imbb 13 pt. 2: i should cocoa and naga cupcake

my second entry for this edition of imbb was only supposed to be one thing but the unfinished cake turned out so very good that this has turned into a sort of half and one entry, if you know what i mean.



chika recently reminded me of vosges chocolates, specifically of the naga truffle, which is milk chocolate with coconut flakes and sweet curry. i was so intrigued by this combination i decided to try making a cupcake based on these flavours.



what is good for the truffle is not necessarily good for the cupcake, so i set out to make a very mildly flavoured cake. even though cupcakes are individually sized, they can be quite substantial, and i wasn't sure anyone would want a whole cupcake packing a strong curry chocolate flavour. i started with the cake itself. i wasn't sure how to go about making a "milk" chocolate cake as all the recipes i came across used dark or semi-sweet chocolate, and i wasn't sure a straight milk chocolate substitution nor added milk or cream to it would work as i had already decided to use coconut milk in the recipe, so i ended up using dutch-processed cocoa powder, boosted with some chocolate extract, although i'm not sure it was necessary.

at first i wasn't sure about the chocolate cake produced, but i'm not a big fan of chocolate to begin with. however, after the second or third cupcake (hey, i gotta test 'em, right?), i have to say they were pretty darned good. they remind me more of a chocolate milkshake than a chocolate bar, just a hint of chocolate with a milky coconut undertone. mmm. these cupcakes definitely did a bridget jones as i liked them just as they were. however, i did have to naga-hyde them, so i frosted a few with a chocolate ganache made by melting a bunch of cadbury dairy milk eggs and mini-bars (let's hope my god-daughter doesn't notice i raided her easter egg basket!) with a little bit of heavy cream, then boosted with a couple teaspoonfuls of sweet curry powder, a curry blend with fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves amongst quite a few other things. the ganache was wonderful, chocolatey and somehow smoky, and it was tempered well by the cake.



this cupcake turned out to be more fine than funky, and in this season of excessive chocolate novelties, why not add another to the list?


i should cocoa cupcakes

250 g softened unsalted butter
250g white sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp chocolate extract (optional)
185g self-raising flour
60g all-purpose flour
40g dutch processed cocoa (although, i did add more later when i wasn't thrilled with the colour, so use your best judgement)
185ml coconut milk

cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy; add eggs until well-incorporated. add chocolate extract. sift the flours and cocoa powder together. alternate folding in the flour-cocoa mix and adding the coconut milk into the mixture. stir until smooth, adding more cocoa powder to the batter if it just looks weird to you, to whatever shade you prefer. fill paper-lined muffin tins and bake in a 350˚F preheated oven for 20 minutes. cool completely before frosting.