How wrong I was! The texture fell into that "crumb clump" category of moistness. This is when you have pieces of the cake and you can take a fork and clump them together and they will remain in one clump. Also, there was no strannge flavor due to the olive oil and the coconut milk did not impart any flavor either. All you taste is the rich chocolate and notes of orange in the cake and then more tangy orange from the frosting.
The only issue I had was that I used some new cupcake wrappers that were sturdy enough to be baked without putting them in a tin. However, the wrappers separated from some of the cupcakes. Not sure if it was the wrappers or the cake, but this is the first time I had that issue. I will probably make these again but go back to the regular paper liners.
Blood Orange Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from Loveandoliveoil
Ingredients/Cake
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs almond meal
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp blood orange zest
1/3 cup olive oil
Ingredients/Frosting
3 tbs blood orange juice
1 tsp blood orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbs heavy cream (optional)
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the top edges of muffin cavities and then line cavities with paper liners.
In a medium size bowl, beat coconut milk until smooth. Add the vanilla extract, sugar, olive oil and zest. Then beat at a low speed until all is blended. Set aside.
Then you will need another bowl for the dry ingredients. Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, salt, almond meal, baking powder and baking soda. Then make a well in the center and pour in the coconut milk mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until no dry streaks remain.
Using a ice cream scoop, fill each of the 12 muffin cavities with about 3 tbs of batter. They should not exceed the 2/3 mark. The batter does raise a lot in baking, even though the cups do not look that full of batter.
Bake about 18-20 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Remove pan and let cupcakes cool about 5 minutes and then transfer to rack to finish cooling.
To make the frosting, cream the butter with a mixer on medium speed. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat for 1 minute. Then beat in the zest, vanilla and orange juice. Continue to add powdered sugar in half cup increments and beat until desired consistency is met. You may need less sugar or some cream, depending on your preference.
**LAST YEAR: Toffee Temptations**