Chocolate coconut cupcakes

I love challenges, especially those in the kitchen. That’s why I accepted the challenge that Vegis.ro gave it to me to use the coconut oil in a recipe. Vegis.ro organizes a contest dedicated to food bloggers, through which they offer for free the coconut oil and bloggers have to cook a recipe with this ingredient.

I wanted to make cupcakes because I don’t have a recipes of this kind on my blog. These chocolate and coconut cupcakes are delicious, fluffy and very easy to make. I think we all have most of the ingredients in our kitchen, so if you don’t have nothing else to do today, I suggest you to bake some yummy cupcakes.

I can tell you that this is not the first time I cook with coconut oil and I always preferred to avoid the classic butter in the preparation of various cakes, cheesecakes, etc. Coconut oil has become very popular and more and more people is using it, not only because it gives a special flavor to the recipes, but also for the benefits it has on out body. You can make desserts with coconut oil, use it instead of oil in frying / sauteing, preparing different toppings, in smoothies and even mayonnaise. The possibilities are countless.

Let’s see how I made this delicious chocolate coconut cupcakes!
____________________________________
INGREDIENTS (17-18 cupcakes)
200 gr. of flour
10 tablespoons of coconut oil from Vegis
3 tablespoons of coconut sugar
3 tablespoons coconut flakes
3 tablespoons of cocoa
3 eggs
300 gr. yogurt
10 gr. of baking powder
pinch of salt
For cream: 250 gr. Mascarpone, 2 tablespoons whipped cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
* Coconut oil is obtained by melting the coconut butter for approx. 1 minute in the microwave.
* You can increase the amount of sugar according to your preferences. I didn’t want to add a lot of sugar to the composition.

____________________________________
PREPARATION
In a large bowl put the flour, coconut flakes, cocoa, baking powder, a pinch of salt and mix. In another bowl put the 3 eggs, coconut oil, yoghurt,10 tablespoons of coconut oil and mix well. Pour this wet composition over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until you get a slightly liquid composition.

Get ready your muffin tray in witch you have to put muffin paper cup greased with a little oil. Put about 2 tablespoons in each muffin paper cup. Shake the trays a bit to remove the air bubbles, then put the trays in the preheated oven at 180° C for 25-30 minutes.or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Meanwhile you can make cream. In a bowl put 250 gr. mascarpone, 2 tablespoons whipped cream and 1 tablespoon vanilla essence. For those of you who are „in good relationship with sugar”, you can also add powdered sugar in the cream composition. Mix the ingredients with a hand mixer for a few seconds, then put the cream in the refrigerator until the cupcakes are baked.

After they are cooked, let them cool for 30 min-1 hour, then put the mascarpone cream in a pastry bag and decorate the cupcakes. For decoration you can also add fruits (raspberries, blueberries), small pieces of chocolate or whatever you want.

Serve these chocolates coconut cupcakes with tea, coffee or simply when you feel the need for something good to please your soul.

Enjoy!