Tag Archives: muffins

A Happy Mother’s Day with Lemon Cupcakes

Posted on March 21, 2012 | 12 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers who are celebrating today especially to my mom! Please allow me to say a few words on this day to the woman who made me who I am today before sharing the recipe.

I just want to thank you mom for always being there for me, for teaching me how to read and enjoy a good book. Thank you for teaching me to enjoy life and not to sweat the small stuff, for showing me how to stand back up when things don’t go as planned. Thank you for instilling in me the appetite for food, adventure and life. Thank you for teaching me how to cherish my health and love and accept myself for who I am. For all those things and much more; for all the times you kissed away my tears and the times you laughed at my silly jokes, thank you Mom. I love you.

My mom loves anything lemony or with a remotely lemon flavor in it, so for Mother’s day, even though we are miles away, I baked her these cupcakes. ( I promise I’ll make them again when I go back home :) ). The recipe is adapted from James Martin for BBC Food.

Ingredients ( 11 cupcakes)

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup low-fat milk
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 lemons, zest only

For the drizzle

  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil, and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, sieve the flours, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir lightly. Do not overmix.

Lightly grease your muffin tins or line with baking cups. Add your batter and bake for 15-18 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your drizzle if you want by mixing the sugar and the lemon juice.

Once the muffins are done, leave them to cool slightly before adding the drizzle on top.

Nothing better than the smell of lemons to greet Spring and to wish mummies everywhere the best day ever!

Bon appetit :) !

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Banana Oat Cake with Chocolate

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 11 Comments

This recipe is from a friend of mine. I tasted it at her house 2 years ago and I had to have the recipe. Since then, I’ve done it dozens of times with all the variations you might think of. I’ve done it in muffin tins, added walnuts, chocolate, substituted brown for white sugar. It’s a foolproof cake recipe suitable for the most unexperienced baker.

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons sodium bicarbonate
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt ( a pinch)

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup 0% or skim milk
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar ( can use white or artificial sweetener) *
  • 2 bananas, mashed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C. Grease and flour a 20cm x 20cm  cake pan or line it with parchment paper. ( You can use a round pan with a 22cm diameter or a 12-muffin cup pan lined with muffin papers).

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl. Then add the dry over the wet and stir with a fork. A fork is the only gadget you need! How neat is that? :) It’s delicious as it is but if you want extra pleasure you can add half a cup of chopped dark chocolate and/or chopped walnuts. Mix the chocolate and walnuts with a bit of flour so they don’t all sink to the bottom of the pan and mix them with the batter. Lately, I have been sprinkling the chocolate (without flour) only on top. I figured since we eat first with our eyes, a good chocolate topping is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth without the need to overindulge. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven and the pan you are using. Muffins take less time. Check them after 15 minutes using the old and reliable toothpick trick. If the toothpick comes out clean of batter, you know it’s done.

Fresh out of the oven

While I’m writing this and reviewing the recipe, I noticed that I had forgotten the oil. Well, I didn’t just forget it in here. I ran to the kitchen and found out that I hadn’t used the oil in the actual recipe as well!! And it came out great, no difference in taste whatsoever! Normally, I would use a 1/4 cup canola oil **, but not after today!! Didn’t I tell you it’s foolproof?

* When using artificial sweeteners like Splenda (sucralose), Equal, NutraSweet ( both Aspartame), Canderel (Aspartame and Acesulfame-K) or Stevia, make sure to check the correct conversion on the package.They are much sweeter than regular sugar so the amount needed in any recipe is much less.

**It’s better consumed within 2 days if not using oil. Using oil will ensure the cake stays fresher longer.

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