Unusual combinations of flavours really spice life up. Chilli chocolate. Peanut butter and chocolate cookies. Zesty chocolate cupcakes. Yes. Yes. Anyway you look at it, it has to be chocolate and ....
Many years ago, when I lived and travelled around Europe, I was intrigued by a country's cuisine. Many savoury dishes included chocolate!
Here, in the chill of winter our wonderful lemon tree continues to drip heavily with this incredible fruit. We're thinking up all sorts of interesting dishes, as well as ways to store the lemon for the dry and warm season ahead. Totally out of character with my everything-and-always-healthy food preparation I finally made .... gulp .... marmalade .... and yes - shock and horror - that meant I actually bought (and used) sugar! The lemon marmalade is .... dare I say it .... delicious!!!! And yes, I will be sharing the recipe. To salvage the health nut reputation I decided to bake our favourite chcolate cupcakes after processing all the lovely organic citrus. The difference being that instead of cleaning the food processor I made the muffins with the residue zest. The result is phenomonal!!
Instead of regular (or gluten-free) flour I like using nuts or seeds as it gives my family a different form of protein and wholesome goodness. Always soak your nuts overnight. Rinse well and dry. I find it easier to soak a large amount at a time and keep the almonds frozen for impulsive cooking.
My sweetener of choice is either honey or dates. Both have invaluable benefits. Because we all love chocolate I get large quantities of organic and raw cacao. It is a wonderful superfood. I generally use my goats nourishing organic milk as well as our free roaming chickens eggs, but for a vegan option you can use coconut milk and also egg replacement.
ZESTY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES:
2 Cups Almond Flour
3 Eggs
1 Cup Coconut Milk (I used my goats wonderful organic milk)
2 tablespoons Coconut Oil (melted)
3 tablespoons Honey
1/2 cup Sweet potatoes (steamed)
3 tablespoons Cacao powder
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Zest off one large lemon
Blend your almond flour and three eggs for at least two minutes. This prevents the almond flour becoming a crumbly cupcake.
Add in the lemon zest, honey and sweet potato. And blend a little more. The sweetness of the steamed sweet potato limits the necessity for more sweetening. It also gives a lovely spongy texture to the cupcake.
Finally add the coconut oil, coconut milk (or goats milk), salt, baking powder and baking soda plus the cacao powder.
Give a quick blend and immediately scoop the mixture into your prepared muffin tray. Handle the mixture very gently as gluten-free recipes are prone to flopping if overworked or man-handled in the baking.
Bake for 20 minutes at 180 C. It's best to test them with a toothpick as they are very moist and may need a few minutes extra to bake. Once removing them from the oven, allow to cool for a couple minutes then pop them out.
This cupcake needs no topping and we love them as is. But, if you can restrain yourself, let the cupcakes cool and ice them. A yummy topping is macadamia nut cream (basically a cup of soaked and rinsed macadamia nuts blended to a cream with a couple dates and a few tablespoons of mountain water - YUM).
My children had a fun picnic in their tree house minus the sugar kick. Because the marmalade was ready around the time the cupcakes finished baking us adults added a dollop of sugary marmalade to the cupcakes. Shocking, I know, but even I break the health rules once in a blue moon.