Interesting facts about vanilla

I've been organising fundraisers for the past four years and many of them have been bake sales. The thing about bake sales is that not many people think to donate gluten-free or dairy-free stuff (more likely it would be too expensive - especially if it is done by students).

This recipe satisfies the dairy-free and gluten-free categories while providing something for vegans as well, depending on your choice of ingredients. It's quite affordable too (I'm looking at the students here).



I've made batches of moist and nutty carrot cake cupcakes using this recipe (my housemates might be starting to wonder if I'll ever move on from this). It is one of the best that I've tried (and I have tried quite a few) even if I do say so myself.

The use of almond meal and coconut flour makes it healthy and grain-free. I've heard that replacing the almond meal with another nutty flour would work just as well but I have yet to test that theory out.

If you need these to be egg-free, then I would suggest flaxseed. Google told me that adding 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed to 3 tablespoons of water = 1 egg. It must be right. It is Google after all.



I tend to add dashes of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and other stuff without measuring them so I can't give you precise measurements. I can, however, give you a rough estimate and hope that you'll adjust according to your tastes once you've tried my measurements.



For some, a drizzle of frosting is more than adequate. But I love my dairy. That is why half of my cupcakes were very generously frosted. What's a carrot cake without cream cheese after all.

Should you require something that is completely dairy-free, then you could leave out the frosting or even look for some dairy-free cream cheese instead! If you've gone over board and made it too runny, then you could do what I did the first time round and fold in a stiffly whipped egg white.



Makes: 12 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
130g almond meal
20g coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs
75g coconut oil, melted
110g honey
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
75g grated carrots

For the cream cheese frosting:
60g cream cheese
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
additional milk for thinning, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and line your muffin tray.

2. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients and set aside.

3. Mix the eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla in a larger bowl.

4. Slowly add spoons of dry mix to the wet mix until well combined. I like to use my electric hand mixer for this to save time.

5. Fold in the grated carrots.

6. Divide the batter among the muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7. Let the tray cool for 5 minutes and then remove the cupcakes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

8. For the cream cheese frosting, mix all the ingredients together until smooth. If it is too thick, slowly add some milk until it's at your desired consistency.

9. Pipe the frosting on your cupcakes. Do not decorate your cupcakes till they have completely cooled down! If you choose to "generously" frost it then you might need more than the measurements above. I always make extra cream cheese frosting.



Let me know how you go with this recipe! I love hearing from my readers. Enjoy!

Categories
#Healthy Recipes
#Gluten Free
#Vegan
#October Competition

Adapted from Texanerin.

%healthyhints