Coconut cupcakes with raspberry apple syrup

Drenched in fruity syrup and topped with raspberries, these coconut cupcakes are moist and delicious. A gluten-free treat that everyone will enjoy.

I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love Nadine Abensur’s book The Cranks Bible. It is full of gloriously delicious vegetarian recipes, and has never let me down.

There is a recipe in there for a delicious coconut cake. It has a poached mango and passionfruit topping and is drenched in syrup. It is fabulous! However, I must have made it several times before I realised that the cake is entirely suitable for Pesach! It contains no flour, and nothing that can’t be used during the festival. It’s also made without any butter or margarine, so it’s a superb parev (non-dairy) dessert too.

Size is everything

BUT, it does make a pretty big cake. This year it’s just the three of us for Pesach, and DH doesn’t actually eat that much cake. I knew that if I made the whole thing, I’d either end up eating almost an entire cake myself, or else throwing quite a bit of it away. Both options would make me sad, although perhaps for different reasons.

So, there was only one thing for it – adapt the recipe. Make it two-thirds smaller, convert to individual servings, change the topping. Et voila! Coconut cupcakes with raspberry apple syrup!

Coconut cupcakes – ingredients

I like to keep our Pesach shopping as minimal as possible, and avoid buying ‘weird’ ingredients that end up being thrown away months later (I’m looking at you tapioca flour). This recipe uses only a few basic ingredients that fall within my minimalist Pesach plan. To make it you will need:

• desiccated coconut – also called unsweetened shredded coconut
• ground almonds – sometimes called almond flour
• eggs
• sugar
• lemon
• cinnamon

I also used apple juice and raspberries for the topping. However you can substitute any kind of fruit juice – orange is good – and your choice of berries or other soft fruit. I’m quite tempted to try sliced peaches or blueberries… the possibilities are endless!

Moist coconut cupcakes

I made these coconut cupcakes in waxed paper cases, which worked fine. I think ramekins would be even better though. The syrup soaks into the cake, and would probably go straight through a regular paper case without much trouble – you need a waterproof barrier to keep it in.

My daughter Kipper ate her cake out of the paper case with a spoon, which seemed the best way to do it – another reason why ramekins or little cups might be a good idea. 

This coconut cupcake recipe is flourless, grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and very nearly fat-free. I’m not convinced you could call it healthy though. Delicious, mind you!

Makes 6-8 coconut cupcakes.

My Pesach recipe ebook, containing 40 simple and delicious meat-free recipes for everything from breakfasts and lunches to mains, sides, desserts and cakes, is available as an instant download! Just click here

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📖 Recipe

More delicious Pesach baking recipes

Some more gluten-free, Pesach friendly treats to enjoy include:

• flourless chocolate chip cookies
• flourless fudge brownie cookies
• Pesach tiramisu
• Pesach pop-tarts – sugar-free and great for breakfasts!

Treat Petite is a recipe challenge for individually portioned treats, hosted by Cakeyboi and The Baking Explorer.