Kid-Friendly Chocolate Cupcakes

Kate asked for chocolate cupcakes for her birthday. I asked her if I could use the same recipe that I used for the raspberry chocolate cake and the answer was a very loud "NO." Although I loved how rich the chocolate raspberry cake was, she thought it was too bitter. So this recipe has a lot less chocolate and a lot more sugar. Very kid-friendly. And just look at these cupcakes, aren't they cute? They are a little melted-looking because I am impatient and iced them before they had cooled completely. Silly me. 

Ingredients :

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar (icing)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup almond milk (icing)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (icing)
• Food coloring (icing)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Mix in water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. 
4. Mix until the lumps go away.
5. Prepare cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
6. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop (I recommend the scoop. It's a little easier and it makes more evenly-sized cupcakes), spoon batter into cupcake papers. 
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. For the icing, mix powdered sugar, almond milk and vanilla in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth. Add food coloring as desired.
9. WAIT TIL THE CUPCAKES HAVE COOLED BEFORE ICING. I didn't, and look how they turned out. 
10. Store in the fridge overnight or until served (this sets the icing). 

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Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Its time for the first recipe! This cake is to die for. It's so chocolate-y. It's pretty much just layers and layers of chocolate. Not even kidding.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 1 and a half cups of gluten free all-purpose flour (or normal wheat flour, if desired)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup cocoa (more or less according to taste)
• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 tbs oil (canola or sunflower)
• 1 cup water

Ingredients for the icing: 

• 4 tbs coconut oil
• 1 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup agave
• 2 cups frozen or fresh raspberries
• 2 tbs corn starch/corn flour
• 1/2 tbs water
• 1/4 cup almond or soy milk

Procedure for the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cocoa. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix vinegar, vanilla, oil, and water.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well.
5. Prepare two circular cake pans by coating bottom and sides with a little bit of oil or vegan butter. 
6. Pour batter evenly into pans
7. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
8. Set aside to cool while preparing the icing

Procedure for the icing:

1. In a saucepan, melt coconut oil, cocoa and agave over medium heat until smooth. Stir often. Set aside.
2. In a separate saucepan, heat raspberries, water, and corn starch until thick, like a jam. 
3. Once cakes are cool, remove one from its pan onto the serving plate or platter. 
4. Spread a thin later of chocolate icing on the cake (use about 1/4 of what you have).
5. Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the icing.
6. Remove second cake from its pan and place on top of the other one (the raspberries will probably seep out. It's okay.
7. Spread a thin layer of chocolate icing (about 1/4 of the original amount) and raspberry jam on top. 
8. You should have half the amount of chocolate icing that you started with. 
9. Put the chocolate icing back on the stove over medium heat. Slowly stir in almond milk until the color has turned from almost black, to brown. 
10. Pour evenly over entire cake, making sure it coats the sides. It will most likely cover the plate as well. 
11. Cool in the fridge until dessert!

I, and my omnivore relatives, love this recipe. It isn't perfect, so if you feel like you need to change something, feel free, and let me know in the comments! I hope you like it!

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