Experimentation…

Actually the above is not something I do very lightly; usually like to play it safe with recipes. Once I have a winner though, then that’s the one I stick to, but sometimes I get possessed by this urge to make something out of the box (not the ready box recipes), thanks to the crazy half.

Cake Mix

We have a wonderful relative (let’s call her dancing queen), in the UK who tends to bake as well, and she is really good at it too. She decided to treat us, by sending down a whole bunch of goodies over with a friend of hers who was travelling.

She asked us our favourites and as always, anything to do with nutella caught crazy half’s eye. She makes these divine muffins with a hint of nutella in them. As for me I decided to try something I had never heard of before, masala chai cupcakes, sounds mouth watering huh? Though not a fan of drinking tea, these sweet spicy concoctions just seemed perfect with a glass of milk.

They were sent down with a friend of hers who was kind enough to deliver them to us (and they didn’t even know us), between their travelling time and tight schedule, they didn’t get to us as fast as we would have wanted, I mean who can wait for baked goodies that you know are heading your way right? Finally they arrived, packed neatly and once unwrapped we both took one bite of our respective baked goodies.. The masala chai cupcakes were a burst of sweet, with just a hint of each spice. From crazy halves face I assume his nutella ones were equally satisfying.

Ah the pleasures of being married, while he jealously guarded his nutella muffins, I scoffed down a few cupcakes. I snuck away one of his muffins while he wasn’t looking and ecstatic is the correct way to describe the nutella flavor, not overwhelmingly sweet, just a perfect amount of hazelnut rolling around on the tongue (my mouths watering as I type this). But sadly I got the only one I managed to nick. So I resolved to end the strife by attempting this slightly harder recipe. Just so I could have another bite of that delicious muffin.

After my cookie baking disaster, cupcakes was a leap ahead, I mean if you can’t get cookies right… So I decided to attempt the muffins first, safe territory, just a few more twists to it.

Gritting my teeth, putting on some music to make me concentrate (read as dance) and gathering all my ingredients, I started the process of baking…

An hour later, covered in flour, licking a spoon of nutella and glancing at the clock every five seconds, they finally emerged. (Que – angels, harps and the rest of the shenanigans that happen). Success!!!!! and they smelt divine. Holding myself back was a test of wills, well at least until they cooled down slightly. A glass of cold milk, and these I had all to myself as crazy half was busy watching his weight.

Nutella Muffins

The first bite was….. something I recommend you have to try once in your lifetime, you might never stop eating these.

The question is how the cupcakes turned out… stay tuned for more baking mishaps, success stories and not forgetting the angels.

As always if you have any queries or suggestions, you can leave a comment or else email me on bakestress.nairobi@gmail.com

follow me on twitter @BakestressNbi

Advertisement