A little bit about Auntie Eli…

Born and raised in Astoria from Cypriot parents, I studied as a graphic designer but always had a passion for baking. On impulse, in 2010, I rented a small spot in Larnaca, Cyprus and named it Auntie Eli’s. This all happened in a matter of 2 hours. Yes, that’s right, 2 hours!

I, with the help of my husband, friends and family, worked day and night on our little shop. Building, tiling, painting and baking! I tiled my whole kitchen myself!

Auntie Eli’s was up and running by November 15, 2010.

Here, I laughed, cried, celebrated, learned, achieved, failed, got back up, dusted off the flour from my apron and fought every single day to make my dream a reality. I am so grateful for the lessons learned and I am so excited to be able to pass down these tips, tricks and recipes with you. It took many trials and errors to get to this point, but hopefully you guys will have an easier time baking with these tips!

Ingredients

• 120 gr. butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 cup milk

Tips

• All ingredients must be room temperature. It makes all the difference!
• Use the K paddle instead of the whisk for better results when making cake batter.
• If you don’t have self raising flour, combine the flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• Always use full fat milk.
• Once you start mixing the flour into the creamed mixture, be careful not to over mix! Mix on slow just until combined. Over mixing will give you a dense textured cake instead of a light and fluffy one!
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF
• Very Basic Vanilla

Yields 12 cupcakes or an 8″ cake; after the cake is baked and cooled, slice it horizontally to fill it with desired filling.

Method

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed, scraping the sides often so as to keep an even consistency in the batter. Gradually add the eggs one at a time, again scraping the sides of your bowl after each addition. Sift 1/3 of the flour into the batter and mix on low speed just until combined. Do not over mix! Continue by mixing in half of the milk. Repeat this until all the milk and flour is used up. (3 parts flour, 2 parts milk) Pour the batter into your desired baking tray. Bake 20 minutes for cupcakes or 35 minutes for a cake. Test the baking is finished by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s ready!

See you next Tuesday for another delicious treat, be sure to tag @givemeastoria in your baking posts so we can see the results!