These coconut cupcakes with curry lemon curd and a sweet basil cream topping, which bear the name of an Indian queen, will impress your family and friends. They have a gorgeous look and sweet but unexpected flavors. Although it takes time to make the cupcakes, it is time well spent. Lemon curd and basil cream can be prepared the night before because they need time to chill.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 2 dozen cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 bunch fresh basil, washed and dried
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
- ¾ cup fresh lemon juice
- 3 lemons, zested
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut extract
- 6 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
- ½ (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon silver dragees decorating candy
Instructions
- To make the sweet basil cream, heat the whipping cream in a saucepan until hot; do not boil. Turn off the heat and add the basil, stems and all, to the cream and allow it to steep for 1 hour. Refrigerate the cream for 3 hours or overnight. Strain and discard the basil.
- Meanwhile, make the sweet curry lemon curd. Use a large microwave-safe bowl: the curd will expand to twice its volume as it cooks. Whisk together the white sugar, two eggs, and curry powder until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Cook in the microwave, stirring at one-minute intervals, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Pour the cooked curd through a sieve and refrigerate for at least three hours or until set. The mixture will have the consistency of soft pudding.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
- Combine the white cake mix and coconut flakes in a mixing bowl. Stir in the water, three eggs, vegetable oil, and coconut extract. (For an extra-light texture, separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat the whites until medium-stiff peaks form. Fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter.)
- Scoop the cake batter into the prepared pans, filling the cups 2/3 full. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.
- In a chilled bowl, whip the cold basil-infused cream and 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate. Beat the cream cheese and remaining 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar until smooth and soft. Fold in the whipped cream and mix gently until fully combined.
- To decorate the cupcakes, spread a tablespoon of the lemon curd on top of each cupcake, followed by a dollop of the basil cream. Sprinkle with dragees.
- If available, gold dragees or brightly colored chocolate-covered sunflower seeds make beautiful decorations for these cupcakes.
- To make the lemon curd on a stovetop, combine the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain, and chill as directed.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 393 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 60 g |
| Cholesterol | 65 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 193 mg |
| Sugars | 53 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Made the lemon curd without curry love it.
My favorite cupcakes. Exotic and delicious
A little time consuming to make but the flavors are unbelievable together. Everyone starts with one surprised bite then they want to eat a bunch of them. Love these!!!
My daughter made these before I did. Interestingly, we both had the same issues. The lemon curd slid off the cupcakes and the frosting curdled and would not hold it’s shape. There is far too much lemon curd and frosting left over so I would suggest making half that amount. I would also decrease the amount the basil so there is a very mild basil flavor. I had very mixed reviews when I took them to work. Some couldn’t eat them once they took a bite and some loved them and ate several. I love each part individually and the combination.
Phenomenal mix of flavors! Only negative is how long they take to make.
The combination of flavors was wonderful. I was hesitant about the basil cream but it went beautifully with everything else. I will say I took the advice of other reviewers and used 1 tablespoon of curry, cut back on the sugar in the icing and garnished with toasted coconut. Also I had too much icing for the 24 cupcakes. When I make these again, and I definitely will, I will make half recipe of icing. Great cupcake!
I’m an Indian woman who was assigned the task of bringing dessert to a party with a Thai-Indian fusion theme. All the partygoers were Indian so I was nervous about how these cupcakes would be received in a roomful of very seasoned palates. However, I got rave reviews from everyone who tried them! I reduced the curry powder, but given the crowd, I could have stuck with the full amount. It did not overpower the other flavors. The basil cream was wonderfully aromatic but reducing the sugar to 4 cups total made it a bit runnier than ideal. Next time, I’ll reduce the whipping cream to 6-8 ounces for a thicker topping since there was a lot of leftover topping. Overall a hit with the crowd!!
I made 50 mini cupcakes for a birthday and everyone loved them. They were hesitant at first but after the first bite they were hooked!
Everyone at work looooved this. As a precautionary measure for less adventurous palates, I took most reviewers’ advice and used 1 tablespoon of curry powder. Everything else was as per recipe.
Needed to tone down the curry flavor, so used a little over 1 tsp. Same with the basil in the cream. An entire bunch would have been far too strong, so used about 3-4 stems.
We went to a theme party which food from India was served. I had to make dessert. Found this recipe and gave it a try. We got rave reviews. One friend said it was the best cupcake she ever had. The presentation is beautiful. The Lemon curd made it very special and extra yummy. The only thing I would do is to half the recipe for the basil cream. It made way to much. Had to throw half away or else I would eat it! We served it with the rose ice cream to make the Dessert complete! Thank you! Donna from Bronx,N.Y.
Loved this exotic recipe! I made mini cupcakes with a few minor changes. First, I made my own curry powder using 1 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp chili powder, a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of cardamom. I am not a big fan of cream cheese frosting so I completely omitted the frosting, instead just using the basil infused whipped topping which was delicious! Next time I think I will pipe the sweet curry lemon cream into the cupcake! Highly recommended!!
sooo delicious! My friends and I did a weekly dinner where we picked a country and each made food from that country. I chose this as the dessert for our India night and had different people from the group each make a different part. Then end result was beautiful and delectable. Everyone went gaga over these!
i was very hesitant to try these but am i glad i did! These cupcakes are so unique (in a good way). I made these for a summer party and I also made regular coconut cupcakes with a custard and frosting. After and hour these were gone and I had to take leftovers of the others home! I did modify the recipe for my own tastes and per other suggestions though. First of all I made a coconut cake from scratch (i never use box mix). Second, for the lemon curd I used regular curry and only put in about 1 teaspoon. That was more than enough for my taste. I would recommend starting with less and adding as you cook it if you so desire. Third, for the frosting i used a bit more cream cheese and way less sugar. I always add sugar as i go to any frosting and stop when it is sweet enough. Everyone agreed the basil frosting was the best part! I strongly recommend everyone try these, if you’re scared just make a smaller batch (and then wish you’d made more)
These cupcakes are amazing! Used the Duncan Hines butter yellow cake mix, Meyer lemons off our tree, and reduced the curry to 1 tsp. When I tasted the lemon curd I thought it was still too much curry but when you have all the flavors together they are delicious! We had an Indian-themed birthday lunch at work and everyone raved about dessert! I took everyone’s advice and made 1/2 the recipe of curd and frosting and it was plenty for the dozen and a half it made. Thanks for expanding our palate’s.
This recipe is amazing – I’ve made it for friends, relatives, and coworkers and have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like them. I followed everyone else’s recommendations and only used 1 Tbsp of curry and it turned out great. You will have a ton of curd left over, but the good news is that it freezes beautifully and makes future batches a cinch. However, do NOT listen to other reviewers’ suggestions to cut down on the powdered sugar – it changes the consistency of the frosting and makes it really runny. I cut the frosting recipe in half and still had some left over. These cupcakes also do well as a mini-cupcake version.
DID NOT LIKE AT ALL. was making these for Indian lunch day at work and I didn’t even take them in. Basil cream was ineatable and the lemon curd had way to much curry. The cupcake might have been ok but with different icing. Would not reccommend
I also made these for an Indian-themed dinner, and they were quite a hit. I must admit that I toned down some of the more intense tastes…only 1 T curry powder, and just a few basil leaves in the whipping cream. The cupcakes looked beautiful – I scooped out a plug from the top of each cupcake and filled with lemon curd, then topped with the slice of cupcake that I removed. Then I spread some more lemon curd over the top, with the whipped cream over that, but not quite covering it all of the way. Over that, I sprinkled toasted coconut, and topped with a sprig of very small basil leaves. Great presentation, unique flavor.
We brought these to an Indian-themed gourmet club and they were loved by kids and grownups. I did omit the curry because of the kids, though.
So unusual and delicious. Very interesting flavor combinations.
The best cupcakes I have ever had. Takes time but well worth the time. Do the lemon curd and basil cream the day before.