Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes

A  very BIG  HELLO to all of you after almost  a million years. Yes that's what it feels like to me today. Last post I put up was in October last year and after that I have kind of gone into a winter sleep where blogging is concerned. But that's only where blogging is concerned. A lots happened since then. The first break happened because my parents were here to visit us and ofcourse with them here obviously blogging was the last thing I could find time to do. They had a great stay and we did the touristy trips with them all over UK.


After they left I got a job. YES A JOB!!!! Isn't that great?  I now work in a Primary School as a Learning Support Assistant and I am happy with  my job. That's the second reason why I am not actively blogging. I am ofcourse cooking and entertaining but I now cook mostly in the evenings and my food pics taken in the evening are horrible. I have to also admit that many a times the food is eaten and polished off before I can photograph it. So no blog posts!


Then in Dec I went on my annual trip to India for 5 weeks. I spent the most fabulous 5 weeks there eating everything that I had missed in the last one and half year. It was  simply great being back in Pune and riding my Honda Activa and driving the Santro.  We had a blast and my son loved it. In his words "Aai INDIA ROCKS". What else did I need to hear.


But now I have been back since one month and things have fallen back into a routine with school and office and other activities and I am definitely back on the blogosphere.


A week back I baked these little cakes from a recipe from one of my most used books and that is The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking by Tarla Dalal.  Now in the book these cakes are called Madeleines, but I prefer to call them just "little cakes" as traditionally a Madeleine is a  shell shaped cake eaten at tea time and which is baked in special shell shaped moulds, so for me these are just small cakes or cup cakes which have a delicious coating of strawberry jam and dessicated coconut. These cakes come out beautifully each and every time and no matter how many I make they are never enough.


Note: These cakes need to be ideally baked in individual cup cake moulds, but I do not have those and baked them in a muffin tray which worked just fine


I have followed the recipe from the book word to word, and here it is for you.


Ingredients:

• 115 gms sugar
• 115 gms butter
• 2 medium eggs
• 115 gms self-raising flour
• 1/2 tspn lemon or vanilla essence (I used vanilla)
• 1/2 tea cup milk approx
• red jam (I used strawberry jam)
• dessicated coconut

Method:

• Sieve the flour
• Cream the butter and sugar very well  until light and creamy
• Beat the eggs well
• Add a little of the egg mixture to the butter and sugar and beat well. Gradually go on adding eggs beating well  all the time. If the mixture curdles, add a little flour ,mix well and then continue adding the eggs.
• Add the sieved flour and enough milk till the batter has a dropping consistency.
• Add the essence.
• Grease and dust your muffin tray or the cake moulds and fill upto 3/4 with the cake mixture.
• Bake at 400 deg F for around 20 mins.
• Cool the cakes
• Warm the jam and brush the cakes  with the melted jam.
• Roll the cakes in dessicated  coconut.

The cakes are now ready to eat. Try these they are simple to make and taste awesome