Final Vegan Mofo Post: The Ultimate GF Chocolate Cupcakes

I was thinking about keeping this recipe to myself, but in the generous spirit of Vegan Month of Food, I'll share. This cake is rich without being overwhelming and not too overly sweet (despite all of the sugar), so it would be tasty with some frosting. The cake is a little extra work, but totally worth it. There are actually 3 recipes in one here - which helps make up for some of the days I've missed. I bring some of my baked goodies to work for coworkers to taste test. They've gotten really good at it! They said the texture and flavor were very good. It's very chocolate-y without being overly rich, and there is a very slight nutty flavor from the cashews that go into the batter.

The beets in the recipe sound a bit odd, and I can't claim that idea as my own. I often use vegetables and fruits to add moisture and texture to my gluten free goodies, but I found the non-vegan, non-gluten-friendly version of this recipe in the Hot & Hot Fish Club cookbook I was given as a gift. I know the recipe book isn't vegan, but I love free things, especially when it's easy for me to veganize it!

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 2 dozen cupcakes
3 oz finely grated beets
1/4 c. Tapioca Flour
3/4 c. Teff Flour
1 c. Brown Rice Flour
3 oz cacao powder
6 oz sugar (preferably sucanat or turbinado to keep things vegan and minimally processed)
3 Tb ground chia seeds
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder**
3/4 tsp salt
5 oz melted coconut oil (about 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups Cashew Buttermilk (recipe below)
1 tsp coconut vinegar
1/2 cup Cashew Whipped Kreme (recipe below)


Cashew Buttermilk
1/2 c. soaked cashews
1 c. water
juice of 1 lemon

Cashew Whipped Kreme
1/2 c soaked cashews
1 Tb water
2 Tb agave

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cake assembly: Sift the teff flour, tapioca flour, brown rice, cacao powder, sugar, chia seed powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the cashew buttermilk, beets, and melted coconut oil until well combined and the lumps are gone. Fold in the Cashew Whipped Kreme and coconut vinegar. Put in a muffin tin with cupcake liners and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

I will try to write a review tomorrow about my new favorite cupcake liners, If You Care baking cups. They really make all the difference and they are bleach free!


** Allergy Tip: Baking Powder is often made using corn and gluten. Be sure to read labels carefully and choose a brand that specifically states they are corn and gluten free.

Vegan Mofo Day 3: Raspberry Chocolate Cups

I have the great fortune of having grandparents who are very aware of the consequences of using herbicides and pesticides. They have beautiful lake front property and a decent portion of the property is dedicated to gardening. They have rows upon rows of organically grown raspberries, and us grandkids are always welcome to take as much as we can pick. Is it greedy to take 6 buckets home at a time? Not if it's only a couple rows worth!

Lance and I use a lot of fresh raspberries in smoothies, peach raspberry pie, cookies, sprouted buckwheat cereal with hemp milk and raspberries, and in sauces to go over crepes, waffles, pancakes, and muffins. We still freeze the majority and usually have enough to last the year. This year's crop was not as good due to the uncharacteristic amount of cold, rainy weather we got from April on. I am trying to pace our raspberry consumption, but it's really hard to hold back! My grandparents have had these plants for well over 30 years - I'm not sure how long they have been cultivating and expanding their raspberry patch, but I know they've been around at least as long as I have. The dogs love them just as much as we do, and it's always funny to see their bums poking out of a bunch of stalks - and in Bogey's case (their 130 pound Bernese Mountain Dog), the poor stalks get mauled and he often turns around to look at us while chewing on half the stalk, leaves and all. He must know they are a great source of vitamin C.

Raspberry Filling
1 cup Raspberries (frozen is fine)
5 pitted Medjool Dates
1/4 cup water
1 TB Chia Seeds

Add the raspberries, dates, and chia seeds into a high speed blender. The chia seeds will help thicken the sauce. If you do not have a high speed blender, blend the chia seeds in a coffee grinder or spice blender before adding them to the blender. The water should be the smallest amount possible - just enough to get the blades to keep turning things over in the blender. Use the tamper tool to help things along. This is more filling than required for the chocolate recipe. I used my leftover filling in smoothies the next morning.

Chocolate
3.5 oz cacao butter
1.5 oz cacao powder
3 oz agave

I melt the cacao butter over the lowest heat possible on my stove top, periodically taking the pan off the burner so the temperature doesn't get too high. If you are trying to obtain a food that is closer to raw, I suppose you could melt the cacao butter in a food dehydrator over several hours at the appropriate heat. I honestly don't have the patience, and the fact that it is questionable how raw cacao is due to fermentation after harvest makes me less anxious about conserving time and energy on my part using the stove top at a very low heat. Once the cacao butter is melted, I take the sauce pan off the heat and combine the rest of the ingredients, stirring often and vigorously so the agave combines properly with the rest of the chocolate. This chocolate recipe is from a previous post, so feel free to double the batch to help use up more of the filling.

I didn't have chocolate molds, so I just used mini cupcake papers. Spoon about 1 TB of chocolate into the bottom of each cup, or enough to coat about 1/3 of an inch. Add a teaspoon of filling to each cup to form the raspberry center:


Add at least another tablespoon over the top of the filling to create a flat surface on top of the candy.

Put the cups into the fridge to harden. I took a couple cups to work with me the next morning and left them out for several hours without a melting issue. These will melt in warm weather (ever forgotten a chocolate bar in the car? yuck). I recommend storing them in the fridge for less risk of a mess. They are a little messier to eat than highly processed chocolate that has a lot of additives and texture aides, but it's so worth it!

The finished product after chilling.

Vegan, Soy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate is packed full of anti-oxidants and is actually quite the little super food IF you don't have all the processed sugar, milk, and other ingredients that often throw this food into the junk food category. It's really quite a shame. Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy ways to enjoy delicious chocolate.

Lance loves chocolate and peanut butter, so I decided to make this with real peanut butter (ingredient = peanuts only). To make a raw version of this treat, use raw almond butter or another raw nut butter instead. You know you have good peanut butter when the oils separate. This means many of the preservatives and stabilizers haven't been added to the peanut butter and it's just gooey goodness.

This recipe calls for cacao products - not premade chocolate. Cacao is the unprocessed precursor to chocolate in its original state. Some people argue that cacao is not raw because it exceeds 115 degrees and ferments after harvest, but there are enough benefits from indulging from time to time that I still kept it in my diet when I was extremely high raw vegan.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
makes about 16 cups that are 1.5 inches in diameter and about 1/2 an inch high
3.5 oz cacao butter
1.5 oz cacao powder
3 oz agave
several 1/2 tsp of peanut butter
Tiny cupcake or foil cups to hold the chocolate

I used a small sauce pan and slowly melted the cacao butter over the lowest heat possible. If you are trying to make this as raw as possible, you can put the cacao butter in a food dehydrator over several hours to slowly melt the "butter" or you can use a thermometer. I frankly don't have that much patience.

Once the cacao butter is melted, add the agave and cacao powder and stir very well. Use a teaspoon to spoon chocolate into the bottom of the foil cups. You want it to be about 1/3 of an inch or more thick on the bottom.

Stir between chocolate cups so the agave doesn't settle on the bottom. Then add a small amount of nut butter into each cup. Then spoon enough chocolate to cover the nut butter.

Let chill to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.