Mini Cakes with Maxi Flavors ( Eggless Vanilla Cake with Orange Cardamom Buttercream )

From a very young age , the oven has been my best friend and all the small , minute experiments that I started with spurred me further ahead to create more finer magic with simple ingredients . Bit by bit ‘Sweet Musings ' - our dedicated section on Desserts now has close to 50+ recipes, all of which are tried , tested , measured and documented with specifics for your easy reference . This space gives me a platform , from where I can engage with so many of you on a daily basis and share my #sweetmusings :) .

Baking requires consistent practice to be steered on the path of perfection and for a self-taught baker , there is a lot learning and unlearning that happens with every new bake . With back to back experiments up your sleeve , you may often be faced with portions of excess . Excess bakes , excess eating , excess sugar , excess guilt and the like obviously need a solution to keep the continuity going . That is when I discovered the joy of baking Mini Cakes with Maxi flavors and all of this came into the limelight .

These small mini cakes are steeped in flavor , perfect to practice multiple palette profiles and more often than not , devoured in seconds ( and come with no guilt pangs ! )

Ideally , this recipe portion is just right to serve four adults but if you do choose to make a larger portion's , all you really need to do is double the quantity . The cakes also look adorable and ' cute ' and can be the perfect gift to pack into a box for a loved one .

Today , I have gone for a simple Eggless Vanilla sponge . Simple ! Yes ! - But once you dress it up with the Buttercream , it rises to another level . I have punched all the flavor profile into the buttercream icing , steeped in orange rind , orange juice and topped off with cardamom powder to finish . Cardamom has a complex and distinct flavor. It's minty, spicy notes with a hint of earthiness can be commonly associated with herbs - all of which are a perfect aromatic to match citrus flavors . Do try this absolutely simple , no frill Mini cake and spoon in extra Buttercream on the side ( if you will ) to lap up extra happiness. Let us know what you think as you dig in.

The greatest glee is receiving your love notes with feedback on recipes that you have tried from here , discussing alternate ingredients you can use & watching what you like most ..so please , do keep them coming...

Below is the ingredient list , lets bake along , will we !

Things you will need ( For the cake )

• 1/2 cup yogurt or home made Dahi

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup flour

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Things you will need ( For the Orange - Cardamom Buttercream )

• 100 gms unsalted butter

• 200 gms of fine icing sugar

• Juice of 01 orange

• 1 tsp orange rind

• 03 - 04 pods of cardamom , finely powdered

Steps to follow

• Line a 6 inch mini cake tin and keep aside

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius

• In a bowl , combine the yogurt and baking soda and keep it aside for 5 minute. The baking soda will foam up in reaction to the yogurt and act as the leavening agent in the cake .

• In a larger bowl , beat the sugar and the vegetable oil untill smooth and well combined. To this , add in the foamed up yogurt and vanilla essence and gently combine with a spatula .

• Sieve in the flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients .

• Gently combine this to remove lumps , if any - Ensure not to overbeat the batter or you may end up with a dense cake.

• Pour this into the mini cake tin and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Cool

• To make the buttercream , combine the butter and sugar and beat it for 5-8 mins till well aerated and stiff & frothy . To this add in the orange juice and rind and combine

• Use this to ice the cake , combine food colors if you will for contrast rosettes .

• To finish , dust with cardamom powder & serve .