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Browsing the many beautiful holiday posts this weekend has turned me into a bit of a sweet-toothed little monster. The pies, the cakes, the cookies, the crumbles – I’ve been salivating since Thursday. Being in Spain and far removed from all things Thanksgiving has helped to curb overindulgence a bit – there are no turkeys; there are no pumpkins; there are plenty of pecans but without the pie.
I stayed good up until this afternoon.
The train of events went something like this: read a great post on coconut macaroons, linked to another baking blog explaining coconut flour, and the last glorious stop – Elena’s Pantry recipe for gluten-free strawberry cupcakes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any strawberries on hand; nor did I have cupcake liners; the coconut required a bit of work (I only had shredded coconut in my pantry); and I’m not a big cream nor heavy icing fan. After some minor tweaking, I ended up with these delicious and incredibly moist coconut-lime mini-cakes!
Coconut-Lime Mini Cakes (adapted from Elena’s Pantry Strawberry Cupcakes)
Ingredients: (makes 1 dozen small cakes)
Dry ingredients:
- 1/4 pint (1/2 cup) coconut flour or 1/2 pint (1 cup) shredded coconut, processed
- 1 tablespoon kuzu root or arrowroot powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wet ingredients:
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
And the rest….
- juice from 1/2 lime
- zest from 1 lime
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (375 degrees F) and grease or line muffin tins. If using shredded coconut, place in food processor and pulse for a few minutes to obtain a finer grain. The shredded coconut will be less dense than a pure coconut flour that is finely milled. Thus, double the amount used to 1/2 pint (1 cup).
Combine dry ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients until combined. I happened to run out of agave syrup mid recipe and thus, compensated the rest with honey.
Finally, fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mix; add lime zest/juice and combine. Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Once finished, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cakes. The toothpick should come out cleanly.
Let the mini (cup) cakes cool for 1 hour and enjoy!
I first attempted to top the little cakes with a bit of coconut “whip cream”. But on my second helping, I found that the cakes were much better enjoyed cleanly and simply with a few slices of sweet banana to perfectly complement the freshness of the lime and warmth of the coconut.
Little sweet-toothed monster soothed and happy!
Becoming Madame said:
I’m going to give this a try! Thanks for sharing!
Kathy said:
Let us know how they turn out and if you have any tweaks to add as well! Thanks for reading! 🙂
frugalfeeding said:
Oh wow, the recipe for this sounds absolutely incredible. Lime and coconut is such a good flavour combination and one I’ve never seen in cup cakes! Delicious.
Kathy said:
I just enjoyed one for breakfast 🙂 I always loved the combination of lime in coconut in savory dishes, but sweet with a bit of tang works super too in desserts. Thanks for reading!
Clare Cooks! said:
These sound great and gluten free! Hopefully I can try them soon.
Kathy said:
Let us know how they turn out for you! Thanks for reading 🙂
ediblesubstance said:
mmm coconut and lime, nice combo!
Kathy said:
It’s very delicious 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Cinnamin said:
These mini cupcakes are too cute to eat! I have been planning to make banana muffins for a while now, the addition of coconut will make it even nicer. I really should try these, since bananas, coconuts and limes are native to where I’m from!
Kathy said:
Haha – thanks for the comment! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did (in fact, I enjoyed them for 3 days straight 🙂 )