Chocolate Almond Cloudberry Cupcakes
Chocolate Almond Cloudberry Cupcakes are made extra moist with almond flour, filled with tart cloudberry preserves, and topped with a whipped coconut milk ganache. Gluten and dairy-free!
Equipment
- Pastry bag and piping tip
- Ice cream scoop
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- ¾ cup Dutched cocoa powder
- ¾ cup fine blanched almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- ⅔ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For the filling:
- ½ cup Cloudberry, apricot or raspberry preserves
For the Whipped Ganache:
- 1 cup dark chocolate, chips or chopped (60-70% cacao)
- ¼ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup full-fat canned coconut milk
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.
- Combine cocoa powder, almond flour, baking powder, espresso powder and sea salt in a food processor. Blend to combine.
- Add eggs, maple syrup, applesauce, coconut oil and extracts to the dry mixture in the processor. Blend until smooth, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
- Use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter between the 12 papers (you may have a little extra batter which can be baked in a separate pan).
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cupcakes have a "springy" texture.
- Cool on a rack and carefully remove from the tin to cool completely.
Filling the Cupcakes:
- Place the preserves in a pastry bag fitted with a large star or round tip. Use the tip to pierce a hole in the top of a cupcake and squeeze gently and slowly to fill with about 1 tablespoon of preserves. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
For the Whipped Ganache:
- Melt together the chocolate, coconut oil and coconut milk in a heat-proof bowl that will allow room for whisking the mixture (use a microwave on medium heat or a double boiler).
- Whisk the ganache mixture until smooth.
- Place the bowl in a refrigerator and whisk every 5 minutes until starting to cool and thicken but not harden.
- Whisk the ganache to spreading/piping consistency by hand or with a hand-held mixer.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe rosettes of ganache on the top of each cupcake. Alternatively, spread a some of the ganache on top by hand.
- Finish the cupcakes with chocolate shavings, sliced almonds or sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
Tips for Success:
- Be sure to use a "dutched" cocoa powder in this recipe.
- If coconut isn't your thing, canola oil is a nice substitution for coconut oil in the cupcakes, and a very Swedish ingredient! Butter and heavy cream may be substituted for the coconut oil and coconut milk in the ganache.
- Using a jam filling in these cupcakes is delicious, but not necessary. They are also delicious in straight chocolate form!
- If your ganache becomes hard before you are able to whisk it for piping/spreading then simply re-warm it a bit to melt and start again.
- Left-over cupcakes may be stored in the refrigerator in a container for several days or will also freeze well.
Servings: 12 cupcakes