Calista's First Cupcake!

I may be healthy, but I love chocolate cake. I am always looking for ways to make recipes "healthy", but I also believe in balance and treats. That might be why her first birthday party was titled "Cocktails and Cupcakes". :)

So, for Calista's first cupcake we decided we had to go chocolate all the way. I tried two different chocolate recipes and bought Trader Joe's Vanilla Cake Mix for anyone who wanted "real" cupcakes. :) One of my icing attempts was a massive fail, so I won't be sharing that one here, but the chocolate icing we made is probably the best I have ever had and it's only 2 ingredients!

Our FAVORITE recipe from The Paleo Kitchen Cookbook by Juli Bauer & George Bryant

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 tsp fine grain sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
10 large eggs
1 cup coconut oil
1 cup maple syrup

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake pan. This made more than one dozen since the original recipe is for a cake.
2. Mix coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in small bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Mix until well combined, add the coconut flour mixture and blend until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into cupcake pan about 3/4 full.
5. Bake between 14-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool completely before icing.

Chocolate Icing

Ingredients:
1 can full fat coconut cream/milk (put in fridge 24 hours in advance, only use the cream, drain excess water)
1 package of Enjoy Life Chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Add coconut cream and chocolate chips to a double-boiler or pan on low heat. Melt together.
2. Pour into a large ziploc bag and place in the freezer for 2 hours.
3. When the cupcakes are cool and you are ready to ice, cut a corner of the ziploc bag and pipe icing onto cupcakes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcake Recipe #2: These were delicious but a little sweeter than the first recipe because they use coconut sugar which to me has a very distinct taste. They were a huge hit. I found the recipe here:

http://www.texanerin.com/paleo-chocolate-cupcakes/

Quick Shout Out to my friend, Heidi Rew, for providing decorations! Check out her wonderful blog, http://partiesforpennies.com/