INK FOODS: PALEO RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Remember the delicious “Clean Sweets” from Ink Foods that were featured at my 2-Year celebration at Beyond Studios? The Paleo Red Velvet Cupcakes and Coconut Banana Chia Pudding were wonderful, and a perfect treat to end the evening. Today, I am sharing the recipes with you! Kristen Massad, of Ink Foods, created the recipe, and is the contributor for this post. Thank you, Kristen!! I am posting the Grain-Free Dairy-Free Red Velvet Cupcake recipe here, and you can find the Coconut Banana Chia Pudding recipe at Ink Foods….Enjoy!!

From Kristen: There are many reasons I love being a pastry chef, but one of the main reasons is that you get to help celebrate all the wonderful events going on in people’s lives. Recently, I was asked to create a dessert for the 2-year celebration of Loubies and Lulu. I felt very honored, but I also felt the pressure to come up with a special dessert that encompassed everything Loubies and Lulu is about. Drea challenged me to create one of her favorite desserts, a healthy version of the very popular red velvet cupcake. This was a fun one for me to play around with and I was able to create a delicious and moist grain free and dairy free cupcake for her event. I have used some of my favorite ingredients for this clean sweet and everything can be found in your local natural grocery store; almond flour, coconut oil, and coconut sugar. I hope you enjoy this recipe and I want to congratulate Loubies and Lulu on a wonderful two years of blogging!

Grain Free & Dairy Free Red Velvet Cupcakes with Honey Meringue Icing

Makes: 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Cake

2 ¼ Cups Almond Flour
1-Cup Coconut Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
2-½ Tbsp Cocoa Powder
½ Cup Coconut Oil, melted
½ Cup Coconut Milk
2 Eggs
1 tsp Red Food Color, Natural
1 tsp White Vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Honey Meringue

2 large Egg Whites
½ cup Honey
1 tsp Ice Water

Instructions:

Red Velvet Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake pans with paper cups.
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined and batter looks smooth.
Scoop batter into cupcake papers, filling them half way.
Bake cupcakes for 25-30 minutes, rotating them at 15 minutes.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely before piping the honey meringue icing.

(if you are not eating the cupcakes the same day, store them in an airtight container and ice with meringue when ready to serve)

Honey Meringue

Bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
In a heatproof bowl, combine egg whites and honey
Place the bowl with egg whites over the simmering water and whisk consistently until they are warm to the touch.
Remove the bowl from the heat and transfer to mixing bowl that attaches to your mixer
With the whisk attachment, start whipping your egg whites and honey on high
Add the teaspoon of water to your egg white and whisk until thick and glossy
Once cupcakes are cooled and ready to serve, pipe the meringue onto the cupcakes
Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the meringue
Refrigerate if you are not serving them immediately