(Chocolate Glazed) Mini Chocolate Almond Cakes
Every so often you need a dish that is a little different–and as a food blogger I like to think I’m up to the task. Friends with celiac disease? No problem now that gluten free products are everywhere. Vegetarians? If I can use cheese and eggs I can do anything. Vegans–who eat no animal products at all? That can be a bit more intimidating.
Chocolate Glazed Mini Chocolate Almond Cakes
Last summer, my oldest had a (mostly) vegan friend visit and the wheels in my head were turning. One of my local blogging buddies, Abby, from the Frosted Vegan, always brings amazing vegan foods whenever we do a potluck, so I knew that venturing into vegan baked goods didn’t need to be scary at all!
Abby brought Mini Double Chocolate Almond Cakes with Chocolate Glaze to our blogger Oscar party and I had been meaning to try the recipe ever since. Although this visit was the perfect excuse, in the end time got away from me. I finally made it a couple weeks ago for “Parents Night” after a high school swim meet. It was fun watching everything quickly disappear, with one even hidden away to be eaten later!
Oops–don’t overfull the muffins cups!
I used a mini-bundt pan but a regular muffin/cupcake pan would work fine. In fact there was a little extra batter that we turned into mini-cupcakes to keep for ourselves!
Before glazing…
The recipe worked perfectly (though I did increase the glaze a bit–can’t have too much chocolate glaze) and the one mistake I made was filling the muffin molds too high–mistakenly thinking that without eggs, these wouldn’t rise at lot. They rose beautifully making for a nice light cupcake, but one that wasn’t quite as well shaped due to my paranoia. In the grand trying-a-new-recipe-for-company scheme of things, I guess that’s a minor problem!
Mini Chocolate Almond Cakes
Chocolate Glazed Mini Chocolate Almond Cakes
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup date paste*
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup banana, mashed thoroughly (no lumps)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup almond milk
Chocolate Glaze:
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- 5 tablespoons almond milk
- Chopped sliced almonds and/or shredded coconut (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease muffin pan and set aside.
- Combine almond meal, flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Mix until well combined.
- Add date paste, maple syrup, banana, water, and almond milk. Mix with automatic mixer until all dry ingredients are combined with wet ingredients. Avoid over mixing.
- Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking halfway through baking time. Allow cakes to cool before removing from pan.
- For the chocolate glaze, combine chocolate chips and almond milk in microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Microwave for 15 seconds and stir again, repeating until melted.
- When cakes are cooled, pour chocolate glaze over cakes. Garnish with chopped almonds and/or shredded coconut if desired.
*to make date paste, cover dates with warm water and let sit overnight. Drain, reserving water. Puree dates in blender or food processor with just enough of the reserved water to create a smooth paste, adding additional water if needed.
I did try these with oat flour instead of all purpose flour, and they came out great. I lowered the amount from 1 2/3 cup of AP, to 1 1/4 cup oat flour. These were a hit with my coworkers and my stomach.
Thanks for the tip Dorrie! As I mentioned, I often use a portion of oat bran instead of some of the flour, but I have never used oat flour or tried a full scale substitution. I’ll have to start experimenting!
Thanks for baking along with me for National Bundt Day! This bundt looks fantastic!!! – mary the food librarian
Thanks for hosting–I can’t wait to try some of the other recipes!
Almonds are a great substitute for flour aren’t they – I’ve found lots of Italian or Spanish style cake recipes use it. well that’s my excuse!
For my excuse, I think I’m going to use the “may be helpful for weight loss” suggested in the comments …
they don’t even need the glaze, but i’m glad it’s there! what a delicious treat. 🙂
Thanks Grace. It was fun seeing your vegan cupcake post this week!
Inger, These are simply beautiful! I love the addition of almond meal…one of my favorite ingredients! I’m sure they were enjoyed by everyone!
Thanks Kathy. You know I bought that pan a year ago and have only used it once because I really didn’t know what to do with it. I was so excited when I realized that this would be a good recipe for it! I am using almond meal more and more–added it to my shortbread last summer!
Can you use oat flour in the place of all purpose flour?
You know I don’t know if they would come out as light if you did. I regularly substitute oat bran for a percentage of the flour in recipes, but I have never tried not using any. If you decide to give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out.
I’m so happy you enjoyed these Inger! Glad to see they were enjoyed by everyone : )
I am so happy you made them for us so I knew how good they are. Can’t wait to try your cinnamon rolls!
You were certainly are up to the task, Inger! I haven’t made anything with almond meal since my “hippie” days. This recipe sounds so good I just may need to rekindle those days of yore:)
Thank you so much for sharing…
It’s interesting to see people commenting about the almond meal. I thought the date paste would be the ingredient that seemed a bit “out there.” You will have to tell us more about your “hippie” days Louise!
Love vegan sweets but my jeans don’t allow them! I would like to try to do more with almond meal.
My jeans are giving me the same problem Tammy!
As an almost-vegan, I like the sound of this recipe. My mouth is watering! Wondering if we have almond meal at our co-op. Will have to check on it. Thanks for sharing this.
Even we non-vegans were enjoying these! And I loved that I actually had all the ingredients on hand. If you can’t find almond meal, you can always grind almonds yourself. (Just be sure to stop before they turn into almond butter 😉 )
I began baking with almond meal a little over a year ago. Sometimes it’s hit and miss. Getting the right texture in some recipes can be tricky but your mini-cakes look spot-on.
That said, I love using almond meal where I can. I discovered it quite by accident & one little-known fact about it is that due to its low glycemic index, it has a lowering affect it has on blood sugar. This, I found, by experiments on myself. I get gestational diabetes during almost the entire course of my pregnancies and I have always controlled my blood sugar levels through diet and exercise. During those months I do not tolerate foods containing sugar BUT if it is something made with almond meal (and contains regular sugar), I can eat bowls full of it and not experience a spike in blood sugar. Pretty amazing, huh?
Wow that is amazing! I have done enough with almond meal to keep it around (and Trader Joe’s has it so it’s easy to get). I wonder if it might help keep the scale from creeping up too (a food blogger hazard I am struggling with)
I wouldn’t be surprised if it helps keep the weight down too. It’s a high-protein flour and very low in carbs. Should help!