CHOCOLATE MUFFINS BY REBECCA

"Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it. I wash my mouth out with chocolate." Charles M. Schulz

If I remember correctly, the first time I met Siddharth was when I was five. We've been in and out of touch since but recently we found each other in Delhi! At his housewarming I scarfed down atleast three of these amazing chocolate muffins by the ridiculously pretty Rebecca Aranha. Since she is also incredibly nice, she forwarded me the recipe. See below and bon appetit!

 You’ll need:

1.5 cups of flour

1 cup of cocoa powder

2.5 tsps of baking powder

2 and a quarter cups of sugar

1 cup of softened butter

4 eggs

Upto 1 cup of boiling water

2 tsps vanilla essence

Muffins away:

 1. Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder together at least thrice.

Note: Whisk the mixture together, pop on to a sieve and then shake the flour through. Repeat twice.

2. Cream the softened butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Fold the flour+cocoa mixture into the sugar+butter, in portions, adding an egg each time. Mix well.

3. Add the boiling water little by little (you don't need a whole cup, totally depends upon how thick you want your batter to be. I usually make do with 3/4ths of a cup), and keep stirring the batter till you feel it has the right consistency. The water must be boiling hot - it'll melt all the granules of sugar and make your life much easier when it comes to stirring the batter. Add the vanilla essence at the end and give it a good stir.

 

4. Preheat at 180°celsius.

5. Bake at 150° celsius for 25 mins or so.

 Foodnotes:

• You could also bake this into a light chocolate cake, if you're not in the mood for muffins.
• You could consider dropping in a couple of teaspoons of coffee or cinnamon powder into the batter before you bake to add an extra layer of flavor.

• Baking 101 from Rebecca

 

·   ALWAYS stir everything in only one direction.

·   Taste your batter to see if it's sweet enough for your tastes.

·   Don't over-melt the butter in the microwave. Butter should never be allowed to split.

·   The more you love your batter the better it will be. Stir it realllly well.

·   If you let the batter sit in the mixing bowl for a little while the cake comes out better.

·   To check if the cake is done poke a toothpick down the middle. It should come out clean-ish (you can usually SMELL when the cake is perfectly done. take it out before it starts smelling burnt).

Sid and Rebecca