Vanilla Cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting

The cupcake recipe is adapted from Elana's Pantry and the frosting recipe is from Healthy Indulgences.

Baby cupcakes!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:
½ cup coconut flour, sifted
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
6 eggs
½ cup grapeseed oil
3/4 cup xylitol
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a small bowl, blend together eggs, grapeseed oil, xylitol and vanilla
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry and blend with a mixer or hand blender until smooth
4. Pour batter into well oiled and paper lined muffin tins
5. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes
6. Cool completely

Butter Cream Frosting

Makes enough to frost 3-6 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 large egg white
1/4 cup xylitol
6 tablespoons unsalted organic butter cut into individual tablespoons
Big pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (clear imitation vanilla recommended)

Preparation:

Whisk egg white together with xylitol in a stainless steel bowl set over a small saucepan full of water. You don't want the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Set heat to medium-low to bring water to a simmer. Whisk egg white with xylitol 3-5 minutes, or until xylitol is completely dissolved. Dip clean fingers into egg white mixture, and pinch for any undissolved granules. Mixture will appear white and foamy.

Remove steel bowl from water, and beat egg white mixture with an electric mixer until it has about doubled in volume, and is room temperature (cool to the touch). Beat in vanilla and salt.

Add chunks of softened butter or shortening, one at a time, beating for 3-5 minutes until mixture is smooth and no longer curdled.  Don't fret if your butter cream doesn't look smooth for awhile--it will eventually come together!

As you can see, it doesn't make very much.  I would
recommend a double batch if you have more than 6 cupcakes.

Troubleshooting: (None of these things happened to me)
If after incorporating the butter the icing is too "loose" and soupy, sit the mixing bowl in an ice bath to cool, or stick the bowl into the freezer for a few minutes, and try beating again. If the mixture is chunky like cottage cheese, heat the bowl over the simmering water again and try beating until it comes together into a smooth icing. Use a spatula to smooth out the consistency. Finally, if you think the frosting tastes too "greasy," trying cutting back the butter by one or two tablespoons.



Transfer frosting to a piping bag, or just spread directly on cupcakes. To revive refrigerated frosting, microwave it for 5-8 seconds, and stir around bowl with a spatula until smooth and creamy again. Or whip until fluffy with beaters.

Vanilla Roasted Walnuts

Adapted from Elana's Pantry
www.elanaspantry.com

Vanilla Roasted Walnuts

Ingredients:

2 cups walnuts, raw
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons xylitol
1 tablespoon water
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1-2 vanilla beans
dash cinnamon, ground

Preparation:

1. Place walnuts and oil in a cast iron skillet (that's what I used, you can experiment) and turn heat to high
2. As soon as you hear the slightest sizzle, turn heat down to medium or low
3. Toast walnuts a few minutes until they smell nice and nutty
4. Add xylitol and water and distribute around pan stirring, cook for a minute or two, then add salt
5. Scrape the beans out of the vanilla pod and stir into walnuts
6. Remove walnuts from pan and add just a dash of cinnamon if you like
7. Serve