For now, and for the foreseeable future, gluten-free cupcakes are as essential to a well-functioning household as, say, not forgetting permissions slips and remembering to pack lunch and a snack … more
For now, and for the foreseeable future, gluten-free cupcakes are as essential to a well-functioning household as, say, not forgetting permissions slips and remembering to pack lunch and a snack for everyone, every day. Whether it’s one my children having a birthday, or someone else’s child having a birthday, cupcakes are important. And since my gluten-free son can’t have someone else’s cupcake, he has to have his own. See? I need a lot of cupcakes. And when I’m planning to bring cupcakes into school and they’re going to feed other children, I have learned a few things: they’d better not have a strong, unfamiliar taste (like dark chocolate) and they’d better not look “different.” These gluten-free red velvet cupcakes are light enough on the chocolate flavor that even a vanilla-cupcake-kind-of-kid might accept them, but still good-looking enough to get the kid-friendly “nod.” And they’re super easy to make, too. Plus, they freeze well. Cupcake emergencies happen.
To all the dry ingredients, add the butter, eggs, vanilla, gel coloring, cider vinegar and then some milk. And the batter will go from lumpy …
…to smooth and shiny.
Then line standard muffin cups and fill them with batter (1/2 full if you want flat tops, or 3/4 full if you want a higher dome).
Like this.
On to the frosting. Here’s how I fill a pastry bag.
Place the tip in the disposable bag and push it to a corner. Snip the bag just enough to expose the tip but keep it snug in the bag. Turn over a cuff in the open side of the bag, place the bag with tip in a tall glass, and turn the cuff over the lip of the glass. Add enough frosting to fill the bag about 5 inches high, and leave the rest empty. Remove the bag from the glass, turn the cuff right-side out, and twist the bag tight. Secure with a twist (or a ribbon) if you like.
Frost your cooled cupcakes. Maybe try my homemade gluten-free white chocolate frosting. Go wild!
NOTE: This post used to be about a former blog sponsor called Primp My Cupcake (that’s why the post is titled as it is), but they went out of business! So sorry if that’s at all awkward. :)
- 1¾ cup (245g) high-quality all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- Super red soft gel paste food coloring to desired color
- Scant 1 cup milk (low-fat is fine, nonfat is not), at room temperature
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with grease proof pretty cupcake liners and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the butter, eggs, vanilla, vinegar and 2 to 3 drops of food coloring. Mix to combine. The batter will be lumpy. Add the milk, and mix to combine well. Add more food coloring a drop at a time, mixing well after each, until the desired color is reached.
- Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Shake the muffin tin back and forth to distribute the batter evenly in each cup. Smack the tin *smack* on the countertop to break any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
- Place in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Love,
Me
P.S. If you haven’t yet, please pick up a copy of My Cookbooks! With your help, the blog can keep going and going!
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