Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

A couple of days ago it finally snowed a relatively decent amount. It was enough for Sophie to enjoy sledding a bit on the hill by our house. Here is a picture of her all dressed, ready and waiting for us to hurry up! 

I had to come up with a recipe for chocolate cupcakes and cake that would be really, really good. My mom's friend wants us to make her daughter's gluten-free cupcakes to take to her class at school, and then a gluten-free white cake for her birthday party. She also needs it to be egg-free, so she came to the right place. I made this recipe and am really pleased with it. It made 12 cupcakes and 1 round cake. It would make 24 cupcakes just fine.

Since this was a test batch, I decided to make a chocolate ganache for us as the frosting.

The wet ingredients plus the cane sugar: 

I don't usually use cane sugar for us, but I had it because my mom gets a lot of stuff because she works with a broker for natural health companies and it is high quality cane sugar.

Ingredients mixed together plus the cocoa powder:
 

Here are the cupcakes before the ganache:

And the cake:

After the ganache hardens:

This was really, really good. I am proud of myself. I am very modest, so you must know it is good if I am really excited about it :) I eat a low sugar diet, though you may not think so because you have seen a lot of desserts on my blog. My husband really gets to eat most of the desserts. I also am not able to eat very much chocolate, though I love it so. My poor husband, I am pretty sure he has put on weight since I started this blog. Hehe. He doesn't complain, because he really loves desserts. His mom used to make all the wrong kinds (gluten, white sugar, etc) but they were undoubtably good. 

Cupcakes (makes 24, or a 2 layer cake, or 12 cupcakes and a 1 layer cake!)

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/3 cup cane sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup oil or butter substitute 

2 1/2 cup water

Egg replacing ingredients (or 2 eggs):

6 tablespoon apple sauce

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon egg replacer

Mix dry ingredient in separate bowl. Combine wet ingredients plus sugar in a separate bowl.

Mix egg replacing ingredients in a separate bowl, then combine them and the wet ingredients with the dry. Beat with a mixer for about three minutes, stopping to scrape the sides.

Add to unbleached cupcake holders, or to a cake pan of choice (greased).

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until done.

Ganache:

1 cup enjoy life chocolate chips

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 tablespoon coconut cream

Add ingredients to a double broiler (a bowl over a pot with water on the stove works). Heat on medium to low, using a whisk to stir the ingredients as they begin to melt.

Drizzle on cupcakes and cake after they are completely cool but before the ganache cools.

Please let me know if you try this recipe. Then I would really be excited!

 -heather