Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes- gluten free/vegan/top 8 allergen free









If you’re enough lucky to be Irish... You’re lucky enough!




Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here is my take on a chocolate mint dessert for the holiday.  It consists of a a chocolate chip cupcake, topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream and drizzled with a chocolate mint "magic shell".  It is divine.  

I would have loved the buttercream to be a beautiful green, but as you can tell by the picture, the green is more of a moss color!   That's what happens when you use natural food coloring, so I decided to just let the buttercream be.  And after eating one, having the color  the perfect shade of green didn't matter to me at all.......


gluten free, vegan......allergy free!


Chocolate Chip Cupcake:
Oven 350 degrees
12 cup cupcake pan with liners

3/4 Cup  White Rice Flour
1/4 Cup  Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Cup  Potato Starch
1/2 tsp  Xantham Gum
1 Cup  Organic Sugar
1 tsp.  Baking Soda
1/4 tsp.  Sea Salt
3 TB  Cocoa Powder
6 TB  Canola Oil
1 tsp  Vanilla Extract
2 TB  Applecider Vinegar
1 Cup  Coffee (hot)  I used decaf.
1/2 Cup  Chocolate Chips (Enjoy Life)

In a large mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients into bowl.  Mix on low to combine well.  Add in canola oil, vanilla extract, applecider vinegar and hot coffee.  Mix well on medium speed, scraping down when needed.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Divide evenly into a 12 lined cupcake pan.  Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Set aside and cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream:

1/4 + 1/8 Cup  "Butter" (we use Earth Balance soy free)
1/4 + 1/8 Cup  Spectrum Shortening
pinch of salt
2 1/4 Cups  Organic Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 TB  Coconut Milk (carton) or milk substitute
1 tsp  Vanilla Extract
Natural Green Food coloring (if desired) 

Add butter, shortening and salt into large mixing bowl and mix on medium until well blended and soft.  Add in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract and mix on low until blended than medium until fluffy.  About 2-3 minutes.  Add natural food coloring if desired and mix until blended.  Set aside.

Chocolate Mint "Magic Shell"

1/2 Cup  Coconut Oil (melted)
1/4 Cup  Organic Powdered Sugar
3 tsp  Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp  Mint Extract (or more if you like a stronger mint taste)

Add all ingredients into a small bowl and by hand until smooth.  It will be pourable.  Set aside.

Assembly:

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on vanilla buttercream to a tall peak.  Put the iced cupcakes into refrigerator for about 1 hour to "set" the buttercream.  Once the frosting has set, take a spoon and drizzle the chocolate mint "magic shell" over the top of the cupcake.  The "shell" will set up fairly instantly.  At this point let the cupcakes sit until the frosting has a chance to come back up to room temperature.  The "magic shell" will stay firm and the cupcake is much more delicious to eat with a soft buttercream!  Enjoy!




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May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks,
May your heart be as light as a song,
May each day bring you bright, happy hours,
That stay with you all the year long.












2 comments:

  1. I love the combination of your chocolate and mint for this delicious cupcake! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to Ya and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday!
    Come Back Soon,
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
  2. YUMMM Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)

    Hope your week is great! Can't wait to see what you link up this week!

    Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com

    ReplyDelete