EGGLESS WHOLEWHEAT MATCHA GREEN TEA CUPCAKES

 Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to interact with the baking queen of India ; Pooja Dhingra the founder of Le 15 cafe and Patisserie, Mumbai. Over the last two years my passion of food encouraged me to get into entrepreneurship as well, currently working on projects with the Indian tea and coffee farmers from various parts of Assam and the South of India respectively, and promoting natural, artisan Indian products, our conversations were focussed at troubleshooting and combating the problem the food industry faces, a bunch of 8 enthusiastic foodies; a couple established foodpreneurs and most of us passionate foodies having quit our jobs to feed the passion; indeed a fun afternoon Snippets from the business lunch (click the link and read all about it ); The lunch was followed by a baking session with Dhingra, where she whipped up some fun recipes, I have always dreaded eggless baking and have very rarely succeeded at them, Pooja's first demonstration was a Vanilla cupcake, the recipe of which I've tweaked; used oil instead of butter and replaced cake flour (maida) with whole wheat flour to make it wholesome, nourishing and a bit of a guilt free indulgence. I will also be sharing tips and tricks and some basic troubleshooting while baking. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 100 gms condensed milk 
• 4tbsp + 1tsp Milk
• 50 ml Vegetable oil 
• 1/2 Tbsp powdered sugar 
• 53 gms flour ( I used a half and half mix of wholewheat flour and cake flour ) 
• 10 gms Cocoa Powder ( I used Mason and co.)
• 1/4 tsp Baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda 
• For the Buttercream :
• 50 gms butter ( at room temperature )
• 112.5 gms powdered sugar 
• 1/2 Tbsp milk 
• 1 Tbsp Matcha Green tea Powder ( I used sprig )

BAKING TIPS:

Before I begin with the practical steps of baking the cupcakes , I'll share some knowledge on the science of baking. 

1. As Pooja told us and all otherwise when you pick up a good baking book, its always mentioned to pre-measure and pre-prep your ingredients, this helps saving time and avoid any confusion.
2. We must learn to set a tune with working with our oven as its important to understand it because the instructions always give an average timing of baking, each oven functions differently.
3. We must add our flavouring at the stage of creaming ( mixing butter and sugar); as fat carries the flavour better.
4. Dry ingredients must be sifted to add air and avoid any impurities, we must also whisk them before, to combine them well.
5. Creaming determines the texture of our cakes/cupcakes, as its the stage at which we incorporate air into our batter; the leavening agents like baking soda, baking powder etc only increase the size of the air bubbles present in the batter, they do not introduce more air to affect the texture of the cake.
6. When we add flour, we add gluten to our mixture , that gives a body and texture ( gluten adds density) to have a well balanced sponge we must alternate while adding flour and liquid (that your recipe talks about) as the liquid helps in breaking the gluten, and we get a well bodied cake, instead of a too dense to too airy one.

METHOD:

• Pre-heat the oven at 165C. 
• Line a baking tray with 12 mini cupcake liners.
• Whisk together the oil and sugar, 3-4 minutes with hand or 1-2 minutes in a stand mixer, the mixture with oil won't get creamy bye will change colour to a whitish pale. 
• Add in the cocoa powder and condensed milk and mix until combined well.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
• Mix the dry ingredients to the above mix, it alternating with the milk; behind with the flour and end it with it.

Bake at 165C for 10-15 minutes or until a skewer comes clean.

FROSTING THE CUPCAKES:

• In a bowl, whisk butter until smooth and creamy.
• Gradually add in the powdered sugar, whisk until combined well.
• Add in the milk and keep whisking vigorously, until light and creamy (5-7 minutes)
• Keep in it in the refrigerator for 5-6 minutes before piping the cupcakes.