Vegan Chocolate Cardamom Coffee Cupcakes

This recipe first appeared on Kelham Island Kitchen. Coffee and Cardamom are a match made in heaven, the bitter coffee entwining with the fragrant cardamom. Did you know that in the Middle East coffee beans and cardamom pods are ground together to make a delicious drink? So think of this as a Middle Eastern mocha, in cake form of course! I realize that cupcakes are no longer the trendy thing to be baking, but these are just so gorgeous. I did actually try the batter in a deep cake tin but it was too light and the middle sunk—much to my disappointment. So alas, they were meant to be cupcakes. I still think there is something so lovely about having your own little perfectly decorated cake. Coffee and cardamom is a flavor I've had my eye on for a while now. Cardamom has come into its own recently, thanks to Scandinavian influences and the popularity of Scandinavian baked goods. Cardamom is one of those flavors, I feel, that if someone doesn't tell you what the spice is, you can guess a dozen different things before getting the correct answer, but as soon as you are told, it is glaringly obvious. It is hard to describe, but it is very fragrant and exotic, which I think it works so well being paired with familiar flavors. Just make sure you don't go overboard or your baking will err on the side of savory. I had originally topped the cake with a salted caramel coffee buttercream, which was delicious in its own right but when paired with the cake turned out to be too sweet even for my sweet tooth. So second time round I made this silky melted chocolate buttercream which is nice and bitter to offset the sweet cake.