Gluten Free Cupcake Madness

Well, today is National Chocolate Cupcake day and to celebrate, here are a few of our favorite recipes from over the years - including a gluten-free, dairy-free recipe for chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow; a recipe for spooky Halloween cupcakes and Chocolate Mousse Grand Marnier cupcakes for the grown-ups. All three are delicious gluten free and perfect for celebrating National Cupcake Month!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Filling

Ingredients
For the cupcake batter:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups gluten free flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup Tofutti sour cream
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 jar (7 ounces) Kraft marshmallow cream

For frosting
8 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Directions

For cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F and line 12 muffin cups with liners.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. When melted, remove pan from heat.

In a medium bowl combine sugar, gluten free flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together soy milk, Tofutti sour cream and canola oil. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in chocolate.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until all ingredients are smoothly blended. Fill muffin cups about two-thirds full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare cupcakes for filling, use a small, sharp knife, remove a 3/4" wide by 1" deep cylinder from top-center of each cupcake. Trim off and discard about 1/2" from bottom of each cylinder, retaining approximately 1/2" for further use with cupcakes.

With the tip of a knife, hollow out a small cavity inside each cupcake. Spoon marshmallow cream into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" plain tip. Twist end of bag tightly to secure.

To fill cupcakes, place tip into cavity of cupcake and without moving tip, squeeze filling into cavity to 1/4" from top of cupcake.
Fill remaining cupcakes in a similar way. Insert reserved cupcake cylinders back into holes, covering filling.

In a food processor, combine Tofutti cream cheese, vanilla extract, powdered sugar and cocoa powder; pulse until smooth.

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes prior to frosting cupcakes.

Spoon frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe onto tops of cupcakes or alternatively spread frosting onto cupcakes with a knife.


Featured Recipe: Spooky Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcake batter
1-1/2 cups gluten free flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon gluten free almond extract
1 cup gluten free chocolate chips (Hershey's and Nestle semi-sweet chips are gluten free)

For the frosting
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
dash of salt
1 unbeaten egg whites
1/2 teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract
Black food gel coloring OR recipe for Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine sugar, gluten free flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine apple sauce, egg, oil and almond extract. Beat until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into paper line muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool muffins in pan for about 5 minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the frosting, combine sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Very slowly add sugar syrup to 2 unbeaten egg whites in a mixing bowl. Beat constantly with a mixer until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

To create a spiderweb design in the image, reserve half of the frosting as white and color the other half with black gel coloring OR make a batch of chocolate ganache frosting. Frost with white first and, once the base has set, draw concentric circles using the black frosting and a fine, round tip. While the black frosting (or ganache) is still wet, drag a clean toothpick from the center of the "web" to the edge, creating six equal segments.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

This is my single-favorite frosting recipe of all time - and looking at the ingredients it's no wonder why! Based on David Lebovitz's frosting recipe from his (in)famous German Chocolate Cake, this is a show-stopper all on its own!

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 ½ ounces unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine 8 ounces of chopped chocolate with the corn syrup and butter.

In a saucepan, heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Immediately remove from heat and pour over chocolate, butter and corn syrup mixture. Important: let stand for one minute (to melt the chocolate and butter) before whisking until smooth. Let cool to room temperature before piping onto cupcakes. If you use this for the base frosting, refrigerate the mixture for up to 45 minutes before attempting to frost (otherwise it is just a delicious semi-liquid mess...)

Featured Recipe: Chocolate Mousse Grand Marnier Cupcakes

Ingredients

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier
1/4 cup gluten free flour
Whipping cream for topping

Directions

Line a 12 muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

Combine chopped chocolate and butter to a small saucepan over low heat. Stir with a rubber spatula until melted. Remove from heat. Add sugar, eggs, egg yolks and Grand Marnier to a large bowl and beat with electric mixer for about 5 minutes, until thickened and light in color. Sprinkle gluten free flour over batter and fold in with a rubber spatula. Fold in melted chocolate. Fill muffin cups half full and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. You can keep these in the refrigerator for up to a day before baking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake for about 7 minutes. Cupcakes should puff and crack and an inserted toothpick should come out with moist batter attached. Let cool, the center of the cupcakes may fall slightly. When cool, the center of the cupcakes will be soft, almost like pudding. Top cooled cupcakes with whipped cream and serve.