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Serve these cupcakes for dinner!
December 12th, 2008 Madhuram Posted in Egg Replacements, Kid Pleaser Recipes, Muffins/Cupcakes, Vegan Baking | 
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The cupcake recipe which I’m going to share with you today is such a brilliant idea to include greens and fruits in your child’s diet. This is yet another sneaky recipe from The Sneaky Chef. I’m hooked to this book guys! It’s really amazing what you can make your children to eat, following the simple methods given in the book. I have renewed this book for the second time in the library and I have to return it very soon, so I’m trying out as many recipes as possible. In our library here I cannot renew it for the third time. I will have to return it and maybe get it sometime later.
Like all baking recipes mentioned in the book the chef uses the Flour blend (mixture of whole wheat flour and wheat germ) to start with. She then suggests mixing a puree of spinach/collard greens and blueberries. Didn’t I say it is brilliant? The beauty of this cupcake recipe is you don’t taste any of these healthy ingredients in the cupcakes. It tastes very normal, if not better than the usual chocolate cupcakes. To make it eggless I substituted the egg in the recipe with prune puree (applesauce should also be fine). Since pureed fruits make the baked good denser I added baking soda to lighten up the cupcakes. I was crossing my fingers, because I don’t play with baking soda/powder ratio in a baking recipe. I simply follow the recipe. But to my relief they came out very well, nice and fluffy. Actually it was very fluffy, so I was thinking maybe I should have reduced the quantity of baking soda, but the next day it was alright. Everything was perfect, the cupcakes had the right texture. Another important thing, my son liked these cupcakes even on the second and third day. So something is definitely right in this cupcake recipe.
(not mentioned in the recipe, I included it) around 1/4 cup
Yield: 9 cupcakes
2 Melt the butter and chocolate chips together. I did this in the microwave oven, first for 15 seconds, stirred it once and heated it again for 20 seconds. Microwave oven times may differ so use caution while melting the mixture.
3 Remove from heat and let it cool for sometime.
4 In another bowl, stir together the pureed prune, vanilla, purple puree, sugar and 1 tablespoon water.
5 Combine this purple mixture with the melted and cooled chocolate mixture.
6 In another mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Add this to the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly.
7 Scoop out the dough and fill it in the muffin cups almost to the top. (I used an ice cream scoop, which measures 3 tablespoons)
8 Bake 23 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine was done exactly at 23 minutes, but anyway I baked it for another 1 minute, just to be sure.
9 Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack before frosting. Frosting is optional, you may simply dust it with some powdered sugar or leave it plain.
2 I strongly recommend eating these cupcakes the day after baking. It is unbelievably good the next day. When I tasted on the same day the taste was definitely good, but since I had used the Earth Balance blend, that flavor was definitely dominating. Actually we (couple of testers) did not taste the blueberries or spinach. I was so sure that it was the Earth Balance because I had a similar experience with the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. But we were in for a big surprise the next day because the cupcakes tasted very normal, like any other regular cupcake.
3 Also when tasted on the day of baking, we were able to tell that it was made of whole wheat flour, but not on the second day. The only thing which was different is the texture. I guess that’s because of the blueberries. I did grind it smooth, but I guess I should have processed it for some more time in the food processor.
4 My son ate half a cupcake on the first day. But when offered another piece after sometime he told me that he didn’t like it. I iced the cupcakes the following day, while he was in school. They were ready when he came back and he had totally forgotten that it was the same cupcakes which I had offered him yesterday. He was clearly attracted by the icing and the sprinkles and he ate 1 cupcake without complaining. To my surprise he liked it the next day and also the day after. I also tested it with another kid who is 5 and also a picky eater. He usually doesn’t eat anything including junk food like cupcakes and cookies. To his mother’s surprise he also ate it. So I guess this cupcake recipe is definitely a keeper.
5 Alternatively this batter can also be baked in mini-bundt pans and vola you have your baked donuts. For donuts, bake 12 to 14 minutes until the tops spring back when pressed lightly. Loosed the edges with a knife and turn the donuts out over a plate. I have not tried this.
6 These cupcakes are vegan if you leave out the icing.
This cupcake recipe goes to “Egg Replacement – Pureed Fruit” event hosted by me.
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April 1st, 2009 at 8:09 am
I’ve made these twice already. My super-picky kids (6 & 3) really liked them.
Thanks Sara. You should try the strawberry milk and blueberry milk too.
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Thanks a lot Madhu for the frosting recipe. Really appreciate it.
March 15th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Madhu,
Can you please send me the recipe of frosting too? I am also planning to make these cupcakes for my little one
Love your recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Aashi
Sure Aashi, it’s
INCREDIBLY IMPROVED ICING
White Icing — Makes about 3/4 cup
1 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Mix dry milk and powdered sugar in a bowl, then add the boiling water and vanilla extract. Mix very well. If needed, add a little more water, half a teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
Chocolate Icing – Makes about 3/4 cup
1 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Mix dry milk, powdered sugar, and cocoa in a bowl, then add the boiling water and vanilla extract. Mix very well. If needed, add a little more water, half a teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
For the purple color icing follow the same steps as above, but use warm blueberry juice (or store bought pom juice) instead. I also did not follow the exact measurements because I did not want so much icing. If I remember right, I think I scaled everything to 1/4th of the given measurement.
January 27th, 2009 at 1:00 am
these cupcakes look great! is the recipe for the frosting posted somewhere else? i have to bake cupcakes for my son’s birthday in a couple weeks and these look perfect! thanks for sharing!
Thanks. Have sent you an e-mail.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Lovely cupcakes, Madhuram! Pureeing spinach and collard into this – amazing! The chocolate sprinkles look delightful. I saw that comment – I too cannot really make out what my son likes. He grows out of taste so soon
Daughter is more predictable – there is nothing she doesn’t like 
Even the icing is a healthy one SM. It’s made of non fat dry milk powder and blueberry juice for the purple icing and plain water for the white icing.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Awesome idea…the cupcakes look really cute
December 15th, 2008 at 6:42 am
hi!this is quite brilliant – !!
December 14th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
hi madhu,cup cakes looks superab n colurful yaar..
December 13th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Hehe..score one for mom!
I bet you’re saying “gotcha!” That’s what I do in my mind when I get them to eat something they don’t like!
December 13th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
What a great idea!! Not just kids, I think I too would not feel guilty after eating these:-)