2-3cupsicing sugar, powdered or confectioner's sugar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1tablespooncoconut nectar, or golden syrup
2-4tablespoonplant milk, I used coconut drinking milk
For the hokey pokey:
5tablespoonwhite sugar
2tablespooncoconut nectar, or golden syrup
1teaspoonbaking soda, bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 180C fanbake, and line a 12 hole muffin pan with cupcake wrappers.
Sieve dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Add vanilla, balsamic vinegar, warm water and melted coconut oil and quickly mix until smooth. The warm water is used to prevent the coconut oil from immediately hardening and creating lumps.
Spoon batter evenly into cupcake wrappers.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the surface springs back when lightly touched, and a skewer comes out clean.
Cool to room temperature before frosting.
For the frosting:
Put solid coconut oil in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and briefly whip to soften.
Add one cup of icing sugar and mix.
Add the vanilla and coconut nectar and mix again.
Alternately add more icing sugar and plant milk bit by bit until you have a consistency and quantity you're happy with. I used about 2 and ⅓ cups of icing sugar and 3 tablespoon of coconut milk. If it looks like the mixture is splitting, you can rescue it by adding more icing sugar and/or putting the whole mixing bowl in the fridge to firm up for about five minutes.
Spread or pipe the frosting evenly onto your cupcakes, and refrigerate.
For the hokey pokey:
Line a baking sheet with baking paper or a non-stick silicon baking mat.
Put the sugar and coconut nectar into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Let the mixture gently boil for three minutes, keeping a very close eye on it and stirring occasionally to prevent burning. If you're using coconut nectar for the first time, keep in mind that it is darker in colour than golden syrup, which means the mixture could start to look burned before it actually is. If you don't cook the mixture for long enough it won't harden and you'll end up with toffee instead of hokey pokey.
Remove from the heat. Immediately and quickly stir through the baking soda, mix well (while admiring the way it puffs and foams) and scrape out onto your baking tray to cool. Work fast, it hardens quickly. I spread mine a bit flatter with a spatula so that it would be easier to break into shards.
Once cool and hard, use your hands to break into shards and garnish the cupcakes. Best added to cupcakes immediately before serving, to prevent softening.