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Baking, Cakes, Chocolate, Dairy Free, Desserts, Eggs, Favourites, Featured, GAPS, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Lunchbox, Naturally Sweetened, Nut Free, Paleo, Snacks, Thermomix, Wholefood
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache (grain-free, dairy-free)
It’s school holidays here in Australia, and hopefully all the parents of small children are having lots of fun with the kids home all day! But just in case you’re running out of activity ideas to keep little hands busy, how about making some cupcakes together? 😀
Ok ok, I know baking with kids can get messy and crazy, but it’s such a great skill to teach them, and if you can get them helping in the kitchen from a young age you’ll thank yourself later. It’s so awesome when teenagers know how to cook and start helping with the weekly meals and baking! And you’ll have a much better chance of that happening if you get them into cooking while they’re little. 🙂
This is our favourite, simple, cupcake recipe – you can use it as a base for any kind of grain-free cupcake. Swap the almond meal for pepita meal and omit the nuts on top to make them nut free. Make it with ganache for icing, or leave off the ganache and sprinkle with cinnamon and coconut sugar. Whipped cream and sliced strawberries on top is good instead of ganache, too. Try adding some fresh blueberries, or chopped apple and cinnamon, or chocolate chips to the mixture – or maybe a blob of homemade jam in the middle!
They’re super easy and quick to make, and the kids will enjoy decorating them… Here’s how Cassia decorated hers one day – with blueberries and basil leaves! 😀 Ha ha! We hope you love them. Happy holidays, and have fun!!
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Cupcakes
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Cupcakes
80g coconut flour
90g blanched almond meal (or pepita meal)
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
6 large eggs
280g coconut oil or butter (at room temp or melted)
120g honey or pure maple syrup (you can use less but cakes will be less moist)
100g almond milk (or milk of choice)
2 tsp vanilla powder
Ganache
150g cacao butter, roughly chopped
40g organic dutch processed cocoa powder
50–60g honey or pure maple syrup (to taste)
1tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
130g coconut cream
Garnish
1/2 cup chopped, roasted almonds or pistachios (optional)
Instructions
Thermomix Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line muffin trays with paper baking cups and set aside.
2. Place coconut flour, almond meal, bicarb soda and salt into TM bowl and mix 6 sec/ speed 6.
3. Add eggs, melted coconut oil or butter, honey or maple syrup, milk and vanilla and mix for 30 sec/ speed 6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix for another few seconds until well combined.
4. Fill paper cups to almost full and bake in a 170C oven for 20 minutes or until the skewer inserted in the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Set aside to cool while you make the ganache.
Conventional Method
1. Mix dry ingredients in a food processor or by hand. Add wet ingredients and mix well until creamy and smooth. Continue as above.
Ganache
Thermomix Method
1. Place cacao butter into the bowl and chop for 8 sec/ speed 8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Melt 5 mins/37C/speed 3.
2. Add cacao/cocoa powder, honey or maple syrup, vanilla, salt and coconut cream, and mix 1 min/37C/speed 3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix another 1 min/37C/speed 3.
Conventional Method
1. Melt cacao butter in a double boiler on the stovetop. Add remaining ingredients, stirring occasionally until smooth and combined.
To Finish
1. Spoon the melted ganache onto the cooled cupcakes, sprinkle with roasted nuts if desired, and place in the fridge to set.
Notes
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for a week, or in an airtight container in the freezer for two months.
For best results, use ‘If You Care’ baking cups, as they are non-toxic and non-stick.
Makes approximately 18 regular-sized cupcakes.
One of my little ones is intolerant to coconut.. What’s the best alternative to coconut flour?
Natural evolution green banana flour is a great swap for coconut flour. 🙂
HI Jo, Was trying to make this from what I have in the pantry/fridge- and I have never made a Ganache before. I was wondering as I don’t have any cacao butter is there anything that could be substituted for it? I have normal butter?
Hi Tracey, yes you can do that it just won’t set as firm. Will be yum though!
Hi Jo, thanks for this recipe. Where do you buy cacao butter?
Hi Kerry! Source Bulk Foods (in-store or online) is a great place to get Cocao Butter, or most health food stores have it. 🙂
Hi Jo, do these freeze and then thaw out OK? I find when I make GF they are great first day when still warm but by the next day they are quite dense(?) I want to do some cooking and free for lunches for the month but don’t seem to be able to make it work when making Gf stuff unless it can be reheated ????
Yes they stay moist! Works well to freeze then thaw them.
I can’t tolerate dairy so no butter and I’m not keen on the flavor of coconut oil can I sub it for macadamia oil or light olive oil??
Yes, that’ll work. You might want to reduce it by about 20g as it may taste a little oily.
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Any ideas I’m what yo make with a cupfuknof left over choc ganache? Brownies or cookies? Got a recipe??
Any way to make these egg free?
Hi Justine. I’m afraid this recipe would only work with eggs… You could possibly experiment with the chia and flax egg replacements but I have never made these with using chia or flax and only used eggs. Good luck
Can it be done with minimum oil? It seems like using so much oil. What is it?
*why
Can it be done with minimum oil? It seems like using so much oil. Why is it?
The amount of oil in this recipe is specifically what makes the cake moist. When working with coconut flour, you’ll need more fat. If you used coconut oil you could reduce the recipe a little bit. But when using this recipe, the amount of oil specified is what will turn out the best cupcakes 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hi Jo, THANK YOU! We have allergies, intolerances and Coeliacs in our family and these cup cakes were loved by all! I made 2 batches- 1 with agave syrup as 1 little one is sucrose intolerant- not as moist and didn’t rise as much. Both batches with macadamias (whole natural speed 9/ 10 seconds) instead of almond meal, due to allergy. I added cinnamon and my 4 littles ones thought they tasted like donuts… sure has been a while since we had those! I love so many of your recipes. This one really surprised me- and highlighted your skill with these ingredients. Sorry I’ve not made time to thank you before ????