Coconut mango mochi cupcakes

Thai food seems to be a pretty popular choice for when my company orders lunch and for a good reason. Who doesn't love pad thai, curry, and - best of all - mango sticky rice for dessert? After the third or fourth helping of mango sticky rice in about a month, it suddenly hit me that I could take these flavors and put them into a cupcake!

I immediately decided that my mochi cupcakes would be a perfect representation of the sticky rice - made of rice flour and very chewy, giving it both the right taste and texture. Plus, these are my favorite cupcakes to make and I'm always looking for new flavor variations for them! Just be sure not to over-mix these - I always mix these by hand, never with a stand or hand mixer.

As for the mango part, I simply diced up a few mangoes and marinated them them in a lemon/lime syrup while the cupcakes were baking. I also added a bit of coconut extract to the mangoes, since the sticky rice dessert usually has some coconut in it.

The frosting was also coconut-flavored - I made a basic vanilla buttercream and added some more coconut extract. To top it all off, I toasted some shredded coconut and sprinkled it on top to add a bit of coconut-y crunch.

The end product ended up being more coconut flavored than I intended, but that was a good thing! These cupcakes tasted like a cross between mango sticky rice and a mango piña colada. Perfect for eating at your desk while wishing you were on a tropical sandy beach somewhere...

Coconut mango mochi cupcakes (makes 2 dozen cupcakes)
Recipe adapted from my own

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup almond milk
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 16 oz (1 box) of Mochiko Rice Flour
• 1 1/4 cup/250 g white sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease cupcake tins with cooking spray
2. Beat the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla together with a whisk by hand.
3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. 
4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and whisk until just combined (do not overmix or use a stand mixer). 
5. Fill the cupcake tins about 3/4 full.
6. Bake the cupcakes for 30-35 minutes or until the top starts to turn from yellow to brown and the sides are light brown.
7. Let cool and then transfer to a wire rack. Core the cupcakes and fill with mango filling (recipe below) and frost with coconut frosting (recipe below). 

Mango filling (makes enough for filling two dozen cupcakes)

• 2 medium-sized ripe mangos
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 Tbsp of white sugar
• 3 Tbsp of lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp of lime juice
• 1 tsp of coconut extract

1. Peel and dice the mangoes and set aside in a bowl. 
2. Bring the water, sugar, lime, and lemon to a simmer in a small saucepan on medium heat. 
3. Pour over mangoes and let it marinate until ready to use. 

Coconut frosting (makes enough for frosting two dozen cupcakes)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, unsalted
• 8 oz of powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp of coconut extract
• 1 tsp of almond milk (or regular milk)
• Shredded coconut (for sprinkling on top)

1. Cream the butter in a stand mixer on high speed until smooth. 
2. Mix in powdered sugar and keep mixing on high until combined. 
3. Add coconut extract and milk and keep beating until light and fluffy.
4. Frost cupcakes!
5. Toast shredded coconut in a frying pan on medium heat until it begins to brown. Sprinkle on top of cupcakes after frosting.