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| Gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. Let's celebrate. |
The world is my oyster. No. Wait. I'm allergic to oysters. At least that is what a blood test declared, four years ago. Puzzling. I never had any symptoms. That I recall. Though who knows. I haven't actually eaten an oyster in (...let me count), maybe 17 years. They were fried oysters. At a jumping local hang-out on the Cape. The Land Ho in Orleans. Famous for grilled burgers, golden dipped fish and chips, fried clams. And yeah. Oysters. And beer. Truth is, I would much prefer a cupcake. No slimy, muscular middle. No fishy liquor. Just tender, soft sweetness in exactly the right portion. Not too big. Not too heavy. Not too much.
Just right.
As you may have guessed, I have issues (who among us doesn't?). Texture is a big honking issue for me. Size is an issue (portions bigger than my head? A serious turn off). And taste, well, that goes without saying (you know how I loathe bean flour). If I was a storybook character I would inhabit The Princess and the Pea.
Except that it would have to be The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Princess and the Pea (which by the way, I may also be allergic to; the pea, that is). While others around me appear to sail without pause through the onslaught of sensory stimuli and proteins that is life in the twenty-first century, I have been blessed (and I use the term ironically) with the uncanny aptitude of hearing, smelling, feeling every little particle and nano nuance packed into our molecular frenzy of unstable equilibrium. I can sleep on a stack of twenty mattresses but if there is a single lonely pea beneath, I am sure to sense it. And it will keep me up all night.
And give me schpilkis.
Which brings me back to cupcakes. For those of us with acute sensory awareness (what some might dub just chill the f**k out disease) a cupcake is a small and lovely gift. When done right, a cupcake is tender and not too chewy, not too crumbly, dense or assertive. It's not too abrasive in its flavor or too dull. It's not too hot or too cold. It's not too skinny-chic or too over-the-top sweet. It doesn't stuff you till you're stupid. And it doesn't demand attention. It's not a diva. It's not competitive. A cupcake is perfectly happy to be what it is even if it won't garner food awards or
Because a well done cupcake is simply perfection.
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| A tidy little beauty of a bite. Gluten-free. |
Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe with Mocha Icing
I frosted these little vanilla beauties with mocha flavored icing because I love the combo of coffee and chocolate. But straight up chocolate would also be delicious. As would vanilla.
Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour or brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup vanilla soy, rice, coconut, or almond milk
1/4 cup organic free-range eggs, beaten or Ener-G egg replacer
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12-cupcake tin with paper or parchment liners.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, starch and dry ingredients together. Add in the non-dairy milk, eggs or egg replacer, coconut oil, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat with a mixer until the cake batter is smooth. Do not over-beat.
Using an ice cream scoop, plop the batter into the twelve liners. Smooth out the tops with wet fingers.
Bake in the center of a preheated oven until firm and dome shaped. For me this took about 15-18 minutes at sea level but they may take up to 20 to 22 minutes, depending upon your particular oven and altitude.
Cool the pan on a wire rack briefly, then gently pop out the cupcakes and continue cooling on a rack (this avoids steaming the bottoms).
Make your icing.
Dairy-Free Mocha Icing Recipe
When making frosting, start with a small amount of liquid and add a little bit at a time until you achieve the consistency you want. If the icing gets too runny, add more confectioner's sugar to thicken it. You can also put the icing in the fridge for an hour to help stiffen it.
Ingredients:
2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2-3 tablespoons vegan butter
2 ounces cold strong coffee, more as needed (or use vanilla rice milk if you don't like coffee)
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla
Instructions:
Starting with a small amount of liquid, beat the sugar and cocoa powder to incorporate the shortening, coffee and vanilla. If you need more liquid, add a small amount at a time. Beat for two minutes or so until smooth. If you need to stiffen the frosting, add a little more confectioner's sugar.
Chill the frosting before using it. I chill it, covered, for roughly an hour. Frost the cupcakes. Cover in an air-tight container until serving. best eaten the first day. If making ahead of time, chill frosted cakes briefly in the freezer before wrapping individually and freezing.
Cook time: 1 hour Yield: Serves 12
Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com
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We enjoy our sugary treats in moderation, don't we? Gluten-Free Goddess advises consuming no more than 2 tablespoons of sugar a day.
GFG Notes:
Gluten-free and vegan batters are often stiffer at first. Then they get sticky and stretch. If the batter climbs the beaters, slow down the speed and slightly lift the beaters to encourage the batter to migrate back down into the bowl. Move your beater around the bowl in figure eights, at a slight angle.
For substitutions, please see my guide to baking with substitutions here.
