Chocolate cupcakes are a standard type of cupcake enjoyed by
people of any age all over the world. Cupcakes make the ideal first baking
experience. They're also delectable morsels to snack on for many an occasion.
This article provides a few choices to bake from scratch.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 5 oz / 150g butter, softened
- 5 oz (150g) superfine (caster) sugar
- 6 oz / 175g self-rising flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- 2oz /50g chocolate chips (optional)
- 1.7 oz / 50g unsweetened cocoa powder
- Icing or sprinkles at the end if desired
Chocolate Cupcakes Made with Oil
- 1 cup flour (all-purpose/plain)
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup superfine/caster sugar
Chocolate cupcakes
This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.
1.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Prepare the
cake pan or tray by adding 12 cupcake papers.
2.
In a cup, break the eggs carefully, removing any
shell that falls in. Using a fork, beat lightly.
3.
Pour all the ingredients apart from the
chocolate chips into a large bowl. Add the beaten eggs.
4.
Mix using an electric mixer. Mix for 2 minutes.
Once the mixture appears light and fluffy, it is ready to transfer to the cake
cases.
5.
Use a spoon or spatula to transfer the chocolate
cake mixture to each cake case. Try to distribute it evenly.
6.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips into each
individual patty. Gently fold through each cupcake.
7.
Place in the oven. Bake for 18–20 minutes. The
cupcakes are ready when they have risen and are firm to the touch.
8.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few
minutes. Transfer the cakes to a wire cooling rack and leave until fully
cooled. Top with icing/frosting once cool.
9.
Image titled Make Chocolate Cupcakes Step 9
10.
Finished. Decorate them with sprinkles or other
additions, if desired, to complete your tasty treats!
Method 2 Chocolate
cupcakes made with oil
1.
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Prepare the cupcake
cases or silicone cupcake pan.
2.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into one
medium-sized bowl.
3.
Crack the egg and mix it into a separate bowl.
Add the vanilla essence (extract).
4.
In the bowl you added the flour and cocoa powder
to, transfer in the egg mixture. Add the water, oil, and milk now. Mix well
with a wooden spoon.
5.
Using a tablespoon, add 2 or 3 tablespoons (29.6
or 44.4 ml) of batter to each cupcake case, according to the size.
6.
Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
7.
Remove when baked. Poke a toothpick in the
middle of the cupcake to see if it is cooked. If it comes out with batter still
sticking to it, put the cupcakes back for a little extra cooking until done.
8.
Allow to cool. If wished, frost the cupcakes or
serve plain. Enjoy.
How to Make a Rainbow Cake
A bright, cheerful rainbow cake is the perfect
choice for a little boy or girl's birthday party. With layers of red, orange,
yellow, green, blue and purple, this cake is an instant attention-grabber. This
article provides instructions on how to bake the layers and assemble the cake.
Scroll to the bottom for a shortcut method - the rainbow swirl cake.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 ½ cups sugar
- 5 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups milk
- Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple food coloring
For the Icing
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cream
Making the
Layers
1. Preheat the oven to 350
degrees. Do this before you get started making the batter, so you'll be able to
pop the cakes in the oven right away.
2. Mix the dry ingredients.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Use a whisk to
stir the ingredients and make sure they are fully incorporated.
3. Combine the wet ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar using a hand or stand mixer,
or by vigorously mixing the ingredients with a spoon or spatula. Keep beating
or stirring the ingredients while you slowly add the egg whites to the mixture.
Add the vanilla and milk and continue mixing until all of the wet ingredients
are combined.
4. Stir in the flour mixture.
Place half of the flour mixture into the large bowl with the wet ingredients.
Use a spoon to stir it in, then add the other half of the flour mixture. Keep
stirring until the flour is completely mixed in.
5. Divide and dye the batter.
Pour equal amounts of batter into six different bowls. Dye each bowl of batter
a different color of the rainbow by pouring in a few drops of the six different
food colorings. Stir each bowl of batter well, continuing to add more food
coloring until the batter reaches the hue you desire.
6. If you use gel food
coloring, you only need a drop or two to achieve a rich hue. If you're using
liquid food coloring, you may need to use several drops.
7. If you have a standard set
of food coloring that comes with red, yellow, blue and green, create the extra
colors by combining the colors you have. Make orange by mixing red and yellow,
and make purple by mixing blue and red.
8. Pour the batter into greased
cake pans. Each layer must be baked in a separate cake pan. If you have six
cake pans, go ahead and pour the bowls of batter into the different pans. If
you have fewer cake pans, pour batter into the pans you have and reserve the
extra bowls of batter to be baked when after the first round of layers is done.
9. Bake the layers. Place the
cake pans in the oven and bake the layers for about 15 minutes, or until a
toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Don't over bake the layers, as this
could affect the brilliant rainbow colors; avoid letting the tops get brown.
10. When the layers are ready,
remove them from the oven and let them cool.
11. Reuse the cake pans if you
still have additional layers to bake.
Part 2 Assembling the Cake
1. Make the frosting. In a large
mixing bowl, beat the powdered sugar, butter, cream, and vanilla on high, until
the mixture becomes light and fluffy. If it seems too soft, add more powdered
sugar until it becomes thicker and stiffer.[2]
2. Get the layers ready. Use a
serrated knife to slice a thin layer from the top of each layer of the cake.
Slicing off the slightly rounded tops that puffed up during the baking process
will help the layers stack together neatly.
3. Frost the layers. Place the
purple layer on the cake stand or plate that you'll be using to serve the cake.
Use an offset spatula or icing knife to scoop a small amount of frosting onto
the center of the cake. Spread it evenly across the surface of the purple
layer, all the way to the edges. Add the blue cake to the stack and frost it
using the same method. Repeat with the green, yellow, and orange layers,
finishing with the red layer on top.
4. There's no need to use a
scientific color order - create a rainbow using any color order you'd like.
5. Be sure to conserve enough
frosting to finish by frosting the entire cake, rather than using most of it up
between layers.
6. Frost the assembled cake.
Scoop frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it evenly to the edges. Use
more frosting to cover the sides of the cake. Be sure to use plenty, so that
the layers beneath are invisible. The brightly-colored interior of the cake
will remain a surprise until the first slice is cut.
7. Decorate the cake. Finish
the cake with rainbow sprinkles or nonpareils, or use a contrasting frosting
color to pipe a message across its surface.
Part 3
1. Making a Rainbow Swirl Cake
2. Preheat the oven to 350
degrees.
3. Make the batter. Using the
same recipe outlined above, make a white cake batter. Mix the dry ingredients
in one bowl and the wet in another, then combine the two and beat until they
are well incorporated.
4. Divide and dye the batter.
Put equal amounts of batter into six separate bowls. Use food coloring to dye
the bowls of batter red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
5. Scoop the batter into two
greased cake pans. Use a small measuring cup to scoop some red batter into a a
cake pan. Use a different cup to scoop some yellow batter into the same pan.
The two colors can touch, but don't pour one directly on top of another.
Continue scooping different-colored batters into the cake pan until you've used
half the batter from all of the bowls. Repeat with the second cake pan and the
remaining batter.
6. Bake the layers. Place the
two cake pans in the oven and bake them for about 20 minutes, or until a
toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. When the cakes are done, let them
cool completely before assembling the cake.
7. Make the frosting. Beat the
powdered sugar, butter, cream and vanilla together until the frosting becomes
light and fluffy.
8. Assemble the cake. Use a serrated
knife to cut off the rounded tops of the two cakes. Place one layer on the cake
plate or stand you're using to serve the cake. Scoop frosting onto the cake and
use an offset spatula or a frosting knife to spread it across the cake's
surface. Place the second cake layer on top of the frosting. Finish frosting
the cake by covering the top and sides.
9. Decorate the cake. Add
edible glitter, birthday candles, or other cake decorations as the final touch.
The cake is now ready to serve.
How to Make Violet Macarons
Macaron refers to the colorful and dainty French version of what English speakers know as the almond macaroon. Not all people refer to this version of the sweet treat as a macaron but many prefer the French spelling for this meringue treat because macaroons are traditionally thought of as coconut treats that appear and taste very different from macarons. A macaron is crisp and chewy all at once, tends to come in a range of dainty and beautiful colors (depending on the flavor) and is usually filled with a ganache or custard to join together two macarons.The violet macaron is violet in both color and flavor.
Ingredients
For the Macarons:
·
3 egg whites (100 grams)
·
¼ cup white sugar (50 grams)
·
1 ⅔ cups confectioners' sugar
(200 grams)
·
1 cup finely ground almonds (110
grams)
·
Purple/violet food coloring (or
combine red and blue food coloring to make purple)
For
the Ganache Filling:
·
70 grams white chocolate
·
70 milliliters double cream
·
2 tablespoons violet syrup
Steps
1. Prepare
the baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.
2. Mix
together the icing sugar and powdered almonds until well combined.
3. Sift
the granulated sugar into a mixing bowl.
4. In
another bowl - whisk the egg whites until firm. Fold the granulated sugar into
the eggs in three even amounts. This forms the meringue.
5. Add
the food coloring to the meringue mix. Depending on the type of coloring you're
using, use about 10 drops of liquid coloring or just the tip of a knife for
solid food coloring. Mix through using a silicone spatula.
6. Add
the icing sugar and almond mix to the meringue mix. Fold the combined mixture
together well with a spatula, over and over until smooth. If you lift a bit of
the mix out with the spatula, it should form a thick ribbon as it drips back
in. Alternatively, test a bit on a plate; it's ready if it forms a smooth dome
and not a peak. It will need to be folded again if it looks like a peak.
7. Pour
the macaron mixture into a piping bag with a smooth piping end. Pour the
macaron mixture out onto the prepared sheet in a circular shape (it helps to
draw the shapes onto the sheet first using a lid or other suitable circle
template). Tap the edge of the baking sheet when you've piped all of the
macarons onto the sheet––this helps the macaron mixture to settle in place.
8. Leave
the macaron sheet to rest in a dry place for 15 to 30 minutes, minimum. During
this time, the macarons form a light top that isn't sticky.
9. Preheat
the oven to 285ºF/140ºC . Place the macarons in the oven to bake for 10-15
minutes, or until they appear firm and glossy.
10. Remove
from the heat and leave to cool before sticking them together.
11. Make
the ganache or filling while the macarons are cooling:
12. Pour
the cream into a heavy based saucepan. Bring to the boil.
13. Add
the white chocolate, cut into small pieces. Allow to melt
14. Mix
the melted chocolate through, then add the violet syrup. Mix to combine.
15. Remove
from the heat and allow to cool before using.
16. Pipe
the ganache onto a macaron and assemble another macaron on top, like a sandwich
filling. Repeat with all remaining macarons.
17. Serve.
Arrange on a pretty cake stand or favorite plate lined with a doily. These
meringue treats also look wonderful as gifts arranged in rows inside a cake box
or wrapped in clear cellophane.