It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Surprise your loved one with these amazing Cacao Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream.
Hello, lovelies! Are you waiting for Valentine’s Day? I must confess, we are not really big on the holiday, as we think you should celebrate love every day, and not only on special occasions. Am I right? But being a romantic holiday it IS an opportunity to indulge in food that is… well, a bit less healthy than the usual.
As I was making dessert for a family lunch over the weekend, I could think of nothing better than these cute little portion-control Cacao Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream 😉 Although the portion-control is not really very effective when you eat more than one. Oops!
This cupcake recipe, or should I say – cupcake base, is a recipe that has been with me for many years, ever since I developed a rather severe allergy to dairy a couple of years back, and was forced to eat dairy-free food for a while. And this cupcake base recipe never fails! It has no eggs, no milk (I used soy milk), no butter and it is completely vegan. The topping, though, is not, so beware if you have food allergies.
These cupcakes were gone in minutes, so if you’re entertaining, make sure to do a double batch! You can use any kind of topping for decoration. Here I used sugar hearts and tiny sugar spheres, but you can also use fresh strawberries or even chocolate shards. These toppings are not very healthy, but being the middle of winter, I did not have any fresh strawberries at hand, so sometimes you just have to make do 🙂
Cacao Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream
Surprise your loved one with these amazing Cacao Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream. Vegan base and delicious! cacao, cake, cream, cupcakes, dessert, muffin, strawberries, valentine
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ts baking powder
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cacao powder
- pinch of salt
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 ts vanilla essence
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 cup sunflower seed oil
- 2 ts vinegar
- 150 g strawberries, fresh or frozen
- 50 g sugar
- 250 ml whipping cream
- 125 g mascarpone cheese
- decoration of choice (such as sugar hearts or fresh strawberries).
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 356°F (fan oven to 160°C / 320°F. Line a muffin tin with paper molds.
- For the {vegan} base: In a bowl place flour, baking powder, cacao powder, pinch of salt and sugar. In a separate bowl mix together vanilla essence, milk and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Now add vinegar and mix it in quickly and immediately pour the mixture into the baking tin and place in the oven. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, then remove from oven and let the cupcakes cool down completely.
- For the cream: Whip whipping cream, then add mascarpone and combine well. Place into the fridge to set. In a pan, add strawberries and 50g sugar and cook on medium, stirring regularly, until the strawberries reduce and the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. When cooked, puree with a stick blender and set aside to cool. Add the cooled strawberry puree to the mascarpone cream and combine well.
- Decorate your cupcakes: Put strawberry cream in a decorating bag, cut of the bottom corner and squeeze the cream on top of the cupcakes. Then add topping of choice, such as sugar hearts or fresh strawberries on top. Repeat until all the cupcakes are decorated.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 322.63Total Fat: 20.33gSaturated Fat: 7.35gSodium: 109.58mgCarbohydrates: 33.05gFiber: 1.56gSugar: 19.32gProtein: 3.88g
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