Spiced Honey & Corn Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream (Gluten free, Paleo)

I wanted to make a fabulous end-of-summer, beginning-of-fall cupcake, and here it is!  These have corn kernels baked right in, and a batter laced with fall spices.  The frosting is my favorite part: butter and coconut cream are delicious together, with a little honey and maple sugar for sweetness.  I tested the frosting with and without butter, and it's great both ways.

Some people don't include corn in their paleo diet, so feel free to leave it out.  If you wanted to substitute something else, I bet these would also be delicious with little chunks of apple instead.  Let me know if you try it!

Oh, and do you love these parchment cupcake cups as much as I do?  I got the idea from this post on Alexandra's Kitchen.  They take a few minutes to make, but I love their rustic look.  The BEST part is that NONE of the cake crumbs stick to the paper!  And, the cup unfolds into a nice little placemat to put your cupcake on between bites.  You can also use parchment to line a loaf pan if you are making banana bread or something like that, and you don't even need to grease it.

Ingredients (makes 8; based on these muffins):

For the cupcakes:

1 and 3/4 cups almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour/tapioca starch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon allspice

Pinch of ground ginger

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 and 1/4 cups frozen (don't defrost) or fresh corn kernels

For the frosting:

Cream from 1 14-ounce can of coconut milk, chilled

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature (optional)*

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon granulated maple sugar or brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cinnamon for sprinkling

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 375 and line a muffin tin with paper liners.  Or, cut out squares of parchment about 5 x 5 inches and fold them into the cups.  Use small fruits or other weights to keep them in place and help them hold their shape (like in this picture from Alexandra's Kitchen).

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.  In a small bowl or 2-cup measure, mix together the honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and eggs.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined.  Fold in the corn kernels.  Divide the mixture evenly among the cups and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-25 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool.

To make the frosting, scrape the hard coconut cream off the top of the can of coconut milk and place it in a large bowl.  Save the remaining coconut water for smoothies or another use.  Using a hand mixer, whip the coconut cream until it is nice and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.  It won't increase in volume as much as regular cream does.  Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.  If your frosting looks grainy, keep beating until it comes back together.  It may take several minutes, but it should smooth right out and have the texture of soft butter.  Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them and sprinkle a little cinnamon on top.

*The butter makes the frosting a little stiffer, so if you are not using it, I recommend frosting the cupcakes right before you serve them and/or storing frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator.

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