Monday, July 16, 2012

Chocolate Cupcake - A guest post by 'almost teen'


Last week was very hectic. You can ask at your own risk, but be warned... you will be drowned in endless stories of our chaotic last week. I wanted to post the cupcakes early last week, but, well... Anyway, better late than never!!! Last week almost teen was her creative best in the kitchen. It all started with blog-hopping on her part, with a lot of "Oh, look at this!" and "Wow, look at that!" I was NOT in the mood to bake anything. Almost teen begged me  to, but "tomorrow" was my instant response. So almost teen took matters in her own hands and announced that she was making the cupcakes. Obviously, my motherly response was "no". But after a lot of persuasion, and 'I'll do everything, mom, I promise!!" it was all decided that almost teen was going to bake, frost and clean up... it was certainly a tall order, but she did surprise me!! Cupcake, check; frosting, check; cleanup, check... !! Well the only time I did get up to help was to put the cupcakes in the oven and to get them out - am not ready to have her use the oven all by herself yet. And yes I did help her taste too :))

So, what age did you guys started to help/work in the kitchen. Well (sheepishly) I was almost fifteen ..I was too lazy to try a cup of tea let alone cook something. I would spend countless hours in the kitchen, narrating stories to my mother and sub - consciously absorbing the whole process of cooking...!! And the best part, my mother never pushed me.




Here is almost teen in action 

Martha Steward's chocolate cupcake 
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
  • Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  


Well My fault here - I should have told almost teen not to use shallow mixing bowl to cream the butter and sugar....(sorry !!) Well the result  - we had butter flying all over the kitchen. It was easily resolved with some bounty and laughter. Almost teen was back in action, undeterred.
  
The butter-fly moment :)))

  • Add eggs, one at a time,  then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour
  • Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes
  • Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the icing - 


2 cups whip cream
3-4 tbsp unsweetened coco powder
2tsp instant coffee powder
powdered sugar to taste
1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

Whip cream until stiff peaks form, fold in the remaining dry ingredients one at a time followed by vanilla extract. Use cool cupcakes to do the icing for obvious reasons.  Almost teen used frosting deco pen to help her frost, easy to work with :))  






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22 comments:

  1. 'Almost teen' has done such a great job:)) love the cup cake, decoration and the clicks. I hardly ever ventured in the kitchen before marriage ... and yes my mom never made me cook (she is such an awesome cook so why bother). But its because of her awesome cooking that now I share the same passion!

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  2. wt a beauty!!!!these cupcakes luk lik the store brought ones !!!awesome!!!

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  3. That truly looks like a fun-fun-fun baking time with almost teen! i started out in the kitchen very very late, just over 3 years back! (i am covering my head in shame). But i don't regret it. All in good time, i believe, and that is when i got ready! :)

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  4. Chocolate cup cake looks awesome and delicious.

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  5. My goodness those cupcakes look tasty! I do believe I would eat one for breakfast if it were here. Growing up I was always in the kitchen with my grandmothers, but my passion for baking really started when my parents bought me an Easy Bake oven when I was about six. Fond memories indeed!

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  6. Wow. Awesome,delicious,yummy yummy cupcake. Can gobble up a dozen in one go:)

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  7. Cupcakes looks so cute and tempting..will wait for a eggless version:)

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  8. Gorgeous looking cupcakes. Beautifully presented as well :)

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  9. Your Almost teen looks like good cook. Cupcake looks delicious. and made well.

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  10. Looks perfect...Lovely and beautiful clicks.

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  11. The cup cake looks awesome, great job by the almost teen... She must be feeling great about it. I started helping in the kitchen when very young... I just loved stand on a stool to reach the counter top and stir things. I can't remember how old I was... but i vividly remember the first cake that I baked and frosted all by myself was for my own 13th birthday...

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  12. Gorgeous cupcakes!!!U have an awesome space here :))
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  13. Beautiful cupcake
    I dont think I could do such a beautiful frosting.

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  14. Cup cake looks tasty and tempting.

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  15. Those cupcakes look fabulous! Great job by the almost teen :-)

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  16. That's so sweet ! Great job, almost teen ! Well, I really started cooking (read,making some basic stuff)only while I was in college.But I started the real cooking only after my marriage,my hubby was too brave :D

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  17. yum! that icing with a cherry on top - perfect!
    xo
    http://allykayler.blogspot.ca/

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hugs!
simi

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