Orange Poppy Seed Cupcakes

I searched and searched for gluten free muffin recipes on the Internet and through my growing library of  cookbooks. Many of the recipes required flour which I didn't want to use. A lovely lady I work with misses out on many sweet treats because of flour - so these are for her. She doesn't know it, and doesn't need to. My reasons for cooking are sometimes personal. There is deep satisfaction in cooking for people, seeing their smiles and knowing that for a moment, or a day they are instantly happy.

After some research, I decided to combine a couple of recipes I found based on the ingredients I had in the pantry and turn them into cupcakes!

Surprisingly, they turned out really light and moist and passed both the child taste test and the girls at work...

RECIPE

[Print Recipe]

Ingredients

3 eggs
½ cup honey

¼ cup melted butter or oil

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tblsp orange juice

1 tblsp finely grated orange rind

1 tblsp poppy seeds

3 cups almond meal

warmed orange juice & butter, extra to baste (approx. 60ml)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C.

2. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, melted butter/oil, baking soda, salt & orange juice.

4. Stir in lemon/orange rind and poppy seeds.

5. Whisk in almond meal.

6. Spoon batter into muffin cups. (I filled mine halfway as I didn't want them too big)

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown, springy to touch.

8. Baste cakes with a little melted butter and warmed orange juice.
9. When cool, spoon over orange icing or cream cheese frosting.

* You could easily substitute the orange juice for lemon, make sure it is freshly squeezed though - it tastes SO much better. 

* Make sure to finely grate the rind

Enjoy!