German chocolate cupcakes

My friend Mike and his girlfriend Emily recently brought their son Emery into the world, and per Emily’s request, I whipped up the German chocolate cupcakes from VCTOTW. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it out to visit them before the cupcakes would have gone stale. I owe you guys! Instead, these became birthday cupcakes for my mom.

I used sweetened coconut in the frosting, so I cut out some of the brown sugar. I also used lite coconut milk, and it turned out just fine. In addition, as I may have mentioned in the past, I always use vanilla soymilk in baked goods unless otherwise specified; it adds that yummy extra dimension of sweetness. These too are calorific (as any German chocolate cake tends to be) but keep in mind that all the saturated fat here comes from the almighty coconut, whose medium-chain fatty acid goodness is not to be feared.

For the cupcakes:
1 cup soymilk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

For the frosting:
1/4 cup soymilk
2T cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
1T whiskey, bourbon, or Tuaca (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin or a 24-cup mini muffin tin with paper liners and coat with cooking spray. Combine the soymilk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle. Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla into the soymilk. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.



Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two batches and mix until no large lumps remain.



Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.



Bake for 18-20 minutes for regular cupcakes, or 14-15 minutes for minis. When done, let sit in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the soymilk, cornstarch, and salt. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the coconut milk and brown sugar.



Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to boil. Turn the heat down to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes. Whisk the soymilk mixture once more and slowly pour it into the coconut milk mixture, stirring constantly.



Stir continuously till the mixture darkens again, gets very thick and smooth, and the cornstarch is cooked, about 6 to 7 minutes.



Remove from the heat and add the vanilla, whiskey or bourbon (or, in my case, since I don't like either—Tuaca!), chopped pecans, and coconut.



Stir till everything is coated and combined. Cool to room temperature before frosting the cupcakes.



The base chocolate cupcake recipe is tasty, but the coconut pecan frosting is the real standout. This stuff is RICH! The assortment of textures – creamy, crunchy, chewy – is delightful, and the use of coconut milk rounds out the flavors marvelously. Be careful; you might want to eat this frosting with a spoon.



Yield: 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes. Per cupcake (regular): 294 calories, 16.4g fat (7g sat), 37g carbs, 2g fiber, 3.4g protein.
Per cupcake (mini): 147 calories, 8.2g fat (3.5g sat), 18.5g carbs, 1g fiber, 1.7g protein.

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