Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Kolkata Carrot Cupcakes with Crunchy-Creamy Cashew Frosting!

I'm a sucker for alliteration. And carrot cake. And Indian food. Thus, I admit, these cupcakes were willed into existence by my own selfish desires to invent my favorite dessert.

Melding and morphing two beloved Indian pudding-style desserts into carrot cupcakes was really quite simple. Gajar halwa—roughly translated as "carrot pudding" from Hindi—is a sweet treat that can be prepared in a matter of minutes using a few readily available ingredients. Sprinkled with cardamom, and browned with sugar on the stovetop, the tender carrots are steeped in ghee (clarified butter), and garnished with crunchy cashews. Shrikhand, another equally popular and delicious pudding, comprises vanilla-infused yogurt, colored with delicate threads of golden saffron.


With such a bounty of flavors and textures, I wanted to be sure that these cupcakes would rightfully showcase each one. Balancing the spicy, full-bodied flavor of the cakes is a tangy yet sweet frosting that offers the crunchy satisfaction of chopped cashews.

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