Strawberry and Orange Cupcake

So dear friends, if you have now gotten used to yeast and have overcome your fear around baking, it is time to take plunge into the caking - err...baking cake.

As a kid, I always heard my mom discuss with her friends and families, that making a cake requires strong hands, as you need to really beat the batter a lot. It was somehow stuck in my head. In the early 90's every housewife in India was wielding a big aluminium pan with an electric plug and sharing the kitchen disasters. 
Whether they had a washing machine or not, they definitely had the cake maker. And practically it was lying in the last shelf unused.

This was the first question I asked my friend who first taught me to bake a basic simple cake. She said, I wont beat the cake batter at all, let the baking powder take care of the air. Her confidence gave me a lot of energy and I watched her make a large chocolate sponge cake adding a dozen eggs to it and then packing it off to the freezing cold garage to let it cool down. She let me try my hands at it exactly a week later and watched me make my cake. It came near perfect. I realised that my fears around cake were baseless. Likewise, I want to tell all who are yet to bake their first cake, there is no science in baking a cake, it requires the same ingredients- love and passion and a bit of care. You are free to experiment with flavors, compositions and textures. Whatever you make will be your creation and it stands no comparison to any mental benchmark that you may have set. Just have fun while making a cake...what can go wrong with flour mixed with sugar and butter after all...like she said..let the baking soda take care of its job, while you do yours....

So , with that thought I am firing up my oven to a stunning fruit based cup cake

Ingredients

1 cup APF/ Maida

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tspn orange juice (with pulp)

4 tspn curd

1 pinch baking soda

1 tspn baking powder

1 tspn vanilla essence

2 tbsp milk

4 large strawberries roughly chopped

Method

1) Mix the APF with baking soda and baking powder and sift a couple of times.

2) In another bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat it until it is light and creamy.

3) Add the curd and beat again

4) Gradually add the strawberry pulp and continue beating.

5) Now add the flour a couple of tbsp at a time and mix it using a spatula or fork. Do not beat at this stage.

6) Once all the flour is incorporated check the batter consistency, it should be just about pourable when dropped from the spoon- not as as steady stream but neither as a lump.

7) Add the orange juice and lightly mix it in, taking care that the pulp does not get squished within

8) Do not add the vanilla essence if the orange and strawberry are and aromatic, otherwise, mix the vanilla with the milk and gradually add it in

9) Pour this batter in cupcake lined tin.

10) Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 min or until the cakes are cooked at the centre (check with toothpick), at about 180c.

You can top this with whipped cream or strawberry compote or just fresh strawberries.

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