VegPlanet — October 2017

GAJAR HALWA CUPCAKES

A perfect fusion dessert for your Diwali sweets platt er!

Pooja Masurkar

sweet tooth

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups fl our

1½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cardamom powder

1 cup soya milk

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 cup brown sugar (powdered)

¼ cup oil

¾ cup carrots (grated)

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup cashews (coarsely chopped)

For cardamom cashew frosting

200 gm non-dairy whipped cream

70 gm cashew butter

1 tsp. cardamom powder

METHOD

• Sieve together fl our, baking powder, baking
  soda, and cardamom powder and keep aside.


• In a separate bowl, mix soya milk and apple
  cider vinegar and let it sit for 10 minutes.


• Whisk sugar and oil into the mixture.


• Now whisk the fl our mix into the above wet
  batter.


• Lastly, fold in the carrots, cashews, and raisins.


• Scoop out the batter into cupcakes liners.


• In an oven preheated to 180° C, bake for 18
  minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre
  of a cupcake comes out clean.


• Let the cupcakes cool down completely, then
  refrigerate for 10 minutes before frosting them.

For cardamom cashew frosting

• Whip the non-dairy cream until it forms soft
  peaks.


• Whisk in the cashew butter and the cardamom
  powder.


• Pipe on the icing onto cold cupcakes and
  refrigerate for a minimum of 10 minutes before
  serving.

Gajar halwa has always been one of my favourite Indian sweets. I have fond memories of my mom making it with

fresh Delhi carrots, and I would gobble down half a kilo of it at one go every carrot season.

After being deprived of vegan gajar halwa for long, I decided to incorporate the fl avours of gajar halwa into
cupcakes, and boy did I get the best of both worlds! The unique blend of fl avours—carrots, cardamom, and dried

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour (includes 40 minutes of cooling time)

Do not overmix your cupcake batter—just whisk until all the lumps are gone. Overmixing will lead to

dry and dense cupcakes.

I prefer to use fl avourless oil like sunfl ower/vegetable/rice bran oil.

You can adjust the amount of cardamom, dried fruits, and cashew butter according to taste.

Cupcakes can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

It is important to use proper measuring cups and spoons to measure ingredients.