Bhapa Sandesh Indian Cupcakes: Happy Blogoversary to Me

One year ago today, I posted the first cupcake on this blog. It was an Indian-inspired chai cupcake. By total coincidence, one year later, I am posting another Indian cupcake.

I wanted to make Indian cupcakes to go with my Taste & Create naan recipe('cause you know, you need a starch to go with a starch). The problem was that I couldn't find any good Indian cake recipes. I didn't want to simply bake an Indian-influenced cupcake like the chai cupcakes - I wanted to use an actual Indian cake recipe.

How Did I End Up Making Bhapa Sandesh?

To come up with an Indian cupcake recipe, I emailed my friend Nupur of One Hot Stove. I asked her what she would recommend. I expected maybe a suggestion or two. Nupur went above and beyond to make sure that I had the information that I needed.

First, she explained why I couldn't find many Indian cake recipes online: "Well, cakes in India are a Western import really. Typically, Indian kitchens don't even have an oven so desserts are made on the stove-top rather than oven-baked." She then went on to give me a slew of ideas for a variety of cakeish Indian desserts. Thanks so much, Nupur!!

The recipe that stuck out for me was bhapa sandesh from Bong Mom's Cookbook. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Sandeepa of Bong Mom's Cookbook made the recipe for her one year blog anniversary! She said on her blog, and I repeat to you, "All joyous occasions in India are celebrated with something sweet and so here is 'Bhapa Sandesh' or Steamed Sandesh for all of you on the Blog turning One."

What is Sandesh?

I had to turn to Wikipedia to answer the question, "What is sandesh?" Sandesh is "a sweet that is made in West Bengal state of India and in Bangladesh... It is created with coconut and sugar. Some recipes of Sandesh call for the use of chhana (curdled milk) or paneer instead of coconut. Some people in the region of Dhaka call it pranahara (literally, heart 'stealer') which is a softer kind of sandesh, made with mawa and the essence of curd."

The bhapa sandesh that I made did not have coconut, nor did it use chhana or paneer. Instead, it used ricotta cheese. It did have mawa (dried milk powder), but I'm not sure if that made it a heart stealer variety or not.

Did the Bhapa Sandesh Indian Cupcakes Steal My Heart

The bhapa sandesh Indian cupcakes didn't quite steal my heart. I liked them, but they were by no means my favorite cupcakes. I found them to be a bit too rich. They seemed like an Indian version of a ricotta cheesecake.

The bhapa sandesh Indian cupcakes did, however, steal the hearts of some of my other tasters. People seemed to enjoy the moistness and the mango flavor. In fact, my friend Ran just left this cupcake-related comment on my mango frosting recipe post: "These were some of my favorite Stef cupcakes in some time. Fantastic flavor and moisture levels. A perfect summer cupcake!"

The Bhapa Sandesh Indian Cupcake Recipe

As noted above, I got the recipe from Bong Mom's Cookbook. I am reprinting it with my notes and modifications below.

Makes about 12 cupcakes. You may get more or less depending on how tall you make them.

• 2 C whole milk ricotta cheese (If you've got a little time, make your own ricotta.)
• 1/2 C sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 C milk-mawa powder (You should be able to find mawa at any store that sells Indian groceries.)
• 10 drops tea masala extract (My tea masala extract was a gift from Nupur so it seemed fitting that I would use it in a recipe she recommended. If you don't have any on hand, you could easily use some of Chockylit's chai spice mix that I used in my first chai cupcake post.)
• Chai Spice Mix Recipe (if needed)
  2 t whole fennel, 2 t whole cloves, 1 T ground cardamom, 2 t ground cinnamon, 2 t ground ginger
  1. With a small food processor, grind up the whole fennel and cloves.
  2. Transfer to a small bowl and add remaining spices.
  3. Mix to combine.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix ricotta, sweetened condensed milk, and mawa in a bowl to a smooth consistency.
3. Add chai extract or chai spice mix.
4. Spray cupcake liners with non-stick cooking spray. I've never had to do this before, but it really helped in this recipe. When I didn't spray, the cupcakes completely stuck to the wrappers.
5. Fill an oven proof dish with 2-3 C water and place in the bottom rack of the oven.
6. Fill cupcake wrappers about 3/4 full. The cupcakes don't rise much, so just fill a little bit lower that you want them to end up.
7. Make sure the water has come to a boil and then put the cupcakes on the top rack of the oven.
8. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
9. Let them cool and then place in the fridge to chill.

The Mango Whipped Cream Frosting

I topped the cupcakes with my mango whipped cream frosting. Many of the cupcakes sunk in the middle during baking. No need to worry if this happens to you on this or any other cupcakes. You can always fill in the sinkhole with something yummy. In this case, I filled the hole with some extra mango pulp.

My Gratitude

I've loved my first year of blogging. I actually can't believe that it has only been a year. Thanks to everyone who has read and left such kind comments over the year. If you are just starting a blog, I encourage you to keep going with it. I hope you'll find it to be just as rewarding as I have.

Apple Banana Cupcakes Topped with Sweet Ricotta: Some Things are Better Naked

One of my favorite comfort foods is pasta (shells work well or wagon wheels) with cottage cheese, cinnamon, brown sugar, and golden raisins. It's basically an easy version of my mom's noodle pudding which is still pretty easy but takes longer to make.

I could be making a stretch here since this recipe doesn't even involve cottage cheese, but I think if my sweet cottage cheese with raisins sounds nasty to you then you most likely won't enjoy the sweet ricotta topping on these cupcakes. This is definitely a cupcake for a small select subset of the population. Not a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Not a wedding contender.

To be even more frank, no one liked the topping except for me and even I thought the topping would have been better on a cracker than on these cupcakes.

The cake portion of these cupcakes however, is a winner. I'd recommend you just make them naked. No frosting necassary for these flavorful treats. I think it might be a bit of a stretch to call them cupcakes. They tasted like a moist delicious banana bread. I might actually consider making them in bread form for a brunch.

I could barely taste the apples. Then again, the groom said he could barley taste the bananas. That was a mystery to me. It's actually always a mystery to me what he will think. I finally thought I had him pegged. I put my guess at his comments on a piece of paper and folded it up prior to his tasting to see if I could guess it correctly. Nope. I guess if I could predict what everyone would think there would be no point in having tastings.

The Details

The Cake

The cake recipe was again from all recipes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Banana-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx

I used butter and oil instead of shortening as one of the commenters had suggested. I also used crazy ripe (liquidy) bananas and golden delicious apples. Whole Foods didn't carry organic goldens. I was bummed about that, but I really wanted to use that apple type so I went for it anyway. They are perfect for baking.

To make up for the lack of organic apples, this was the first time I used organic sugar. I'd been putting off making that switch because I use so much sugar and the organic sugar comes in much smaller bags and is much more expensive. What I learned though is that organic sugar is actually a different product from conventional sugar. It is actually evaporated cane juice. I had no idea.

According to World's Healthiest Foods, "While both sweeteners are made from sugar cane, evaporated cane juice does not undergo the same degree of processing that refined sugar does. Therefore, unlike refined sugar, it retains more of the nutrients found in sugar cane. "

The same applies to the organic powdered sugar which I've been using for a while now. I also read about how it's a darker color which explains why my icings are never quite as white as I've seen in some pictures.

The Topping

For the topping, I made my own ricotta cheese per the instructions in my blog post on cheese. I used a whole gallon of milk. I then added about 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of butter. At that point, I decided it was sweet enough. Probably because it tasted just like the cottage on pasta that I love but with a chunky play-dough kind of texture.

No need for piping here. I just piled the cheese on top of the cupcakes and sculpted it into a nice shape.

Lastly, I dusted each cupcake with cinnamon.

Anyone have a really good technique for dusting something on a cupcake? I used a mini sifter which worked well, but it was still hard to control exactly how much landed on each cupcake at once.

How to Make Ricotta Cheese

How to Make Ricotta Cheese

I had no idea how easy it is to make ricotta cheese. Here is how you make ricotta cheese:

1. Bring a 1/2 gallon of milk that has not been homogenized to around 180 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar
3. When curds form, stain the whole thing using a cheese cloth.

That's it! It's so unbelievably easy. The only other thing you might want to do is add a wee bit of baking powder (to neutralize the vinegar taste) and some salt (for flavor).

Our foodie friend came over the other night and we made ricotta cheese and then put the ricotta into an awesome veggie lasagna. Read her telling of it on her blog, appropriately named "Everybody Loves Cheese."

With my new found ricotta cheese making skills, I'm getting pumped about making a ricotta cupcake. There will definitely be one coming soon.

Ricotta Update: My ricotta frosting didn't turn out to be a crowd pleaser. I do, however, have some more ricotta recipes coming soon.