Intensely Thai Cupcakes

There is nothing mild about these Thai-inspired cupcakes.  As soon as you are within grabbing length of these cupcakes, the unexpected aroma of fish sauce caramel buttercream hits you.  Once you place the scent, let it take you to your last Thai meal.  You'll recognize the smells from the tom kha soup you or your neighbor enjoyed.  A peel of the wrapper reinforces the setting.  The cake practically breathes coconut milk, lemon grass, and kaffir lime.  

Fish Sauce Caramels with Kaffir Lime and Lemongrass

 

Portland, Oregon is known for its foodie culture.  When Jonathan and I were there this summer for the International Food Blogger Conference, we had our pick of fabulous restaurants to choose from.  So, guess what we had for lunch?  Ice cream!  The tasting menu at Salt & Straw was irresistible!  Just look at their menu and you'll see what I mean.  My favorite of all of the flavors that I tried was a collaboration between Salt & Straw and Boke Bowl - a fish sauce caramel ice cream with lemongrass and kaffir lime.

Black Thai Cupcakes

Each year, Scharffen Berger chocolate sponsors The Chocolate Adventure Contest where, for a chance at $10,000, entrants are challenged to come up with a recipe featuring Scharffen Berger chocolate and any number of items from a list of "adventure ingredients."  It's like a chocolate Iron Chef!

Previous years' contests have allowed participants to make any kind of dish (I, of course, entered a cupcake last year anyway), but this year's contest is all about cupcakes!  The entry period ends on Jan. 2 and you know that I'll be playing - I hope you do, too!

Be sure that you are a Cupcake Project Facebook fan because I've got a giveaway coming up there exclusively that may inspire your entry.

My Chocolate Adventure Contest entry last year was Black Thai cupcakes - black bottom cupcakes with Thai spices like coconut and pandan (the Asian vanilla) and a little kick from smoked paprika and smoked sea salt.  The cupcakes also contain black-eyed peas, but the peas don't affect the flavor; they just provide a moist texture (like baking with applesauce).

As you can see from the photo above, instead of baking the cupcakes in a cupcake liner, I baked them in a banana leaf!  Whether or not you try my exact recipe (I recognize that gathering all of these ingredients might be difficult), I highly recommend trying out baking in banana leaves. Banana leaves make for a striking, exotic presentation.  If you can't find them at a grocer near you, you can buy banana leaves online.