Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Eggnog Buttercream
Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Eggnog Buttercream
The holidays are quickly approaching and I couldn’t be more excited! I’m sure that we can all agree that food is always the star of the holidays. Food is what brings us all together. I’m going to be sharing some of my favourite recipes for the holidays in the blog posts to come and I hope you love them as much as I do! I kind of already kicked off with the Chocolate Seed Bark, but today I’m sharing these beautiful chocolate cupcakes with whipped eggnog buttercream. They are the perfect dessert for the holidays whether they are served at your annual Christmas party or as an ending to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
These cupcakes are, of course, 100% gluten-free and made with almond flour. The ingredients are simple. The main ingredients include:
Almond Flour - superfinely ground almonds for the best, fluffiest result.
Cocoa Powder - Dutch-proccessed cocoa is highly recommended if you want that dark, rich chocolatey brown in the cupcakes.
Granulated & Brown Sugar - You can use whatever 1:1 replacement for sugar if you want to make these sugar-free.
Buttermilk - Buttermilk can be bough at any grocery store or you can easily make it at home by mixing 1/4 cup whole milk or half-and-half with 3/4 tsp white vinegar.
Butter - The butter used in the buttercream is unsalted.
Whipping Cream - Whipped cream helps to give the buttercream that really fluffy and airy texture.
Eggnog - Don’t forget the eggnog! It’s the star of the show here. I recommend using full-fat.
Rum extract - The rum extract should definitely not be skipped as it enhances the eggnog flavour intensely!
Whole Nutmeg - Optional, but highly recommended for garnishing!
I love to garnish these cupcakes with a cinnamon sticks and freshly grated nutmeg. It makes them look extra fancy for the holidays. This recipe makes 13 cupcakes. If you’re having a large party, just double the recipe. Happy baking!
Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Eggnog Buttercream
Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Eggnog Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 cups fine almond flour, sifted
- 1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup eggnog
- 1 1/2 tsp rum extract
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- pinch salt
- Optional* whole nutmeg, for grating and garnishing
- Optional* cinnamon sticks, for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line 13 muffin cups with parchment liners and set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder until combined.
- To the same bowl, add the eggs, buttermilk and olive oil and mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling about 2/3 way until you have filled all 13 cups.
- Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 18 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat again until combined.
- Add the eggnog, rum extract, nutmeg and salt and beat on high until combined, scraping down the sides a couple of times. Continue to beat for another couple minutes until light and fluffy again. Taste and adjust the flavours if needed.
- Frost the cupcakes, grate additional nutmeg on top and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
- Serve and enjoy!