Halwa Basmati Cupcakes

I mentioned in the last post that Mr. C and I finally tied the knot. I hope you didn't get all excited and expect this post to be full of white dresses, flowers, and giant cakes. I'm sorry. We didn't have any of that at our wedding. I actually wouldn't even call what we had a 'wedding'.

We're not wedding people.



Instead of years of planning, hundreds of dollars, and quite a few headaches, we decided to do something spur-of-the-moment. When we hit the Outer Banks in North Carolina, we figured it would be the perfect setting for our quickie wedding. A couple hours later at the court house, with a family we pulled off the street to serve as our witnesses, it was all done and over with. Drove off into the sunset in our little red Yaris. My only regret was not having a wedding cake - I'm pretty sure the only dessert we had that day was some road tripping trail mix in the car.

When we got home, I got to thinking - What sort of wedding cake would we have? You know, if we actually had a big wedding. Not any of that fondant covered blanilla stuff, for sure. It had to be full of flavour, and a little spunky.

Here's what I came up with:



I've mentioned before how we're totally into halwa. This time I took the concept and dumbed it down a little - no fancy ice cream or cookies, just good, old fashioned flavour. I took a simple carrot cake, added a little basmati rice and Indian spice, and slopped on some sweet pistachio yogurt. It's not glamorous, nor is it pretty. But it's tasty. And, if we had a wedding cake, it would look (and taste) a little something like this.
FYI: Rice desserts are completely underrated. Since this one turned out so lovely, I'm going to add it to this month's Sugar High Fridays, which is being hosed by the lovely Magpie Recipes. Check that blog out at the end of the month to see some more rice tastiness. 



Halwa Bismati Cupcakes with Sweet Yogurt Sauce
makes 12 cupcakes


1 cup flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup cooked basmati rice
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup ghee, melted
1 carrot, grated

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the two flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and cumin and whisk to combine. Stir in the rice, pistachios, and raisins. Set aside.

2) Whip the eggs with an electric mixer until foamy. Add the brown sugar and beat for about two minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir in the melted ghee and the carrots. Stir in your dry ingredients until just blended. Scoop into your oiled cupcake pan and bake for about 15 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan.

Sweet Yogurt Sauce
1 1/4 cups plain greek yogurt (make sure it's unsweetened!)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 Tablespoons chopped pistachios

1) In a bowl, mix the yogurt, sugar, and pistachios together until everything is completely incorporated. Spoon on top of the cooled cupcakes right before serving. Enjoy!