Gee Charman Archives - Nourishbooks

Guilt-Free Recipe for Easter

Looking for something different and guilt-free for Easter? Look no further than these Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Frosting.

Perfectly light and moist – a great alternative to the heavier Easter treats around. Using avocado in icing might sound strange, and I suppose it is a little strange, but surprisingly it works! And they’re egg and dairy free so even your vegan friends can enjoy a treat at Easter!

Have a look at our Publicity Assistant, Gemma, making up her batch at home:

The Recipe, in black and white

Makes 24 mini cupcakes (12 servings)

Per serving:
Fat: 4.5g (of which saturates: 0.8g)
Calories: 111kcal
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes

For the chocolate cakes:
240ml/8fl oz/scant 1 cup almond milk, plus extra for the frosting
1 tsp cider vinegar
185g/6½oz/heaped ¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract (optional)
250g/9oz/2 cups self-raising flour
30g/1oz/ ⅓ cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the avocado frosting:
2 ripe avocados
4 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
2 tbsp clear honey
a little almond milk, to loosen

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and line two 12-hole mini-muffin tins with paper cases.
Mix together the almond milk and vinegar in a large bowl and stir well, then leave to one side for a few
minutes to curdle.
Beat in the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and almond extract, if using, and whisk until frothy.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together well.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tins, filling the sections three-quarters full. Bake for 10–12 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the frosting, scoop out the avocado flesh into a small blender or food processor (or bowl and
work with a hand-held blender).
Add the cocoa powder and honey and process until smooth, then gradually add a little almond milk, a drop at a time, until the mixture just begins to hold its shape.
Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm star nozzle and pipe the frosting onto the centre of the cakes in a nice high peak. (You don’t need to cover the entire surface as this would add too much icing and therefore too many calories.)
Peel back the paper and enjoy – the great thing is they are so mini you can eat two!

Gee Charman

Guilt-Free Baking

£16.99 | available from Nourish Books

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March 25, 2016/0 Comments/by Victoria Lagodinsky

Recipes

Victoria Sponge Guilt-Free Cupcakes

Simple, light and classic: these are so easy to make but unfailingly delicious.

This recipe is an extract from Guilt-Free Baking by Gee Charman.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 18 minutes

Ingredients:
Makes 12 cupcakes (12 servings)
For the sponge cupcakes:
low-calorie cooking oil spray, for greasing (optional)
250g/9oz/2 cups self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g/5½oz tinned pears in natural juice, drained
3 tbsp sunflower oil
150g/5½oz/⅔ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the strawberry filling:
200g/7oz/1⅓ cups strawberries
6 tbsp low-sugar strawberry jam
1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and line a muffin tin with paper cases or lightly spray the sections of a 12-hole loose-based mini sandwich tin with low-calorie cooking oil spray.
Mix together the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Put the pears in a blender and blend to a purée. In a separate bowl, beat together the oil, caster sugar, eggs and vanilla extract, then add the pear purée and mix well.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together well.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin, filling the sections three-quarters full.
Bake for 15–18 minutes until golden brown, well risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Remove the paper cases, if necessary, and cut the cakes in half horizontally. If you like, reserve 6 strawberries for decoration, then hull and thinly slice the remainder.
Spread a little of the jam over one half of each of the cut cakes, then top with a few strawberry slices.
Replace the top of each cake and dust lightly with icing sugar.
Cut the reserved strawberries, if using, in half, then make 3 cuts in each half up to the stalk but not going through it completely, then fan them out and put one on top of each cake to serve.