Orange Mini Cupcakes and A New Year wish!.

Hello you guys,

Wish you all a very Happy new year 2013! Hope all of us have a fantastic year! :) I made these cute orange mini cupcakes for my husband's work colleagues this holiday season. 

This is one cake recipe that will never let you down! I got this recipe from this wonderful blog here. The first time I tried this recipe, it came out so wonderful that I went back to the blog to leave a comment and found this interesting bit..

This Sicilian Orange Cake is the famous orange cake from the once popular CaféAgostini (this cafe has closed on 22 July, 2005) owned by Margie Agostini, in the heart of Sydney ’s suburb for the rich and famous, Woollahra. Customers have often been heard to say that “Margie’s orange cake is to die for”.

I found this recipe on Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape Cookbook a while ago but was surprised to find out how this recipe was linked to Australia:

Rick Stein: "To be accurate, I suppose this cake should be known as Margie Agostini'sorange cake. It was her signature dish at her greatly missed Caffe Agostini in Woollahra in Sydney. It seemed to me to be just made for Sicilian oranges. The recipe came from an article in the Times by Jill Dupleix, although I had eaten the cake at the cafe a few years earlier and I thought it was amazing. As Jill says, it has to be the richest, moistest, butteriest and yet lightest orange cake in the world." 

Well, no wonder it tastes sooooo good. And yes, from then on, I have made it quite a few times, and every time it has turned out perfect and its veru quick and easy to make as well, (and my basic sponge recipe too, minus the orange juice!) So thought of sharing this with you all today.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the cake:

125 grams lightly salted butter.

125 grams brown sugar

2 medium eggs

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

125 grams standard white flour

50 ml fresh orange juice

1/2 tsp baking powder

For the icing:

1/4  cup softened butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
A pinch of salt
2 tsp ofresh orange juice 
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together butter and sugar. 
Add one egg at a time, Beat well after each egg and add a tsp of flour after each, if necessary to prevent curdling. 
Beat in Orange zest.
Add all flour at once, mix well.
Add baking powder.
Slowly mix in orange juice.

Grease cake pan, pour the batter and bake @ 170 degree cs for 25-30 mins. I used a mini cup cake pan, and made 12 mini cup cakes and also had some better remaining which I used to make 2 small four inch cakes, for some friends (That is if I do not gulp it! :()

Once the cake is done, cool it completely before icing.

For the icing, mix all the ingredients for icing well until you get a spreadable consistency and ice the cupcakes, I also added some sprinkles on top of the icing... And then enjoy...

Adios!

Microwave Milk Burfi

This is such an easy to make recipe to satisfy that sweet tooth in a grand way! Min cooking time is just 8 mins!!

All we need to make this:

Butter a generous tbsp
Almond flakes to decorate
A can of sweetened condensed milk
Dry milk powder (same measure as condensed milk)

Method:

Combine all the ingredients and stir smooth and well and microwave for abt 4-6 mins, checking and stirring every minute.

Its done when it looks like this!

You can just transfer a scoop to a bowl and serve hot or cool it and transfer it to a butter coated plate and cut and decorate with almond flakes.

Yummy milk burfi is ready in minutes!

Rice Payasam

Mango Coconut Burfi

Mango is one fruit that even someone who is not fond of fruits could relish!. Not just one of my summer vacations in India since childhood have passed without eating this ripe delicious cut mangoes with Curd rice.. I have tried making hardly any sweet, but somehow this one was in my mind for quiet sometime now. Finally this Diwali gave me an oppurtunity to try this colorful delight!

Here goes the recipe for Mango Burfi. Since it also uses equal/more quantity of coconut, slicing them is easy.

Ingredients:
Sweetened Mango Pulp - 1 Cup
Grated Coconut - 1 1/2 Cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1/2 Cup
Butter - 2 1/2 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Almonds - To Garnish

Method:

Heat a Heavy bottomed pan and add a table spoon of butter.
Add the grated coconut and saute the coconut till the raw smell goes. Dont let it turn brown, this will spoil the flavor of the sweet and make it taste bitter. You would know when to turn the stove off when you get a nice aroma of coconut in ghee.Transfer this to a vessel and keep it seperately.

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp butter and once it melts add the Mango pulp, and start stirring it. When the mango pulp combines togther and start leaving out the ghee, add the coconut, milk and cardomom powder. Keep stirring it in medium flame for a couple of more minutes.

After 10-15 mins, switch to low flame and keep stirring it. The aroma it leaves at this time is irresistable!

When the whole miture combines together and forms a lump, it will leave out the ghee. Turn off the stove at this point.

Grease a plate with remaining butter and transfer the hot content to it. Let it cool for a couple of mins and slice it and garnish it with almonds! Mango Burfi is now ready to serve!