Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Cup Cakes
I simply love cup cakes. Once upon a time before little monkeys were on the scene I would spend hours making cup cakes and decorating them...yes hours! My husband was in the force at the time and his crew would always happily benefit from my creations. If you can imagine an officer carrying in a cake holder full of beautifully decorated cup cakes for night shift you can imagine why. The only wee trouble with the beloved cup cake is that well ah they are not terribly nutritious. More of a challenge when you have hormones doing the loop-de-loop permanently post baby. I always try to find a way to have your cake and eat it too...and these gluten and dairy free chocolate cup cakes just may have hit that spot!
I have been playing around for sometime to come up with a cup cake recipe that does not contain ingredients which can really irritate our guts but also provides some nutritional goodness! This recipe uses almond flour (ground almonds or almond meal) which I know is a little more expensive. However I do think it is worth it in this case and the recipe is so super simple I think that helps too!
You will also see I use a 'cheats frosting' of dark chocolate melted in the double boiler and then a pretty flower petal! You can now get dairy-free chocolate at most supermarkets and health stores for those that need this. I know it is not fancy decorations by any measure but it is easy, has a lot less sugar than traditional toppings and personally I felt a little bit like the old me even just spending an extra five minutes doing this and I think that is important too!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of almond flour (almond meal is the same)
2 tbs of cocoa
1 tsp of baking powder
4 eggs
1 tb of almond milk
3 tbs of honey
2 1/2 tbs of coconut oil
Dark chocolate (for topping)
Flower petals (or other sprinkles)
Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a 12-hole muffin tin with some pretty cup cake papers.
2. In a large bowl add the almond flour, cocoa and baking powder.
3. In a separate small bowl add the eggs, almond milk, and honey. Melt coconut oil in microwave (for about 30 seconds) and add. Whisk to combine. If the honey is firm the heat from the oil should help to soften this.
4. Quickly add the wet ingredients into the dry and fold gently together - do not leave this sitting as the eggs will start to cook with the warm coconut oil.
5. Spoon into the cup cake holders - it works out approximately one heaped tablespoon per holder. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until firm on the top (the smell will tell you to be honest). Allow to cool and top with melted dark chocolate and your favourite decorations or sprinkles. These keep in an air tight container for up to five days....if you can make them last that long!
Happy cup cake eating,
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale