Skinny Red Velvet

This is a weight watcher recipe. 1 cake= 141 calories, 3 pts.

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup organic agave nectar

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (you can use dark or just the regular)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce (I used my home made)

1/4 cup light butter (softened)

1 large egg (organic)

2 large egg whites (organic)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 1/3 cup light buttermilk (or used an organic whole milk)

1 tbsp red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tins with liners. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flours, salt, cocoa and baking powder. In another large bowl beat agave nectar, applesauce and butter. Beat in eggs and extracts. In a separate bowl mix the baking soda and vinegar. Add half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixure, mix well.  Add buttermilk, food color and mix well. Add the remaining dry ingredients and fold in vinegar and baking soda. Pour in prepared cupcake liners about 3/4s full. Bake  20-22 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool then frost with low fat cream cheese frosting. This recipe will yield about 18 cupcakes.

Low fat cream cheese frosting:

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract.

Beat all ingredients together until smooth and fluffy.

Dark Chocolate Gluten free & Vegan

You wouldn't believe that this is a gluten free and very healthy cup of cakes. I made two batches in order to yield 12.

Makes 6 cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup rice flour

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder (Duchess or Hershey)

1/2 cup agave nectar (organic)

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup water 

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract

1/2 tsp white wine or cider vinegar (vegan)

1/4 cup oil

Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees celsius/350 fahrenheit.

Sieve the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl. Lightly mix with a spatula to incorporate the ingredients.

Add the water, agave, coconut milk, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar to the dry ingredients, mix using the hand mixer until everything is thoroughly combined. The batter will be slightly thin but not thick.

Line a muffin tray with six liners and fill each about 3/4 full. Put immediately into the oven (ensuring it is at 175 celsius/350 fahrenheit).

Bake for 23 minutes. Insert a skewer into the center, if it comes out clean, they are ready. Allow to cool completely before icing. I let them cool for ten minutes in the tray before transferring them to a cooling rack.  For icing you can use a simple a low fat cream cheese icing with agave nectar instead of powdered sugar and almond extract. Spread on top of each cake and shred some dark chocolate to sprinkle on top...enjoy!