Cup a Cake

Decorating cakes is a piece of cake!!! Trust me, its true. You need not necessarily buy your cakes from a bakery any longer; there is such a wide range of decorative accessories, cake mix, and instant icings in the market these days that even the inexperienced beginners can make beautiful cakes to delight family and friends. There are plenty of ways to decorate your cake, all you need to do is... use your imagination and try out new ideas!!!! Once you are ready to do that, you´ll figure out, how easy and addictive it can be.

Although I had planned writing a different post for today but the mini cakes that I baked a few days ago were so tempting that I had to fit them in this series of  decorating cakes/cupcakes. As a matter of fact, they do belong here for the reason that I usually bake this cake in a regular baking pan but the cute mini tea cups in my kitchen cabinet were so inviting that I really wanted to do something with them. And the inspiration lead me to this interesting experiment of baking the cake in a tea cup:)




cake in a cup





Not only decorating accessories help you create a masterpiece but the way you present your art work is also very important. This is a dark chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling and whipped cream topping dusted with cocoa powder:) Enjoy!!!


Dark Chocolate Cake In A Cup


For the Chocolate Pudding Filling you need:


3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs milk
1 egg yolk
1/4 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Place a saucepan over medium heat and combine sugar, cornstarch and cocoa powder in it.  Mix with the back of spoon to remove lumps.






Add milk. Cook until thickened like a custard. Turn the heat down to medium low. Pour some of the chocolate mixture into the beaten egg yolk and pour the egg mixture back into the pan. This will prevent the eggs from scrambling.





Cook and stir  for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter,salt and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl, cover and allow to cool in the refrigerator. I usually make this a day ahead.

Now make the cake. Preheat oven to 180C.


Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup fine granulated sugar (or 3/4 cup powdered sugar)
2 large eggs
2-3 tbs cocoa powder (depends on the quality of cocoa)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup yoghurt
pinch of salt

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy ( for about 5 minutes). Add salt and both eggs to this mixture and beat again for 5-6 minutes. Fold in the yoghurt.

In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. (I always sieve the dry ingredients thrice).




Add this to the egg mixture in three steps and fold carefully. The easiest way to fold is rotating the spatula in the batter making an 8 until the mixture is all even.









Generously butter the baking cups (make sure to use heavy duty, i.e. heat proof cups for this. China mugs are the best for this purpose). Dust with fine granulated sugar. Fill the cups a little higher than half with the batter and bake for 20-25 minutes (baking time varies, depending on the size of your mugs). Tip: bake only one cup first and then adjust the baking time accordingly for the rest of the cupcakes.




Tip: Check after 15 minutes with a wooden skewer and continue baking accordingly. Make sure not to overbake. Chocolate tastes horribly bitter if over baked and the cake will be too crumbly and dry to eat. Here, it is better to take out the mugs earlier than too late.


Cool the cakes in the mugs for 10 minutes. Remove from the mugs and cool completely on a wire rack before filling and icing. I did all this work a day ahead and filled the cakes next day.






Lop off the top of the mini cake. Make a small well with the help of a spoon. Put the small piece of cake to one side and transfer the cake back into the cup. Pour in the chocolate pudding. Then place the lid back on the top.
 



 


Decorate the top with whipped cream and dust with cocoa powder. Enjoy!!!





Here´s an another variation of the same cake served with ice-cream and different filling.






Tip: You can use anything that goes along with the flavour of the cake, e.g. strawberry jam/sauce, vanilla pudding/custard, caramel sauce.

Comments

  1. You are a genius! Thank you so much for the wonderful, original and inspiring ideas and tips. Love the blog, love your writing style and I faithfully follow your advice. Can't wait for more to come! :)

    tehnia

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  2. yumm yumm yumm...can't wait to try this one!

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  3. @Anonymous
    Tina,Thank you soooo much for the appreciation. I am flattered sweetheart:D Next post is on its way....

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  4. this is pure indulgence :) chocolate in and out is surely my cup of tea :)

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  5. I tried this cake and it turned out to be super super yummy....My friend for whom I made it called it "the best cake ever"...
    Thank you for sharing this easy and delightful recipe!

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  6. v attractive....i must try:)
    thanx

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  7. @yasmeen do that:) one tip: do read the instructions on temperature and baking time for optimal results.Happy Baking!!

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  8. best ever chocolate treat for chocoholics.....i just lovved this and actually had tooo much...i ate in dinner,breakfast and lunch!

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  9. @aminaAmina, I am glad to have a crazy foodie like you on the blog:D thanks for trying sweets:)

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