As Halloween fast approaches, you might be thinking about what kind of treats you can indulge in eating. Quite a few sugar-free chocolates are available on the market, but I haven’t seen any that are Halloween specific. You could melt down sugar-free chocolate bars from the store and pour them into oiled molds with bats or cats or even spiders, then chill them until they are set up to make your own Halloween treats. You might even put one on top of one of these cupcakes. I think I need to go look for candy molds…

For that special party treat while everyone else is indulging in high carb cupcakes, you can enjoy this colorful cupcake that is less than 2.5 net carbs per cake. This is my variation on the Atkins recipe that calls for all coconut flour. Since I am not crazy about the coconut flour texture, I substituted in a couple of different flour options for part of it. You can substitute all of it. Just keep in mind, the total amount of flour substitute to make six cupcakes is 3/4 cup. The 1/4 cup of coconut flour in the original recipe expands to make this amount equivalent.

Black Velvet Cupcakes with Orange Cream Icing

Adapted by Rene Averett

2 large Eggs
1/4 cup Coconut Milk Unsweetened
1/4 cup granulated Sugar Substitute such as Xylitol or Swerve
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3 tablespoon Butter, melted
2 tablespoons Organic High Fiber Coconut Flour
1/4 cup Baking Mix
2 tablespoons Vanilla Whey Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Powder (Straight Phosphate, Double Acting)
2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder (Unsweetened)
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
2 drops Blue Food Coloring
2 drops Red Food Coloring

For the Icing:
4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
2 tablespoons granulated Sugar Substitute
4 tablespoons Butter, softened
1 single serve packet Sugar-free Orange Drink Mix
2 drops Red Food Coloring
4 drops Yellow Food Coloring
1 tablespoon Sugar-free Chocolate Chips for decoration

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.). Line six cupcake molds with paper liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, coconut milk, sugar substitute, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Whisk until completed mixed together. Add blue and red food coloring. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, mix coconut flour, baking mix, vanilla whey powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder together until fully combined. Stir into the egg mixture, stirring until the flour is completely mixed in.

Spoon batter evenly into the prepared cupcake molds, about 3 tablespoons of batter into each well. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the cake is firm and springs back when you touch it.

Remove to a cooling rack and let cool before you ice the cupcakes.

For the Icing:
In a medium bowl, beat the softened creamed cheese with the softened butter, orange drink mix, sugar substitute, and red and yellow food coloring until it is smooth and creamy. Taste it. If it is not sweet enough, add a little more sugar sweetener to it and mix it in.

Ice each cupcake. I used it more sparingly than the recipe called for so I ended up with enough icing to do another six cupcakes. If you really want a thick layer, you can either spread it on heavily or pipe it onto the cupcakes. Decorate with the sugar-free chocolate chips or take a sugar-free candy bar and crush it into pieces and sprinkle on top.

Makes 6 cupcakes.

Nutrition Information per cupcake:
Calories: 250.5 Fat: 23 g Net Carbs: 2.4 g Protein: 6.9 g

Notes: If you don’t use any coconut flour, then use 3/4 cup of flour of your choice, or 1/4 cup Almond flour, 6 tablespoons Baking mix, and 2 tablespoons Vanilla Whey powder or any other flour choices. If you make it with all coconut flour, use 1/4 cup coconut flour, then add 3 eggs as the coconut flour will need the additional egg to rise. If you use all almond flour, allow it to cool completely before icing or eating as the almond flour doesn’t hold together as well as the combination of flours.

I used Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk to make it instead of Coconut Milk. Either works well. You can use a sugar-free orange syrup instead of the drink mix if you prefer, or orange flavoring. The drink mix is a little tart and works well with the chocolate.