Gluten, Milk and Egg Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Lavender Buttercream Frosting!

I tested these last weekend with the Rose Vanilla Cupcakes and the Halloween Cupcakes and did the same substitution for the egg (using my Ultimate Awesome Gluten & Milk Free Chocolate Cupcake Recipe) For the egg, I substituted 1 Tablespoon if Flax Seed Flour mixed with 2 Tablespoons of Water.  It did not change the taste at all.

Also, a MAJOR change in my ingredients.  As I am baking so much and the flours are so expensive, I have tried using a bit more rice flour in each recipe (normally, I dont like using rice flour, but it does work).  I also found out that the Sanella margarine does have Whey in it, so I am now using Deli-Reform Das Original Margarine as it is 100% milk free.

Here again is the recipe I used for the cupcakes,

Gluten, Milk and Egg Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting

Cupcakes:
20g Amaranth Flour
20g Millet Flour
34g White Rice Flour
16g Tapioca starch
1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon GF Baking Powder (if using German, use 2x amount)
40g Baking Cocoa Powder
Pinch of salt
25g Milk Free Margarine at room temperature (I used Deli Reform Das Original)
140 g Mascobado Sugar
Replacement for 1 Egg (I used 1 Tablespoon Flax Seed Flour with 2 Tablespoons Water.  Mixed well and let set for 10 minutes).
½ teaspoon GF Pure Vanilla Extract
½ cup Soy Milk at room temperature (I used Alpro soya natural fresh)

Preheat oven to  180°C (350°F)

In a large bowl - mix the margarine, sugar, vanilla, egg replacement and soy milk together until blended. 

In a smaller bowl – mix the remaining ingredients and sift several times.  I usually sift at least 3x.

Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix with a spoon until the flour is all mixed into the wet mixture.  Then beat on medium speed with a mixer for 1-2 minutes.

Fill cupcakes liners 2/3 full.  I drop the cupcake pan then a couple times on a flat surface to get any air bubbles out.

Put into heated oven and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR until the timer goes off - Bake for 17 minutes.  Check with a toothpick. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the cupcake tin.  Place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely.  When completely cooled, you can frost them.

Butter Cream Frosting:
I used the Wilton Recipe but altered as follows to make it milk free.
113g Milk Free Margarine at room temperature - again, used Delli Reform
113g Crisco or other shortening   
1 teaspoon GF Pure Vanilla Extract
520g Powdered Sugar (shifted)
2 tablespoons Soy Milk (again, used the fresh Alpro)

Cream the margarine and shortening together then add the vanilla.  Mix.  Then add the powdered sugar approx 1 cup at a time.  Then add the soy milk.  Adjust milk/powdered sugar to get consistency needed.

Food coloring is Gluten Free as are the toppings (Rice and or Potato Starch are used)

Gluten & Milk Free Pumpkin Muffins

I OVE LOVE LOVE pumpkins!!!  I had a couple Hokkaido pumpkins (small bright orange pumpkins we have here in Germany).  I baked one of them in the oven for about an hour and then when cooled, I put it in the food processor.  The other one is cooking as I type in some curry :-)

For breakfast this morning I wanted to make something different (normally when I have fresh pumpkin, I do pancakes or waffles).  They were so awesome that nearly all of them are gone already :-D

I still have some of the baked/processed pumpkin left so will make some pumpkin with (rice) white chocolate chips with (goat's) cream cheese frosting tomorrow. Can't wait!!!

Makes 24 medium muffins
·    1 cup Pumpkin (I used Hokkaido pumpkin, cut and baked down in the oven, then processed in the food processor)
·    2 Eggs
·    1/2 cup Soy Milk
·    1/2 cup Milk Free Margarine
·    75 grans Teff Flour
·    75 grams Rice Flour
·    25grams Tapioca Flour
·    1/4 teaspoon Salt
·    1/2 cup Raw Sugar
·    1/2 cup White Sugar
·    1 teaspoon Baking Soda
·    1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
·    ½ teaspoon Xanthum Gum 
·    1 1/2  teaspoon Cinnamon 
·    1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
·    1/2 teaspoon Ginger 
·    1/4 teaspoon Coves

1.     Mix pumpkin, eggs, soy milk, and margarine in large bowl.

2.     Sift together flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, xanthum gum and spices.  When mixed quite well (sifted 2-3 times) add the sugars and mix with a whisk.

3.    Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a mixer on medium speed, taking care not to over mix.

4.    Fill muffin tins (grease if not using liners) 3/4 full.

5.    Bake at 180°C  for 30 minutes.

Gluten, Milk and Egg Free Rose Vanilla Cupcakes

I was just in the mood to bake some cupcakes (ok, and eat some) and I had bought some Rose Water a few months back, but had not tried it yet.  So, I made some Rose Cupcakes.  I have to bake some this weekend that are also Egg Free (but chocolate, which I have worked out great already) but I still wanted to try it - just to experiement.

I did not use a recipe or even alter one - I just got out my bowl, my flours and other baking stuff and made a bowl from scratch.  So, there is no recipe this time - sorry.   

But they did turn out nice.  Although I would use twice the Rose Water next time as with the GF flours (all much stronger flavors than wheat flour) and the Flax seed flour - the aroma and taste of Rose is hidden.

For the Egg replacement, I used 1 Tablespoon of Flax Seed Flour and 2 Tablespoons of Water. I mixed it well and let it set for 10 min or so  - worked like a charm.

Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Butter Cream Frosting

As my contribution to the Halloween party, of course I took cupcakes :)

I used the same ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe that I posted a few post ago.  It never fails me.  These are the most delicious and moist chocolate cupcakes you will ever have (gluten/milk free or otherwise).  They are topped with Haribo gluten free Vampie Gummy's

Better Picture of the Princess/Flower cupcakes - plus recipe

OK, so after visiting MaMa With Flavor and taking her and her 3 adorable children their special made cupcakes (which got  knocked around several times on the 4 hour metro/bus/train ride there :(  I have decided that I am going to save up and get an SLR camera.  She took these pics with her SLR and you can see the massive difference compared to my pics in the last post.  Brilliant!  Thanks MWF!!!

Vanilla Gluten and Dairy Free Cupcakes
100g Millet Flour
60g Amaranth Flour
50g Tapioca Starch
50g Rice Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
200g Muscovado Sugar
1 cup Soy Milk (room temperature)
2 Eggs (room temperature)
4 tablespoons Dairy Free Margarine (room temperature)
2 teaspoons Vanilla

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl several times until thoroughly mixed.  I usually do this a minimum of 3 times.

Mix the wet ingredients in a separate medium sized bowl.  Then add to the dry ingredients and mix with mixer.  Do not over mix. Remember that the point in loads of mixing with normal batters is to release the gluten.  We have no gluten in our flours – so we need to aim for as little mixing as possible – this will produce much better results.  So – just mix until the wet and dry ingredients are mixed and no longer. You may need to add a bit of extra flour at the end (any of the above will work) depending on the type of soy milk you used and the size of your eggs. I usually use large eggs so end up adding 20-40g more of flour.  Batter should not be runny, but should not be stiff either.

This will make approx 12-16 cupcakes

Bake at 180°C for 20 min (+/- depending on your oven)

Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan – then remove and cool completely on wire rack before decorating.

Again, I used the Wilton recipe as in the post for chocolate cupcakes below - using dairy free margarine instead of butter.

Gluten & Milk Free Vanilla Cupcakes for Sommer and her kids.

I will be visiting MaMaWithFlavor and her 3 little ones tomorrow. I am so excited!!!  I had to of course take them some cupcakes. 

For the girls there are princess/flower cup cakes (they are pink cupcakes with pink icing and flower decorations) and for the boys, there are Ben 10 decorated like the Ben 5 watch face (and green inside).  I am not so sure how the black icing will go over with the boys (especially little Dylan???) but hopefully it will not ban me from the MaMAWithFlavor house :-D

Can't wait for the train tomorrow!!  I booked a seat with a table so the cupcakes can have a nice place to sit ;-)  

Gluten & Milk Free Dolphin Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes

THEY ARE HERE :-D

A friend of mine and her partner's little girl is also a celiac.  She asked me to make some gluten free cupcakes for her for her birthday.  I was also given the instructions that she was not into pink and girly things, but rather sports, sailing, dolphins etc....  One of the things that really really frustrates me about Germany is the lack of things available to buy for cake/cupcake baking/decorating.  They have a very very small selection of items to decorate.  So, I had to try to find something that would work.  I searched and finally found some gluten free dolphin gummy bears and then some plastic little dolphins.  I think the next time I go back to the states or have someone come over, I will have a long list of decorating supplies to get :-)

So, here it is, the recipe that is so amazing, you will want to make it all the time. These chocolate cupcakes are so close to normal devils food cupcakes (made with wheat flour, butter and milk) that you will not know the difference!!!   Oh, I will admit though, the batch that is in the picture unfrosted - I had used a bit less flour in those (only about 10g less) and it made a huge difference.  When I made them again using 10g more -they were nice and rounded. No caving in on the top ;-)

For the Cupcakes:

20g Amaranth Flour

20g Millet Flour

34g White Rice Flour

16g Tapioca starch

1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder (if using German, use 2x amount)

40g Baking Cocoa Powder

Pinch of salt

25g Margarine at room temperature (I used sanella)

140 g Mascobado Sugar

1 Egg at room temperature

½ teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

½ cup Soy Milk at room temperature (I used Alpro soya natural fresh)

Preheat oven to  180°C (350°F)

In a large bowl - mix the margarine, sugar, vanilla, egg and soy milk together until blended. 

In a smaller bowl – mix the remaining ingredients and sift several times.  I usually sift at least 3x.

Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix with a spoon until the flour is all mixed into the wet mixture.  Then beat on medium speed with a mixer for 1-2 minutes.

Fill cupcakes liners 2/3 full.  I drop the cupcake pan then a couple times on a flat surface to get any air bubbles out.

Put into heated oven and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR until the timer goes off - Bake for 17 minutes.  Check with a toothpick. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the cupcake tin.  Place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely.  When completely cooled, you can frost them.

Butter Cream Frosting:

I used the Wilton Recipe but altered as follows to make it milk free.

113g Margarine at room temperature - again, used Sanella

113g Crisco or other shortening

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

520g Powdered Sugar (shifted)

2 tablespoons Soy Milk (again, used the fresh Alpro)

Cream the margarine and shortening together then add the vanilla.  Mix.  Then add the powdered sugar approx 1 cup at a time.  Then add the soy milk.  Adjust milk/powdered sugar to get consistency needed.

What I did differently:

I tried this recipe 4x in varying amounts of different ingredients.  I also did something I very rarely ever do - I used rice flour.  I typically do not like using rice flour, but I think that is my 10 years old "rice, tapioca, potato" mix that just never works for me.  Using it with other flours worked quite well.  

I also did not do my usual mixing between ingredients.  I did a lot of reading on other blogs and found many others have found the same thing - 1 bowl mixing (or as little as possible) actually is better for gluten free baking.  One of the points of mixing so long in normal recipes is to release the gluten. We have none, so mixing is actually bad for us ;-)

What I would do differently:

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!  I can not believe how absolutely perfect these turned out. I did this same recipe 3x after getting it right and turned out 100% each time. 

The ULTIMATE Gluten & Milk Free Chocolate Cupcakes... Tomorrow

Tomorrow - my perfected chocolate cupcake recipe that is so awesome, you would not know they were gluten free and milk free!!!  Recipe and photos will be posted tomorrow evening (as I have to do the frosting tomorrow when I get home - these are only a sample while playing this evening :)

Keep an eye on this space! 

Gluten & Milk Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Green Frosting

I needed to do a trial run for some chocolate cupcakes I am making later this week for a birthday and wanted to try the new recipe out first.  I hadn't had any other request for cupcakes in the last week, so I thought I would give these to my hairdressers.  Their favorite color is green, hence the frosting color.

I will post the recipe on the next post when I make the birthday cupcakes later this week as I need to adjust the baking powder and perhaps try something else a bit different.

OK and the photo for some reason is uploading fine, but appearing turned 90°  I tried several times and don't have the energy at the moment to keep trying, so the picture will be sideways - sorry :-D

Ginger Oktoberfest Cupcakes - Gluten/Lactose Free

I made Ginger cupcakes and Vanilla cupcakes and decorated them in Oktoberfest colors.  I had wanted to decorate them like the lebkuchenherzen (see a pic I took at Wies'n of these below) but realized once I did the first outer piping of white, there was no room to write anything on them.  So, I asked my partner what he thought and it was his idea to do the white/blue/white.  I did the final touch of adding the center blue and the white hearts which I am so happy I happened to have on hand - as think it really adds to them.  The cupcake liners are blue/white as well and these were a gift to me from my friend Kat - so they were perfect for these cupcakes.

We will have our anniversary get  together at the Oktoberfest tomorrow (we met there, through friends - not randomly ;-) so will take these as well as some sekt to have a toast and cupcakes before we go into the tent we have our reservation in.

I am VERY happy with the way that these turned out!!!

WHAT I DID:
So, the ginger cupcakes were a total experiment from scratch. I found 3 different recipes for ginger cupcakes but did not really like any of them - so combined them.  Here is the recipe.

In a saucepan, combine the following

100g Molasses (or Treacle) (I used zuckerrohr molasse)

125 g Lactose Free Butter (I used MinusL butter)

100 g Muscovado sugar (I used Gepa Moscobado Zucker)

Cook this mixture until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved.

Then add the following and mix well with whisk

75 g Lactose Free Milk (I used MinusLFrisch milk)

75 g Lactose Free Buttermilk (I used MinusL Buttermilk)

1 egg beaten

In a separate large bowl - add the following ingredients

75 g Millet Flour

75 g Quinoa Flour

50 g Teff Flour

25 g Corn Starch

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

pinch of salt

2 tsp ground ginger

Sift the above dry ingredients several time (very important)

Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix using a whisk.  You don't want to over mix the GF flours.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake in a preheated oven 350°F for 20 minutes.  You may need to bake 1-5 min longer depending on your oven/altitude etc..  I use a toothpick inserted into the middle row of cupcakes to test for doneness.

Cool in cupcake pan for 10 min, then remove and cool on wire rack until completely cool.  Then decorate.

This made 16 cupcakes.

WHAT I WOULD CHANGE

I think I might try adding some ground fresh ginger next time. I had wanted to this time, but the ginger in my fridge was well past it's being used life :-(  I would also try a bit diff mix of flours - or sift the ones I used several more times to lighten the flours (GF flours are more course than wheat flour,so can produce a grainy texture).  

I also found them to be a bit greasy in the cupcake liners on the bottom. I would perhaps use less butter next time and perhaps less molasses and add US style dark brown sugar to make up that difference.I would also use a bit more of each of each of the baking soda and baking powder - as they did not rise as well as I had hoped.

Here are the typical gingerbread hearts that you find at the Oktoberfest.  I wanted to decorate my cupcakes similar, but they are just too small.  Perhaps next year I will try to do some of these lebkuchenherzen .

Coffee Cupcakes with Turquoise Frosting (Gluten/Lactose Free)

Please note that the actual color is closer to the one like the upper right corner.  I only have a crappy point and shoot and I can never capture the true color to things up close in unnatural light.

If you would like the recipe, please message me. I don’t really want to put up the recipes until I get them right.  As these are ongoing experiments to create nice flavors of gluten and lactose free cupcakes.

I have been dreaming of making turquoise frosting ever since I saw a pic of a choc cupcake with brilliant turquoise frosting.  A friend brought me the colors needed to mix (Wilton Sky Blue (6x) and Lemon Yellow (1x)) and I did not want to make the chocolate ones just yet as still experimenting with different flavors.  I needed a reason to make some cupcakes and tomorrow is my last physio session for a while and I love my physio therapist.  She has done miracles for my neck/shoulder/back and I thought a perfect way to say thank you.  I chose the coffee cupcakes as she once told me how much she loved coffee (drank it all day, including evenings) and also her practice colors are white/turquoise - so this was perfect!

What I did different this time:
I used a mix of Amaranth, Millet and Corn Starch.  I also excluded the Xanthium Gum this time.  I used a bit more baking powder and some sea salt as well.  They are a great improvement over the last batch.  I chose not to do the coffee frosting as well, thought it might be just a bit too much overkill (lesson learned from the lemon cupcakes).  So, I did a simple Butter Cream frosting.

I also tried several different tips to do the icing.  With the icing being too thin (I ran out of powdered sugar) it did not turn out so well.  I really need to find some tips to get. Perhaps will have a look online this evening and see what I can order from the UK, as not found a good place for tips here.  So, each cupcake is pretty much a bit different - was just playing around :)

What I did wrong:
I followed directions ;-) I should learn never to do that!  The timing was just too long (although was ok for the last few batches).  Luckily, this batch made enough to make 19 cupcakes, so I have plenty that are ok to give away.  I also did not want to dip into my treasured supply of Crisco (super expensive here (and if you really want to know what it is used for here, send me a message.  It is sold only really for 1 purpose in Germany ;-)  And I do know better, but this time - since I was only experimenting, I decided to go with it.  What is "it"?  Well, German butter is different than US butter.  German butter is very yellow and is always unsalted.  The unsalted butter in the states is very light in color and you can get a pretty white frosting with it. But here, you get yellow frosting, no matter what (unless you used the cherished Crisco).  So, I thought since it uses 1 part yellow anyway - I may still be able to get my brilliant turquoise frosting that I am after (I will put a pic at the end of the cupcake I am addicted to perfecting!).  so, while the turquoise is indeed turquoise and not teal or blue as I have tried before, it is not as brilliant as I would like. So, when I do make my dream cupcake - I will use the Crisco and no butter - this will give me a pure white to start with before adding my colors.

I also did not double check before I started baking (not that it would have done me any good, as nothing open anyway on Sundays in Germany >-( - But I did not have enough powdered sugar.  The frosting turned out ok, just a bit too runny to keep it's nice pipped frosting.  I put them in the fridge though - this should stiffen them up.  I will leave the there til I take them to Iris tomorrow :-)

My dream cupcake which I will perfect beyond perfection to make for my 40th Birthday in January :)

Please note, I do not know who to give credit to for this picture. This is a pic that keep popping up on adverts on my facebook and yahoo.  I have searched and searched, but can not find it.  So, apologies!!!

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Butter Cream Frosting

OK, so I had to cheat a bit on these.  They call for 1 Tbsp of sour cream.  They do not make Lactose Free sour cream here, so I used normal.  Since I knew they would not be completely LF, I went ahead and used normal butter and milk.  But they are Gluten Free :)  Also, I am out of piping bags (a friend is bringing me some this weekend) so I used the old fashioned technique - a knife ;)  So they are not as pretty as usual.

I am not a big lemon fan, so can't really tell you how they taste.  We will have to wait for Karen and her colleagues to tell us that.  They turned out a nice yellow (could not get that in the pic) and I have loads of frosting left over :(  

What I did - Again, I used Amaranth flour (trying to use it up as well as corn starch and another flour (not sure to be honest, as is unmarked in  one of my glass jars - but it is def GF).  I also added the baking powder this time - made a HUGE difference.  I also added the Xanthum Gum, which I think I will leave out of my GF cupcake recipes for good.  It just makes the batter more glue like. It does not change the taste and think it is great for bread baking (it is a binder to replace the gluten) - but in cupcakes and muffins - it just makes the batter a weird consistency. 

10 of these will go to a friend of mine for her work, 4 will stay here for me and Guy to eat.  I hope they get good reviews!!!

The lucky cupcakes to be made first - Earl Grey cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting

My partner LOVES Earl Grey - so I decided to try these first.  To get the flavor - you bring milk (in this case MinusL brand) to almost a boil.  Then you remove and put in 4 Earl Grey teabags (please use actual English bags, not the German ones, they suck) cover and let it steep for 30 min. 

What I used: MinusL brand vollmich and Butter (for cupcakes and butter cream frosting).  Earl Grey teabags from UK.  For this recipe I also used Amaranth and corn starch (as was out of my other flours, so need to make a trip to the Bio market tomorrow).  I also used my partners muscle :)  I have a swollen shoulder at the moment so could not do the endless mixing (this recipe had loads of mixing to get the right texture) so he did this for me :)

What I forgot to do (yes, I did this very late when I got home from a long day as was so excited to start making something from my new book! was since the original recipe called for Self Rising Flour - I forgot to add some baking powder (and again, here use US or UK powder, not the German stuff and if you have to use the German stuff - use twice the amount).  I also forgot to put Xanthum Gum in it as well.  But they turned out beautiful even with these 2 items forgotten.