Chocolate mini cupcakes for a fond farewell!

There is a tradition in India that when you are going out to do something, an auspicious beginning should be with something sweet mostly yogurt and sugar.
My friend was leaving for Bangalore for advancement in his career. His wife is one of my best friends and the whole family was so sad at this move that I wanted to do something different - something that would be adhering to tradition but would cheer them up albeit for a while.
Chocolate and cake are soothing balms to many a sad heart. Hence the idea of chocolate mini cupcakes. Very simple to make and bake.

Ingredients:
1 cup (5 tbsp) self-raising flour or maida
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp drinking chocolate
1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
a pinch of nutmeg powder

Method:

1. Sieve the following - self-raising flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and drinking chocolate and set aside
2. Powder the sugar along with cardamom and nutmeg powder till it is fine. 
3. Beat the egg whites and yolks separately and set aside
4. Now take 1 tsp of sugar and melt in in a pan set on a gas with low flame. As soon as it melts and before it becomes a gooey mess, pour 1 tbsp of water slowly. 
5. Take a bowl and put the caramelized sugar into it, then put in the powdered sugar along with the cardamom and nutmeg and the unsalted butter. Then goes the whites and once blended, in goes the yolks and finally the vanilla essence. Blend smoothly
6. Next, pour the mixture of self-raising flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and drinking chocolate into this bowl slowly and mix well. 
7. Pour into a greased mini-muffin tray and bake for 20 minutes at 150 deg.

The result I got was so satisfying for my soul - the kids were eating the cakes like toffees and I got repeat requests for them. My friends were distracted for a while at least... seeing the children happy. Well, that was my intention anyway.

I wished and always wish him every success. God Bless!