Who doesn’t love a festive looking scrumptious cupcake? These are chocolate cupcakes, which are my favorite! They are sugar free, gluten free, low carb and keto friendly.
The frosting is a sugar free ganache frosting. I had an extra bag of strawberry chocolate chips from Choczero, so that is how I achieved the color & the flavor.
I love to add a little cinnamon and coffee to my chocolate cake batters, as I find that they brighten up the cocoa flavor.
At the last minute before baking my cupcakes, I decided to swirl in some homemade berry jam on the tops. This is totally optional, but it really added extra moisture and a lovely layer of flavor. You can of course use any store bought favorite.
Ingredients:
2 cups almond flour
3 eggs (room temperature)
1/3 cup of butter (room temperature & softened)
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp coffee
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp monk fruit
3 tbsp yacon syrup
(Or 1/3 cup of favorite sweetener instead of monk fruit & yacon)
1/4 cup of berry jam
Frosting:
1 cup of heavy cream
1 package of any flavor chocolate chips (7 ounces) (I used strawberry chocolate chips)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter & sweetener together until fluffy. Add in the eggs beating them one at a time. Add in the vanilla extract and coffee.
Sift the almond flour, cocoa powder, salt & baking powder & mix them together in another bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time, beating them together until well combined.
Line your muffin pan with 10 cupcake liners.
Spoon your batter into the liners. I added a teaspoon of homemade sugar free berry jam onto the surface of the batter, and gently swirled it around.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when you prick it and pull it back out.
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely before frosting. They need to have come to room temperature so that your frosting doesn’t melt & become a mess! I would say to wait two hours for sure.
To make the ganache, bring 1 cup of milk to a simmer. Remove from the heat & add in your strawberry chocolate chips. Cover and let the chocolate melt. After 10 minutes, stir together until it is thoroughly combined. Place it in the refrigerator to cool for an hour before you turn it into frosting.
Now take it out of the fridge and with a whisk attachment whip it in a mixing bowl until fluffy. It will double in volume & lighten up in color.
Note that it’s easy to over beat the ganache. If you do it will turn grainy. So I will beat it on high for around five minutes. Place it back in the fridge for maybe fifteen minutes, to become a bit more solid. I might give it one more spin before using it. Fill the piping bag with the frosting.
Now it’s up to you how you wish to decorate them. I am very new to cake & cupcake decorating, so I experimented with three different piping tips. I added strawberries to a few, sprinkles to others, and edible glitter, and left a couple of them plain.
Whatever you decide to do, have fun and get creative!
Kali Oreksi!
on xenia street 