These cupcakes have a lot of moving parts. Here's how it works if you're making them to spec: first you have the cupcake (with homemade halwa incorporated into the batter), then you have the cashew-cream cheese icing, then you have the homemade pistachio kulfi, then you have even more icing, and finally the cashew-lime cookie with a lime glaze and sugar-coated fennel seeds for sprinkles. Definitely not an every day affair! But they are really good.

I'll admit, I did cheat a bit when making mine. I didn't want to wait for the kulfi to freeze overnight, so I just bought some homemade kulfi and used that. I also used some leftover vanilla French buttercream I had in the fridge rather than making a fresh batch of cashew icing for this recipe. I'm sure the cashew icing would've been amazing, but the French buttercream got the job done, made my life easier, and used up some stuff out of the fridge that needed used.

I was worried that there'd be too much going on in these cupcakes and they'd end up being more "sensory overload" than delicious, but the combo actually works really well. I do think the cupcake itself gets overshadowed a bit, but the icing-kulfi-cookie combination is amazing! Definitely a more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts situation. That said, the cookies are also excellent on their own. And I think the cupcakes would be great with just the cashew icing if you didn't feel like making the kulfi and the cookies to go on top. I think a lightly iced cupcake without the other components would also allow the cupcake itself to shine a little more. It was fun to try something so ridiculously over-the-top though!

NB: If you're using pre-ground cardamom, double all the amounts called for in the recipe. Freshly ground tends to have a much more potent kick, so I dailed it way back.

Halwa Cupcakes

Adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

Halwa

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. ghee
• 225g carrots, finely grated
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. whole (3.25%) milk or light (5%) cream
• 3/4 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 1/4 c. sugar

Cupcakes

• 195g flour¹
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 2 medium eggs or 1 large egg + 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. raw cashews, toasted and chopped

Assembly

• ~3 c. Cashew-Cream Cheese Icing or buttercream icing of your choice
• 3/4 c. Pistachio Kulfi (homemade or store-bought)
• 12 Cashew-Lime Cookies

Directions

Halwa

1. Melt ghee over medium heat.
2. Add grated carrot, cover, and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add water and cook, covered, for another 3 minutes.
4. Uncover and cook for a minute or two to cook off excess moisture.
5. Add milk and cardamom, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
6. Stir in sugar and cook, uncovered, for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Sift baking powder and baking soda into flour and mix.
3. Stir in salt and cardamom.
4. Stir eggs, vanilla, sugar, oil and milk into cooled halwa and mix well.
5. Add dry ingredients to halwa mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Spoon batter into lined muffin wells. (This made a dozen 5cm diameter cupcakes for me, but I filled the wells nearly to the top.)
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes. (Mine took 20.)
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Assembly

1. Once cupcakes have cooled, spread a little icing on each one. Use a piping bag if you want it to look fancy.
2. Add about a Tbsp. of kulfi on top of the icing. If the kulfi seems to be getting too soft or melt-y, pop the cupcakes in the freezer for a few minutes before continuing.
3. Spread (or pipe) a little more icing on top of the kulfi.
4. Place a cookie on top.
5. Only assemble as many cupcakes as you plan to eat right away and serve immediately!

---

¹ The original recipe called for "1 1/2 c. flour". I used all-purpose since I know the author is Canadian and the default flour type here is all-purpose. Given the nature of the recipe, though, I think soft/cake/plain/standard flour would work very well. My all-purpose flour comes in at ~130g per cup, so 1 1/2 c. comes out at right around 195g. Feel free to use whatever type of flour you prefer. ^Back