A CAKE FOR A BABY SHOWER -5

There are so many cakes going in and coming out of my oven but only a handful makes their appearance here. It's mostly because of the lack of time to photograph them. I baked this cake for a friend's baby shower last year. Yeah,it took me almost 7-8 months to post it here! B & S sent me the photo of the cake they wanted and I made the exact same cake. They were really pleased with it. The only request was to add some pink stuff to the baby on the cake,since they were having a girl. A big thanks to Divya Maiya for the photographs!

I also baked a dozen of red velvet cupcakes for the party. Each cupcake was decorated according to the theme. If you look carefully, you can see them in the photograph above. I will be posting another cake I baked for another friend of ours almost a year ago! I should get it all done really soon before their baby turns One! :)

SAFARI THEMED BIRTHDAY CAKE

Do you all remember the Baby Carriage Baby Shower Cake I did for a little girl, last year? That little bundle of joy turned One, a week ago and her parents asked me if I could do her First Birthday Cake too! What an honour, right? I mean, they have so many choices to choose from and they chose me! They are our close friends,like family.I agreed to do it but when D, told me their choice of theme, I did have a doubt whether I would be able to pull it off!

First Birthday's are so special. I remember how much I had planned for Ian's and no way would I want anything to go wrong on that day so I was a little worried if I would do justice to the cake they wanted. The cake ate my brains, literally.In a good way, though. I planned out and spanned my work over a few days while Ian was sleeping because he is an animal lover and I knew the minute he saw a Zebra or a Giraffe, he would ask me for it. Which, of course he did...but later though, after I assembled the whole cake.

They also wanted me to bake some themed cupcakes and the decorations were left up to me. I mean, they just left the most attention seeking thing on that party to me.I had a big job to do! I scanned Pinterest for cupcake topper ideas and found some which I really liked and went ahead with it. D, sent me the cake's photograph so I just made it accordingly.

It snowed so hard the night before the party and the next morning,the roads were super slippery.While transporting them,I was holding onto the cake stand so tight that my hands were sweating and I really feared that the heat would pass onto the fondant and melt it all! It was only after we got to the venue did I breathe properly :-) And once the party was over, D, told me that it was her dream cake and that the entire party was based around that cake! That comment from her sealed the deal, for me :-)

MOIST EGGLESS VANILLA CUPCAKES

I don't usually care for the amount of eggs in a recipe I am about to try because I love eggs,especially hardboiled eggs.When I say hardboiled,it should be perfectly hardboiled.No rubber like yolks for me,please!Okay,now lets get back to the topic. Well,Kannur is not a place where you can get wonderful ingredients for baking.I know it,so Amma and myself stock up really well. But on how on earth will we know that there will be shortage of eggs,especially in a place where there are atleast 3 bakeries on a street!

Well,it happened.Kannur town was out of eggs,for almost a week and that was too long for me to wait,without baking a cake of some sort. Our house is swamped with guests these days,to see our Ian vaava. So we need something,and when I say something,it has to be homemade because Amma & I cannot think of serving  anything storebought to our guests.

The hunt for something eggless started.I found way too many recipes online but only a few grabbed my attention. When I chose this recipe,it reminded me that I had tried out the same a few years ago and found the cake to be very oily.I thought of giving it a second chance and it worked just fine.

I had some buttercream with me,from the movie star's cake,so tinted it pink and used it to decorate the perfect cupcake tops.I usually don't go for such lavish decor on my baked goods for our daily consumption but since it's for the lovely folks who are visiting us,I didn't think twice.

MOIST EGGLESS VANILLA CUPCAKES
Recipe by Nita Mehta as seen on Recipe on Click


Ingredients:
300g all purpose flour
250 ml thick plain yogurt
150-180 g granulated sugar
125 ml oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Method: Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350F. Line your 12- cup cupcake tin.

In a large bowl,beat the yogurt until smooth.Add granulated sugar and beat till dissolved completely.Add baking powder,baking soda and mix to combine.Leave aside for 5 minutes or until frothy.Add oil,vanilla and beat to mix.Spoon in flour little by little and fold it into the batter.Beat with beaters for 30 secs to make the batter smooth and lump free.Pour into tins and bake for 25-30 mins or till done.Cool in the tin for 5 mins,remove and cool completely before frosting.

For the Vanilla Buttercream recipe,click here.

Ritchie loved the frosting and mentioned that he likes cupcakes with eggs better.I found these to be really moist and perfect for eggless days!

RED VELVET CUPCAKES with MASCARPONE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

I 've been away for a good amount of time, from blogging and I must say it did me some good. It gave my mind some rest and also ample time to set up our house for my parent's visit :-) Yes, they are visiting us right now so my contribution to this food blog would be minimal. Appan,Amma & Jobin asks me every now and then about the future of my food blog if I left it at Kadumanga. Jobin even mentioned that he would give away all my props if I don't plan to continue food blogging :-) So here I am with the cupcakes Amma & I baked for our friend's baby shower recently. She loves cream cheese frosting so I chose to bake Red Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES
Recipe source: Joy of Baking
Yields 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c buttermilk
2 tbsp liquid red food colour
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp baking soda

Method: Pre-heat the oven to 350 F /180 C and line your cupcake tins.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cocoa powder. Set aside.In a mug,mix buttermilk & red food colour.Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter for 2 mins. Add sugar and continue to beat for 3 mins.Add eggs one at a time and beat for a minute after each addition. Add flour and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with flour.
Mix vinegar and baking soda together,which will fuzz violently. Pour it into the cake batter and fold it in. Pour the batter immediately in to the cupcake moulds and bake for 20-25 mins. Let cool completely before frosting.

MASCARPONE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Recipe source : Epicurious

Ingredients:
1 c unsalted butter,room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 c powdered sugar
8 oz mascarpone, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Method: In a large bowl,on medium high, beat together butter, cream cheese & sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 mins.Add the mascarpone, salt & vanilla and beat until just combined. DO NOT beat any further as the frosting will curdle. Frost the cupcakes as desired.

I really hope she liked it as much as we enjoyed baking it for her :) The baby booties are handmade fondant cupcake toppers.