As party season is pretty much upon us now, I’m really getting into the festive spirit and have been for the past month to be honest! I’m talking decadent treats, warming spices and cosy one pot dinners for every occasion! I simply love this time of year and everything about it! The chilly winters evenings, decorations, lights, festive activities, Christmas markets, parties and of course, the food!
I’m getting lots of practice in for all of the chocolate themed treats I’m going to be whipping up over the next 6 weeks; starting of course, with some cupcakes! One of my favourite types of bake and actually super simple to master. They were the first ever cakes that I learned to bake by myself (I’ve told this story so many times) but were actually where I believe that all of this began! My Dad actually reminded me of this a while back. I used to bake and decorate cupcakes with lashings of buttercream frosting and edible sugar flowers every weekend when I was in college. I would spend ages precisely piping flowers or swirls using a variety of fancy piping nozzles and actually used to talk about imagining being able to make and decorate cupcakes for a living. I mean, I don’t exactly bake and decorate cupcakes day in and day out however.. it’s pretty close I’d say! I find it so funny how this would have merely been a passing comment to me at the time.
Now onto the actual cupcake part of this post.. or what the whole thing was meant to be about (excuse the waffling as per).
These are the usual type of GF, Dairy Free & refined sugar free baking concoction that I rustle up however, I haven’t yet experimented with the vegan version of this recipe, so maybe that will be next. As you’d probably guess from the title, I’ve used buckwheat flour for these because that’s my personal favourite GF flour (and what I had in the cupboard haha). I find it’s got a fairly mild flavour, with a slight hint of nuttiness to it. I also find this to work well the making crepes and fluffy American style pancakes as well.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup agave syrup or honey
- 2 whole eggs
- 1/3 heaped cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 3 Tbsp cacao powder
- Tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 1/3 tsp bicarb
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- Zest from one orange
- Juice from 1 orange
- Tbsp agave syrup
- 4 tbsp smooth peanut butter
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 Tbsp agave syrup
- 3 Tbsp Sweet Freedom Chot Shot
- Dash of almond milk
Method
Preheat the oven to 180c and line a cupcake tray with cases.
In a bowl, beat together your liquid sweetener and coconut oil. Then add in the eggs and mix these through one at a time.
Now, pour in all of your dry ingredients and give the batter a thorough mix through.
Divide the mixture amongst your cupcake cases (I find this makes around 7) and pop these into the oven to bake for around 17 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the frosting, cream together the peanut butter, agave, cacao powder and choc shot. Then, add in a drizzle of almond milk whilst mixing to help thin out the icing slightly and create a luscious, creamy texture. Place this into the fridge to rest.
For the orange drizzle, mix the orange juice and syrup together. Once the cakes are cooked, allow to cool, then pierce a few holes in the top and pour over the orange sauce.
Decorate with lashings of your chocolate frosting and serve!
