Gluten Free Shamrock Shake Cupcakes | For St. Patrick's Day
These gluten free shamrock shake cupcakes have all the minty, green, fresh flavor of shamrock shakes, in a neat little cupcake. Make the light, creamy mascarpone frosting with or without food coloring, and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style!
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Equipment
- Mixer with whisk attachment
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click through for details)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) 200 g granulated sugar
- 25 fresh mint leaves
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅔ cup (5 ⅓ fluid ounces) milk at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure peppermint extract or 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
- 1 (25 g) egg white at room temperature
For the frosting
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature (or cream cheese)
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (I prefer Spectrum brand; you can also use virgin coconut oil)
- 1 cup (115 g) confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure peppermint extract or 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil
- 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream chilled
- 2 drops leaf green food coloring gel paste optional
- Green gluten free sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line or grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
Make the cupcake batter.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt, whisk to combine well and set the bowl aside.
- In a blender or the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade or, place the granulated sugar and 20 mint leaves. Pulse or blend until the mint leaves are ground fine. The sugar will be a pale green color.
- Add the mint sugar to the bowl of dry ingredients, and whisk to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, milk, vanilla, peppermint extract or oil and eggs, and beat until well-combined and smooth. Mince the remaining 5 mint leaves, and fold them into the batter.
Bake the cupcakes.
- Fill the prepared muffin cups about halfway full, and shake into an even layer in each well.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until very pale golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the middle muffin comes out clean, about 19 minutes.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting.
- Place the mascarpone cheese and shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and peppermint, and mix to combine.
- Switch out the paddle attachment for the wire whisk. Add the chilled heavy cream to the bowl, and mix on high speed until the cream thickens and holds a relatively soft peak (stiffer than a very soft peak that falls over on itself, but softer than a stiff peak that stands straight up).
- Toward the very end, add the optional food coloring.
Frost the cupcakes.
- Transfer frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip, and pipe a generous amount of frosting on top of each cooled cupcake. Sprinkle with the optional green sprinkles.
- The whipped cream frosting is stable enough to sit at room temperature for about a day without wilting or separating. For a slightly firmer frosting, refrigerate the cupcakes after frosting and serve chilled.