Bakefest! - The Beginning : Eggless Strawberry Muffins

Okay, I kept up my enthusiasm over the weekend. In fact, I left from work early on Friday to go shop for some baking tools. And because I think it would be helpful for others to know, I am compiling a list of items I bought along with the place and my comments.

Product	Place	Price	My Views
Paper muffin liners	Currimbhoys, Adyar	INR 170	For a pack of 100 standard sized liners
Pastry bags	Currimbhoys, Adyar	INR 180	For a pack of 100 medium sized bags
Measuring Cups & Spoons	Amma Naana	INR 75	For a set of 4 cups measuring -1, 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4. Spoons measuring 1 Tblsp, 1 Tsp, 1/2 Tsp, 1/4 Tsp
Silicon muffin molds	Big Bazaar	INR 115	For a set of 6 molds

I also bought a box of strawberries because my initial plan was to make strawberry bread. I changed it in the last minute to make these relatively healthy muffins.

Recipe

To make 17-18 standard size muffins, you will need:

• All purpose flour - 3 cups


• White granulated sugar - 3/4 cup


• Baking Powder - 1.5 tsp


• Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp


• Salt - 1/4 tsp


• Plain yogurt - 1.5 cups


• Flax seed powder - 1.5 Tbsp


• Warm water - 4.5 Tbsp


• Refined Oil - 1/3 cup


• Vanilla - 3/4 tsp


• Strawberries - 1.5 cups

What you need to do

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius


• Line the silicone muffin molds with paper liners


• Dissolve the flax seed in warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes. It will turn thick and gelatinous


• Cut the strawberries into small bite size pieces


• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients


• Spoon 1 Tbsp of the dry mixture into the strawberries such that the flour coats the berries


• In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt and add the flax seed water into it along with oil and vanilla


• Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix with a wooden spoon/whisk such that everything combines together. The batter will be thick at this stage.


• Add the strawberries and give it a final mix


• Using an ice cream scoop or a ladle, drop equal quantities of batter into each muffin mold


• Bake the muffins in the oven for 20 minutes at 180.

By the end of the 20 minutes, the muffin will have risen nicely and a toothpick inserted into the center of one will come out clean. Let the muffins cool before you dig in or alternately, I frosted them because I was taking them as dessert for a potluck dinner at my grandma's.

My Notes

1. This recipe is adapted from Stephanie Jowarski's Joy of Baking. I adapted her Blueberry muffins to suit the berries that I bought.


2. She uses eggs in her recipe but being a vegetarian, I substitute 1 egg with 1 Tbsp flax seed powder mixed in 3 Tbsp warm water


3. Cutting the strawberries small and coating them with the dry mixture ensures that they do not sink to the bottom of the batter


4. I used regular refined cooking oil and homemade yogurt/dahi


5. Do not over mix the batter - just enough so that everything is combined together


6. I frosted the muffins using Betty Crocker's Cupcake Frosting which is available in a can. I bought the butter cream flavor from Amma Naana on Chamiers Road. This can comes with 4 decorating tips to use. I have been using this till my Wilton set arrives from USA.


7. I am a novice at icing -- hence the uneven frosting design on the muffins


8. I did think that the muffins could have been a little bit more sweeter, not sure by how much though. Maybe the sugar could have been 1.25 cups instead of 3/4 cups.

So, go ahead and try it. Its not a very decadent dessert, more like something you could have for a mid-day snack. I thought it was pretty good, considering this was the first weekend of Bakefest! I am thinking that I should bake something once every fortnight, and so hopefully in the next 15 days all my ordered items from US will also arrive. More on that in the next post!

Till then, happy baking!