Tea and Pistachio Cuppie Cakes [Egg-less]

Tea cupcakes you ask? Yes! Tea and Pistachio cuppie cakes they are! Not a tea fan myself, I was totally not sure about this experiment of mine. But I surprised myself with this one... it turned out not only great, but the tea flavour sort of enhanced the taste of this cake. Tea was not an ingredient I chose by choice. Being a part of the monthly Magic Mingle blogging team gives me opportunities to try out dishes involving innovative combinations! This month's combo given was Tea and Pistachio! So, here you go...

I love a simple tea vanilla tea cake. And ever since I found my perfect recipe for an Eggless Vanilla Tea Cake, I have been recreating it as is and with some added flavours sometimes. And this cake too is a variation of the vanilla tea cake recipe. The texture is a little stickier than the original tea cake recipe as there is an addition of water in this one. But taste wise, it was nice. If you are a huge fan of tea, double the number of bags to enhance the tea flavour... and indulge :)

Makes: 6 cup-cakes & one small tin cake (or 9 cup cakes)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Curd - 1/2 cup
Tea Bag - 1 (I used Taj Mahal tea bag)
Water - 3/4 cup
Pistachio -10-12
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Baking Soda - 1/3 tsp
Baking Powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees.
• Place the tea bag in a glass. Boil water and pour it into the glass. Keep the tea bag dipped in till you get the desired essence and colour of tea in the glass.
• In a large mixing bowl, add curd and sugar. Mix well until the sugar crystals dissolve completely.
• Add baking soda and baking powder. Mix well. You would notice the surface gets slightly frothy.
• Now, add in the vanilla essence, tea solution and oil. Mix well.
• In another bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add in chopped pistachio.
• Add in this flour to the curd mixture a little by little and fold in the flour using a rubber spatula.
• Line a cup-cake tray with cup cake liners.
• Pour the batter into cup cake liners and bake for 10 minutes at 160 degrees.
• Check if a tooth pick comes out clean. 
• Serve warm :)

Sending this to Magic Mingle