LCHF Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

These are really good and each frosted cupcake is under 5 grams of net carbs.

I have been craving cake for a long time, but I've been somewhat disappointed with the low carb "cakes" that I've had in the past.  Typically, they are full of ground nuts, which adversely affects the texture of the cake, and the taste of artificial sweetener is clearly present.

I discovered coconut flour over the summer, and I've never turned back. 

When I substitute coconut flour in a recipe, my general rule of thumb is to double the eggs in the recipe, and replace all of the wheat flour with 1/2 of the amount of coconut flour.  There have been some hits along the way (Sharp Cheddar Biscuits) and a miss or two.

This time, I thought I'd see whether coconut flour was a good match for a cupcake recipe.  It worked, alright.  These cupcakes were moist, chocolatey and delicious.  They easily eclipsed the flavor and richness of most full-carb cupcakes I had enjoyed before this WOE.  Considering that the cupcakes (without frosting) weight in at 2.95 grams of net carbs each, they are well worth your time and effort on those days that you need a chocolate fix!  Here's how to make your own:

LCHF Chocolate Sour Cream Cake Recipe (12 Servings)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of baking cocoa;
• 1/2 cup of hot water, microwaved for 60 seconds;
• 1/2 cup of soft salted butter;
• 1/2 cup Truvia
• 32 drops of liquid Splenda
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Dissolve the cocoa in the hot water and let it steep until it is cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sweeteners until light and fluffy (mixture will still appear somewhat granular because Truvia acts differently than sugar).
4. Whisk together coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
5. Add 1/2 of the dry mixture to the butter mixture and incorporate well.
6. Add the sour cream and incorporate well.
7. Add the remaining dry mixture and incorporate well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
8. Add the cocoa mixture and incorporate well.
9. Pour the batter equally into 12 cupcake tins that have been lined with FOIL LINERS and sprayed with non-stick spray.  (I use a 1.5 ounce scooper to get the right amount).  Smooth the top of the cupcakes with a spatula.
10. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway.  Use a toothpick to check for doneness. 
11. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Nobody wants to eat a plain cupcake, though.  Try this frosting recipe on yours, weighing in at 1.26 grams of net carbs per serving.  The recipe is based on the traditional method of making a buttercream, except, using cream cheese instead of butter.  I did it this way because this method allows you to use a granulated sweetener instead of something that is powdered.  It takes some effort, but you can definitely do it :)

LCHF Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (Frosts 12 Cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup Truvia
• 8 oz of softened cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut

Directions:

1. You are going to use a double boiler here: put about 1" of water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer once you reach a boil.  Use the metal bowl from your mixer as the top of your double boiler.  Note: the water should not touch the bottom of the metal mixing bowl.
2. Add your egg whites and Truvia to the mixing bowl atop your double boiler and whisk vigorous for about 3 minutes, until they are hot and slightly frothy (your arms will also feel hot and slightly frothy at this point).
3. Remove the mixing bowl from the heat, and affix it to your stand mixer.  If you don't have a stand mixer, you are going to want to use handheld beaters instead of mixing by hand!  Trust me!
4. Beat the egg white mixture until the outside of the bowl is cool to the touch, about 3-5 minutes.
5. Then, start adding the cream cheese, one cube at a time, to the egg white mixture.  Make sure that each cube is well incorporated before adding the next cube.
6. Add your coconut and mix to incorporate.
7. Spread on cooled cupcakes and enjoy.  You can sprinkle a little extra coconut on top for decoration, like I did in the picture.

DON'T EAT THE ENTIRE BATCH AT ONCE.  
There is a lot of dietary fiber in this recipe.  There is also a decent amount of artificial sweetener.  Hey, that's what you get when you make a full-sized cupcake that has fewer than 5 grams of net carbs in it.  The combination of dietary fiber and artificial sweetener can produce some gastrointestinal distress.  So, enjoy modestly. 

DO THIS INSTEAD:

Freeze your cool, unfrosted cupcakes in a plastic baggie.
Stuff your frosting in the fridge.
Defrost the cupcakes as desired, then frost and eat.  The frosting will last about a week in the fridge before you have to throw it out.

Bon Appetit!

Feeling Funky? Not so much.

Is it the weather, am I just in a funk? 

I can't get around myself this week.  Today represents the height of dysfunction.  Bad hair day, static cling, fuzzy brain and ugh.... I just feel like going back to bed.  Considering that this plan of action is not going to work for me, it is on to Plan B: hole up in my office and pretend that I am on a deserted island.  With an internet connection, and a heavy workload.  Oh Bother!!!

Low Carb Margarita Experiment - Take 4 & 5 and Compare with Skinny Girl Margarita

I'm just about margarita-ed out, folks...

So, let's talk about the flurry of weekend margarita experimentation that occurred over the past two days.

To the left, you can see a photo of the margarita fixings that I assembled on Friday.  We made two versions out of these fixings:

Margarita version 1.4 was a variation on the Laura Dolson margarita base that I have been using time and time again.  Except, instead of fake sugar, we substituted 1 tablespoon of Thai coconut palm sugar paste (jaggery) and made a simple syrup out of it, which we combined with lime juice, tequila, and orange extract.  This added about 3 carbs to the net carbohydrate count, but also significant sweetness without a fake sugar aftertaste.  Here's the recipe:

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) water
• 1 tbsp jaggery
• 1 jigger (1.5 oz) tequila
• 2 Tablespoons (1 oz) fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
• Ice - small handful
• Margarita salt or kosher salt

Directions

1. Pour water into a microwave safe container, and microwave on high for 60 seconds, until steamy.  Add jaggery to hot water and mix until the jaggery is dissolved.
2. Combine all the ingredients (minus the salt), and stir stir stir until fully incorporated and the liquid is icy cold.
3. Serve in a salt-lined glass if you wish.  I like mine without salt, on the rocks.  Or... if you like it frozen, just dump the margarita and rocks into a blender and let it whir, baby.

Review: I really liked Margarita version 1.4.  It is a bit cloudier than the others because jaggery is an unrefined sweetener and is brown in color.  For me, this was a really good margarita.  For my husband, it was his least favorite.  I understand why: jaggery has a slight caramel flavor that does not hide in the flavor background.  It is not flavor-neutral.  For me, the 3 additional net carbs on this drink were worth it.  It was just sweet enough for me.  I would give this one a 3.5 out of 5.

Margarita version 1.5 was, again, a variation on the Laura Dolson margarita base.  Here, we made a simple syrup with the hot water, 1/2 tablespoon of jaggery and 1/2 tablespoon of Truvia.  The goal was to have some natural sweetness from the jaggery to offset the fake sugar taste of the Truvia, but not so much truvia that the aftertaste would bring me to me knees.  

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) water
• 1/2 tbsp jaggery
• 1/2 tbsp Truvia
• 1 jigger (1.5 oz) tequila
• 2 Tablespoons (1 oz) fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
• Ice - small handful
• Margarita salt or kosher salt

Directions

1. Pour water into a microwave safe container, and microwave on high for 60 seconds, until steamy.  Add jaggery and Truvia to hot water and mix until the jaggery is dissolved.
2. Combine all the ingredients (minus the salt), and stir stir stir until fully incorporated and the liquid is icy cold.
3. Serve in a salt-lined glass if you wish.  I like mine without salt, on the rocks.  Or... if you like it frozen, just dump the margarita and rocks into a blender and let it whir, baby.

Review: Going half and half with the jaggery and Truvia brought the carb count down 1.5 grams from margarita version 1.4.  This version (margarita 1.5) is my favorite to date.  Peter liked it, despite the addition of some jaggery to round out the taste of the artificial sweetener.  This is a low carb margarita that I would feel fine serving to anyone, low carber and carboholics alike :)  I gave it a 4.25 out of 5 (notably, the "5" is the full sugar amazing margarita that I just can't drink anymore; on this scale, 4.25 is a damn tasty drink).

Notably, I decided, after sampling margarita 1.5, that I had maybe reached my max tequila consumption for the week.  So, I combined the margarita that I had left from my sampling (about 1.5 ounces) with about 4 ounces of orange-flavored seltzer water.  It was actually quite delicious, and still pretty potent.  I would definitely do this again, especially in the summer when you want a drink that's refreshing and tangy, but is not going to knock your socks off quite that quickly. 

SKINNY GIRL

Everyone who knows about my low carb margarita experiment has been yammering away at me about Skinny Girl Margaritas.  So, when I happened to come across a bottle of it at the liquor store, and checked the nutrition label (a 4 ounce serving has about 4 grams of net carbs, and has about 12.7% alcohol/volume), I thought that I would pick up a bottle.  A 750 ml bottle, containing 7 x 4 ounce servings cost me about $15. 

I bought it, brought it home, chilled it, and then Pete and I had a taste test.  Here are my thoughts:

Taste: My margaritas are robustly lime-y.  They are not shy.  You know that you are drinking a margarita.  The lime is fresh.  This margarita packs a zesty punch but has a delicate citrus scent.  They are good.  They are lipsmacking.  One of them will make you tipsy, and a second will knock you on your kiester.

By way of contrast, Skinny Girl tastes watered down and is only vaguely citrus-y.  It would be as if you made my margarita with bottled lime juice, then diluted the whole mix at least 50-50 with water (and I'm being generous here, because I did water mine down with seltzer water, and it still packed more punch than Skinny Girl).  You can tell the difference between my margaritas and Skinny Girl's just by looking at them: Skinny Girl is a thin, watery beverage.  Mine has body and, by God, texture (love that lime pulp).  There is just no comparison.  Honestly, I didn't even finish the Skinny Girl.  I passed it to the hubby.  If I am going to drink carbs, I'm going to get the max out them.  Skinny Girl was a limp dishrag of a margarita, and just not worth it.

Price: Considering that the bottle of El Espolon tequila that I bought for my recipes cost just around $22 for a 750 ml bottle, and that this bottle will make approximately 16 x 6 ounce margaritas and change (each containing 1.5 ounces of tequila), it became immediately clear that my homemade versions were waaaay less expensive than Skinny Girl.  In fact, I did the math, and I figured out that each of my 6 ounce margaritas cost around $1.50, while the 4 ounce Skinny Girls cost just over $2 each.  So, mine rang in at about 25 cents per ounce, while Skinny Girl cost about 50 cents per ounce. 

That math is not 100% accurate, but it is pretty close.  In fact, I would consider my math to be downright generous, considering that Skinny Girl is so watered down, that my recipe, mixed 50-50 with water, is still more potent and tasty, and my watered down version would cost only about 12.5 cents per ounce.

Rating: Skinny Girl weighs in at a skinny 2 out of 5, but only if you want a boring, vaguely lime-y drink that won't even stand up to the spicy mexican food that you pair it with.  Disappointing!

CONCLUSIONS from the peanut gallery:

If you can get your hands on jaggery, give Margarita version 1.5 a try.  It is really good.  If you can't find jaggery, use just Truvia instead.  You'll be a happy camper.

Don't waste your money on Skinny Girl.  If you love margaritas, then take the time to make your own margaritas.  They are cheaper and tastier.  If you want a watered down margarita, then eschew Skinny Girl, and just modify your own hooch to suit.  Your taste buds and your wallet will thank me for this!

Low Carb Margarita Experiment - 3rd Time's the Charm?

You may wonder: will she ever get tired of margaritas?  I'm not sure what the answer to that question is in the long run, but for now, I'm hanging in there.

Here's quick recap of what's happened to date with our Low Carb Margarita Experiment: our first attempt at a low carb margarita got 3 out of 5 stars, mostly because I can't stand the aftertaste of liquid Splenda, but my husband thought the cocktail was spot on.   The second attempt at a low carb margarita got 3.5 out of 5 stars because, although the taste with Truvia was better than with liquid Splenda, there was still a hint of aftertaste that bugged me, but was not an obstacle to me finishing the drink on my own; I also wasn't crazy about the extra step of making the microwave simple syrup with the Truvia.

Our third attempt is something that my husband didn't actually get to sample.  You see, I came home very late last night after a City meeting, and Pete was already in bed.  It was that kind of a night, so I thought I would enjoy a small night cap.  That nightcap was a margarita.  Here's what I came up with on take three.

(Once again, I'm using Laura Dolson's original recipe as my base.)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) water
• 1 jigger (1.5 oz) tequila
• 2 Tablespoons (1 oz) lime juice - bottled more convenient, fresh tastes a lot better
• 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 oz of pomegranate juice
• 1 packet of Truvia
• Ice - small handful
• Margarita salt or kosher salt

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients (minus the salt), and stir stir stir until fully incorporated and the liquid is icy cold.
2. Serve in a salt-lined glass if you wish.  I like mine without salt, on the rocks.  Or... if you like it frozen, just dump the margarita and rocks into a blender and let it whir, baby.

Here was my thought process: I hypothesized that the pomegranate juice would sweeten up the margarita just enough without destroying the carb count.  So, I put one ounce of the juice in (which added about 3 grams of net carb to the drink), and took a sip before I added any artificial sweetener.  It was WAY too tart, so I added the packet of Truvia.

So, the carb count was about 5.5 grams per large serving.  However, the pomegranate juice didn't really add that much sweetness or pomegranate flavor, although it did turn the margarita pleasantly pink.  The Truvia didn't dissolve completely, but I didn't notice that until I looked at the bottom of the glass and saw a few crystals clinging to the bottom.

Honestly, this wasn't a bad margarita, but I'm going to give it 3 out of 5 stars because, for the extra 3 grams of carbohydrate, there wasn't any noticeable improvement in flavor.

My next experiment will involve Thai coconut palm sugar paste (jaggery), which is a natural, less refined form of sugar that has 3 grams of net carbohydrate per tablespoon.  I just have to grab some at Whole Foods today.  Onwards!!