Keto Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
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This recipe for keto spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting screams Christmas.
When I think of Christmas cupcakes, one of the flavors that jumps to mind for me is spice cake. Cold weather welcomes warm flavors and spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cardamom. This is extra delicious with a cream cheese frosting.
This is very similar to our keto spice bundt cake and uses my mainstay ingredients for a perfect cake texture.
We have made over 20,000 cupcakes in the last five years and think we have our keto cake texture down. We’ve perfected our cake batter. It is fluffy, moist and flavorful. The 1/2 cup coconut milk will be enough liquid, but the batter will still be thick.
Versatile Recipe
You can make cupcakes or a six inch triple layer cake with this recipe. If you do the triple layer cake, you will want to make double cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients for Keto Spice Cupcakes
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Eggs
- Xanthan Gum
- Baking Powder
- Swerve Granulated
- Avocado Oil
- Baking Powder
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Allspice
- Ginger (fresh if you have it)
- Nutmeg
- Cardamom
- Vanilla
- Maple Extract
Keto Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Swerve Confectioner’s
- Vanilla
- Maple Extract
One thing that makes these cakes look more festive is to sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar over the top.
Tips for Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
This is something I’ve learned owning a keto bakery. American buttercream is very difficult to make in the winter, as the butter is often too cold, even when left out of refrigerator for 24 hours. Putting butter in microwave can be very tenuous because if the butter gets too soft or melty (broken), you can’t use it. It will never recover for the proper structure of buttercream.
GREAT TIP for Buttercream. Use a large stainless bowl with hot water. Place your butter in another bowl and put in on the hot water. Beat butter for about ten seconds. Remove the butter as soon as you see it’s softening. You don’t want it to melt. I was recently teaching a class and the butter had been out for 48 hours and was still too hard. This worked like a charm.
Great Tip for Cream Cheese Frosting: I will put the cream cheese on a plate and microwave for about ten seconds. Also, beat on a LOW speed (I use 2 out 6).
Extracts: Always start slowly and add more as necessary to taste.
Variations: Instead of maple extract, try orange extract, which goes great with spice cake.
MOST IMPORTANT: I use a food thermometor. I have found that getting the cream cheese and butter to the same temperature really matters. I have had to discard cream cheese frosting in the past for not mixing well or being too grainy.
How to Tell When Cake is Done
Never listen to the toothpick coming out clean tip. That doesn’t work with almond flour baking. Always be prepared to take the cakes temperature. Cake is done at 210 degree F. I will take my cupcakes or cakes out when the center reaches 207. This never fails me and as a bakery owner, I can’t risk the cake being unbaked in the center.
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- Keto Spiced Pear Cheese Cake Bars
- Keto Christmas Coconut Cupcakes
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- Keto Sugar Cookies
Keto Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Spice Cake Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 260 grams blanched almond flour 2 1/4 cups approx.
- 28 grams coconut flour 4 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum see notes
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1/2 t freshly ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 dash freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup avocado oil See notes
- 1 cup Swerve Granular Sweetener
- 6 extra large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup butter room temperature. Notes in blog post
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature. Notes in blog post
- 1 cup Swerve Confectioner's sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5-6 drops maple extract to taste
- dash sea salt
Instructions
Grain Free Spice Cake Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 180 C.
- Mix almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum sea salt. Set aside.
- Mix spices together. Add to dry ingredients.
Wet Ingredients
- Whip eggs for 4 minutes.
- Stream in avocado oil.
- Add Sweetener.
- Add sour cream and milk.
- Add vanilla extract
- Add dry mixture.
- Mix until just mixed on medium.
- Makes 12 large cupcakes or a triple six-inch cake. You will need more frosting for a layer cake, but I recommend thin frosting layers.
- Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 207 degrees.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- Whip butter for five minutes.
- Add softened cream cheese. IMPORTANT: Make sure cream cheese and butter are same temperature or they may not mix well.
- Add vanilla, maple extract.
- Add Confectioner's Swerve a little at a time.
- Add salt.
- Add heavy cream as needed to get the consistency you want. You can also add hot water if you don't want to add in heavy cream, but do so a tablespoon at a time. You can also warm the glaze to make it easier to pour.
Notes
Nutrition
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