It is that time of year again, Valentine’s day is coming up. For moms of elementary school age kids this means classroom parties. With one of mine still in elementary school this meant I needed to figure out what I was doing for my daughter and her class. I figured what could be more perfect for a Valentines day party than some Red Velvet Cupcakes, to be exact Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes.
For years I always stayed away from red velvet cake. I never had it growing up and when my boys were younger we stayed away from most food coloring. You use a whole bottle of red food coloring in red velvet cake to there was no way. My older two boys were very sensitive to red food dye. Things changed for me a few years ago when I discovered a red velvet cake made with beets. It was delicious and did not taste like beets at all. My family loved it. Red velvet cake is a beautiful thing.
Around the same time I discovered the red velvet cake made with beets I was also launching my own cupcake business in Texas. The one recipe I still needed was a classic red velvet cake. I wanted a recipe for those afraid of using beets. I went to work and researched some of the top red velvet Cake recipes from the Joy of Baking to Paula Dean. I debated the classic frosting or the more well known cream cheese frosting. I’ll just say there is a ton of debate just on that issue! From there I created my own recipe and tried it out on friends. It was perfect and even better than the red velvet cake made with beets. During our time living in Texas I sold a few dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes. They were always a huge hit.
I had talked to my daughter’s principal earlier this year about treats for class parties and she said that homemade treats were welcome. I was so excited! At my kids previous school I was known as the cupcake lady. I made cupcakes once a week that were sold to raise money for the Special Olympics. They always sold out in minutes. It got to a point that parents would come up to me in the parking lot and buy them from me before I could get them to the school! I couldn’t wait to try an updated version of my red velvet cake for my daughter’s class here. Knowing that there were some allergies in her class I tweaked my original recipe and created a gluten free red velvet cake.
The best part about my updated red velvet cake recipe is that you can not tell at all it is gluten free. I shocked my husband when he saw me eating a cupcake from my trial run. Having this recipe in my gluten free recipe arsenal could be dangerous but it is all about moderation, right?
What are you baking for Valentines day?
- 2½ Cups Gluten Free Flour Blend
- 1½ cups Sugar
- 1 TB Cocoa Powder
- ½t Salt
- 1t Baking Soda
- 1t Xanthan Gum
- 1½ Cups cooking oil ( you can do ¾cup oil and ¾ cup applesauce)
- 2 eggs
- 1 Cup Milk
- 2TB Vinegar
- 1 t vanilla
- 2TB Red Food coloring
- 2 8oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ Cup Butter
- 2 Cups Confectioner Sugar
- 1t Vanilla extract or paste
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.
- In bowl combine milk and vinegar and set aside for 5-10 minutes creating a faux buttermilk
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and sugar. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk substitute , red food coloring and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa powder,baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter and frost with cream cheese frosting.
- FOR CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
Cream Cheese Frosting from Allrecipes.com