Cupcakes are important to CK because there would be no CK without them. The first time I met Chef K was when I offered him a cupcake. A year later Chef K and I became best friends over a cupcake again.
I have made a lot of cupcakes in my day, but this is my first gluten free dairy free one. One challenge for us was not making the frosting just a giant blob of butter.
Although I suppose that’s just what frosting is. Makes sense why everyone likes it so much. However, dairy free butter isn’t quite the same, so we had to do a little better than just butter.
The other challenge was deciding between either cooked strawberries or fresh strawberries in the center. Each had pros and cons.
Baking the strawberries right in was less work, but the strawberry just melts into the batter.
Adding the strawberry after the cupcake is baked is more work, but it is visibly more appealing and you get more of a fresh strawberry flavor and texture. We went with the prettier route 😉
Keep your strawberries in your cupcakes, not the floor,
Your favorite alternative chefs, K & T
Decadent Chocolate Cupcake w/ Strawberry Buttercream
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 1 ⅓ cups hemp milk
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 12 strawberries
Strawberry frosting
- 1 cup vegan butter
- ½ cup honey
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp gelatin powder
- 2 tbsp arrowroot
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
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In large bowl, mix together eggs, hemp milk, syrup, and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
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In another bowl, sift together flours, cocoa powder, and baking soda
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Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until there are no more dry flour patches.
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Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners, then fill each cup with batter. These don’t rise that much so you want to fill the cup almost all the way to the top.
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Bake for 20-25 minutes. After they are done, remove from oven and remove from muffin tin and place on cooling rack.
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Once cooled, carve out a hole in the center to place a strawberry. It’s okay if the strawberry sticks out a little since you are going to cover it with frosting.
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For the frosting, start by adding dried strawberries to a blender and blend until it is a powder. With a hand mixer, whip together strawberry powder, butter and honey.
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In a small bowl, add gelatin to water and let sit for 10 minutes, then add to mixing bowl of frosting. Last add the arrowroot and mix until well combined.
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Frost all cupcakes however you want!