Orange and Cranberry Cupcakes

This is a my winning recipe - literally...so what did I win....you can find it out in the post. I made quite a few recipes last month for cupcakes, unfortunately did not capture them on camera. I was experimenting with dried fruits and nuts in cakes. I do not experiment often, either a dish works for me or I forget about it. Since most of my cake/ cup cake recipes on the blog, are pretty simple, like there is no science in them, plain flour flavored with vanilla, at max flour portions are replaced with some fruit or veggies. A friend asked me to make cakes using raisins which kind of did not work for me. I had cranberries with me.
Cranberries are very acidic in taste so, we need to combine it with some anti acidic ingredient like sugar. It works great in sauces when combined with oranges, so I added them as well. 
I have used Canola oil for making the cake, which I am hooked to since a year now. I also attended a seminar last month organised by www.canolaoil.org 
They also asked for submitting recipes made using canola oil, and this one fitted the bill. So much so, that I ended up winning the contest. 

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup Allpurpose flour
2 tspn corn flour
1 cup Canola Oil
1/2 cup dried cranberrys
1/2 cup orange juice (with pulp)
1/2 cup curd or buttermilk
1 cup castor sugar
1 tspn baking powder
1 pinch of baking soda
Method
1) Soak the cranberries in the canola oil for 20 min.
2) In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, sugar and beat it together.
3) Add the canola oil (strained from cranberries) to the buttermilk mixture and continue beating till a homogeneous mixture is formed
4) Next add the orange juice along with pulp and mix well.
5)Sift the flours and baking powder and soda together.
6) Add the flour mixture a spoon at a time and mix well, lightly folding in the batter.
7) Preheat the oven at 180c.
8) Pour the batter in cup cake tin covered with liners.
9) Bake for 15-18 min or until the skewer comes clean from the centre.
10) Serve with vanilla and orange zest icing 



 The prize hamper from Chef Ajay...at the CanolaOil.org. Some facts about canola oil, they are made from grapeseed  core. Originated in canada, it is as of today the oil with the least amount of transfats. It has a neutral taste and works well with all indian and baked dishes. Infact consuming the oil is healthy as well.


Comments

Unknown said…
congratulations on winning!!! and yes this cupcake is surely a winner!!! looks super moist, soft and delicious!!!

Sowmya
Congrats Pradnya on this win :)) and the cup cake actually looks cute with that cranberry..great going.
This surely sounds delicious ! Congrats lady for winning the contest !!
Priya Suresh said…
Even i love to make bakes with canola oil, cupcakes looks fabulous..Congrats for the hamper/
Suma Gandlur said…
The first cupcakes I mastered was with orange juice and dried cranberries. And so, I can guess how yummy these must have been. I go with sweetened dried cranberries and it is one of my favorite dry fruits to bake besides dates. And I literally detest the tart fresh ones.
And congrats for the hamper.
Chef Mireille said…
Congrats and muffins look so moist
Surefire winner of a recipe. Congratulations.
Sufire winner of a recipe. Congratulations.
Gayathri Kumar said…
Congrats Pradnya. The cupcakes look so soft and fluffy...
Srivalli said…
That's quite a winner you have there Pradnya. I know it must have felt wonderful winning this contest, congrats...and the cupcakes are so delicious.
Padmajha said…
Congrats Pradnya.It must have been great to win the contest. And the cake looks so soft...
Pavani said…
Orange & Cranberry is simply a delicious and winning combination.
Rajani S said…
Congrats on coming up with a real winning recipe :)..I have dried cranberries at home, will try it sometime soon..
Harini R said…
Congrats on winning the hamper! This sure is a winning recipe!
preeti garg said…
This cupcakes look so moist and tasty too.
Archana said…
Congrats Pradnya. Will try thi s recipe later in the year once my Bhabi brings me the promised cranberries.
I love the cupcake.

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