Cupcake Icing

  My Version

The idea of whipping raw eggs for icing somehow doesn't seem appealing to me. Therefore, I have experimented with so many different ingredients before coming up with this soft yet firm icing which does retain the shapes it is piped into.

To make cupcakes, refer to my cupcakes recipe.

Ingredients :
Icing Sugar	-		4 cups
Softened Butter	-		1/2 cup
Whipping cream (unsweetened)	-		1/2 cup
Vanilla essense	-		1 teaspoon
Additional Ingredients:
Food colour	-		Few drops of required colours will do.
Espresso	-		1/2 teaspoon
Coco powder	-		1/2 cup if you only require chocolate icing. 1/4 cups if you want mixed icing.

Preparation Method :

You can make the icing together or in batches. Into a mixing bowl measure out the icing sugar. Add the softened butter. Pour in the whipping cream and add the vanilla essence. Whip this into a fine icing paste. You can part the paste into portions and use each portions to make different coloured or flavoured icing. A little creativity will surely come handy at this stage. For pink icing 2-3 drops of red colour is more than enough. Blend the colour in well. For chocolate flavouring, use coco powder. For coffee flavouring reduce coco a little and mix in some espresso powder. Check out the different essences you get in the store. experiment and perfect your skills. Use the preferred design nozzle. Turn the top edge over of the icing bag. Scoop the paste into an icing bag. Make sure you only fill half way through. This will give you a better control while icing. Bring the side back up and twist the edge to push down the icing to the bottom of the pipe. Practice into the mixing bowl and reuse the same again. Now its time to get a little creative. Go ahead and decorate your cupcakes.

Tuna Sandwich Spread

  My Version

A little time consuming, yet, a simple sandwich spread. If you do not like tuna, you can very well substitute it with chicken or you can skip tuna and make it with the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients :
Light meat Tuna (canned or fresh)	-		160g
Egg white (boiled)	-		of 2 eggs
Cucumber (seeded)	-		1 large
Celery (young stem)	-		30cm stick
Parsley	-		6-7 stems
Lemon juice	-		of 1 lemon
Mayonnaise	-		1/2 cup or more
Crushed black pepper	-		1/2 teaspoon
Salt	-		To taste.

Preparation Method :

If you are using canned tuna, use light meat tuna in water. Strain the water and drop into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes and strain out all the water. Seed Cucumber. Boil eggs and remove the yolks and wash out the yolk stains. In a food processor, coarsely chop all the ingredients. If made hygienically, this spread can be refrigerated for up to 2-3 days in tight containers. My photos will explain the rest. This spread can also be used as a dip. Try it.

Vanilla Cupcakes

My Version

Quite often we tend to pick cupcakes for our kids from a supermarket or bakery shelf. Are you sure you are feeding your kids trusted ingredients? Why buy cupcakes when it is extremely easy to make it at home. For your kid's school picnic or parties or when their friends come over to your house to play, make these little cups for them and win their hearts as a super mom :)

Dry Ingredients :
Plain Flour	-		250g
Sugar	-		250g
Baking powder	-		2 teaspoons
Baking soda	-		1 teaspoon
Wet Ingredients :
Eggs	-		4 nos.
Unsalted butter	-		250g
Vanilla essence	-		4 teaspoons
Fresh Milk	-		4 tablespoons

Preparation Method :

Mix all the dry ingredients well. Next, combine the wet ingredients - In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until they fluff up. Bring butter down to room temperature. and whisk in the egg. Add the vanilla essence. Pour in the milk. Slowly whisk in the dry ingredient mix to form a creamy batter. Place paper cups into a cupcake tray. Scoop out the batter and fill into each cups. Fill half way through. Do not exceed. An ice-cream scooper is good to do this job. In a 200 degree oven bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes. Insert a tooth pick to check if the cakes are ready. If cakes are done, the toothpick shall come out clean. Move them out onto a rack and allow to cool completely. You can refrigerate the cake and mildly heat them in a microwave to get fresh cup cakes everyday.  If refrigerated properly, you can store them for a week or more. When I say properly, I mean, in clean dry containers, when completely cooled. What are you waiting for? Try it.. Involve your kids too in the making, they'll really have lots of fun :) This recipe makes approximately 26-28 cupcakes.