Triple Threat Coconut Cupcakes with Lemon Basil Coconut Glaze

This is both a warning and a promise: Eating the entire batch of cupcakes will leave you in a delirious sugar coma where you can remain temporarily impervious to the US election results. When you awake from your coma, confused about the basil crust on your chin, make another batch of cupcakes. Repeat for 4 years.
Deliciously sweet inside with a crunchy, almost brown-sugary exterior, these yummy cupcakes contain three types of coconut: coconut flakes, coconut oil, and coconut extract. Awesome all on their own, they’re even more delicious with the glaze. Three’s the magic number today and the glaze has its own flavour trifecta, this time in the form of lemon, basil, and coconut. Yup – basil! It imparts a slightly herbaceous, floral note that’s a perfect foil to the sweetness of the cupcakes. The glaze is based on the Fresh Lemon Syrup Recipe from Serious Eats. It would be yum in its own right as a cupcake topping too.
These cupcakes are egg-free and easily made vegan.

Triple Threat Coconut Cupcakes

Makes six large (4 inch diameter) cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons chickpea liquid (aka aquafaba). This serves as an egg replacement. For more on aquafaba, see my Buckwheat Oatmeal and Beer Muffins recipe. 
• 1 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• dash salt
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup milk (I used whole goat, any kind would work)
• 2 tablespoons coconut extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1. Put the chickpea liquid in a medium bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form. This is just like beating an egg white, and the result will look very similar. It took me about 5 minutes of beating to attain the soft peaks. Once done, set the bowl aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then add the liquid ingredients and blend well.
3. Fold in the chickpea. The batter will be quite thick.
4. Grease a cupcake/muffin pan with coconut oil and then add the cupcake batter.
5. Bake at 350 minutes for about 25 minutes.

Lemon Basil Coconut Glaze

The lemon syrup recipe needs at least 3 hours of sitting time so prepare it in advance.

Ingredients

• Make the lemon syrup recipe from Serious Eats, adding 1/3 cup chopped basil to the lemon/sugar mix. Let it sit for at least 3 hours. Strain out the lemons and optionally, the basil. You should have at least 1 cup of syrup. If you have a lot more and want to use it for the glaze recipe, increase the oil, sugar, and milk proportionally.
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• milk, as needed to thin the glaze

Instructions

1. In a small pan, melt the coconut oil on low heat.
2. Transfer the coconut oil to a blender, then add the lemon syrup and icing sugar. Blend until smooth, adding milk as necessary to make the glaze thin enough for pouring. 

Let me know what you think!