Basic Cupcakes

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You can read about my son’s language skills here in this post. He chose to keep quiet than to talk in Tamil (his mother tongue). He started speaking fluently only at the age of 3.5 – 4 after he started going to school full day. But that too only in English.

Someone asked him recently what his mother tongue was and he replied that its English. I was too shocked to reply and when I discovered my voice, I reminded him that he speaks in Tamil to his both set of grand parents.

He replied: “I know tamil only enough to talk with them”.

Though there is a small nagging worry that his Tamil is bad, I am more relieved that the kid is communicating in some language at least!

Anyway…Bhagus, my two-year old niece, talks only in Tamil. Now that kiddo is there, he speaks to her in a mix of Tamil and English. He asks her to “Food chappidu” (Eat your food) and “You vilayadu”(You play with me), when he is talking with her.

But this took the price.

Kiddo (in phone to me): “Bhagus is always killing me.”

Me:”Errr….killing you?”

Kiddo: “Yaah..Now mama is also killing me.”

At that point, my brother took the receiver from him and clarified “Bhagus is pinching him” (Tamil word for pinch is killu).

Now let me pinch myself when I send this post to Blogging Marathon 27, a month-long marathon for April. You can hear more stories from other participants here at the Blogging Marathon page.

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Recipe Source: Simple Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes: 16, depending on the size

Ingredients:

  • All Purpose Flour                 :              2 cups  +  2 tbsp
  • Baking powder                      :              2 tsp
  • Salt                                          :              1/4 tsp
  • Sugar                                       :              3/4 cup
  • Butter                                      :              1/2 cup (softened)
  • Eggs                                         :              2
  • Milk                                         :              1 cup
  • Vanilla                                    :               2 tsp
  • Add ons                                  :              1/2 cup (choco chips, berries (I used dried cranberries), raisins – optional)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line cupcake liners in a muffin pan.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and then the vanilla essence.
  3. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add this to the creamed butter, alternating with milk.
  4. Coat the berries (if using) with the 2 tbsp flour set aside initially. Add this to the cake batter and mix till everything is incorporated.
  5. Fill the liners 3/4th full and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes free of batter when inserted in the middle.

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This recipe is off to Swathi’s Favorite Recipes. This month’s host is Pallavi and the theme is Bookmarked Recipes.

17 thoughts on “Basic Cupcakes”

  1. Dont worry he will be fine. He will be speaking the language like a pro very soon. I learnt to speak better in Kannada in my degree college ;) . I love your niece a lot.

    As for the cupcakes they are awesome.

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  2. My 12 year old can understand Telugu and still can’t say a word in it. The only language she is fluent in is Engish and I let it be. She had speech problems earlier. Ans as you mentioned, we thought communication is important than the language. I think he will pick it up as he is till young. I still can’t get over Bhagus and her chair story. :)
    BTW the cakes look fluffy and moist. Dried cranberries work wonders than the fresh, tart ones. I personally think the fresh ones ruin the baked dishes unless you are a cranberry lover.

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  4. haha..i am waiting to come to dlf….want to see this hilarious scene….cupcakes look delicious…especially the berry colour in that

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  8. So cute yet challenging it must be for you to speak to him :) He sounds adorable. I am loving the basic 101 from you.

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  10. on the contrary, Shlok speaks chaste marathi, so much so, that he corrects his father, but even then i was worried whether or not he would be able tocommunicate in hindi or english, the language kids speak in mumbai normally, he manages himself well, when i m not around, considering he plays for 2-3 hours daily with boys twice his age, but i can imagine your plight, it is also a matter of pride at stake,with mother tongues, give him time and btw, i have cranberries to be used up, so this is good recipe

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  13. oh come on he is just a kid..will get the hang of the language…my 25 year old kid cant speak his mother tongue properly..and his mother is as bad:)..how does it matter anyway?..love the little red dots on those light colored cakes.

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  14. We learn better in our mother tongue when it is taught in school ( Mother tongue Dilemma –UNESCO News letter ). But this is not the case of all minority languages. 476 million of world’s illiterate people speak minority languages and live in countries where children are mostly not taught in their mother language.

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