Chocolate Dream Cupcakes

We made chocolate cupcakes on Monday for Grandpa Jb's birthday party- and we loved them so much we had to add something special to the name of them.  Ty actually came up with it, and we all agreed it was fitting. For these cupcakes, I adapted a recipe from Artisinal Gluten Free Cupcakes, a cookbook put out by an amazing couple that has some fantastic recipes.  Kelli and Peter Bronski have come up with their own flour mix that they use across the board in all of their gluten free cooking and baking.  I've tried it out in several things- and I am not convinced that you can use it across the board- but it was really good in the cupcakes.  

Anyway... First things first.  This recipe made enough for 2 dozen cupcakes.  If you are supercool then you'll already have two muffin tins.  I only have one- I guess I should put another one on my wish list.  You'll need to line your muffin tins with the little paper liners, then spray with non-stick cooking spray.  I recently learned that if you spray your liners- the cupcake won't stick so much to the paper and you get to eat more of it!  It's brilliant!

Okay- now for the actual adapted recipe:

1 cup salted butter; or if you are making this dairy free like me- you can use 1 cup of the Earth's Balance Buttery Sticks.  

1 cup water

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream; again if you are going dairy free, you can use a sour cream substitute.  I have found I really like the results from Tofutti's Sour Cream Substitute- it's made from tofu.  Don't turn your nose up- it's actually pretty good!  And if you add sour cream or the sour cream substitute it will help keep your cupcakes softer longer- I think it's called an "anti-staling agent" in bakers terms.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coffee extract; I have found that if you add just a smidge of coffee flavor to anything with chocolate- it actually deepens the chocolate flavor.

2 1/2 cups Artisan Gluten Free Flour Blend; recipe to follow

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

And now we get to bake!

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Heat butter, water and cocoa in a sauce pan or double broiler until the butter is melted, continue stirring until the cocoa lumps dissolve.

 3.  While your chocolate is melting, put your sugar in your mixing bowl.  Add the cocoa mixture and mix at a low speed for about 5-10 minutes, or until the chocolate has cooled.

4.  Add your eggs, one at a time.  Follow them with the sour cream and the extracts.  Add dry ingredients and mix for about 5 to 10 minutes.  '5-10 minutes?' you ask... Yes- by overmixing your batter you are giving your gluten free grains the opportunity to stretch and fully absorb all of the liquid.  I have made this batter two different ways- one time I overmixed and the other I only mixed to combine.  The overmixed batter came out smooth and creamy, while the other was kind of chunky and wasn't near as pretty.  It's counter-intuitive to anything I ever did in my gluten-ful days, but it's key to any gluten free baking.

5.  Once your batter is fully mixed, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins.  I like to use an ice cream scoop- it fills the cups just full enough that they don't overflow when they bake.

6.  Bake for 25 minutes, then let them cool for about 10 minutes in the pan.  Then pull them out and let them finish cooling on a rack until they are completely cool.

Alright, like I said- there are a lot of different flour mixes out there- but I really did like the results of this particular one in these cupcakes.  They made for a very dense cakey cupcake.  I know it sounds weird- but we are so stuck on what type of texture our food should have- it's hard sometimes to replicate it when you are baking with alternative flours.

I have several different flour mixes on my shelf at the moment...

 But if you are looking to use the Artisan Flour Blend- you can find the link here.

Now... this cupcake was put through some pretty rigorous testing- but the overwhelming results in our test kitchen came back positive.  EVERYONE loved these cupcakes and I think they will be going into our permanent file.

Eating G-Free

Yeah, yeah... it's another post about gluten.  At this point I figure you should all probably get used to it.  It's my outlet- and quite frankly- a sounding board for some of my musings and issues.  Since Ty's diagnosis- we have really done an overhaul on the kitchen and pantry.  Granted, it was probably headed that direction anyway- but Ty's tummy troubles have definitely sped up the process.  I have been tossing and donating pastas, cake mixes and bags of flour left and right.  Thankfully my mother-in-law and two sister-in-laws have been open to letting me dump my food in their own gluten-ous kitchens.  I hate to see it all go to waste- so I'm glad someone is getting use out of my food storage.  

Anyway- that said- we have added some new items to our growing pantry- there is a company called EnviroKidz that has dedicated their entire existence to kids with wheat and gluten allergies.  They try really hard to make a G-free version of things like Frosted Flakes and Captain Crunch.  I'm not saying that they totally hit the mark- but I'm SO grateful that they are out there trying.  Ty's new favorite breakfast is a cereal called Amazon Frosted Flakes.  They are pretty good- but not as sweet as their gluten-filled cousins.  So we add fruit and it's pretty darn good.  Ty also has to add a multi-vitamin to his diet since he hasn't been getting all the nutrients he should have the last however many years.  We like Flintstones because they contain Iron. I was actually surprised at all the kids multi-vitamins that didn't have any iron.  

And last, but definitely not least (at least in my eyes) is the baking.  I LOVE baking.  Always have.  I really thought I was going to have to give it up because the all encompassing knowledge of 10 different flours really seemed beyond me.  But it turns out it's not.  Not completely anyway.  I know i still have a LONG way to go before I'm where I want to be- but I figure every great cook/chef/baker/whatever had to start somewhere.  And G-free is no different.  To prove my point... check out these beautiful G-Free Chocolate Cupcakes I made last week!  Isn't it pretty!?  My gluten-full cupcakes were never this pretty.  I count this cupcake as a success! 

 And so did my kids- which really was the point after all.