Recipe: Almond and Orange Muffins with Date and Cacao Frosting

These muffins are deliciously juicy – thanks in part to the pureed orange in the cake mix. Try it out! Recipe by Sophia Schillik, cucinapiccina

Ingredients:

Muffin mix:

• 1 organic orange (around 240 g)
• 1-2 tbsp nut oil
• 4 eggs
• 160 g coconut sugar
• 150 g almonds, ground
• Pulp of 1 vanilla pod
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp almond butter

Frosting:

• 12 dates (the Deglet Nour variety)
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• 2 tbsp double cream cheese
• 1 pinch of salt
• Alternatively: cacao powder/icing sugar

Preparation:

1. Rinse the orange in hot water. Cook until soft for around 1 hour in a pot of simmering water. Leave to cool. Then cut into pieces, remove the pips and finely puree in a blender. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Brush a little nut oil into around 8-10 paper muffin cups and place onto a muffin tray or a ceramic tray. Beat the eggs and sugar until frothy, freshly grind the almonds in a blender and then stir in together with the vanilla, baking powder, salt and almond paste. Spices like cinnamon or cardamom also work well. Now mix in the orange puree.
3. Put the muffin mix into the prepared muffin cups and bake the muffins on the middle shelf for around 45 minutes. If they brown too quickly, they can be covered with foil towards the end. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. For the frosting, cover the dates with just enough hot water. Allow to soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Then, use a mixer to puree into a smooth cream with the cacao. Stir in the cream cheese and salt. Spread onto the muffins or simply sprinkle over cacao powder or icing sugar. The date cream can also be spooned out or served separately.

This recipe is part of an orange menu that Sophia Schillik created for us. You can also try her recipe for quinoa salad with oranges, nuts, fennel and argan oil dressing as well as the recipe for roasted pointed cabbage with orange and miso mayonnaise.