Baking a storm

Wear your chef cap, fire the oven and bake these easy-peasy cupcakes and brownies

Log on to social media and at least six out of 10 people you know are baking as part of what seems like the world's longest-running cake-athon. Grocers across the city are sharing that in the last few weeks, they have sold huge volumes of vanilla essence, cocoa powder and cake flour. It's a staple in most orders these days. Home-chef Alefiya Sethwala who has been sharing step-by-step videos on her blog, Alefiya's Krazy Kitchen, says, "In these testing times, things can get quite stressful and depressing. Baking is therapeutic; the beautiful aroma that wafts through the air while baking gives a sense of feel-good."

Home baker Shweta Somaiya adds, "When you measure each ingredient and follow a step-by-step process, you tend to use your energies into something creative rather than wasting it away in negative thoughts and anxiety about the current situation. Sharing it with your loved ones can also be quite rewarding." Instead of making plain vanilla or chocolate cakes, Somaiya prefers to make tea cakes and cupcakes to make it more interesting for kids as well.

Good ol' brownie

Ingredients
150 gm Chocolate
113 gm Butter
95 gm All-purpose flour
15 gm Cocoa
200 gm Sugar (substitute 100 gm with brown sugar if you can. It adds flavour and moisture to the brownie)
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Eggs
1/4 tsp Salt

Method
Grease a tin and line it with parchment paper and preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Chop the chocolate and butter into small pieces. Melt them in the microwave, stirring once after 30 seconds. In another bowl, mix sugar, eggs and vanilla till sugar melts and the eggs break down. Mix in the melted chocolate. Sift maida, cocoa powder and salt and mix it into the mixture. Pour this into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. When you insert a toothpick, there should be moist crumbs stuck to it. Remove, cool completely, cut into squares and serve.

By Alefiya Sethwala

Banana muffins/cake

Ingredients
125 gm All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
65 gm Sugar
2 (big) Banana(ripe)
60 ml Vegetable oil
30 ml Milk
5ml Vanilla essence

Method
Sieve the flour along with baking soda and baking powder. Keep aside. Mash the bananas, add oil and vanilla essence — mix well. Add sugar and mix till it melts. Add in the flour mixture and mix lightly. Next, add milk and mix it till you get a smooth batter. Do not over-whip. Scoop the batter in lined cupcake or cake tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes. Let cool. Serve fresh or spread Nutella and top with nuts. You can use the same recipe (with double in quantity for ingredients) to make a bar cake. The baking time will be 30/35 minutes till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

By Shweta Somaiya

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