Dairy free cupcakes

A delicious, rich, fudgey chocolate cupcake recipe that is gluten, dairy and nut free.

This dairy free cupcake recipe is so healthy you could eat it for breakfast or even dinner but tastes indulgent.

Jump to:

• Why this recipe?
• Ingredients
• Tips
• Recipe

If it looks like a rich, dark, sugary, buttery chocolate cupcake then it is right?

Wrong!

Oh no this is not just any old mouthwatering chocolate cupcake. This is special.

This dairy free cupcake recipe tastes just like a rich chocolate cupcake but is gluten, dairy and nut free (and has vegetables in it!).

You could eat this cupcake for breakfast.

Why this recipe?

1. It literally tastes like a rich chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing.
2. Allergic to nuts? Gluten? Dairy? It has you covered for almost ALL intolerances. Have you ever seen an intolerance-friendly chocolate cupcake that looks & tastes like the gluten, dairy loaded version?
3. You could probably eat it for dinner and you would have still had a couple of serves of vegetables even if you ate nothing else.

'What' you say. Have you gone mad Claire? I have not thank you very much. Well no crazier than usual at least.

Where was I? Oh yes vegetable cake, sorry, I mean chocolate cake.

Gluten, dairy, nut free chocolate cupcakes (refined sugar free too so Paleo) to be specific.

Look at that fudgey icing piled so high.

Would you believe that cauliflower lurks within the folds?

See told you, healthy. What if I told you it also has avocado?

Ingredients

• Raw pumpkin - this is what gives the cakes their lovely moisture.
• Eggs - to bind it all together.
• Syrup - depending on your desired sweetness - Maple for subtle sweet, honey or golden syrup for a little more.
• Oil - a light flavoured oil.
• Vanilla - extract or bean paste for better flavour.
• Baking powder - to give it rise and fluffiness.
• Baking soda - works together with the baking powder.
• Sea salt - brings out the chocolate flavour. It's a must for all baking.
• Cocoa or raw cacao - gives it the chocolate flavour.
• Coconut flour - the gluten-free flour.

I think we just found a way to get kids to eat their vegetables while thinking they're eating chocolate cake.

Now I will give a little word of warning.

If you are used to eating the full sugar-butter-flour-deliciously-rich version of chocolate cake then dairy free cupcakes don't taste quite like that.

It is amazingly luscious and scrumptious but you can tell it's not a regular chocolate cake.

If you served it to someone who doesn't have chocolate cake every day I would say they would gobble it up, lick their fingers and ask if they could pretty please have another.

My only tip would be to taste the icing and adjust the sweetness.

Depending on the avocado you get they can be a bit bitter.

I had to add a bit of extra maple syrup to my icing.

Tips

CAKE VERSION - This recipe can be made into a cake. Just bake in a 20cm, greased and lined round cake tin for 45-50 minutes.

GOT A SWEET TOOTH - If you're a fan of super sweet stuff then we recommend using a sweeter icing than the one listed. You could make a chocolate ganache by melting dairy-free dark chocolate with coconut cream & a little honey.

SWEETENER OPTIONS

• Maple syrup is preferred over rice syrup which isn't overly sweet.
• For a sweetness boost, sub out a little maple syrup with golden syrup (this won't be refined-sugar free) or you can use some honey.
• No syrup? Mix ½ cup of rapadura sugar with ¼ of a cup of hot water to dissolve it and use that as a syrup.

You could also serve the icing in cups with berries as a mousse for dessert.

Delicious! Enjoy!

What about you? Have you ever made a chocolate cake with vegetables in it?

Recipe