With kids around ,we always end up making sweet cupcakes, cakes or cookies. But I want to maintain my diet and low calorie-count too. So in a process of making both ends meet, I discovered this healthy yet delicious recipe of low-fat, low-sugar, butterless, eggless, APF-less recipe of orange cupcakes with chocolate chips.
Also I wanted to use minimal artificial agents to puff up my batter. You don’t have to go and find eggs,butter,vinegar, yoghurt, Soda or even Cake flour for this recipe.

Though I have used APF, but this could be replaced with Whole wheat flour without any change in texture. The trick is to use Heavy whipping cream to froth the batter and adjust the moisture of the cake. For any cake or muffins , the consistency of the batter is very important. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. It should fall gradually in the tray with a viscous flow and not a sticky flow.

Always remember the dry v/s wet ingredients should weigh equal in amount.So if you decrease the quantity of cream, add milk to replace it or oil. Another key point is mixing. The dry ingredients sieved properly and mixed in portions with the wet ingredients would help to incorporate air which is good for baking.

So lets jump to the recipe and break the suspense now. 😉

INGREDIENTS:
1. Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) – 1 cup
2. All purpose Flour/Maida/Cake Flour – 1/4 cup
3. Baking Powder – 1 tsp
4. Salt – a pinch
5. Confectioner’s powdered sugar – 3/4 cup
6. Orange Juice (freshly squeezed)- 1/2 cup
7. Heavy Whipping Cream or Half and half – 2 to 4 tbsp
8. Cooking oil (Safflower oil) – 4 tbsp
9. Chocolate chips – 1/2 cup (as per your taste) (optional)
10. Vanilla extract – 1 tsp(optional)
11. Orange or lemon zest – 1/2 tsp (optional)

METHOD:
|Preparation time : 15 mins| Baking time : 15-18 mins | Bakes 12 muffins |

1. In a bowl sieve all the dry ingredients viz. wheat flour, APF and baking powder. Add salt and chocolate chips and mix them well. In the meanwhile preheat the oven at 350 degree F or 180 degree C.

2. In a separate bowl, add sugar and freshly squeezed orange juice (or store bought) and whisk them in a stand mixer or with a hand whisk to forth well for 5-10 mins. Then add the whipping cream and orange zest and whisk them altogether.

[Tip : Orange zest is made by grating a peel of orange with a shredder or grater. While making orange zest avoid the inner white portion of peel, since it will make it bitter.]

3. In the same wet bowl add the vanilla extract and cooking oil(preferably flavorless) and stir them again.


4. Now start adding the dry ingredients in the wet bowl or vice versa in portions and fold them gently. I mixed them in three portions.



5. If at any stage you feel the final mixture is too dry ,you may add milk 1 tbsp at a time and stir it again to get the right consistency. If you feel the mixture is too wet, add flour 1 tbsp at a time with 1/2 tbsp sugar to get the preferred consistency.

6. Pour the batter in a muffin tray or molds lined with paper cups and non-stick spray. Fill them only upto 2/3rd level , at the maximum 3/4th level. Tap them on the counter twice to remove the excess air bubbles if u see any.


7. Bake them for 15 -20 mins ,but keep checking after 15 mins , since they bake faster than the same amount of cake. Smaller the molds lesser the time taken for baking the same amount of batter.



8. I took them out after their tops have turned brownish and checked with a tooth-pick. They have some cracks, since I forgot to tap them on the counter before placing them in oven. So the air trapped escaped in the oven through them. 😛

9. Let them cool down and take out the paper cups with muffins from the tray to help them cool faster. Kids are so eager to eat them ,hence this step. 😀 . The light brown color on the top and orange inside makes them even more lucrative.


10. You may decorate them with icing of your choice or serve them as they are. I like them without any icing – just plain. 🙂

( On the insistence of my daughter, I made some chocolate ganache with Nutella, chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream. After pouring that over muffins , I allowed them to set in refrigerator for an hour.
Then I topped them with whipped cream topping. )
Also some people ask me ,whether orange cakes have a sour taste or strong essence? So my answer is no, they are very soft, moist , and healthy as compared to other cakes. Enjoy them with family and friends during these summer holidays !! 😀

Please feel free to ask or suggest on the above article. I would greatly appreciate it.
Till then Happy Baking . 🙂