Monday 18 May 2015

Free from choc bun recipe

Because I love these chocolate buns, I must keep the recipe somewhere safe [here!] so that I can make them again!

Heat the oven to GM4, 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners.

Break three eggs into a bowl, and add 160g caster sugar. Beat with a hand held electric mixer for about 5 minutes until it is all frothy and light: when you lift the beaters out of the mixture, you should be able to make trails of batter across the mixture.  Add half a teaspoon of vanilla essence to the mixture.  Grate 50g peeled courgette in to the mix, with half a teaspoon of baking powder and 180g gluten-free flour, and 2 tbsp cocoa powder.  Gently fold all of this into the mix until it is completely incorporated, and then measure out tablespoon fulls of it into the paper liners.  Use up all the mixture across the liners until they are all evenly filled.  Bake for about 20 minutes until risen and beautiful!

I used Dove's Farm plain white gluten-free flour, because that is what I had in the cupboard!  I think the mixture would have taken up to three times as much courgette, but that was all I had left......

When they are baked to perfection and cooled, I frosted them with a chocolate buttercream made from Vitalite [dairy-free], cocoa powder and icing sugar.  I didn't weigh any of it!  There was about one and a half tablespoons of Vitalite, but could have done with less as I have loads left.  I know I added about a tablespoon of cocoa....but as for the icing sugar - well, I start slowly and just keep adding it a little at a time until I get the right consistency and it doesn't taste of margerine - not a very scientific method but it tastes good.

Apart from the one I decorated with the mint and raspberry, I am eating them just as they are, but if you had any dairy-free chocolate buttons [I know such things exist], perhaps one of those plonked on the top of each one would finish them off nicely - the raspberries tasted great too though, and raspberry with chocolate is a great combination.

I shall definitely be making these again, and perhaps experimenting with some other flavours too.

I should say that this recipe was inspired by one by Harry Eastwood in her book, Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache.  I made her American Vanilla Cupcakes several times, and they are stunning.  But this recipe is only inspired by that one - I've used more eggs, less courgette, different flour, less baking powder, no salt and less vanilla essence, and changed the flavour completely to chocolate.  I don't think she's got much competition from me, really....

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