GF/CF Halloween Cupcakes

My oldest daughter is on a gluten-free diet, and one of her classmates is on a gluten-free/casein free diet.  So, being infected by helium hand, I agreed to make cupcakes for their class.

Since I was doing some major adapting anyway, I grabbed one of my favorite books to adapt FROM.  This is a 1942 Baker's Chocolate recipe book that includes hints and tips on baking in spite of rationing of eggs, butter, and sugar.  All of the recipes work with plain shortening and offer an adaptation for less sugar by using honey or corn syrup.

As I was already making these gluten AND casein free, I opted to use the full sugar recipe.  I also discovered that I was out of unsweetened baking chocolate.  So I used an old trick Mom taught me:  Replace each square of chocolate in the recipe with 1 Tbsp of shortening or butter and 3 Tbsp of cocoa powder.  This can be melted in a saucepan, but in this case I just let the boiling water called for in the original recipe do the job.

Quick Red Devil's Food Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cupcake pan with paper wrappers

2 1/2 c. Fancy Flour Blend or other GF All Purpose flour OR
1/2 c. millet flour
1 c. white rice flour
1/2 c. tapioca starch
1/4 c. + 3 Tbsp sweet rice flour
1 Tbsp potato starch

Sift the flour into a bowl.

1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. xanthan gum
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 c. shortening
3/4 c. cocoa
3/4 c. boiling water

1/2 c. shortening
2 tsp. vinegar + enough soy milk to make 1/2 c.
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Take the sifted flour blend, and sift together three times with the soda, salt, xanthan gum, and sugar.

Place 1/4 c. shortening and cocoa in a heatproof bowl.  Pour boiling water over cocoa and shortening and whisk until smooth.  Set aside to cool.

Cream shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and beat well.  Add chocolate mixture, and beat again.  Add another 1/3 of dry ingredients, beating until combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated.  Add remaining dry ingredients and beat to combine.  Add soy milk mixture and vanilla, beat on low till combined, then turn up to medium and beat for two minutes.

With a 2 oz disher, distribute batter into 24 cupcake wrappers and bake about 20-25 minutes until glossy and a toothpick inserted comes out dry.

Place on a wire rack and cool complete.

Frosting Fun

These cupcakes have two frostings.  It's easier to get to black frosting without using so much food coloring to affect the taste if you start with chocolate.

Black Frosting

1/2 c. dairy-free soy margarine
3/4 c. cocoa
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
soy milk

Cream margarine, and then beat in cocoa.  Add some of the sugar and beat well, and beat in vanilla.  Then alternate small amounts of soy milk (no more than a Tbsp at a time) and powdered sugar until all sugar is incorporated and frosting is at a pipe-able consistency.  Add black food coloring until a deep charcoal is reached.  It will darken with time.

Orange Frosting

2 Tbsp dairy-free soy margarine
6 Tbsp shortening
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract

soy milk

Cream together margarine and shortening.  Beat in about 1/4 of the sugar, then the almond.  Alternate soymilk, 1 Tbsp at a time, and powdered sugar until all of the sugar is incorporated and a pipe-able consistency is reached.  To get orange (when I don't have that color), I started by tinting the frosting a strong yellow.

I then added red, one drop at a time, until I reached a nice orange.  It took two drops.  The complicated part is loading a large pastry bag (at least 16") with orange frosting on one side and chocolate on the other.  Try hard not to muddle the colors.  A long spatula helps with this.

Then pipe the swirls on the cupcakes and sprinkle on decorations of your choice.

Now, normally I just use plain white wrappers, as they're obtainable at Gordon Food Service by the 500 count box for around $4.  But I happened across these adorable little Halloween wrappers at Michael's and had to grab them.  The little silhouette with houses, trees, moons, etc.

Hopefully the kids will enjoy them!