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Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut & orange frosting

December 13, 2014 By Nora 11 Comments

I’ve posted a couple of muffin recipes before, but this time my goal was to create the ultimate chocolate muffin batter. I wanted it all: sugarfree, glutenfree, dairyfree, eggfree, vegan, nutfree, soyfree, whole grain, lowglycemic with wholesome ingredients… I’m sure you get the idea: an easy-to-handle batter that fits most people living on some sort of special diet.

I was pleased that it took me only 5-6 tries to get it right for me and test it on my friends: no friable tiny cakes, no funny aftertaste, no dry cupcakes on the next morning, works with different chocolate brands and everybody loved it!

These tiny cakes work just fine on their own as a snack. To make it more festive this time of year, I chose to top them with a very simple chestnut-orange frosting. Enjoy!

Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting

It took me by surprise that actually, baking gluten- and eggfree is easier: my previous muffins/cakes that were gluten- dairy- and sugarfree but contained some eggs always turned out a bit too dry for my taste. While experimenting with this recipe, I realised that if I get the ratios right, my cakes are turning out not too dry or wet, but exactly right. It just took me a little practice, that’s all. 🙂

Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting


Ingredients for 12 pieces:
dry ingredients:
60g millet (flour)
40g buckwheat (flour)
40g amaranth flour
50g brown rice flour
20g tapioca starch
pinch of salt (I use pink Himalayan salt)
1 level teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1/2 level teaspoon of stevia powder
pinch of ground cinnamon

wet ingredients:
100g olive oil
200g water
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of (home made) vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate (tried 50-81% cocoa content bars)
1 level tablespoon of very finely ground flaxmeal

for the chestnut-orange frosting:
250g roasted chestnut puree
juice of 1 orange
2 teaspoons of orange extract

I measure everything in grams not to annoy you, but to be precise – if you don’t have a small kitchen scale, I strongly recommend you buy one as it makes glutenfree baking so much more reproducible… Trust me (and Gluten-free Girl) on this one!

Millet and buckwheat flour I grind myself with a small spice/coffee mill – no need to look for glutenfree mills and buy it more expensive.

Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting

You’ll need 3 separate bowls: a tiny one to prepare flax eggs, a medium one for the wet and a larger one for the dry ingredients.

Trust me, this is going to take more time for me to type up than for you to bake!

  1. Preheat the oven at 160 C / 320 F, no convection.
  2. At first mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl, and heat them slightly, so that the chocolate melts.
  3. Measure the dry ingredients in a larger mixing bowl.
  4. Prepare the flax eggs: add 2-3 tablespoons of lukewarm water to the finely ground flaxmeal and whisk continuously with a hand whisk until a gelly-like mixture forms.
  5. Now add the wet ingredients to the flax eggs in 2-3 portions, while whisking thoroughly.
  6. Finally, combine wet & dry mixture, divide batter uniformly into 12 muffin caps and bake them at 160 C / 320 F for 20 minutes. (Baking temperature is important – if you bake them at 180 C / 356 F the muffins will get too dry!)
  7. For the frosting, just combine the ingredients in a food processor and use some sweetener to taste, if desired. (I didn’t need any.)
  8. Cover muffin tops with frosting and decorate with a small slice of orange.
That’s it, you’re ready to serve! Look at that light, airy texture…

Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting

I tested this recipe with omnivore family members, friends, even their kids (!) and everyone loved them, so  I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I did. 🙂

Carb content is approx. 17g of carbs /muffin and 10g of carbs /frosting portions, so 27g CH/serving. (The chocolate I used had 48g CH/100g and the chestnut puree 42g CH/100g.)

Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting

This recipe was featured as a dessert at the Virtual Vegan Potluck in December 2014. 

Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting

To stroll along the long list of amazing vegan recipes, use the buttons below:
Chocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frostingChocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frostingChocolate cupcakes with chestnut - orange frosting

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Filed Under: gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, sugar-free, top 8 free, vegan, vegetarian, yeast-free Tagged With: chestnut, chocolate, Christmas, cupcake, dessert, let's celebrate, low glycemic, muffin, orange, snack, sweets

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kelly says

    December 13, 2014 at 4:32 am

    These look lovely, Nori! Love all that frosting!

    Reply
  2. Nora says

    December 13, 2014 at 9:26 am

    Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

    Reply
  3. bunnykitchen.com says

    December 13, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    Lovely, I bet the chestnut and orange frosting is delicious!

    Reply
  4. fittingintovegan says

    December 13, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    Oooh, these cupcakes look great, and I have never heard of chestnut frosting before but it looks great!

    Reply
  5. Nora says

    December 15, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    I wish you'll get your hands on some chestnuts and have a try! 🙂

    Reply
  6. acookinthemaking.com says

    December 15, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    My mouth is watering at the idea of a chestnut frosting…what a unique and delicious idea! These look wonderful.

    Reply
  7. marfigs says

    December 15, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    Wish I could find chestnut puree – these look so amazing!

    Reply
  8. Sonia says

    December 15, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    Hi! Lovely recipe! I´m loving this vegan potluck! I´m finding such amazing recipes today! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Amy @ Parsley In My Teeth says

    December 15, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    Now you're talking — gotta love those chocolate cupcakes! Happy VVP!

    Reply
  10. Keely says

    December 31, 2014 at 3:12 am

    Your chestnut frosting sounds fantastic – if only I had somewhere I could buy chestnut purée! I would make these in a flash.

    Reply
  11. Nora says

    January 1, 2015 at 3:28 pm

    Thanks for all the lovely comments! I never thought chestnut would be such an exotic ingredient… Sorry about that. However, those chocolate muffins (without frosting) are absolutely worth a try, so don't miss them! 🙂

    Reply

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I'm Nora: creative foodie, ex-PCOS patient, mom of a little baby girl, scientist, coffee lover, avid traveller to name a few things that come to mind. More about me...

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