Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

I can't seem to stick to a recipe at all. These are my take on Hazelnut cupcakes, loosely based on the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup hazelnut meal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

60g dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped

2/3 cup soy or almond milk (hazelnut would be better, but it's $10/L damn it)

2 Tbsp flax meal

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup hazelnut oil (or any vegetable oil)

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 Tbsp vanilla extract 

for the icing

1/2 cup hazelnuts

1 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder 

40g dark chocolate

2 Tbsp soy or almond milk

In a medium sized bowl mix together the milk with the flax meal and the apple cider vinegar, and leave aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, hazelnut meal baking powder and soda, salt, brown sugar and grated chocolate.

To the milk mixture add the oil, maple syrup and vanilla, and mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Fill lined cupcake tins 3/4 way full, and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees.

To make the icing, sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Roast the hazelnuts for around 10 minutes (I popped them into the oven with the cupcakes for the last 10 minutes of baking). Let them cool and using a tea towel, rub to remove the skins. Alternatively, a much easier option is to buy roasted hazelnuts! But raw was what I had. Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add to the icing sugar. Heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm enough to melt the chocolate (10-20 seconds, depending on how good your microwave is), and add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Add to the icing sugar mix and stir until combined. Ice the cooled cupcakes.

Cherry Ripe

These taste very much like the original Cherry Ripe. This recipe makes 21 small bars. While coating the bars in chocolate can get a bit fiddly, it is definitely worth the effort.

Ingredients
200g glace cherries
2 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. coconut cream
1/3 cup soy condensed milk (if you don't have soy condensed milk you can use another 1/3 cup coconut cream with 1/4 cup caster sugar)
1 Tbsp. cornflour
300g 50% cocoa dark chocolate (I used Simon Coll, but really any dark chocolate can be used)

In a large bowl place half the cherries and the desiccated coconut, and leave aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix the water and remaining cherries  (and sugar if not using condensed milk), and heat for 1-2 minutes. Lower the heat and add the condensed milk and 1/4 cup coconut cream. Stirring constantly, heat until the mixture just beings to bubble. Add the cornflour, and continue to heat until the mixture thickens. You may need to add a little more cornflour if your mixture does not thicken.

Remove coconut cream mixture from the stove, pour over the cherries and desiccated coconut, and mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Line a 9"x9" square cake tin with cling wrap, leaving enough overhang to cover the tin again. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin evenly, and pack in firmly with a spoon. Pull the remaining cling wrap over the baking tray, so that the mixture is completely covered. Flatten the mixture with your hands over the cling wrap so that the mixture is packed into the tin as firmly as possible. Leave in the fridge for at least two hours. The longer you leave it in the fridge, the easier it will be to handle.

The Cherry Ripe filling is ready when you are able to cut it into bite sized bars without them falling apart. If you cannot do this, refrigerate a little longer, or even try the freezer. When the filling is ready, cut the slice into little bars. Leave in the fridge while you prepare the chocolate.

In a glass bowl over a simmering saucepan of water, place the chocolate and 1 Tbsp. of coconut cream. Constantly stirring, heat until the chocolate melts. Make sure the water doesn't get too hot, because the chocolate will burn and get all lumpy (it's not very nice!). Every chocolate will behave differently, so only add the remaining 1 Tbsp. coconut cream if you need to thin down the mixture, or you may even need to add more than 1 Tbsp. The chocolate should be thin enough to coat the bars, but not so thin as to not set properly.

When the chocolate has melted, remove the saucepan from the heat, but leave the glass bowl sitting over the saucepan. Dip the cherry bars into the chocolate mix one at a time, making sure they're completely covered in chocolate. When all the bars have been coated, place in the fridge on a tray lined with baking paper or cling wrap, and refrigerate until the chocolate sets. Store in the fridge.

Update: I just came across a really good technique for coating the bars in chocolate, with clear instructions and photos to boot. I sure wish I had stumbled across this before my clumsy attempts at coating the bars! You'll find the instructions here.