Thoughts On A Plate

Bake Sale! #CupcakesForACause

26 Dec 2011 3 Comments

by Anisha in Cupcakes Tags: baking, buttercream, Chocolate, cupcake, frosting, red velvet

A few weeks ago, I decided to do something good this Christmas. Every year, I would go out and spend money on food and drinks and gifts which made no sense at all. So, this year why not give something to people who need it more than I do?

A couple of years ago, I worked at the Mumbai Mobile Crèche as a teacher to pre-school children. This organization sets up day care centres for children of construction site workers. Their idea is that when these construction site workers go to work, their children are left to fend for themselves all day on their own. As they keep travelling, they are not enrolled into any school and have no access to basic education and health-care. This is where the organization comes into the picture. They set-up mobile crèches near the construction site and provide education, day care and nutrition to these kids.

Here is their website if you want to contribute in cash or kind : https://mumbaimobilecreches.org

In order to raise funds for this charity, I had a Bake Sale at Gostana in Bandra on Christmas Eve. There were cupcakes for sale – Red Velvet and Chocolate. I ended up selling all 160 cupcakes and raised Rs.8000 for charity. Special thanks to Dharmesh Gandhi, Dennis Castello, Shirley D’costa, Darshan Parekh, Zafar Rais and Akhil Shah for pre-ordering the cupcakes and helping me raise funds. Remaining cupcakes were sold at Gostana which happened only due to Arpana Gvalani’s help. Thanks, Arpana!

Today, I will share my bake sale recipes for Chocolate Cupcakes and Red Velvet Cupcakes. The frosting used for both the cupcakes was Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting. Many people have asked me after the bake sale if I’ve considered taking this up full time. This is something worth thinking about. I do love cooking and cupcakes are just… love!

Chocolate Cupcake  

Ingredients:

Margarine – 56 g

Castor Sugar – 375 g

Eggs – 3

Vanilla extract – 5 ml

Milk – 293 ml

Salt – 1 g

Flour – 206 g

Baking Powder – 11 g

Baking Soda – 1.25

Cocoa Powder – 80 g

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees Celcius. Line the cupcake tins with cupcake lining paper and keep it ready.
2. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Keep it aside.
3. In a bowl, whisk the margarine and castor sugar till it’s light and fluffy. Be patient.
4. When it is considerably light, add one egg at a time and continue whisking it. Add vanilla.
5. Once it is done, add flour mixture (dry ingredients) and milk alternately to the butter-sugar mixture. Preferably do this by hand to avoid splashing.
6. Once the batter is ready, fill the lined cupcake tray (fill each only 3/4^th full) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
7. After it is baked. Remove each cupcake carefully and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting it with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting.
8. Yields about 20 cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cupcake 

Ingredients:

Margarine – 115 g

Castor Sugar – 300 g

Eggs – 2

Buttermilk* – 235 ml

Red food colour – 30 ml

Vanilla Extract – 5 ml

Baking Soda – 7 g

Flour – 250 g

Cocoa Powder – 30 g

Salt – 6 g

*If you don’t have buttermilk, take 225 ml of milk in a glass bowl and add 10 ml vinegar to it. Keep it aside for a couple of minutes. Once it looks slightly curdled, use a whisk and mix it well, Use in the recipe immediately.

Method:

1. Pre – heat the oven to 175 degrees Celcius and line the cupcake tray with cupcake lining paper.
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together and keep aside.
3. In a bowl, whisk together margarine and sugar till light and fluffy. After it has become light and fluffy, mix in one egg at a time. Add vanilla.
4. Add the red food colour to the buttermilk and mix well.
5. Add flour mixture (dry ingredients) and buttermilk with red food colouring alternately to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix it well.
6. Fill the batter 3/4^th in the cupcake tray and bake it for 25 minutes. You will know it’s done when it feel springy upon touching the top.
7. Remove the cupcakes carefully and allow to cool completely over a wire rack before frosting with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
8. Yields about 20 cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

Unsalted White Butter – 450 g

Icing Sugar – 450 g

Vanilla Extract – 10 ml

Flour – 48 g

Milk – 470 ml

Method:

1. In a saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place it over medium heat and keep stirring it. Continue cooking it till the mixture is very thick and starts to bubble. This takes about 15 minutes.  Once done, keep it aside to cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, whisk the butter and keep adding sugar to it. Continue whisking till soft and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla extract.
4. Once the sugar has completely melted into the butter, add this milk-flour mixture, one spoon at a time and whisk it together.
5. You will notice the colour of the butter sugar mixture change and become whiter.
6. Now the frosting is ready to be used. Cover the cupcakes with this frosting and sprinkle with rainbow sprinkle if you like.