I’ve recovered enough to stop whining and start posting again, and besides, I promised choirqueer a cupcake recipe, so here it is. I came up with the best possible combination of batter and frosting, which turned out to be… Fluffy Coconut Pumpkin Cupcakes with Mrs. Weasley’s Chocolate Fudge Topping and Speculoos Hagelslag. Which is much to long for a post heading, and half the praise should go to Kris from nom!nom!nom! blog anyway. They are totally decadent but really easy to make, and the best thing – yes, you read that right – is that they are self-glazing. But we’ll get to that.
So here’s the story. First I made this amazing fudge recipe (that I linked to above, so please scroll back and click on nom!nom!nom! right now) that I found via Dumbledore’s Vegan Army, a great blog project that deserves an honorable mention. But I don’t know what went… not wrong, exactly, just rather different from what I’d expected. Maybe the margarine I used was too soft. Anyway, the fudge didn’t quite set. Even kept in the fridge, it was still slightly runny and couldn’t be cut. But it tasted like heaven. So I put it in the freezer compartment and waited for the right moment and opportunity to use it. And the moment arrived soon enough.
Suddenly there were pumpkins in all the shops again! I immediately carried a few home to start my secret stash of roasted and pureed pumpkin (and squash) for soups and cakes. My all time favourite is the versatile butternut squash, but I got a couple of really nice hokkaidos as well. Yum, orange food! Of course I had to make cupcakes. So here’s what I did.
I combined all of these ingredients in a big bowl and stirred them together with a fork:
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Baked at 180°C (about 350°F) for 22 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack (or just turn your oven grill upside down and put the cupcakes on it).
I love baking with coconut milk. Everything turns out so fluffy, and I bet I can taste it too.
While the cupcakes were cooling, I had the best idea ever: I took the fudge from the freezer, shaped it into little patties and placed them on top of the still warm cupcakes. No spreading, no getting chocolate all over the place! It just melted a bit to look like regular cupcake frosting. Amazed, I sprinkled them with the last of my Speculoos hagel (more thanks to another Kris!).
The result: The most awesome combination of cupcake batter and frosting you have ever tasted. Pumpkin and coconut milk are a match made in kitchen heaven, and the fudgy frosting is as close to a real Sachertorte glaze as possible without actually being one. At least in this combination.
Seriously, you must try this. I’d send you a cupcake, but my stargate is not perfected yet.