Coffee Muffins

Coffee the one thing that can brighten up a lousy morning and muffins are the one thing that can perk me up anytime :-) so last weekend I decided to whip up a batch of coffee muffins good enough to satisfy the cake-a-holic in me!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick of butter (soft at room temp)
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1.5 tsp of baking powder
1 tbsp of instant coffee powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder and sugar with a fork.
3. Separate the yellows and whites of the 3 eggs into 2 bowls.
4. Beat the egg yellows, butter until light yellow in color.
5. Mix the milk and instant coffee until well dissolved.
6. Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy.
7. Mix everything except the egg whites together in the large bowl until smooth.
8. Slowly fold in the egg whites with a large spoon or spatula until whole mixture is combined.
9. Butter the muffin tin and dust with flour.
10. Pour out 1 the mixture into the muffin/cupcake tin and bake for 20 min at 350 deg.

I know.... it doesnt look too great.... that because my photography skills suck.... but I can promise you the muffin packs a powerful coffee punch!!  :-)

My cake creations

For the past 1 year I have been hooked 24X7 on Food Network..... especially Ace of Cakes, Challenge and Cake Boss on TLC. I often caught myself staring open mouth at the amazing cakes they made..... Now finally, after seeing almost a million episodes I have started turning my small kitchen into my own little Carlos Bakery / Charm City Cakes :-)

Here are my cakes :

3 layer Vanilla and Chocolate cake with chocolate whipped cream and chopped fresh strawberries filling. Covered with chocolate whipped cream frosting and marshmallows.

A wedding anniversary cake for 4 friends sharing the special occasion.

Looking at the cake I realize that my cake writing skills are really pitiable :-) hehe

Chocolate brownie cake covered with chocolate ganache.

A birthday cake for my husband.

Vanilla Pound cake

Wet ingredients -
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
13 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Dry ingredients -
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1. Sift all the dry ingredients well.
2. Beat all the wet ingredients together until it looks all fluffy together.
3. Beat adding the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time.
4. Preheat the oven for 10 mins at 350 deg.
5. Butter the baking pan well with butter. I used an 8x8 pan. And dust it lightly with flour.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350 deg for 55-60 mins.