Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

   
240ml (1 cup) dairy-free milk
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
210g (1 ⅓ cup) self-raising flour (works with gluten-free flour)
25g (¼ cup) CHOC CHICK cacao powder
100g (½ cup) of coconut sugar
½ tsp of baking powder
½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
60g (¼ cup) of dairy-free butter, melted
30g CHOC CHICK quinoa pops, crushed
10 tsp cherry jam, fruit sweetened
 
Frosting
 
150g (⅔ cup) of dairy-free butter
400g (2 cups) of icing sugar
2 heaped tbsp of smooth almond butter
25g (¼ cup) CHOC CHICK cacao powder
50g raw chocolate, melted (recipe can be found here )
1-2 tbsp dairy-free milk, if needed
30g CHOC CHICK quinoa pops, crushed
10 fresh cherries

    
Preheat the oven to 180c and line a cupcake tray with 10 foil cases.
 
Place the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the rest of the dry ingredients, including the crushed quinoa pops.
 
In a jug, mix together the dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar. Let it stand for 5 minutes to curdle before stirring in the melted butter.
 
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined.
 
Divide the batter between the 10 cupcake cases, using 60ml / ¼ cup of batter per case.
 
Put in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
 
Leave the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
 
Once cool, core the cupcakes and fill each one with cherry jam.
 
Frosting
 
To make the frosting, use a food processor or mixer to cream the butter until light and creamy in colour.
 
Add in the icing sugar, cacao powder and melted raw chocolate. Then whisk until fluffy, and well-combined.
 
Add the frosting to a piping bag using a large star shaped nozzle. Decorate each cake with a swirl, a sprinkle of crushed quinoa pops and a cherry on top.
 
Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.