Microwave Eggless Custard Powder Muffins - by Lubna Karim of Yummy Food

Since I am off to India in a couple of days, I asked a few of my blogger friends to do me a huge favor and do guest posts for me. I was 100% sure I wouldn't be taking any pictures owning to my super organised and busy days ahead. And since I have got some incredible Blogger buddies, they readily agreed to do so for me. Thanks God and  Blogosphere for such wonderful people around me :)

So the first Blogger in this series is Lubna Karim, the author and photographer of this very creative Blog - Yummy Food.  Not only she has a wonderful collection of authentic recipes and creative fusions, but she also run this extremely informative series where she features the veterans of Food photography on her space.  She herself is a brilliant food stylist and photographer, who plays with light and background very beautifully. And the perfect example is these photographs she did for this post of today below. 

When I surfed through her site first time, I fell in love with the blog layout and theme instantly. I keep on checking it whenever I need some recipe for some South Indian snacks since her collection of sweets and snacks is totally drool worthy. Although I loved all the recipes, but I got completely hooked to this Khaman Dhokla post, such tempting pictures and interesting backdrop. Thats bookmarked and on my list for weekend cooking next.

Thank you Lubna, for this amazing recipe and for being such a generous and good friend to me :) Off to her now, and see you guys in  February :) 

When Nupur dropped me a mail enquiring whether I can do a guest a post on her blog as she is going on a vacation and wants to keep her blog running…..with no second thought I said ‘yes’, she dropped another mail saying she likes to see a bake or sweet recipe. This made my work simple, but choosing something to fit perfectly for her blog made me scratch my mind. As this being December and soon the world will start celebrating Christmas, I thought of making ‘muffins’.

If you are familiar with my blog ‘Yummy Food’, then you will know my interest in microwave cooking. I love to experiment a lot in microwave and very happy with the results too. You can check out my Microwave Recipes on my blog here. Microwave muffins are simple to make and can be made in less time. When you are in a hurry or have unexpected guest or to satisfy that untime hunger rants, or looking out for snack options for kids then these microwave muffins are answer to all.

When I decided on making microwave muffins for Nupur’s blog, I was wondering what muffins I will be making. Entering kitchen, I saw custard powder packet on the kitchen slab, my sister has took it out to make fruit custard. I decided instantly that I will add custard powder to muffins that I am going to make in microwave today. Within on time, I started my work to sieve flour and mix in ingredients. All it takes is 20 minutes to make soft and delectable muffins to come out of microwave.

Though they are eggless and made in microwave, they turned to be soft and moist. That custard powder had added its magic to the muffins, the aroma that filled the kitchen when these were rising in microwave was heavenly. Done a quick photo shoot and gulped one instantly. Right now while answering the questions sent by Nupur, I am enjoying them relishing on these lovely muffins. Hope you try these out in your kitchen and enjoy eating them as much as I did…..Thank you Nupur for having me on your blog and whishing you wonderful trip. Big thanks to the readers of this space for joining in……

 Nupur asked me:

• Which city you are from in India, and where are you staying currently? I am from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and currently residing at Khammam, Andhra Pradesh.

• What is your educational background and are you working now? I have done Masters in Business and currently enjoying mommy life.

• What are your hobbies apart from cooking? I recently discovered my interest in Photography which turned to be my hobby which turned my passion and I love reading friction a lot.

• Why do you choose this name for your blog? When I created my blog, I had very rough idea of what it is going to be. Just wanted to share or rather say wanted to record my cooking for future reference. I named it ‘kitchen flavours’…which literally mean my blog is a place where I preserve flavours of my kitchen here.

• Do you have any other blog? I have got a photo blog, by name Photo Journey where I share my random clicks.

• When did you start blogging and why? I started my blog five years back….that is in June 2008. Why I started…you can read it here.

• What keeps you going and motivated for blogging? I believe cooking is all about experimenting and experiencing….this keeps me going. My blog has given me recognition, people know me, praise me, like my work, and appreciate my food photography & styling….I think this is more to keep me motivated.

• Which post in your blog you love most and why? Picking up one from the blog is very difficult. A lot of toil goes into creating rather say crafting a post. Every post is special in someway or other to me.

• How many hours do you generally give to your blog in a day usually? Being a mom to a sweet little angel who is three and who always keep me on toes, it is difficult to sit for hours. Keeping her napping time to maximum use, I spend at least 2 hours on my blog a day…this includes editing pictures, writing introduction to post, uploading pictures, etc.

• What’s your favorite cuisine? I love diverse Indian cuisine which has got everything from flavors, to color, to spice and to aroma. Next to Indian I like Italian Cuisine. 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1½ cups All Purpose Flour
• ½ cup Oats powder
• 1½ cups Icing sugar
• ¾ cup Custard powder, I used Vanilla Flavoured Weikfield brand
• ½ tbsp. Baking powder
• ½ cup Butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup Milk, room temperature
• 1 tbsp. Vanilla essence
• 2 tbsp. coloured Coconut flakes  

PREPARATION: 

• Line silicone muffin mould with paper cases and set aside. If not using paper cases then gently brush butter and dust with flour the silicone muffin tray.
• Sift flour, oats powder, icing sugar, baking powder and custard powder all together for 2-3 times. This process is just to incorporate everything together.
• Combine butter, milk with vanilla extract. Now slowly fold in the sifted flour.
• Pour the batter into paper cases or greased and dusted muffin tray up to ¾ of its size. Sprinkle coloured coconut flakes. Tap around to make sure the batter is scattered evenly. Microwave on high for 1 or 1½ minutes or until the toothpick/skewer comes out clean.
• Leave the muffins in the microwave for another 1 minute before taking out.  Leave it to cool for 2-3 minutes and then remove from silicone mould and place on cake wire stand to cool completely. 

Variations and Notes: 

• You can even add choco chips to the batter before pouring it into the mould.
• You can add tutti-frutti to the batter.
• You can add your choice of fruit like mashed banana or apple chunks or strawberry pieces.
• You can even use flavoured custard powder to make these muffins.
• Sifting the flour 2-3 times helps in combing the mixture well and avoids lumps.
• Microwave timing can differ depending on models. Mine is 20 lit. capacity IFB Microwave with 900 W.
• To check whether the muffins are done or not, insert a toothpick at the center. If it comes out clean then muffins are ready.

Thank you Lubna for this post, it goes to my on-going event - Be My Guest. For more guest posts on this site, visit here. If you wish to do a guest post for me, please write to me at : nupurs.kitchen@gmail.com :) 

Linked to Bake Fest -34 hosted by Full Scoops and started by Cooks Joy