Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

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These gluten free chocolate cupcakes are the perfect indulgent treat. They are a healthier alternative to the regular chocolate cupcakes. Almond flour makes these cupcakes gluten free and their natural fat and nutty flavor adds depth, flavor and richness to the final product, while lending extra moisture to the baked good. 

Gluten free chocolate cupcakes

After gluten free brownies, I am here with a gluten free chocolate cupcake recipe. The recipe is adapted from Foolproof Living here, and its a keeper. I did replace some of the almond flour with oat flour. Also, I used regular sugar as maple syrup is more difficult to get and super expensive in India, though I am sure maple syrup would be a great addition too. Since I used regular sugar and did reduce the amount, I compensated it with a little extra liquid to keep the cupcakes moist.

I would love to try these with dates for the sweetness and some orange zest the next time I try them. Will update when I do 🙂

Store bought Vs Homemade Almond Flour

Since almond flour is super expensive, I have started making almond flour at home. It does require certain pre preparation. You need to blanch the almonds, remove the peel, let the almonds dry and then dry grind them on pulse to get a fine powder. Once you sift the powder, the fine flour you get is almond flour that you can use to bake cakes and cookies.

The reason why I use oat flour in both the gluten free brownies recipe and these gluten free chocolate cupcakes is so that I can fine grind any leftover unsifted almond flour. This way all of the blanched almonds is used in a single recipe.

You could of course make these gluten free chocolate cupcakes with store bought almond flour, but then what’s the fun in that. Also storage for nut flours is critical to avoid rancidity. You need to keep your almond flour either in the refrigerator or freezer, and since I am always struggling with refrigerator space, making one recipe portion almond flour at home, helps me avoid storing store bought almond flour problems.

Store bought almond flour is of course finer but having a powerful and reliable grinder or food processor makes it easy to get fine almond flour results at home too. I use my Hamilton Beach JMG for it, and although slightly expensive its one of my most used kitchen equipment. In collaboration with them I also made a video for making these cupcakes, and you can watch it here on my instagram.

 

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Mom’s Paneer Pancakes

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Homemade pancakes layered with a paneer filling and an easy to make tomato sauce, which is then topped with cheese, and baked to perfection.

If you have ever come to one of the parties hosted by mom, there’s a good chance you have had these paneer pancakes recipe of hers. She has made it countless times, and each time it is appreciated. It is quite an easy recipe. You could use store bought paneer, or like Mom could make the paneer at home and use it for the recipe.

The recipe is so good, that the other day on instagram I had posted a photo of these paneer pancakes on my stories. One of my friends commented on the story that I should try her mom’s recipe for paneer pancakes- its amazing. Turned out my mom had handed her mom this recipe and ever since she too had made it in her kitchen several times.

I don’t know why my mom named them paneer pancakes. I would have named this dish baked paneer crepes, because the batter is more crepe like than pancakes batter. The dish is like a desi version of lasagna and makes an excellent vegetarian addition to your party menu.

The paneer pancakes consist of 3 layers

  1. The pancake layer
  2. The paneer filling layer
  3. The tomato sauce layer

Homemade pancakes layered with a paneer filling and an easy to make tomato sauce, which is then topped with cheese, and baked to perfection.

The Pancake Layer

This layer is made from maida and milk mixed to make a thin batter. Keep the batter closer to a crepe batter, with a slightly runny/ pouring consistency. The pancakes are thin, so make sure once you pour the batter on the skillet, you swirl it around to keep it thin. I have not tried this with whole wheat flour yet. In case I do, I will update here. The pancakes can be made ahead and frozen layered between parchment paper. When ready to use, defrost the pancakes and use. Freeze any extra pancakes in the same way.

The Paneer Layer

Mama makes the paneer at home from scratch in this dish. To make paneer, you start with boiling 1 litre milk. Once it starts boiling, reduce flame to achieve a gentle simmer for a minute. Add vinegar or lemon juice to make the milk curdle. Once you see a clear whey, remove the pot from the flame, and drain the curds into a cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth and let hang over the sink for 30 minutes to thicken the curds and make paneer. Since we use crumbled paneer in this dish, your paneer will be ready post the 30 minutes. Once the paneer is ready, you cook it in ghee with onions, green chillies and coriander/dhania. Feel free to adjust to your tastes. You can add vegetables like french beans, carrots, green peas too- but I prefer it only with paneer.

The Tomato Sauce Layer

The sauce layer is made by boiling tomatoes till soft, and then pureeing them. While I use the blender to puree them, mom passes it through the sieve, discarding the any skin. The pureed tomatoes are then cooked with a little sugar, chilli powder till a thick sauce is made, post which a little cream is added. I also add a bit of dried oregano to flavor the sauce. You could fancy the sauce up by cooking it in butter and garlic, but I stick to the original. Also, that means lesser chopping 😉

And that’s it. The next part is the layering and baking of the pancakes, and your dish is ready. The pancakes absorb the sauce while baking to become flavorful and soft, and the paneer filling gives a lovely creamy texture to the baked pancakes.

Mom adapted this recipe for paneer pancakes from a Tarla Dala one. That recipe had vegetables, but she swapped it for paneer, and I think if you are a paneer lover you would love this more. You could of course use vegetables instead.

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Eggless Black Forest Cake

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Eggless Black Forest Cake: Layers of eggless chocolate cake sandwiched with whipped cream and liqueur infused cherries.

Eggless Black Forest Cake

Growing up black forest cake, and pineapple pastries or Pineapple cake and black forest pastries were the most popular cake/pastry options for birthday parties. We all have grown up on black forest cake for our birthdays or a relative’s birthday.

I have previously shared a Swiss Black Forest Cake recipe on the blog. These days a lot of my cake recipes are met with request for eggless versions. So I took it upon myself to try an eggless version of the black forest cake.

The recipe that I am sharing today while vegetarian is not entirely vegan- although with a few substitutions you can make this eggless black forest cake vegan too.

What is Black Forest Cake?

Black Forest gâteau  or Black Forest cake is based on the German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.

The recipe I am sharing is my version for an Eggless Black Forest Cake. 

The following are the components for this cake:

  1. Chocolate layer cake
  2. Brandied burgundy cherries
  3. Whipped cream
  4. Chocolate decoration

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