light and frothy
Add all the other ingredients and beat with an electric mixer for about
2-3 minutes
Now lightly butter the cake cups and pour in the batter
Bake in the oven/microwave  till mixture has risen and firm to touch
Allow to cool completely before icing

Icing Recipe
Ingredients
150 gms butter
250 gms sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp hot water

Procedure
Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric beater
Then add in the essence and water. Beat untill smooth and creamy.

(for chocolate icing in place of vanilla essence add in 2 tbsp of cocoa powder.)

Sambar and Cabbage Thoran

This next recipe is a traditional Kerela meal, that I  made yesterday.
 I really love the smell of onions being fried in coconut oil.. mmmm... makes me hungry instantly!
Anyway page with the sambar recipe in my cook book, has a whole lot of haldi stains on it, reminding me about the number of attempts made, to get to the achievement of perfect sambar. The first time, I forgot to put the weight on the cooker, which resulted in a haldi splattered kitchen (including my recipe book) :(   The next time, it tasted more like a  North Indian dal, and another time too much tamarind was used! But now i have finally mastered the art of making good sambar!
So here goes..
Sambar, Steamed rice, Cabbage Thoran and Pappadum

SAMBAR:
Ingredients
3/4th tea cup of toovar dal
1 large onion sliced/ or a handful of peeled baby onions(madras onions)
1 potato peeled and halved
1 tomato
2 small brinjals
1 drumstick
small ball of tamrind
1 tsp hing
1 tsp haldi
2 tsp sambar powder (brands: 777/ eastern sambar powder)
salt to taste

For the tadka:
1 tsp methi seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 dry red chilli
kadi patta

Procedure:
 Put together the dal, onions, potatoes, brinjals, drumsticks and haldi with a little water and pressure cook with 2 whistles

In the mean while boil 1 cup of water, add the hing, tomato, tamarind. Boil it till the tomatoes are cooked

Add the contents of the pressure cooker to this now.

Next add the coconut mixed with sambar powder

Allow this mixture to bubble away for a few minutes before switching off the gas

Now for the tadka, heat about 1 tablespoon of cocnut oil in a pan, once the oil is hot, add the methi seeds, followed by mustard seeds, dry red chilli and kadi pata.
Add this crackling mixture to the sambar and serve hot with steamed rice.


Cabbage Thoran
1 small cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 large onion chooped
1/2 tsp haldi
salt to taste
1 tbsp coconut oil

Tadka
1/2 tbsp cocnut oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 kadipatta
1 dry red chilli

Procedure
Once the oil is hot, put it the mustard seeds, kadi patta, dry red chilli, once it starts crackling, add in the onions.
Once the onions take on a translucent colour, add haldi
Next add the shredded cabbage.
Saute for about 10-15 mins
Add salt
Switch off the gas and garnish with the grated coconut
Serve hot

Happy  cooking! :)

Jam Tart

Thought I should start my first recipe blog on a sweet note :) So I decided to post a recipe for Jam Tart. Its one of those easy and quick desserts. I made it for a small dinner party i hosted sometime ago. It was a hit!! Ingredients For the base: 1 cup flour 4 tbsp butter pinch of salt For the top: 3/4 cup flour 2 tbsp jam (any flavor) 1 egg 1/2 cup castor sugar 4 tbsp butter Baking powder Vanilla essence Procedure Knead the ingredients for the base. Do not knead it too much, let it remain a little powdery Spread the dough around a shallow microwave proof dish, and bake it, till it turns golden brown. Take it out and allow it to cool. Meanwhile, whisk together all the ingredients for the topping. Once the base has cooled down a little, spread jam evenly on the base.  Pour the beaten mixture over the base Pop it in to the microwave again, and bake You can keep aside a little bit of the dough used to make the base, and use it to make a criss cross design, as shown in the picutre. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream Happy cooking! :)