Say cheese!!!!

I loooovvvveeee cheese!!! In MOST of its forms and varieties. Like all other sins, its delicious and irresistible and it is fattening as well but at the same time, it is so versatile and pairs so well with most of the foods that I cant resist adding it in our meals every second day...

These days, I am head over heels in love with the plain yellow cake with a slight cheesy flavour in it. Whether as short break snack with tea or a quick breakfast in the morning, its really IN at our house. I have lately used the same cake recipe for making cupcakes as well and since the experiment was so successful that I had to share it with all of you.

cheesy plain cupcakes

Cheesy Plain Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2/3 cup confectioners sugar (or 1/2 cup very fine granulated white sugar)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cream cheese (Philadelphia or 5 cubes kiri cheese)
pinch of yellow food colour
1/4 cup yoghurt
pinch of salt
drops of vanilla essence (optional)


Preheat the oven at 180 C.
Take sugar and oil in a bowl, add food colour (just a pinch, youll be surprised how intense they get once you start adding eggs) and salt. Beat with the help of an electric mixer until the sugar is completely dissolved.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Sieve thrice to remove any impurities.

Also beat cream cheese in a small bowl and add yoghurt into it.

Now start adding eggs to the oil mixture, one by one. Beat for 5 minutes at highest speed until the mixture turns thick. Add in the yoghurt-cheese mixture and beat for a few seconds until smooth and combined.

Now start adding flour mixture into this and fold with a spatula (or a wooden spoon would also do the job). If you are a beginner, try folding by rotating the spoon in the mixture making an "8".

Pour the mixture into the prepared cupcake/muffin pans not more than 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-25 minutes (depending on the size of your cupcakes and how reliable your oven is....). Take out from oven and place on the cooling rack.

I usually dust the cake with icing sugar. But for decorating the cupcakes, I made cream cheese frosting that goes along really well with their creamy texture.