Pandan Cupcakes With Palm Sugar Frosting

My niece Sujatha, an aspiring and budding chef, told me that she tried making pandan cupcakes sometimes back and that though she liked the flavour, the texture was not exactly ideal. I was not keen about the cupcake itself but the fact that it had a palm sugar frosting excited me.  I love the rich flavour of palm sugar and immediately decided to do a similar recipe for all my fans! The cupcake itself is unique in flavour too. Instead of using the usual vanilla essence, the pandan leaves have been blended in the milk to give a natural aroma. If you cannot find fresh pandan leaves, you can use 1 teaspoon of pandan paste instead.

Preparation time:  20 minutes

Cooking time:  20 minutes

Makes:  12 cupcakes

180 g milk

5 pandan leaves, washed and cut into 2 cm pieces

1 drop of apple green food colouring (optional)

150 g plain flour

2 g baking powder

A pinch of salt

2 X 60 g eggs

150 g caster sugar

120 g butter, melted and cooled

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Place the milk and pandan leaves into a blender and blend till smooth.
3. Strain with a fine strainer and discard pandan leaves pulp.
4. If desired, combine the green colouring with the milk and keep aside.
5. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
6. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes until light and creamy.
7. Add the butter and beat on a low speed until well blended.
8. Fold in the combined flour, baking powder and salt.
9. Add in the strained pandan milk and beat until smooth and well blended.
10. Divide the batter evenly among a 12-cup cupcake pan lined with paper cases.
11. Bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.
12. Leave the cakes to cool completely before icing.

PALM SUGAR FROSTING

70 g butter, room temperature)
150 g icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons palm sugar syrup or grated palm sugar

Method

1. Place the butter and half of the icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed for about 3-4 minutes. The mixture should look pale, almost white.
2.  Slowly add in the rest of the icing sugar, a little at a time, and the palm sugar syrup. Continue to mix for another 4 minutes.
3. The cream should be very light and fluffy.
4. Pipe or spread frosting onto each cupcake.