Christmas Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cupcakes | Dairy Free & Gluten Free

For the holidays, you got to have some kind of chocolate cake! If you love chocolate, you will love this cake! It's rich and perfectly sweetened with a creamy Chocolate Fudge Swiss Buttercream! Filled with fresh raspberries to add a nice tart contrast to the chocolate.

This recipe is super moist and it will last a long time in the fridge without drying out too fast! It's naturally sweetened with coconut sugar and I use cassava flour instead of regular all purpose flour.

This little sweet treat is not only dairy free and gluten free, but it's nut free and grain free!

Make this for the holidays or any holiday and no one would no the difference from the real thing!

Christmas Raspberry filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Dairy Free | Gluten Free | Grain Free | Nut Free | Paleo friendly

Ready in 1 hr. 30 minutes

Serves 1 dozen

Ingredients

Chocolate cake:

3/4 cup cassava flour

1 1/4 cups coconut sugar

1/3 cup dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup strong coffee

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup avocado oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 carton of Fresh raspberries

Chocolate Swiss Butter Cream:

4 egg whites

1 1/4 cups coconut sugar

1 1/4 cups coconut oil, cold

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

Preparation:

Preheat oven 350F | Cupcake pan lined with cupcake paper liners

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cassava flour, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until fully combined. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, coffee, coconut milk, vinegar, oil, and vanilla.

3. As you whisk, pour in the wet ingredients with the dry. Whisk until the batter is combined and smooth.

4. Pour the batter in your prepared cupcake pans, fill them 3/4 full.

5. Bake them in the oven for 20-22 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let them cool down. Set aside.

Preparing the Chocolate Fudge Swiss Butter Cream Icing:

**You will need to use a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this icing

1. Get a hot water bath started on your stove. You will fill a medium size pot half way with water and let it come to a boil. Then turn it down to a medium heat, so it's just simmering.

2. In a mixing bowl, add the egg whites and the coconut sugar. Whisk them together until incorporated.

3. Place the mixing bowl over the hot water bath. Keep stirring the egg/sugar mix until it reaches 140F and the sugar granules are dissolved.

4. Once it reaches temperature, with your mixing machine or hand mixer, you will start whisking the egg mixture on high speed until its forms stiff peaks. This will take about 3-4 minutes. This is your Swiss meringue.

5. Now turn down the mixing machine speed to a medium to low. Slowly add the coconut oil to the meringue. Keep blending until the coconut oil is fully incorporated into the meringue. It will start to get fluffy in texture, like mayo.

6. Turn off your mixer and sift in the cocoa powder and the vanilla. On low to medium speed, blend the cocoa in to the icing. Mix until the cocoa is completely blended.

Assemble Cupcake:

1. Once the cupcakes are completely cool. Place a fresh raspberry on top and in the center of each cupcake.

2. Fill a piping bag with the icing, (you can use a star tip, if you wish) I just cut the tip off the bag for a round look.

3. Then pipe the icing around the raspberry all the way up in a circular motion. Sprinkle some Christmas sprinkles or chocolate shavings and top it with another raspberry! Enjoy!

Storage:

I like to store these in the fridge covered with some plastic wrap for up to 4 days. If you want to freeze the cupcakes without the icing, you sure can! They freeze well, up to 2 months in a food safe container or zip lock bag.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Please a leave a comment below on how your cupcakes turned out!