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Mango cupcakes with mango buttercream frosting

Posted on June 25, 2014 by arundati

 

Mango Cupcakes with Mango Butter-cream

Mango Cupcakes with Mango Butter-cream

I am nothing if not a mango fiend. I brave the summers in Hyderabad only because of the fabulous array of mangoes we get here. The most popular and commercially successful one is the Banaganapalli. While my favourites are Shakkar gutli (a small apple sized mango that is sweet as sugar – shakkar +sugar) and Imampasand for its flavour, the humble banaganapalli is a good fruit to use in bakes and desserts.

I made my basic vanilla cupcake recipe and swapped out the vanilla for a dash of mango essence and pulp. The result was a moist, subtle mango cupcake. I went a few steps further and slapped on some mango flavoured buttercream. My mantra seems to be “when in doubt, go the whole hog”

I made this for a party and it was a huge hit. Try this with fresh mango pulp while the last of the season slowly inches out or with frozen if you cannot get fresh mangoes in your part of the world.

Mango Cupcakes with Mango Butter-cream

Mango Cupcakes with Mango Butter-cream

Mango Cupcakes (makes 12 medium ones)

½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar (I used regular sugar, powdered for ease of mixing)

2 eggs ( use 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt for an egg-less variant)

1 teaspoon mango essence

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of mango puree (mango pieces chopped and pureed in a blender with a splash of water)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenhiet or 175 Celsius and line muffin trays with paper liners

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the yogurt (or eggs, beating well after each addition) and beat well. Beat in the mango essence.

In another bowl, whisk the flour with salt, baking soda and baking powder

Add the mango puree and flour to the butter-sugar mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour.

Evenly fill the paper liners with batter and bake for 18-20 minutes or till a tester comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Edited to add: Sometimes the consistency of the mango pulp/ puree can make the batter thicker than desired. Adding 2-3 tablespoons of milk / water to the batter to get cake batter consistency will help.

For the mango butter-cream frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

11/2 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar / icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon mango essence

1 pinch of salt

1/2 cup mango puree

Whip the butter for 1 minute on medium speed with a hand whisk/ blender until creamy. Add the sugar in 2-3 batches and whip on low speed till it has mixed well. Add the salt, essence and mango puree and mix till blended. Use as required. If the buttercream is too runny, add upto 3/4 cup more icing sugar to make piping consistency.

I used a star tip nozzle to pipe swirls on the cooled cupcakes. Added a few slivers of chopped fresh mango as garnish.

 

Mango Cupcakes with Mango Butter-cream

Mango Cupcakes with Mango Butter-cream

 

6 Comments

Posted in bakes, beat the heat series, cakes, dessert, fruit, mango, Summer food and drinks. Bookmark the permalink.

Dessert for Breakfast ~ Parfait with Mango and Muesli

Posted on June 19, 2013 by arundati
Breakfast Parfait ~ Muesli, yogurt and mango

Breakfast Parfait ~ Muesli, yogurt and mango

Give me a hot savoury breakfast each morning and I am a happy camper… but there are the summer (now gone) months to get through when I will eat anything that is below room temperature! I made this simple breakfast parfait, actually just assembled everything because this is a no cook recipe. It was healthy, filling and very yummy. The muesli is also a no cook one if you discount the minimal hot dry pan roasting that is needed. You could make the Muesli and store to eat as is without the parfait trappings.

Breakfast Parfait with Mango

Serves 4

For the Muesli

Cornflakes                             100 grams (or wheat-flakes, whichever is preferred)

Oats                                          100 grams

Dried Fruit                            ½ cup (use dried dates, cranberries, figs etc)

Nuts                                         ¼ cup (use almonds, cashews, pistachios etc)

Sesame Seeds                       ¼ cup

For the Parfait

Yogurt                                    500 grams

Mango                                     2 cups, peeled and chopped

Honey                                     4 teaspoons (optional)

Method

To make the Muesli, dry roast the oats and chop the dried fruits into small bits. Roast the nuts and sesame seeds till they are changing colour. Cool it and mix together with oats, cornflakes, dried fruit and nuts. This can be stored in an air tight container and eaten with yogurt or milk and a dash of honey.

Put a muslin cloth over a wide soup strainer and add the yogurt to this. Set aside in the fridge for 2-3 hours to allow the water to drain away from the yogurt. I usually do this overnight. Once done, if using, add the honey and whisk the yogurt till no lumps remain.

To serve, assemble the parfait add a few tablespoons of the yogurt at the bottom of the serving bowl. I used a juice glass. Add the second layer with 4 tablespoons of the granola. Add another layer of yogurt, top with chopped mango and granola. Repeat till everything is used up. Chill for 10 minutes and serve.

Breakfast Parfait ~ Muesli, yogurt and mango

Breakfast Parfait ~ Muesli, yogurt and mango

8 Comments

Posted in beat the heat series, breakfast, fruit, mango, yogurt. Bookmark the permalink.

Breakfast Muffins with Mango ~ Wholewheat & Egg-less

Posted on June 17, 2013 by arundati

DSC_0432

A breakfast muffin is a misnomer. Make and enjoy these tasty little muffins any time of the day. They can be ofcourse had for breakfast, warmed slightly with a little butter, or as a tea time snack, post workout indulgence or snack box item for an adult or child.

I was almost entirely inspired by this recipe of fellow blogger who I endlessly stalk. I added chopped mango pieces instead of making them into a pulp. Remember how I gushed about her Masala Bread and made this Wholewheat Spinach Bread? Anyhoo, prolific bloggers make me mad. How do they churn out yumminess, take amazing pictures and have the post up before the season is out? Beats me…after all these years of blogging, I still can’t get my posts up and running.

On a side note, how many of you have food pictures from 4 years ago that you haven’t blogged yet? (*raises hand guiltily).

Wholewheat Mango Muffins

Whole Wheat Egg-less Mango Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

Mango                                     1 cup peeled and chopped (about 1/2 a large mango – I used Bananaganapalle)

Whole Wheat Flour            1 cup

Milk                                          1/2 cup

Jaggery/ Sugar                    ¼ cup (grated if using jaggery)

Baking Powder                     1 teaspoon

Baking Soda                           ½ teaspoon

Cardamom                             2 pods, skin removed and powdered smooth

Vegetable Oil                        2 tablespoons

Salt                                            a pinch

Vinegar                                   1 teaspoon

Coconut                                  2 tablespoons (fresh coconut grated or use dried)

Granola                                   2 teaspoons (for the topping)

 Whisk together the flour, coconut, salt, cardamom powder, baking powder and soda.

Add the vinegar to the milk and set aside for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and lightly coat the insides of the pan with oil.

Add the oil and grated Jaggery/ sugar to the milk and vinegar and mix till the Jaggery has melted

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix gently in a few strokes till a batter is formed. Add the mango pieces and mix.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray till about 2/3 full, top with the granola and bake for 26-28 minutes. Insert a skewer into the muffin at 25 minutes, if it comes out clean, remove from the oven.

Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a little butter.

7 Comments

Posted in bakes, Egg-less, eggless bakes, mango, muffins, Summer food and drinks, Whole Wheat Flour. Bookmark the permalink.

Wholewheat Egg-less Pancakes With Fresh Mango

Posted on June 16, 2013 by arundati
Yummy Weekend Breakfast

Yummy Weekend Breakfast

Trust me to suddenly wake up from my slumber when mangoes are on their way out and post a recipe that is elevated to the status of divine because of the fruit topping. I have slacked off this entire summer. Most of my whines have been because of the heat and the terrible ways in which it has tortured me. Just getting through the days chores was herculean and I acted the whole season like I was doing life a favour by just living it.

The only solace for me in the summer months are Mangoes. My favourites are Banaganapalle & Imam Pasand. But I will eat anything else that is spelt “MANGO”. We are fortunate to get more than 20 varieties of mangoes in Hyderabad, although the quantity that they are available in are dwindling because some of them are non commercial. I try and buy as many varieties as I can to enjoy at meal times or as dessert.

Most of the fruit eaten at home is fresh and as is. I very seldom venture out to do anything adventurous like bake or cook with fresh fruit. These pancakes are similar to the ones I made years ago here. Topping them with fresh fruit was something I enjoyed.

Make these for your weekend breakfast, or to celebrate Father’s Day today!

Whole Wheat Egg-less Pancakes with Mango

Makes 8 Pancakes

Whole-wheat Flour            1 cup

Baking Powder                     1 teaspoon

Baking Soda                           1 pinch

Melted Butter                       2 teaspoons

Powdered Sugar                  2 Tablespoons

Milk                                          1 cup

Vinegar / Lemon Juice      1 teaspoon

Butter                                        2 teaspoons additionally

Mango                                       2 cups, peeled, chopped and chilled

 

Add the vinegar/ lemon juice to the milk and set aside for 15 minutes.

Mix together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, powdered sugar.

Add the buttermilk and melted butter to the flour and mix lightly with a spoon till it forms a batter. Do not over mix. It is ok if the batter has a few smallish lumps.

Set aside for 10 minutes

Heat a non stick pan to medium and add a little butter to it. Add a ladleful of batter onto the hot pan and do not spread it. The batter will spread of its own. Cook on medium heat till the edges are turning golden brown and crisp.

Gently flip the pancake over. Cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Repeat with all the batter.

To serve, stack up 3-4 pancakes on a plate, add the chopped mango on the top and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

7 Comments

Posted in breakfast, Egg-less, fruit, mango, quick cooking, Summer food and drinks, Whole Wheat Flour. Bookmark the permalink.

Mango Cardamom Pound Cake (Eggless) and The Baking Club

Posted on June 8, 2011 by arundati

Am the last to post this fab cake we made as a result of some chatting with friends on facebook. A few weeks ago, my namesake and I were chatting. Its a ritual that we catch up even if its only online…. infact thanks to blogging, this is a friendship for keeps. i was in the midst of some heavy baking and was keeping her updated with my progress when she said all this baking talk made her want to bake too. I was just too happy and asked her to keep me company and bake alongside. So what if our kitchens were in Hyderabad and Singapore respectively! small difference it made.

When she wrote about this on fb, remembering another occasion where she and nandita had baked together, both Aparna and another namesake (yes, there are three of us… with differently spelt names mind you!) thought it would be fun to do something like a baking club, get together and bake together.

Since mangoes are in abundance, we decided to make a mango cake, zeroed in on a mango pound cake. Each one was free to choose a recipe of their own choice.

I went with the same recipe that Raaga chose, from Divya’s blog. Which i am told is from Deeba’s blog…. if you are confused with all the names, let me just say, i have been fortunate to find like minded friends in the blogosphere….and these are people i would keep in touch with even if i were to stop blogging.

So here goes. We were supposed to post on the 7th. but i was too busy celebrating my new car, a hectic weekend, and some fun stuff including chaperoning a couple of 10 yr olds to watch Kung Fu Panda -2. Excuses aside, here is the cake. Mine was a little underbaked but still yummy. the only change i  made was to make  mine eggless.

Eggless Mango Cardamom Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour / Maida
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cardamom, Powdered
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2/3 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons thick curd / or 2 eggs
100ml Buttermilk (add 1 tsp white vinegar to 100 ml room temp milk, leave for 10 mins till it curdles and use)
1/2 cup Mango Pulp
1 cup mango pieces chopped small
Icing sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Prepare a cake tin with butter and dust it with flour (i skipped this cos i used a silicon bundt pan)
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the curds (or eggs if using) and beat well. my mixture curdled a bit at this point.
Add the buttermilk, mango pulp and cardamom and beat again.Add the dry ingredients into the batter, a little at a time.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife/ tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.
My tester came out clean at 40 mins, but i think i needed to increase the baking time to 50 mins
Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Dust with icing sugar, slice and serve.
Notes:
This is the first time i am baking with mango and cardamom. i loved the combination (yeah i know it is classic, but i am slow like that). I used 1 cup of mango pulp but in the recipe i have written 1/2 cos the liquid was too much in the batter. I also reduced the sugar to 2/3 because i found the original of 3/4 cup a bit too sweet. If you like your cakes sweeter, add all the sugar in the recipe. I’d also skip the dusting with sugar, this was for purely cosmetic value!

14 Comments

Posted in bakes, cakes, fruit, mango, Summer food and drinks. Bookmark the permalink.

Beat the Heat Series ~ Kairi ka Panna/ Aam ka Panna

Posted on May 26, 2011 by arundati

This is a thirst quencher for hot summer days. Of which there seems to be no end in sight in my part of the world. But since there are mangoes as compensation, I will not crib just a little🙂.

Raw mangoes are almost on the wane now, so before they finish, i made kairi ka panna. Its an easy to make drink that can be made and stored in the fridge, either as a concentrate or diluted in a ready to drink form. It keeps in the fridge for about 10 days in a closed bottle.

Kairi ka Panna

1 cup pulp of raw mangoes (i skinned and sliced about 2 medium sized raw mangoes)

3/4 cup sugar (adjust according to the tartness of the mango)

2 cups water

large pinch of salt

in a pan (i use the pressure cooker and cook upto 3 whistles) add the mango pulp, sugar and the water and boil till the mango is fully cooked. cool and add to the liquidiser and pulse till it forms a frothy mix. this will be like a thick sauce. add the salt, check and adjust salt / sugar. this is now the concentrate.

To serve: dilute with chilled water in a 1:5 ratio, top with ice and serve. Alternatively dilute the whole amount with 1.5 litres of water and store in bottles.

Note: a lot of recipes will call for a spice mix of pepper, black salt and cumin to be added, but i prefer it plain. go ahead and add the spices if you enjoy it.

9 Comments

Posted in beat the heat series, drinks, fruit, mango, Summer food and drinks. Bookmark the permalink.
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