Rainy days and cupcakes

I've always loved rainy days (and nights!), and who doesn't love cupcakes? Today I enjoyed both.

I was checking the new recipes on gone raw and noticed one new recipe simply said to click on a you tube link for the details. This is an easy task for most people, however where I live, there is no high speed internet connection available.

Anxious to view the recipe, I clicked on the link and waited almost an hour (yes you read it right!) for the short video to load. At least I cleaned the house and did laundry in the meantime:) Once loaded, I can view it quickly:)

After jotting down the ingredients and directions, the rest was easy. I had to make some adjustments for equipment and ingredients, but they came out so cute. Thanks to the adorable MegMcMurray for the recipe Chocolate Pecan Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting. Please view the original recipe from the link on gone raw.

Here is the recipe with my adjustments:
Cupcakes:
2 cups pecans, soaked and dehydrated
1/4 cup buckwheaties, (sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat groats)
1/4 cup dried coconut flakes
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 inch whole vanilla bean
Grind all the above ingredients in high speed blender (blend-tec grind grain setting)

Transfer mixture to food processor and add:
1 cup pitted dates
1 tablespoon melted cocoa butter
pinch of salt
Process until well combined, and mixture holds together. Try not to let it over-mix or the nuts get oily.

Roll mixture into balls and place in mini cupcake papers. I made about 12 one and a half inch cakes, plus tasting!
Let chill while preparing icing. Megan dehydrated these for 10 hours at 110 degrees, but I thought they were yummy and moist as they were:)
I followed the directions for the icing, however, I only made a 1/2 recipe and used 1 inch of whole vanilla bean. I must have missed what was used for the vanilla part, but I did see Meg sprinkling some powder into the blender, most likely vanilla powder I think.

Frosting:
1 cup macadamia nuts
meat from 1 young coconut
2-3 tablespoons honey, to taste
1 inch whole vanilla bean
coconut water, just a bit to thin icing

In blender,grind nuts and vanilla bean
Add coconut meat and honey
Add as much coconut water as needed to create icing.
Let the icing chill about 1 hour or so and frost cupcakes. If you have the lovely fresh cherries Meg had, top each cake with a cherry.
I had some chocolate chips in the freezer, so I sprinkled a few of them on top.
note: .125 cup is 2 tablespoons in choc chip recipe:)

Here are the buckwheaties:

















Check sproutpeople for complete instructions. The most important thing to remember about buckwheat, is that they only soak for 20-60 minutes. After that, you only have to rinse them every 4-6 hours for a day or so. Sprout until the tail is about as long as the seed. Dehydrate at 112 degrees for several hours until crisp. Store in airtight containers for months. May grind into flour for use in recipes.