Halogen Oven Strawberry Chocolate Cupcakes.

Ever since I bought my halogen oven, it's been a struggle to find baking recipes that work with it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the oven. There's something so magical about popping your food in there and watching it transform into something delicious. Oh and it cleans itself! Which is great if you're a messy cook like me :)


So through a lot of trial and error, (and taste testing.... :D ) I created these super-rich-dark-fudgy chocolate cupcakes, with a strawberry curd filling and strawberry buttercream frosting!

So if you have a halogen oven like me, I really suggest you give these a go! If your oven is different to mine (Flavorwave Turbo) then you may need to adjust the times very slightly, and don't forget to taste as you go!

I used a few different recipes from around the internet to create these, and I will include the links to the websites in the post. 

Chocolate cupcakes (by yelenasweets) :

Yelena has a step by step process with pictures that is really great and easy to follow, you can see it here: http://yelenasweets.com/2013/05/29/mini-chocolate-cupcakes-with-whipped-cream-and-cream-cheese-frosting/

Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare your cupcake pan and add your paper liners. *

Dissolve the coffee in the hot water.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the oil, vinegar and vanilla to the coffee.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.

Preheat your halgoen oven to about 170 C. You can do this right before you are about to bake, as the oven will only take a few minutes to heat.

Drop about a teaspoon full (if using mini pans) or about a Tbsp of mixture into your cupcake liners, they need to be around 2/3 full. 

Bake for around 12 to 15 minutes, then check with a toothpick or a knife to see if they are done. You may need to increase the cooking time, but try not to increase the temp too much as you will end up with burnt tops. 

*I find that a silicone pan works best here, although I could only find a 12 cup pan, and had to cut mine in half to make it fit. If you do this please make sure your pan is 100% silicone, as toxins can leech out into the food. To see if your pan is 100% silicone, bend and stretch it. If you can see white then your pan contains fillers and should not be cut.

If you find that your tops are cracking, you can remove a cupcake liner from your pan and add water. This will help to keep them moist as they bake.

Pop them out so they can cool and continue until all the mixture is used up. If you are doing mini cakes you will end up with quite a few, so it's ok if your first few batches don't turn out quite right, I know mine didn't!

Next step.... Strawberry curd filling! And strawberry buttercream icing. I will show you the recipes for these in the next post:


I'd really love to hear if you make these, and any other great halogen over recipes that you've come up with!