Vegan Deep Dark Chocolate Chai Truffle Cakes
November 19, 2012
in Cakes and Cupcakes · Chocolate · Desserts
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Cake on PlateI once worked briefly for an Army Colonel. He could’ve stepped off of the movie set of Apocalypse Now: tall and wiry with a stiff and graying crew cut, a brisk manner and a lopsided, slightly maniacal grin that revealed a mouthful of misaligned teeth. Plus the requisite rich southern accent and an endless supply of (to keep things G-Rated here) “earthy” sayings. I kept a mental catalogue of his favorite expressions, one of which was “it’s an ugly baby.” Well, back on October 27, 2011, I published a post of several ugly babies. The post was titled A Delicious Failure: Sunken Chocolate Cakes and the recipe was based on one by Marcel Desaulniers called Heart of Darkness Cakes. After my failure, tasty though it was, I vowed to try again. It’s taken me over a year to do it. They’re still ugly babies, but my, they are delicious. (If chai isn’t your thing, just leave out the spices and you’ll have a delicious chocolate truffle.) Coming up soon: Black and White Cakes – a vanilla version of the above – which cleverly and thriftily uses the leftover truffle filling made for these cupcakes.

Cut down on the calories a little bit by using Lily’s Sweets stevia-sweetened and vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips.

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Vegan Deep Dark Chocolate Truffle Cakes

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  • Author: Annie
  • Yield: 10 1x
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Description

So rich and decadent, they’ll win over even the staunchest non-vegan in your life!

Ingredients

Scale

Truffle Filling

  • (filling makes enough for two batches)
  • 1/2 cup dates, roughly chopped, soaked for a few hours
  • 1/2 cup pecans, soaked for a few hours
  • 1 Tbsp. crystallized ginger, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. anise seed, ground
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. cardamom
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy milk

Cupcakes

  • 1/2 cup refined coconut oil
  • 2.5 ounces prune puree (such as baby food)
  • 1 cup vegan, semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Lily’s Sweets brand)
  • 2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 Tbsp. flaxseed meal + 9 Tbsp. water (whisk together then let sit for a few minutes to thicken)
  • 1/2 cup maple sugar or other sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. all-natural coffee flavoring, optional

Instructions

Make the truffle filling

  1. Drain and rinse the dates, pecans and crystallized ginger and put them in the bowl of a food processor. Process until finely ground.
  2. Meanwhile, carefully melt the chocolate chips and the coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder. When melted and combined, remove from the heat and set aside.
  3. Spoon the mixture date/pecan mixture into a blender and add the almond milk, all of the spices and the chocolate/coconut oil mixture. Process until silky smooth. Pour into an air-tight container and refrigerate for a few hours to firm. I rolled mine into sloppy balls (~20) and placed them in the freezer to firm up – making them easier to handle when putting them into the cupcakes.

Make the cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F and lightly oil 10 muffin tins (fill the empty tins half-full with water). In a small saucepan, slowly heat the coconut oil and the chocolate chips until melted. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder. In a smaller bowl, combine the prune puree, flaxseed meal mixture, vanilla extract and coffee flavoring, if using. Whisk the chocolate mixture in with the other wet ingredients and then stir this into the dry ingredients. Batter will be very thick and gooey.
  3. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin tins and bake for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the muffin tins from the oven and drop truffle filling by the teaspoonful+ on top of each muffin – gently pressing the filling down into the cupcakes. Return the muffin tins to the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the cupcake is firm and a toothpick comes out clean (from the cake, not the truffle). Let cool for a few minutes before removing cupcakes from the pan. Serve warm.

Notes

  • These freeze well!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 10
  • Calories: 427
  • Sugar: 25
  • Sodium: 31
  • Fat: 29
  • Saturated Fat: 19
  • Unsaturated Fat: 9
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 47
  • Protein: 4
  • Cholesterol: 0

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35 thoughts on “Vegan Deep Dark Chocolate Chai Truffle Cakes”

  5. Somer

    Those are anything but ugly! I’m so glad you didn’t give up and that you revamped the recipe! It looks too good to be true! Congrats to Paula on the Slow Cooker Giveaway!

    Reply ↓
  7. narf77

    I just checked the originals and yours might be ugly baby…but ugly packs a serious punch! I can’t wait to see your black and white creations 🙂 Every time I make these I will hear the ride of the Valkyries 😉

    Reply ↓

  20. Pingback: Slow Cooker Dirty Chai • an unrefined vegan

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