Eggless Choco Brownie Cup Cakes

Had taken a short vacation to Bangalore a few weeks back. Got my hands at baking a few goodies...not only my hands but my little nieces hands too! What fun it is, to bake with a kid. An exciting baking experience explaining every step and most of all that impatient wait (checking every 5 minutes if it is done) once the choco mix got into the oven....finally the warm, soft and chewy brownie cup cakes were devoured off the moment they got off the baking tray!

Needless to say it was more like a challenge attempt as the instructions(from my niece) about the final product were laid down crystal clear at the start...:-)...." it has to be a cup cake made with chocolate and also like a brownie.....I want a brownie in a cup cake"! Well, I thought that was very cute. So, me and my SIL did a search  on google and found just the perfect recipe for these choco brownie cup cakes!

To top it all we made them eggless..tried substituting flaxmeal (powdered flax seeds) and they turned out perfect for the brownie effect!

Source: Joy of Baking

For food substitutes refer to : http://www.foodsubs.com/

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup powdered white sugar (castor sugar)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp unsweetened chocolate powder
- 3 eggs or egg subsitute (refer below)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- a pinch of salt


Egg Substitute:

- 6 tbsp (90 ml) flaxmeal
- 9 tbsp (135 ml) water
- 1/2 tsp baking powder

combine the above 3 ingredients.

Prep time: 30 minutes       Bake time: 30 minutes (varies with oven)

Preparation:

- Preheat the oven to 325 deg F or 170 deg C. Line the muffin tray with baking cup foils and lightly butter the foils. If you do not have a muffin tray, place the cup cake foils on a plain tray as well. Works out fine!
- Melt the butter in a bowl placed over a wide pan of boiling water. Once the butter melts, add the chocolate powder and stir well. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Help from the little one to mix in the choco powder in the butter

- Add the powdered sugar and beat with a hand mixer( or manually).
- Add the eggs one after the other or the egg substitute and beat in well until they blend together. Add the vanilla essence too.

- Mix in the flour and salt until well belnded ( never beat the flour...it needs to be always mixed in or stirred in)

- Pour or spoon in the mix into each of the cup cake foils and place in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.

- The baking time may vary with every oven...so, pls check after 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center has to come out clean.
- Remove when done and let it warm before serving!

Foot note:

- If using egg substitute, it tends to make the cake a little chewy( perfect for the brownie texture though). If you do not want that texture, pls add 1 tbsp of oil to avoid the chewiness.
- Using flaxmeal is good cause flax seeds help fight cholestrol!

Sending the recipe to

Bookmarked Recipes event hosted by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan and Aipi of US Masala

Gutsy cook club

ABC Series: Cakes for Christmas event at Ramya's Recipe

Pumpkin Peanut butter Soup

Its been raining, no..actually pouring since the last couple of days here in Chennai and the monsoon has been very active since the last few weeks. You will agree that rains call for a lot of spicy, crunchy and hot comfort foods from the kitchen! One can cuddle up to the warmth of these cozy home made fresh food and enjoy the rains from the comforts of the living room:-)

I did make some spicy afternoon snacks over the last few weeks but all the while I had been wanting to make some soup as well. Somehow kept eluding it for want of more time and this evening, I was reminded of my date with the Gutsy Cook club and off I went to the market to buy the much needed pumpkin and peanuts!

One of the things I love most about Chennai...I live just one street away from the local market...which means I get fresh veggies from dawn to dusk within a minutes walk and all the grocery stores too are open 7 days a week. So, no need to stock up groceries for a whole week or two like we used to do in the US. And the best thing is the weather....its always warm and hot at its worst (during summers)...so, one can just step out in a pair of sandals without a care about wrapping up from head to toe against the cold!

OK, now off to the recipe. The original is a butter nut squash cum peanut butter soup. However, since we don't get butter nut squash around here...I have used pumpkin.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup cubed pumpkins
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 2 tomatoes boiled and skin peeled
- 2 tsp peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 dry red chilly
- 4 to 5 black pepper corns
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Mint leaves for flavouring
- Bay leaf for flavouring

Prep time: 10 mins                               Cook time: 20 mins

Source: My Recipes

Preparation:

- Boil the tomatoes in water for 10 mins, drain the water and allow to cool. Meanwhile, chop the onions, and cube the pumpkins and set aside.
- In a deep pan, heat the oil and add the bay leaf and then add the onions, garlic, pumpkin and salt and saute them on medium flame until the onions turn translucent.

- Meanwhile, grind the tomatoes, red chilly, pepper corns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and few mint leaves into a smooth paste.

- Once the onions turn translucent, add the tomato paste, peanut butter, salt and 1 cup of water and let the mix come to a boil for 10 minutes or till the pumpkins are cooked.

Peanut Butter

- Tasty and filling pumpkin - peanut butter soup ready. Serve with your favorite bread and enjoy this healthy soup!

- This is a very heavy and filling soup and the above proportion can serve 2 persons.

Foot note: Peanut butter makes this soup really heavy. So, do not add more of it.

Sending the recipe to

 Gutsy Cook Club Week of Nov 20

Winter Carnival hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates