Tag: cocoapowder

Red Velvet Cake Donuts ~ Valentine’s Special

Red Velvet Cake Donuts1

After being on a month long health-kick, I think it is time to introduce a little indulgence. After all, it is last day of January.Valentine’s day is just round the corner so today’s post was definitely called for. I’m giving you a gorgeous sweet something for the occasion.

I have already professed my love for donut pan to you before. Ooh, how much I adore it. I want to bake everything into donut now, yes, obsessed is the word! But come on, how cute are these baked donuts?! You’re definitely going to have hard time deciding, eat them for breakfast or dessert! Or may be have them for both 😉

Red Velvet Cake Donuts2

These baked donuts are smothered with cream cheese frosting. Purr..fection! They are soft, tender and fluffy. They come together quickly and uses just a bowl. Baking is done in 8 minutes flat! Takes about 20-25 minutes start to finish. Of course, you will need to wait for donuts to cool completely before applying the frosting. I know which is quite difficult! So you may make them a day in advance, frost them and sprinkle sanding sugar just before serving. No more waiting, problem solved!

I made a small batch of 6 which is perfect if you’re still dieting. They are not obnoxiously fattening. I counted calories to be sure and each donut has 210 calories with frosting. Not so bad, right? Perfect for a cheat day with minimal cheating which means, yes, go ahead and have two!

So make them for Valentine’s or make them now. Bake them as donuts or as cupcakes. Just make them! 🙂

Red Velvet Cake Donuts3

Red Velvet Cake Donuts

Yields: 6 | Prep time: 15 minutes | Bake time: 8 minutes | Total time: About 25 minutes

Ingredients:
For donuts:
  • 2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp oil
  • 5 Tbsp yogurt/buttermilk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Red food coloring
  • 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
For cream cheese frosting:
  • 3 Tbsp plain cream cheese, at room temperature (I used plain spreadable cream cheese)
  • 3 Tbsp icing sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • Splash of milk, only if needed
  • Red sanding sugar, to decorate

Directions:

  1. For donuts: Preheat oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Spray the 6-count donut pan with oil. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a another mixing bowl, whisk together egg and sugar till nicely incorporated. Whisk in oil, yogurt/buttermilk and vanilla extract. Slowly mix in dry ingredients to wet ingredients with the help on spoon or rubber spatula. Mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
  4. Add red food coloring as required stirring minimally. Finish with whisking in vinegar to the batter. Divide the batter equally and fill the mold no more than 3/4th. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool in pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then carefully turn out doughnuts directly onto rack to cool.
  5. Cream cheese frosting: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cream cheese, sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. If the consistency is too thick, add a dash of milk. Spread the frosting on completely cooled donuts. Sprinkle with red sanding sugar just before serving as the colors will bleed. Doughnuts will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days stored in a refrigerator.
Share this recipe:

Cadbury SHOTS topped Beetroot & Chocolate Cupcakes

SHOTS topped Beetroot & Chocolate cupcakes3

I love Cadbury SHOTS!

Their punchline is ‘A Glass and a Half Full of Joy‘ and that is exactly what I feel and more when I pop it in!

Eating them always gets me nostalgic about my college days. It was launched about the same time as I was finishing my internship and was my favorite thing to snack on around that time of my life. That was the most memorable time when we were free from all the tensions of patients, studies and exams, never thinking of what the future holds for us and just a happy, fashionable, giggling bunch of jobless interns who were always gossiping in cafeteria (Of course we used to work when we were not on breaks!!!). Those were the days!!! 🙂

SHOTS topped Beetroot & Chocolate cupcakes1

Cadbury SHOTS is available in a small pack of two which is perrrfect to share with your bestie or your sweetheart! Costs only INR 2/- each! They consist of milk chocolate balls coated in a hard sugar outer layer. But I think they are only available in my part of the world and not elsewhere. How unfortunate! 🙁

So to reminisce about that awesome time of my life I decided to top my next cupcakes with these sweeties. I wanted the cupcakes to be chocolate. How boring! So I decided to give it a twist… of Beetroots! I mean I have baked chocolate cupcakes with zucchini before so decided to pretty much replace zucchini with beetroots and it worked like a charm. I tweaked my previous recipe a bit and added melted chocolate in this one instead of chocolate chips as I was topping these with SHOTS!

SHOTS topped Beetroot & Chocolate cupcakes4

The cupcakes are rich in chocolate and beetroot’s flavor is quite earthy yet not overpowering. The insides are gooey and moist! And most important of all, it’s heeaallthyy! Come on, it has whole wheat flour, dark cocoa, dark chocolate and beetroot! 😉

So hop onto the reminiscence train! There are no stations in between.. Share with us that one important nostalgic moment from your college days. We would love to know!

SHOTS topped Beetroot & Chocolate cupcakes2

Cadbury SHOTS topped Beetroot and chocolate Cupcakes

Servings: Makes 6 cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 small raw beetroot bulbs, peeled and grated (about 175 gm)
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 Tbsp Hershey’s dark cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 75 gm 70-80% dark chocolate, melted and cooled
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 9 Cadbury SHOTS packs, for topping

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F/180C. Line 6-count muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
  2. Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the grated beetroot, egg and melted butter.
  3. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla extract. Stir until just combined.
  4. Spoon the batter among the prepared pans. Top each cupcake with 3 Cadbury SHOTS and bake for 21-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

*Cadbury SHOTS has not sponsored me in anyway. All the praise written above is my personal expression of love for them!

Share this recipe: