Chocolate Lime Cupcakes (Wheat Free)

Behold! This wonderful green confection: chocolate lime cupcakes!

While I was in England, I got a lovely tube of rainbow coloured fairy cake cases: a 300 pack of proper Wilton paper liners. As such, I've got a real bug for making fairy cakes recently, and I like to try and come up with unusual flavour combinations, inspired by other desserts or sweeties.

I looked at the cake liners for a while, jotting down ideas in my sketchbook, and the green liners were really singing to me. At first I thought of mint, but unfortunately my peppermint essence has lost its flavour over time (it's an organic on in carrier oil, which now tastes only of the carrier oil), so I thought what else is green and goes with chocolate?

This called to mind a sweetie that I used to enjoy greatly as a kid: chocolate limes. Essentially, they are neon green boiled sweets flavoured with nasty fake lime flavour, filled with a chocolate creamy thing. They're naff, but they're delicious.

Source: http://sweetsfortreats.com/boiled/chocolate-limes/

The great thing, though, with making your own sweets and cakes is you know exactly what you're putting in. As such, I opted to use real limes, which don't give that characteristic 'candy' lime taste, but are easier to get here and are probably better for you.

So, I decided to make a nice light and fluffy chocolate fairy cake, with mountains of lime buttercream, and a little smattering of chocolate glaze.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Eggs
☒ Dairy (dairy substitutes can be found in italics)
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS


For 12 standard fairy cakes

• 4 ounces (115 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 medium eggs
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 ounce (55 grammes) sunflower oil
• 2 fluid ounces (30 millilitres) warm water
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

For the icing:

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) butter, softened or margarine
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) block vegetable fat, softened
• 12 ounces (340 grammes) icing sugar, sifted
• Zest of 3 limes
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Green and yellow food colouring

To make the chocolate glaze,

• 2 ounces (55 grammes) dark chocolate
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) sunflower oil

HOW-TO

• Make the cake mixture according to this recipe, using a 12 hole muffin tin lined with green cake liners (or white, if you can't get green). Divide the mixture between all the cases, and bake at 180ºC (350ºF/Gas Mk. 4) for about 20 minutes. Once cooked, transfer the cakes to a wire rack and cool completely.
• To make the glaze, melt the chocolate and oil together in a cup or small bowl, either in the microwave in 30 second increments, or over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool.
• To make the icing, beat the butter and fat together with an electric beater, or with a wooden spoon and a lot of elbow grease, until light and fluffy and well combined.
• Add in the lime zest and juice, vanilla essence, and half the icing sugar and beat again until fully combined.
• Add the rest of the icing and continue to beat until you get a nice smooth and creamy icing. Mix in green and yellow food colouring, a drop at a time, until you get a nice and suitable vivid green colour.
• Fit a piping bag with a medium or large star nozzle, and pipe swirls on top of each cake. I start in the centre of the cake, swirl around the edge, then continue to swirl upwards to have two layers and a peak on top.
• Drizzle each cake with some glaze. You could also put sprinkles or a sweet on the cake if you like. Allow the glaze to set for about 30 minutes before serving.

This time in 2015: Danish Pastries: Dinosaur Paws (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

This time in 2014: Lessons in Chocolate Dipping and Edible Anniversary Gifts

This time in 2013: Homemade Box of Chocolates = WIN