"Cup" cakes - eggless

"Cup" cakes - vanilla and chocolate

 These are literally cakes made in cups...in the microwave...in 1 minute! They come in handy when you have an immediate craving for something sweet and don't want to take a lot of trouble just for one person. Or if you find yourself hosting an impromptu get-together of kids (or adults for that matter) and want to impress everyone by giving them a choice of flavors for dessert.

Here's how I make these eggless "Cup" cakes"

Take 3 tbsp classic yellow cake mix (store bought) in a cup. Add 3 tbsp milk. Add flavor of choice - in the first set of pics below I made vanilla cake by adding 1/4 tsp vanilla essence. In the next set of

pics, I added 1 tsp cocoa pwd and few mini chocolate morsels for the chocolate cake. I also make mango flavor by blending about 1 tsp mango pulp or puree with the 3 tbsp milk; or pistachio flavor by blending pista essence with the milk.

Once you add the milk and flavor of choice, mix gently to incorporate. Make sure there are no lumps.

Microwave on high power for 1 mins. Set it on the counter to cool for 5 mins and enjoy!

This is so easy, you can involve kids and have them make their choice of these "Cup" cakes.

Quick Pumpkin Muffins (Eggless)

Quick Pumpkin Muffins (Eggless)

This recipe is from the Relish food mag that came with our newspaper. Its unbelievable simple, yummy and eggless ofcourse.

1 15 oz pack of yellow cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
7 oz semi sweet mini chocolate morsels

For the icing - 4 oz softened cream cheese
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk

To make the muffins, mix the cake mix and pumpkin puree. Whisk for a min. Batter will be thick. Add the chocolate morsels. Mix well. Use a 12 cup muffin tray lined with paper muffin liners and bake in a pre heated 350F oven for about 20 mins until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the icing, mix the cream cheese, sugar and milk. Allow the muffins to cool to room temperature before spreading the icing.

Orange Cake (Eggless)

I adapted this recipe from a Clementine Cake recipe from Mache magazine. A co-worker had made it & brought it in, I loved the moist sweet-tart combo so much, I immediately made it at home converting it into an eggless version. At that time I had a bag of clementines that were begging to be finished. This time I made the cake with oranges, with equally good results.

Here's how I made it:

1 cup Flour
1 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp all spice pwd (all spice is a mix of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg - can substitute or omit)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tbsp grated orange zest

7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup melted butter or veg. oil
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

First mix all the dry ingredients (from flour to zest) well in a big bowl.
Mix the condensed milk, butter/oil and orange juice in a separate bowl.
Then add the wet ingredients to the dry mix. Fold in gently. Pour into a cake pan and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 1/2 hour. Test by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Glaze - As the cake is baking, make the glaze by heating 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice and 1/3 cup sugar until simmering. Do not heat on very high heat. Take off once it starts simmering.

Pour the glaze over the cake right after you take it out of the oven or when it is still hot and in the cake pan.

When it cools, slice and serve.

 

Updated 11/29/13 - I make this cake very often, below is a recent picture. I've dusted with some powdered sugar and  garnished with orange peel cut into flower shape.

 

 

Eggless Applesauce Cake

This recipe is adapted from Rachel Ray's Better Food For Kids. I was surprised to find an eggless cake recipe in it and tried it out immediately. My daughter and all her friends love it and ask me to make it again and again. I've made it as a loaf, muffins and a cake and it works well every time.

Here's how I make it:

1 cup flour
1 tsp all spice mix
1 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown or white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter - softened
3/4 cup applesauce
handful of walnuts - chopped

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking pwd and all spice together
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric blender or manually until well combined. Add the apple sauce.
Add the flour mix to the applesauce mix in installments, stirring gently each time until well mixed.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured cake pan or muffin pan or loaf pan.
Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for about 45 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool to room temperature before removing.

This Eggless Applesauce Cake goes to the Apple event at Ramya's Recipe.

Strawberry Muffins

This delightful recipe came about from a combination of recipes I had seen online and my basic recipe for eggless cake.

1 cup APF
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted unsalted butter
3 oz milk
1 cup strawberry flavor yogurt
few chopped strawberries

Mix all the dry ingredients from APF to salt in a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, milk and strawberry flavor yogurt. Fold the mixture gently. Add the chopped strawberries.

Fill the mix into muffin pans filed with paper cups. Bake in a pre heated oven at 350F for abt 30-40 mins until tops are lightly browned.

Cool completely before serving.

This yields me 12 mini muffins and 4 regular size ones.

Molten Chocolate Cake (Eggless)

My daughter liked the Dominos Choco Lava Cakes she had on our Mumbai trip. So I thought I'd try to make them at home. My search for the recipe on the web came up with some pretty complicated options...too much work for lazy me. So I came up with this easier method.

Here's how I made them:

1 heaped cup APF
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa pwd
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 - 3 tbsp milk

Sieve all the dry ingredients (APF to salt listed above) together to mix well. Add the vanilla essence, oil and water. Mix well.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Melt at 20 second intervals, stirring in between, till completely melted. Add the milk into them and stir well to mix.

Line a muffin cup pan with cupcake liners. Spoon 1 tbsp of the cake batter in each mould. Cover with 1 tsp of the melted chocolate. Top with another tbsp of the cake batter.

Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 15 mins.

Serve warm (reheat in microwave if required) with vanilla ice-cream for a decadent dessert.

This made 8 muffin size cupcakes.

These eggless molten chocolate cupcakes go to the Kids Delight - Chocolate Feast event at Spicing Your Life.

Pistachio & Cardamom Cake (Eggless)

I came up with this cake based on a few different recipes, mainly from chef Suvir Saran's cookbook and Manjula's Kitchen website. This turned out so well, that too for a non-baker like me. I have made it several times, doubling the recipe for a large crowd as well as halving it and it works great every time.

Here's how I make it:

1 cup roasted pistachios - shelled and chopped roughly
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cardamom pwd
1/4 tsp salt
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole or 2% fat milk
1 tsp pista essence (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly butter a cake loaf pan.
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl - APF, baking pwd, baking soda, cardamon pwd and salt.
Add the melted butter and mix well.
Add the sweetened condensed milk and fold it in gently.
Add the chopped pistachio nuts, vanilla extract, pista essence and milk. Mix well with a light hand.
Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 45 mins. If halving this recipe, bake for only 35 mins. If doubling add another 5 mins or so to the baking time.

This Eggless Pistachio and Cardamon Cake goes to the BSI - Pistachio Event at Chilli & Chocolate.

Spiced Apple Walnut Cupcakes (Eggless)

I am always on the lookout for eggless cakes and found this recipe in the Vegan Family Cookbook. I was able to use up some apples lying around for a while and they turned out so delicious that they vanished in a day. Here's how I made them (makes 12 cupcakes) by tweaking the original recipe a bit:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup plain flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon pwd

1/4 tsp nutmeg pwd

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp bkg pwd

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup milk

1 apple - peeled, cored and grated

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine the first 8 dry ingredients in a glass bowl. Add the olive oil and mix well. Add the milk, mix. Stir in the grated apple and chopped walnuts. Put 2 tbsp of this mix into each cup of an oiled muffin pan. Bake in a pre-heated 375 F oven for about 20 mins.

Cool and remove the muffins. Enjoy as is or frost and decorate if desired (as done by my daughter in the pic above).