Mix It Up…..

We just got back from our 4-day vacation at the Ritz Carlton resort at Lake Oconee, well it was a vacation for me and the kids, it was a business trip for hubby. I won’t bore you with pictures, or a bunch of details, since you can find all of those on Instagram. 😉  www.instagram.com/indulgeyourinnerfoodie.  I can say that even though we had a lot of fun, it is always nice to come home. And nothing says home like the recipe that I will be sharing with you today. The smell of baking just gives everyone that warm, homey feeling.

I’m going to do my best to keep this post short and sweet. (We know how that usually ends up.) As a kid one of my favorite type of cake/cupcake was marble. I loved it. I remember the first time my mom let me make the boxed mix on my own I was 11 years old. Figuring I had helped my mom make it enough times I didn’t bother reading all the directions and didn’t separate any batter. Needless to say, I was a little bit confused about why we ended up with a bowl of chocolate batter and no marble. I guess you can really never go wrong with a chocolate cake, but it taught me a valuable lesson, ALWAYS read the directions.

Since I’ve become an adult, and started creating my own recipes, I haven’t used a single boxed mix. In my humble opinion, I think cakes from scratch generally taste better, they are healthier, and you can tweak them to your own personal liking. When I was a kid I liked marble because there was just a hint of chocolate cake, my kids are the total opposite. They want mostly chocolate with just a hint of vanilla. So, I decided to make them inside out marble cupcakes. I tried the traditional way of swirling the two batters, but in a cupcake the swirl doesn’t go deep enough. Then I tried using a parchment paper piping bag and just squirted the vanilla in the center. VOILA!

 

I will throw some stats at you for peace of mind. 🙂 These cupcakes have 40 less calories than your average cake mix, almost half the amount of sugar, and they contain 13 grams of fiber while the other brands contain ZERO. (This also helps to cut the carbs, and reduce the sugar spikes)

There aren’t very many tips, or tricks, to give about these babies other then fill the cupcake paper half full and as you squirt the vanilla into the middle you can watch it rise to the three quarter mark. It is that simple. Once the cupcakes came out and had cooled you couldn’t even tell that there was a vanilla middle until you bit into it. I used my whipped frosting recipe to top them and then drizzled my super easy three ingredient chocolate syrup over the top. Our four-year-old went crazy! You don’t have to top them with anything if you don’t want, our 5-year-old likes them plain. And to save a few calories I like to eat them plain as well. 😉  Get your kitchen smelling like vanilla and chocolate, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

What is your favorite type of cupcake?

Are you more of a chocolate or vanilla cake person?

Inside Out Marble Cupcakes

By Angie Gouchenour

12 cupcakes

Ingredients

¼ cup coconut oil

¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 ½ cup Sugar 2.0

2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring

1 cup water

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups white wheat flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350’f

In a medium bowl cream together the coconut oil, apple sauce, Sugar 2.0, and vanilla

Stir in the water

Add the baking powder and flour; stir until combined

Save ½ cup of mix in a small bowl and set to the side

Add the cocoa powder to the large bowl and combine

Prepare your muffin tins with cupcake papers or parchment paper

Fill each paper HALF full with chocolate batter

Using a parchment cone, or decorating tube, squeeze vanilla batter into the center of each cupcake until the papers are ¾ full

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 mins

Turn the pan a quarter turn and cook an additional 8-9 minutes

Check by inserting a toothpick into the top

(A perfect cupcake will leave a few moist crumbs stuck to the toothpick)

Cool completely on racks before frosting