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.






Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51



Comments

I am loving the tutorial like tone of this series and the gradual progression of the bakes. Super idea!
Rajani S said…
Wow thats a whole new strawberry look on the cake!! I love it :-)

And yes, I agree with the 90s baking scenario. My mom too had an oven which was lying around absolutely unused after the initial experimenting round.
Gorgeous cupcakes!! Beautiful clicks, i like how you have topped it with whole strawberries!!!
Srivalli said…
Those strawberries look cute on the top,..very nicely done..
Unknown said…
Same pinch today my recipe also strawberry cupcakes. they looks so cute and moist with those fresh strawberries...
Yes the butter nd sugar had to be beaten till creamy with strong hands but with the modern gadgets life has become simpler...
Love this orange and strawberry combo
Srividhya said…
Fruit cupcakes are always a winner. Looks so soft and spongy
Harini R said…
Awesome looking cupcakes. My older one was just reminding me that I need to bake strawberry cupcakes!! Shall ask her to bake these :)
Pavani said…
Loved reading your post Pradnya. I wish I met your friend in the early 90s when I was breaking a sweat beating cake batters :-)
Cupcakes look moist and delicious.
Perfect cupcake with wonderful flavours..Looks super delicious dear..
Padmajha said…
Enjoyed reading the post Pradnya.Mom had[and still has] this cake maker that could be used on the stove top which used to be filled with sand and muffin cups on a plate over the sand.Anyway,this cake sounds so flavorful and love the last pic :)
Gayathri Kumar said…
Texture of the cup cakes looks superb Pradnya. Love the fruity cupcakes. I do remember my mom beating the butter and eggs for 10 minutes and I was so much worried when I did my first cake...
Priya Suresh said…
Damn cute cuppies, love that whole strawberry topped into the batter, gives a different look to the cuppies.
Unknown said…
topping with whole strawberries is very interesting... beautiful cupcakes!!
Suma Gandlur said…
They look soft and moist.
veena said…
Good that we have modern gadgets which does the beating in a jiffy else i would have never baked. Love the texture of this cup cake. Yumm
Usha said…
I do remember the that oven. My mom had the even older version was the one that was cooked on stove top and the cake pan was like round tube.

Orange and strawberry is a nice combination.
Kalyani said…
mom didnt have any cake baker, but the washing machine was a monstrous one which needed us to do more manual labour than it ever did !! we hated it though used it for huge bed spreads !

the cupcake ingredients are inviting - strawberry and orange !
I bake only because of all the comforts in the kitchen! Love the burst of color inside the cupcake!
Archana said…
I think you ar ein the wrong profession you should be a teacher. I love teh way you have organised the post Pradnya.
As for these cupcake they are simply delicious.

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