It’s February once again which means that my blog is now three years old. In that time I have cooked almost 200 recipes for Stasty.com, published a gluten-free eBook and got a job that I love developing recipes for SousVide Supreme.I really enjoy having this blog as it motivates me to experiment and learn new things every week. There have been a few hairy moments of course with cake splattered kitchens, tears of frustration, strange new ovens, a different country and broken cameras. All in all, though it’s a labor of love and a memoir of my life through food. I sometimes look back at my old posts and cringe at the awful photos, but it always brings me straight back to that moment in time and I remember making those recipes like it was yesterday. Every February I try to make some kind of chocolaty treat to mark the occasion of my blogiversary. Last year, I made some delicious old fashioned cupcakes which just happened to get picked up by BuzzFeed in a post with recipes for a gluten-free valentine’s day. It turned out to be a pretty popular recipe, so I am guessing there must be a lot of people out there trying to impress their gluten-free sweethearts.
So, this year I thought I’d offer up another decadent but simple chocolate cupcake for your wheat-less valentine. This recipe is made with almond meal and buckwheat. Despite having the name wheat in the title, buckwheat is entirely gluten-free –it is actually related to the rhubarb family. Buckwheat, together with chocolate creates a delicious malty flavor. The resulting cupcake is moist, rich and decadent. I use bitter dark chocolate in this recipe, as I think it perfectly complements the sweet white chocolate frosting on top. You can garnish these cupcakes with chocolate drops, or chocolate hearts or whatever candy happens to be your loved ones favorite. This recipe is a variation of the chocolate cake in my gluten-free eBook which is still available on Amazon for the bargain price of 99c.
Makes 18 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 150g of dark chocolate (70 % cocoa)
- 100g of butter
- 1 tablespoon of whiskey
- 3 tablespoons of strong black coffee
- 4 egg whites
- 50g of sugar
- 75g of almond meal
- 4 egg yolks
- 80ml of natural yoghurt
- 50g of sugar
- 40g of buckwheat flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners. This recipe makes 18 cupcakes.
Melt the chocolate and butter over a saucepan of boiling water. Once the chocolate and butter have melted, add the whiskey and coffee. Take off the heat and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites with the sugar until they form stiff peaks. Next, add the almond meal, egg yolks, yoghurt, sugar, and buckwheat to the cooled chocolate mixture. Then fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Place the batter into the cupcake liners and cook for 10- 15 minutes. Test the cupcakes using a cake tester or sharp knife, the cupcakes are cooked once there is no batter on the tester/ knife.
Remove the cupcakes from the pan and then leave them to cool a wire rack.
White chocolate frosting
- 140g butter, at room temperature
- 140g of icing sugar, sifted
- 100 g white chocolate, melted and cooled
Put the butter and icing sugar into a food processor and beat until well combined. Using a spoon, fold in the melted white chocolate. Once the white chocolate is well mixed in, place the icing in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
When the cupcakes have cooled completely, spoon the frosting into a piping bag and use it to decorate the cupcakes. Garnish the cupcakes with chocolate hearts or chocolate buttons.
