No matter how much I bake, I can never get tired of cupcakes! Are you feeling me? They’re just too good, right? And they’re so cute, perfect to pop into your mouth, awesome with a cup of tea….need I go on? I know you are with me on this.
Now on my blog, I think there are at least 4 or 5 different flavours of cupcakes, because although I love chocolate, I also love experimenting! The kids will eat literally any flavour of cupcake going, so I know that whatever I try, it’s going to go down well!
So this time I wanted chocolate but I also wanted my rose and cardamom cupcakes! It was so incredibly hard to choose between the two and so I did the next best thing – I put them together and this new cupcake was born 😆
Rose Cardamom Chocolate cupcakes?
I now, it might sound like flavour overload but I can assure you the pairing works beautifully! I think the key is not really hero-ing any particular flavour but letting them all sing equally. Not that tough to do, and oh my word, the treat is totally worth it.
The chocolate cake is laced with a little cardamom and then the rose and cardamom appears in the buttercream, with the rose used sparingly as it can be overpowering otherwise.
But what cardamom and what type of rose?
Ah now this is tough. As you might know there are various ways to incorporate cardamom into a dish. For a start there are three varieties of cardamom! I used green cardamom for most things, this recipe included. And then rose, what should we use here?
Well in the past I’ve used rose water and cardamom infused milk, both of which are perfectly suitable for these cupcakes too. However, this time I went elsewhere to find what I needed – to Holy Lama Spice in fact.
Holy Lama Spice Drops
This fabulous company produces many different lines but here I’m going to mention the Spice drops – basically extracts from the real spices themselves. The process is three fold, I think, but check out their website for more information! But the end product is this simply fabulous, concentrated version of the spice in a liquid format. So for cardamom 1 drop is the same as obtaining the seeds from 4 cardamom pods and grinding them down. (much simpler and quicker to just use the spice drops, right?)
It’s much the same for the rose – 1 drop of spice drops rose is the same as 1/2 tsp of rosewater.
I’m a total convert and they’re easy to order online direct from the company or I’ve seen them on Ocado as well! Now I’m not getting a commission or anything for writing all of this – I just want you to know that these little bottles are a game changer and I totally recommend them!
What about other flavours?
Yes so if you did fancy trying some of my other cupcake recipes, then can I interest you in Mango Cupcake with Lime and Coconut? Or how about Cherry Chilli Chocolate Cupcakes? Perhaps my straight forward Rose and Cardamom Cupcakes? Any of these is a winner in my book – just take your pick!
Ok right then let’s get to the recipe! As usual, let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks!
Rose Cardamom Chocolate Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake baking tray
- Electric hand mixer
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 175 g butter, softened
- 170 g plain flour sieved
- 1 ½ tbsp baking powder sieved
- 175 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large free range eggs room temperature
- 2 tbsp cocoa sieved
- 90 g plain chocolate – melted
- pinch of salt
- 4 drops Holy lama spice – cardamom extract or 2 tbsp cardamom infused milk – see recipe instructions
Cardamom infused milk
- 50 ml milk
- ½ tbsp cardamom pods lightly bruised
Buttercream
- 250 g butter, softened
- 400 g icing sugar
- 3 drops Holy lama spice drops – rose extract or rosewater (9 drops)
- 4 drops Holy lama spice – cardamom extract or 2 tbsp cardamom infused milk
- pink food colouring
- 1-2 tbsp milk to thin the frosting if necessary
Instructions
Cardamom infused milk
- Put the milk and the bruised cardamom pods into a small pan over a medium heat and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Strain and set aside
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 160°C and line the cupcake trays with liners
- Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing all the time.
- Now add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt) slowly to the mix, folding in gently.
- Add the cardamom extract/cardamom infused milk and the vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Add the mixture in spoonfuls to the cupcake liners, until they are half full. If there is any extra mixture, make more cupcakes!
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before removing from the trays. Set aside on a cooling rack.
Buttercream frosting
- Meanwhile make the buttercream frosting. Beat the butter until pale and fluffy – around 3 minutes.
- Add the sieved icing sugar gradually to the butter, making sure it is fully incorporated.
- Mix in the rosewater and cardamom extracts and pink food colouring (if using). Add the milk if necessary until you reach your desired piping consistency.
- Transfer the icing to a piping bag fitted with a closed star nozzle.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, decorate with the frosting.
