Chocolate Curry Cupcakes with Lemongrass Infused Coconut Buttercream Frosting

I've wanted to try my hand at a curry and chocolate dessert for some time, and this month's Is My Blog Burning theme of My Little Cupcake provided the incentive to finally get off my butt and do something about it. The recipe below is entirely my own, as much as anyone can say that while building upon the techniques and inspirations gleaned from a lifetime of eating cupcakes.

Chocolate Curry Cupcakes

• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. cake flour (use more all-purpose flour if that's what you have)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 T. curry powder
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. water
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2 c. butter, room temperature
• 1 egg

Makes 36 mini cupcakes, or 18 regular cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease mini cupcake pans. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Mix in the softened butter. Gradually beat in buttermilk and water. Add in the egg and beat until just mixed. Pour into muffin pans and cook for 15-20 minutes for mini cupcakes. Regular sized cupcakes will take slightly longer, but are done when a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Lemongrass Infused Coconut Buttercream Frosting

• 3 stalks fresh lemongrass
• 1/3 c. coconut milk (partial can)^*
• 2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 c. butter, room temperature
• 1/4 t. salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 c. shredded coconut

Peel the toughest outer leaves off the lemongrass and mince the bottom inch of each stalk. Combine the minced lemongrass with the coconut milk in a small sauce pan and heat slowly to a simmer. Turn off the heat and let the coconut and lemongrass mixture steep for 30 minutes before pouring it through a fine strainer. Discard the strained bits of lemongrass.

Just a quick note before we go any further. When the ingredient list says to sift the powdered sugar, I mean it. Seriously. I ignored my own advice and had to toss my first batch of frosting because I couldn't get rid of the lumps during mixing.

Blend the butter and 1 cup of sugar until smooth and creamy, then mix in the coconut milk. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Slowly mix the last cup of sugar into the egg white mixture and then whip to peaks again. Gently blend together the egg white mixture and the butter mixture.

Frost each cupcake generously then press upside down into a bowl containing the shredded coconut to coat the frosting with coconut.

The Results

You should now have many tiny chocolate cupcake with a tame but noticeable spicy bite, smothered in rich coconut buttercream frosting. They're sweet enough to be unequivocably dessert-ish, but with enough savory curry to raise an eyebrow.

In my house, we have a ritual after each new meal where we ask the cook, "If you were to do this recipe again, what would you change?" This is my first ever attempt at creating a recipe from scratch, so there are a number of minor changes I'd make. First, I think a buttercream frosting might be too rich for this particular cupcake. It's good, but I'm not convinced it makes a perfect pairing. If I were to stick with the buttercream, I'd want to think long and hard about how to bring more coconut and especially lemongrass to the forefront. Those flavors are there, but I'd like them to stand more distinct. I'd also consider tossing handful of chocolate chips into the cupcake batter, just because I love that explosion of pure chocolate flavor. These quibbles are minor though. In general I'm pleased with my cupcakes. In the words of one housemate, "I couldn't wrap my brain around the idea of curry and chocolate. Don't mess with my chocolate! But these are really good. The spice is there, but balanced."

^*Try using the leftover coconut milk to cook a couple cups of rice. Use it in place of some or all of your cooking water, also adding a half cup chopped onion and 1 teaspoon each of tumeric, minced ginger and crushed garlic before cooking the rice.