Gluten free and vegan. You’d never know it by tasting them though. They’re really good.  I made them for the barbecue my mother in law is having this evening. I figured I’d bring something healthy, since she’s always on some new kick. Be warned, they are NOT sugar free. Sugar free baking just has not been working out for me. I either make something and HATE the way it tastes, or it doesn’t turn out at all.  I guess this is just the baking gods’ way of saying “Don’t do it Andrea” so… I’m heeding that warning.

So, without any further ado- Lemony cupcakes with not- quite cream cheese filling.

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These cakes rose up REALLY tall in the center. The sides were low, and the top just kept going up! they looked like little mini mountains. Also, the outer layer was kind of lightly crunchy. It really helped out the texture of the cake, which would have felt a little too dense without that  crunch, I think.

All in all, if it wasn’t for my organic lemon extract and the help of some real lemon juice, I don’t think I would have made these. I’ve been wanting lemon cupcakes for a long time, I just kept forgetting to make them!

People have been asking lately, so I figure I’ll give a little plug for some of the items that I use and love. First off, the sprinkles that I use. I love sprinkles, and lately I’ve been using more of the coloured sugars. I buy mine from whole foods, but you can find them in most organic grocery stores, or if you can’t, you can find them on amazon in the grocery section. The company is India Tree, and they make organic sprinkles that are dyed with natural vegetable dyes. They’re beautiful. I love them. I buy  the colours individually and mix them myself. The ones I used today all made me think of spring, so I figured they’d be great for a springtime barbecue.

Also, I’ve got to point this out, but the wrappers I used are special non-bleached organic paper wrappers that I bought at wild oats the other night. I saw them, and amazingly enough, THEY WERE CHEAPER than the regular ones I buy. AND I GET MORE OF THEM! These things are great, because they come in a little brown box, instead of a stupid plastic bag, so I can store them in the cupboard and not worry about them flying out and all over the place when I open the door. They’re also lightly waxed (naturally of course) so when you peel off the cupcake, IT ACTUALLY PULLS AWAY FROM THE PAPER!  If you look at the photo, and compare it to previous cupcake photos, you can actually tell.

So when I post this recipe to my recipe blog, I’ll be sure to mention the company name (since I don’t remember it right now) and you should all go out and try and find them, because they’re awesome.

Have a great day folks! Its beautiful outside (at least here in my neck of the woods) Go have a picnic or a barbecue, or if you’re stuck indoors, make yourself a nice big green salad and think of springtime!

Adapted from a recipe found in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

1 cup almond milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons lemon extract
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/3 cup almond flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

In one bowl, mix together the salt, baking soda, baking powder, quinoa flour, rice flour, and almond flour. In another bowl, mix together the almond milk, canola oil, sugar, and lemon extract. Add the tapioca flour and ground flax seed to the bowl with the liquid ingredients and blend well until the mixture is fluffy and starts to come together. then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liner lined muffin tins and fill them about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when you press on them. (or you can test with a toothpick.)

while the cupcakes are cooling, mix together one small package of tofutti “better than cream cheese” with about 3/4 cup powdered sugar that you’ve added 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon lemon extract to. Mix well until you’ve got a thick icing consistancy.

Cut cones out of the top of the cupcakes so you can remove the center and place a spoonful of the “cream cheese” filling inside. Replace the tops of the cupcakes and use a small amount of the filling as icing. Sprinkle on some organic sugar sprinkles, and you’re good!

I was really happy with these cupcakes. The recipe that I adapted said that they wouldn’t rise that much, so I wasn’t expecting anything, but mine rose up really tall in the centers. I don’t know if this was a fluke, or if this is something that will continue happening. Its worth a try.

One thing to remember is that when you cut the tops off of the cake so you can scoop out the center, the cake will be slightly more crumbly than that of traditional cake. Be careful that you don’t scoop too much out of the center.

There ya’ll go folks! These cupcakes fooled everyone that had them, they didn’t even know they were gluten free OR that they were vegan! They just thought they were delicious.

..Cause they were!
-A.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 1:35 am and is filed under April 2007, The Cupcakes!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.