Red velvet cupcakes seem to be abounding lately, and certainly are one of those classic comfort desserts that we all remember with a certain nostalgia. Which is why, when I went in search of a recipe to modify, I was quite surprised at how far afield I had to scrounge for gluten-free, vegan recipes. With that said, I ended up with this recipe of my own, modified from a wheat-based devils-food recipe I’ve used before.
Classic Red Velvet Cake is one of those desserts that was a happy accident (as Bob the painter used to say!). The housewives of days gone by would make a light version of a devils food cake, and the acidity of the buttermilk reacted with the cocoa, and turned it a reddish hue. Many current-day versions of Red Velvet Cake skimp on the cocoa in order to get a Satanically-red hue. I myself am inclined to keep the cocoa, keeping the cake a little closer to its classic roots, making it more like Terra-Cotta velvet cake.
I am clearly of the camp that is not a huge proponent of the artificial colour, BUT, for Red Velvet Cake I will make an exception, and so, in between test-batches, I hustled down to get some bona fide red food colouring to do this properly! Gel colouring in the small pots is your best bet, and you will need a lot to get amped up colour — about 1/2 teaspoon or so for a small batch of cake batter.
My other reason for making these was I received a few boxes of King Arthur Flour’s multi-purpose gluten-free flour to try out. I have a variety of different things on the list to try to see how it fares in a variety of applications, from pies to cakes, to breads, and it felt like Red Velvet cupcakes would make an auspicious start to the week! This particular flour blend clocks in 30 grams per 3T (or 160 grams per cup). If you are interested in substituting your own flour blend, you will need to calculate the appropriate average for the blend you use.
I have to say these turned out really well! a great crumb, a little bit of spring, but nice and moist, hence the full-stop! They are just plain good, never mind that they have no gluten, eggs or dairy in them. The cream cheese frosting does kind of take it over the edge, but you could substitute a vegan vanilla icing if you are making them for folks who can’t have dairy or eggs.
In terms of the flour itself, I thought it performed pretty well for an AP flour blend. It doesn’t quite produce the ethereal texture I get when I use Betty Hagman’s featherweight flour blend, BUT then again, that is a flour blend that I use ONLY for cakes, whereas the King Arthur blend is intended for a number of uses. Stay tuned to this channel! We’ll be putting it through its paces with pie crust and breads up next.
Ingredients
- 3/4 c almond milk
- 1 T cider vinegar
- 3/4 c granulated sugar
- 1/3 c coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp red food colouring (the gel colours)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 c King Arthur flour gluten-free multipurpose flour (240 grams)
- 1/4 c cocoa powder (NOT dutch processed!)
- 1/2 tsp xantham gum
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 oz. cream cheese (NOT reduced fat)
- 4 T unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 1/2 - 2 c confectioners sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Combine the almond milk and vinegar in a medium bowl and let stand for 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk well until the sugar is well combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a dry whisk to combine. Add to the wet ingredients in the medium bowl, and mix well. The mixture will thicken slightly as the xantham gum hydrates.
- Scoop into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes at 350 F. Let cool completely before icing
- To prepare the icing, combine the cream cheese, softened butter and vanilla extract in a bowl. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioners sugar, mixing as you go until you have a pipeable consistency.
Notes
If you do not have King Arthur flour mix, you can use the flour mix they suggest (6 cups brown rice flour; 2 cups potato starch; and 1 cup tapioca tapioca starch) OR Bette Hagman's Featherlight Mix (1 cup rice flour, 1 cup tapioca starch, 1 cup potato starch + 1 T potato flour)
Dislosure: I am part of the King Arthur Advisory Baking Panel. As part of their research on Canadian baking patterns, they have provided me product samples for test baking.
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