Almond Meal Chocolate Cupcakes (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

These cupcakes are dense, rich and chocolatey. I prefer to use good quality cocoa powder for a richer taste. The recipe below is based on a 250 ml cup as equal to 1 cup. I recommend using the spoon and level method to measure ingredients (spoon in the ingredient and then level it off with the back of a butter knife). This recipe makes about 12 to 15 cupcakes. These will keep well somewhere not too hot (I use my pantry in winter and spring), even iced, in an airtight container for at least a few days.

What you need:

4 eggs

2/3 to 3/4 cup of sugar (adjust according to your preferences for sweetness)

1/4 cup of mild oil (I prefer sunflower oil or mild olive oil)

1 1/2 cups of almond meal

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

1 tablespoon of vanilla essence

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 quantity of my Easy Vegan Chocolate Icing or any other chocolate icing you like

What to do:

1. Line a cupcake tray or cupcake trays with regular size cupcake cases and preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Place the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl and beat well until light and very fluffy (I prefer to do this in my stand mixer but a handheld electric beater will work too).

3. Add the oil to the bowl and beat into the beaten eggs and sugar very briefly to minimise how much air is knocked out the mixture.

4. Add the almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and vanilla essence to the bowl and carefully fold into the beaten eggs/sugar/oil mixture. This will likely result in quite a lot of air being knocked out of the mixture but try to do it as carefully as possible to keep the air loss as little as possible.

5. Divide the cupcake batter evenly between 12 to 15 muffin cases (depending on your preferred size).

6. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until baked and just firm to the touch. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes in the cupcake pan and then remove from the pan and leave to finish cooling on a cooling rack. The cupcakes may sink a little in the middle but this shouldn’t affect the final taste or texture.