Bhangra Cupcakes (Chai sponge and Mango Cream Cheese Frosting)

♬'The Album' by Punjabi MC

Hello hello I'm back this week with a peculiar and very random post about cake and bhangra. Is there a positive correlation between the two? Could you really do a few bhangra moves while holding cupcakes? Apart from gaining a stitch and a stained outfit, I think it's an awesome idea. For those who don't know what bhangra is please click here.

I actually stress out at weddings when it's time to get on the dance floor and try to look professional when busting out the moves and trust me I'm not an expert, doesn't matter if I am an Indian girl!  I tend to grab a child and pretend to dance, then wait for the aunties to say 'aaaw look at her and (kids name) dancing, she is so good with children'. Damn right, please don't fix me up with your friends son. 

Come on let's face facts, apart from the bride and groom having the best day of their lives, and family catch ups, most of the Indian weddings I have been to tend to be similar to speed dating, but with the parents doing the talking. I won't go into the questions my mum would ask on my behalf, it could turn into a sketch from 'Goodness Gracious Me'. I'm all about the food, and that's where you will always find me. 

Meanwhile in a beaten down kitchen in east London I decided to bake a beautiful batch of chai spiked cakes. If you don't have chai masala to hand, rip open a chai tea bag and crush spices using pestle and mortar, I know quite clever - one teabag should do the trick for this recipe. Another highlight of this cake is the frosting, a mango and cream cheese combo that is like licking heaven. Can I type that? I just did. Mango pulp with puri is a favourite sweet treat of mine at Indian functions. Actually anything mango based I am there with a bib round my neck.

▶ Recipe for 12 cupcakes in pretty muffin cases.

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

2 medium eggs

125g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp chai masala (go for teabag option if needs be)

Frosting

300g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter

150g cream cheese (cold)

20g ripe mango chunks

Purple food colouring

Red food colouring

Blue midnight glitter dust

Method:

It is imperative you play the album above, otherwise you might not feel the need to dance and get excited about the cakes!

Preheat fan oven to 180°c, prepare 12 hole cupcake tin with cases.

: Cream butter and sugar for a good few minutes until pale and fluffy.

: Add eggs and keep on whisking.

: Sift in flour, baking powder and chai.

: Spoon in cases and bake for 25 minutes.

: Once golden brown and you have done the poke in the middle of cake test. Take out and let them cool completely.

: Make the frosting by combining all four ingredients in a cake mixer or electric whisk. Good luck if using your hands, you will gain new muscles tomorrow! DO NOT OVER MIX THIS FROSTING (say about 3 minutes on a slow speed should be fine) Cream cheese tends to get runny.

: Divide the mixture into two bowls and add colours. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

: Pipe on cakes and decorate with gold/silver balls and glitter. 

Beautiful.

Favourite Song:

ê 'Mundian To Bach Ke'

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with CHOC CUSTARD Buttercream

♬ 'The Sound Of The Jam' by The Jam

Shut -up. Hold the phone, actually put down the phone and read everything. How sexy do these look right now! Don't you just want to touch the screen to see if you can pick one up? 

There I was the average Thursday afternoon checking my Iphone for life changing emails and how many people have unfollowed me on twitter, then I saw National Cupcake Week trending. How can I not know this and continue the week knowing and not doing something about it?! I bought a pack of bananas, rummaged through the baking cupboard and found ingredients that were going to make a batch of amazing cupcakes.

Eat bananas? Infatuated with chocolate? Love custard? If you answered a 'hell yeah' to all three then get baking....

 ▶ Recipe for 12 cupcakes in muffin cases.

Cakes:

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 medium eggs

20g cocoa powder

125g self raising flour

1 small mashed banana

50g dark chocolate chunks or chips.

1tsp vanilla essence or banana essence

Chocolate custard buttercream:

(I know don't you just love me right now?)

125g soft butter

4tsp custard powder

2 tbsp warm water

200g icing sugar

30g melted dark chocolate

1 tsp cocoa powder

Gold edible glitter A.K.A pixie cake dust.

Method:

Preheat fan oven to 180°c.

: Cream butter and sugar until fluffy and no lumps visible.

: Add beaten eggs and whisk.

: Fold in the sifted flour, cocoa with the baking powder.

: Finally add essence, chunks and mashed banana. It's nice to have a few random gooey banana bits, so try not to over stir.

: Spoon in muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes.

: Let them cool and make the butter cream by whisking butter until soft, this will stop icing sugar covering your kitchen and face!

: In batches add icing sugar and melted chocolate. 

: Then cocoa and custard powder with water can go in. Keep the machine on until this resembles a lovely cream texture.

: Pipe away and decorate with glitter and banana chips.

Favourite Song:

ê 'That's Entertainment'

Fitness Princess Mango Smoothie

♬ 'Electra Heart' by Marina and The Diamonds

Is it Friday yet? Don't you wish there was a fast forward button on your calendar? I'm not one to wish the year away but on a week like this someone at Apple needs to get on to this idea for the next Iphone. 

So I successfully finished the fifty four mile cycle from Streatham to Brighton last Sunday in a shocking 5 hours with no breaks, now I'm thinking of tackling a marathon in 2014! The training up to the cycle has been crazy, and I strangely enjoyed every moment. Annoyingly there was a lady who kept on overtaking me and made stupid jokes every time she passed. I did one of those smiles where teeth are not shown and rolled my eyes. 

Unfortunately as you saw I neglected baking, cakes were on hold and chocolate was locked away. Finally the decadent ingredients will get some attention this weekend.

The truth is it's a Wednesday and I have a mango and two passion fruits to my name. No cereal, milk, not even bread for comforting buttery toast. So I blended one ripe mango, two passion fruits, a tablespoon of greek yoghurt with honey and topped with super berries. Smoothie made for a fitness princess. It was very delicious, creamy and not too sweet, a perfect midweek energy kick. 

▶ Recipe for one, you will need a blender.

Ingredients:

1 large ripe mango (preferably Alphonso but no worries if you don't have any available)

2 passion fruits

Organic Greek yoghurt with honey (or drizzle a teaspoon of honey if yoghurt doesn't contain any)

Goji berries

Dried blueberries

OR dried cherries (optional)

Method:

: In a measuring jug add the mango chunks, scooped out passion fruit and one tablespoon of yoghurt.

: Blend.

: Pour.

: Decorate with berries.

: Drink straight away.

During university (oh so many years ago) I went through a smoothie phase and most days forgot to drink water. If you like me love smoothies make sure you still drink sufficient amounts of water in the day, and the only way to check this is when you go to the toilet. Sorry to mention the word 'toilet' on a food blog, so wrong isn't it? However when it comes to smoothie addiction the word has to be typed.

In other news I have been asked to train professionally as a boxer. Holy. Macaroni. My response was this:

'Anthony you see this (I point to my face) and these (show my hands) these are going to make me money, no way on earth am I going to get them damaged!'.

His response, 'No worries Mita, we do supply extra strong head guards for pretty faces'.

Me, 'OK I will think about it.'

What do you think boxer or baker?

Fave Songs:

ê 'Homewrecker'

 ê 'Hypocrates'

Cereal-sly Good Sundae.

♬ 'Why Try Harder' by Fatboy Slim

Possibly the best album to have on while running. I'm now recovering and resting ready for Sunday, where I will be cycling fifty four miles for Make-A-Wish Foundation. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me mentally as well as financially! This is the main reason the blog hasn't been regularly bombarded with cakes and videos plus this gives me an excuse to eat and bake naughty stuff next week! Then big changes to home and work life, more news about the Mita empire soon.

After another stupidly long run in which I acquired a sore ankle, I craved anything but nutty muesli which has been at the forefront of my diet for a while. Thankfully I had exhausted the healthy cereal shelf and could only see nuts and other dried fruits that look boring and crazily hearty. What's a girl to do for breakfast?! Toast? Fry up? Instead I layered lashings (love this word) of Greek yoghurt in a fancy sundae glass plus dug out all the lusty seeds and fruits I owned, and lastly found a cheeky bag of Honey Loops. 

Definitely try this recipe which to be honest does contain some pricey ingredients, but maybe try other dried or fresh sweet things you have around. It all depends how much you love dried fruits and nuts, and opting for something healthy looking in a sundae glass! 

 ▶ Ingredients:

Fresh pitted cherries.
Organic Greek yoghurt
Nuts and seeds mix (you know that contain pumpkin seeds etc)
Honey Loops
1 passion fruit
Goji berries
Dried blueberries

Method:

: Basically put the cherries at the bottom and squash down, add one dessertspoon of yoghurt.
: Sprinkle nuts, goji, blueberries and cover with passion fruit.
: Another layer of yoghurt with cherries, loops and yoghurt.
: Decorate with pretty goji berries and a cherry.
: Eat immediately without guilt and with a tall spoon.

Fave Songs:

ê 'Brimful Of Asha'  Norman Cook Remix

ê 'Gangster Trippin'
ê 'Right Here, Right Now'
ê 'Everybody Loves A Carnival'

Salted Chocolate Crispies

♬ 'Mylo Xyloto' by Coldplay

So very far from paradise this morning. To block out everything on the bus I put my headphones on and did what's best on public transport - people watch, and kept the volume at a reasonable level.

I was unfortunate to witness two people snacking on a Mars bar and a packet of ready salted crisps at 10am. Exactly. There is a time and place for this sort of snack-age behaviour, munching with your mouth open on the 253 to Finsbury Park at this time is not cool. Obviously this created a small spark in the sweet brain cell and I started to note down sweet and salty combinations, a nibble which didn't require baking. As soon as I passed a shop I bought loads of crisps and a bar of dark chocolate, together they were going to make the classic version of Rice Krispie cakes crumble with fear in a dark corner. I'm not going to lie to you and say this is better than what I witnessed this morning, in spite of that occurrence these Crispies are pretty amazing and you should give them a go or spread the word, I'm a big fan of Flipz and the salty and sweet marriage.

Recipe for 12 bite size chunks:

2 bags of ready salted crisps (each 32.5g), I suggest non crinkled because you will need to smash them into smaller pieces. OR if you're feeling a bit funky mix it up with chilli crisps!

150g dark chocolate

Method:

: Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water, or microwave. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

: Squeeze and scrunch crisp bags, then empty in a bowl.

: Pour over the chocolate and stir well.

: Either in cupcake cases or on greaseproof paper spoon about a dessertspoon out  and leave out to cool for about an hour. 

DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PUT THEM IN THE FRIDGE. 

Once hard remove from paper or leave in cases to serve. 

Easy, quick and an indulgent snack (definitely not to be eaten at 10am!)

Favourite Song:

ê 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall'

Mini Mexican Turkey Burgers

♬ 'Some Nights' by Fun.

My sister was in Malaysia and Sydney the same time I was galavanting around New York and one of the first things she wanted me to listen to as soon as she landed was this album. Strange, because she is normally into N.W.A, and DMX! 

This week has been a shambles. 

Which is a shame considering I wanted to bake gluttonously, unfortunately fitness has to be prioritised for the next two weeks, I'm cycling fifty four miles in seven hours soon and quite stressed about it all. So what cheers a girl up midweek? A BURGER (and jaffa cakes). I would like to stress that the burger above is slightly healthier than it's counterparts, it looks simple, non cheesy and really cool. SOLD? If that's a no, please read on...

I didn't eat as many burgers as I thought I would out in NYC, surprisingly the Mexican cuisine was pretty big, so there was more delving into tacos, wraps and guacamole. At first I thought the burger was American through and through - now I'm not so sure. The term 'hamburger' is named after Hamburg in Germany so are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, maybe Hamburg was where it originated but in New York is where it was credited. Anyone of course is welcome to let me know what they know. 

Getting back to the mini incredibles above, ever since I've been back there has been an urge  to make a fat cheesy greasy burger. And let's face facts, we all love it, plonked next to a plate of fries and a naughty condiment it's a comfort food made for weekends and late nights when the kebab shop has shut. Old El Paso and Discovery have got all that sorted in supermarkets with their kits complete with almost everything, so we can all have a Mexican themed dinner (mentioned because I use them not PR enforced). I recently purchased a packet of fajita seasoning and stored it ready for a rainy day. Surprisingly this week London has been anything but rainy which meant BBQ food galore, aka burger time. As an avid baker I refrained from buying burger baps and of course made my own baps topped with sesame seeds. How cute are they sort of shaped like cakes?! Adorable.

▶ Recipe second and random statements first...

1.Now this bread recipe makes 12 burger baps in a cupcake tin, which doesn't mean make 12 burgers! Save the others for sandwiches or with soup the next day.

2.Turkey is the new chicken for moi, mainly due to it's incredibly low saturated fat content.

3. Guacamole is the new love of my life.

Ingredients:

BAPS

450g strong bread flour

7g packet of dried yeast

250ml hot water (100ml boiling to two parts warm)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

15ml toasted sesame seed oil

Sesame seeds on buns once proved.

CUPCAKE TIN

GUACAMOLE

1 large ripe avocado

1 tbsp lime juice

Fresh coriander 

1 small red chilli deseeded (imperative otherwise the chilli will be an over kill)

1 small garlic clove

A BLENDER

3 TURKEY BURGERS

250g turkey thigh mince
1 tsp fajita seasoning

1 small garlic clove crushed.

Fresh chopped coriander

Salt

Pepper

Chilli and coriander breadcrumbs (or plain)

Extra- virgin olive oil

Method:

: First make the bread by mixing dry ingredients and oil, then pour water in the middle. Knead for 10 minutes non stop. Leave in a warm place for 45 minutes to prove.

: Once doubled in size, preheat the oven to 200°c. Take a small handful of the dough and roll into a flat ball, place in cupcake slot and press some sesame seeds on top.

: Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown, making sure they are hard to tap at the top and bottom, be careful and use oven gloves!

: Put all the ingredients for guacamole in a blender and whizz until you are happy with texture. Some like it chunky, personally biting into garlic is a nightmare so I opt for smooth.

: Lastly mix thigh mince with garlic, coriander and seasoning. Lather your hands with oil and roll into 3 medium balls, flatten then pat in breadcrumbs. Fry on non stick pan for 5 minutes each side.

: Organic ketchup at the ready, or salsa, sour cream and make your burgers. Stick a bamboo skewer in the middle so it's easy to pick up, squash and bite.

Here's a picture of a burger with sour cream instead of ketchup, I totally forgot to stick the skewer in the middle so it looks rather tall..

Enjoy!

Favourite Song:

ê 'We Are Young' - feat Janelle Monáe

ê 'Some Nights'