Asian sweets don’t get enough appreciation. To the unfamiliar, they’re offbeat and perhaps texturally challenging. That has never stopped me from trying them, but I’ve watched many people pause and look quizzically at a bowl of Vietnamese che sweet soup loaded with beans, tapioca worms and coconut milk. I suppose that’s why many Asian cookbooks have limited dessert chapters or none at all. I’m sensitive to the Asian sweets thing when I write cookbooks and choose my recipes wisely.
My friend Christopher Tan celebrates many Asian sweets in his latest cookbook, Nerdbaker. The book published in Singapore by Epigram Books is sadly not available in the U.S.; I reviewed the book to write a jacket endorsement and at that time, I was enamored with the ideas that Chris presented in the book. His concepts bridge East and West, dive deep into baking techniques, and they’re reliably delicious. We are food geek soulmates, sort to speak.
There are a number of things I want to make from the book, and this is one that I’ve tried twice in the last few days. It’s brilliant, beautiful, and tropical. It’s also low on wheat, if that matters to you. The moist texture is fudgy and brownie-like, just like Chris describes. If you like sticky rice and coconut, this will remind you of it in cupcake form.
He named the recipe Black Velvet Cupcakes but I’d like to frame them in an Asian manner as purple rice and coconut cupcakes. The combination of the rice and coconut is divine, so Southeast Asian. The top gets a nubby crust that contrasts well with the interior, evoking the top of Vietnamese banh khoai mi coconut and cassava cake, which Tu Ty and I have been emailing about; there's a recipe in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.
Buy the rice at a health food stores. I tried a mix of purple and white purchased from the bulk section at Whole Foods, as well as black Japonica rice grown by Lundberg. If you have black sticky rice from an Asian market, that is exactly what Chris calls for.
And – get ready for this, grind it yourself! Yes, you can, with a high speed blender like the KitchenAid diamond blender (no fancy Vitamix required). Or, try an electric spice grinder (a dedicated coffee grinder in my kitchen). It’s totally cool.
Chris’s recipe is in metric and I am keeping it that way, adding imperial weight. Use the metric to be super precise. Get your digital scale out. There’s less thought involved and room for error.
Combining the rice flour with wheat flour allows for the rise. I tried all-purpose flour (light crumb) and spelt flour (nutty flavor). I also cut the wheat flour with a touch of coconut flour, since I bought a giant bag and need to gradually use it up. Use spelt and coconut flour for a more intense flavor; both are sold in bulk at natural food markets. Extra-virgin coconut oil lends wonderful tropical flavor.
The batter has a cement-like color but keep on moving forward. Things will change in the oven. The color and flavor depends on the rice used and the wheat flour, which you can control.
I couldn’t find my 21st century cupcake pans so I used this vintage one. It worked just fine, though the cupcake holes were smaller decades ago. I lightly pressed/shoved the paper liners in. I hope you like these as much as my husband and I did. They may possibly freeze well too.
More about Christopher Tan at his site, Foodfella.com.
Recipe
Black Velvet Cupcakes
Yields 10 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 150 grams (5 oz) raw black stick rice, purple and white rice blend, or black Japonica rice
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 150 grams (5 oz) coconut milk
- 50 grams (1.75 oz) water
- 125 grams (3.125 oz) all-purpose or spelt flour, or 100 grams spelt flour and 25 g coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 140 grams (5 oz) sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) unsalted butter
- 20 grams (.75 oz) extra-virgin coconut oil or sunflower oil
Instructions
- Freeze the rice in a bowl or on a plate for 15 minutes to make it easier to grind. Use a blender to grind the rice to a powder; do the grinding in small batches if using an electric coffee grinder. Pass through a fine mesh strainer. Weigh 125 grams into a large bowl, reserving or discarding the remainder.
- Add the salt to the rice flour, then whisk in the coconut milk and water. Set aside to hydrate for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, line cupcake molds with paper liners. Set a rack in the middle position of an oven and preheat to 185C (365F).
- Sift the flour(s) and baking powder into a bowl. Melt the butter and coconut oil (if using). Set both aside.
- When the rice flour is ready, whisk in the egg, sugar, honey, melted butter and coconut oil (or sunflower oil). Add the flour and whisk until just smooth; avoid over whisking.
- Divide the batter among the cupcake molds. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is dry and somewhat brown, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool on a rack and enjoy slightly warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container, if there are leftovers. Eat within 2 days of baking.
Adapted from: Christopher Tan's Nerdbaker (Epigram books, 2015)
What do you use black rice for?
Related post: Buy extra purple rice for this Thai recipe.
