Garam Masala Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Why, yes, that is a microwave older than me in the background.

There was a sale on bulk spices earlier this week (the same kind of sale that lead me to buy cocoa nibs that lead to these red velvet cupcakes) and I stocked up.  The only really *new* thing I bought during the sale was garam masala.  Garam masala is actually just the name of a sort of style of spice mix–it can be any combination of a number of different spices.  The kind I bought, however, has a combination of cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cardamom, and pepper, and maybe a few other things I’m not 100% sure on.

Though I know some people have declared that savory flavors in cupcakes is weird, I like it, and I like it as much as I like sour flavors in cupcakes.  I feel like the savory/sweet and sour/sweet combinations work well because of the contrast, playing counterpoint to each other.

Um.  I don’t suspect anyone really cares to hear me ramble about flavor combinations much longer, so into the recipe we go!

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