Gluten Free-Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes and Vanilla Cream Frosting

     I have been on a mission this past week to convert a classic Joy of Baking vanilla cupcake recipe into a gluten free-vegan cupcake. I had done this before but seem to have lost my converted recipe. I wanted a classic vanilla cake recipe that is easy to whip up for special occasions. Personally I think a white vanilla cake is the hardest to simulate in gluten free baking when altering the flour, eggs and dairy ingredients. If you have eaten wheat flour cakes then your taste buds are already familiar with this light, delicate, tender, fluffy, moist cake. Gluten free-vegan versions are never going to simulate wheat flour cakes. So right from the beginning of this cooking endeavour I knew I had to let go of any preconceived ideas of what this cake should be like. Yet, I also felt determined to keep it close to the characteristics of a cake and not like a muffin. I am very happy to say that after six attempts I have a satisfying result!

    A bit of technical talk: skip straight to the recipe if this kind of thing doesn't interest you :-)

I would encourage you to use my recipe as it is. If you feel you need to choose alternative ingredients then I am sure there will be some variation in the end result. Here are some notes I took during the experimenting/tweaking process.

- The first two cupcake batches I used two flaxseed egg replacers. This worked well but I wanted to experiment a bit more with other egg replacers since the flaxseed left the cake speckled. It didn't effect the taste, only the appearance. When choosing an egg replacer you have to consider what purpose the egg is doing in the recipe. For the cupcakes it is acting as a leavener and a binder so I chose to use one EnerG egg replacer (leavener) and one applesauce egg replacer (binder). This worked really well!

1/2 teaspoon baking powder was added for the applesauce egg. If you choose to do the flaxseed eggs then you may want to reduce the total baking powder to 1 teaspoon.

- To 'gum' or not was another consideration. I tested one recipe with the xanthan gum and one without it. The cake texture was very noticeable. The xanthan gum worked as a binder. The cake without it was crumbly. Guar gum is an equivalent replacer for xanthan gum but if you can't tolerate the gums then I think additional applesauce would work. I haven't tested this yet so can't recommend an amount right now. I would try 1 T. (in addition to the applesauce egg) and see how that does. If you don't mind the speckles in your cake then some ground flaxseed meal can also be used. It is recommended to replace the xanthan gum with an equal amount of ground flaxseed meal. Just add the ground flaxseed meal to the dry ingredients. In this case 1/8 t. doesn't seem like much but that could be a starting point for testing it out as a gum replacer.

- The first two batches I used coconut oil. I found the taste a bit strong and the cake to oily. I would have reduced the amount of oil but instead decided I wanted to try the Earth Balance Buttery Spread instead since the original recipe used unsalted butter. I liked the taste result much better. There certainly is room here for experimenting with other oil options. This is why I think vanilla gluten free cakes are more challenging. The ingredients chosen are going to be much more noticeable for taste and texture than if you were using them in something with stronger flavors, like a chocolate cake or pumpkin bread.

- I initially included superfine brown rice flour (Authentic Foods) and after 2 batches eliminated it because it caused the cake to be too gritty. You may not have the exact same flours on hand so keep in mind that if you are going to substitute flours then the taste or texture is likely to be altered. If you use a different brand of flour or a different type then you will have to do the gram conversion for those flours as they may not be the same as what I have suggested. For example, 1/4 cup of Authentic Foods superfine sorghum flour is 44 grams. Bob's Red Mill sorghum flour is 34 grams per 1/4 cup.

- For the sake of not wasting too many ingredients I made the recipe quantities for 6 cupcakes. You can easily double this recipe if desired. Since I am making these for myself I like being able to make the smaller batch. I put the extra cupcakes in a plastic box in the freezer. Just allow them to thaw at room temperature when you desire them.

Gluten Free-Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Make 6

(recipe can be doubled)
printable recipe

Ingredients:                                                      

1/4 cup Earth Balance Soyfree Buttery Spread

1/3 cup Wholesome Organic Sugar

1 EnerG egg replacer (1 ½ t. EnerG plus 2 T. warm water)

2 T. applesauce

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

My gluten free flour blend (below) or ¾ cup all purpose gluten free flour mix

1 1/2 t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

My gluten free blend for 6 cupcakes-

     ¼ c. (44g)   superfine white sorghum flour (Authentic Foods)

     ¼ c. (30g)   millet flour (Bob's Red Mill) 

     2 T. (20g)   potato starch

     1 T. (10g)   tapioca starch
     1/8 t. xanthan gum

If you are not weighing your flour and starches then whisk the flour in the container first and lightly spoon it into measuring cup before leveling top with a knife.

Measuring flour- scroll down to section on measuring flour.

If you are using an all purpose gluten free mix check the ingredients to see if it already includes xanthan gum or guar gum. If so, omit any additional gum.

*If you do not need this to be gluten free then substitute 3/4 cup all purpose flour for the gluten free flour blend. Check your brand of flour nutrition label for grams or do the scoop-level method for measuring.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with 6 paper liners.

In a medium bowl whisk together flours, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl add the sugar and butter. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the EnerG egg replacer, almond milk and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping down side of bowl with spatula as needed.

Add the flour mix into the liquids one third at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Pour ¼ cup of batter into each lined muffin cup. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Frost when completely cooled.

I find these are best eaten on the day they are made. Freeze any extras. I place them in a plastic food storage container. Allow them to thaw at room temperature.

Vanilla Cream Frosting

Frosts 6 cupcakes

2 T. Earth Balance soy free butter (cold)

2 T. Spectrum vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated shortening)

½ t. pure vanilla extract

1 T. almond milk (or other nondairy milk)

1 ½ cup organic powder sugar- sifted

Beat together butter spread and shortening for one minute. Beat in the vanilla and milk. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Scrap sides with a spatula. Beat for two minutes. Adjust as needed- if too thick add a little more milk. If not stiff enough add a little more powdered sugar.

Cake on left with xanthan gum, cake on right no xanthan gum.
The cake without the xanthan gum was lighter & fluffier but also dry.
If eliminating the xanthan gum, I think just a little
applesauce would help but haven't done a test batch yet.

Both cakes used ground flaxseed meal for egg replacer.

Final Gluten free-Vegan Cupcake
(Frosting was piped on which was a bit much for my taste.)

Final Vegan Cupcake (w/wheat flour)

This time I used a knife to put on frosting.
The frosting wasn't as stiff either. I could have added more sugar.

Both cupcake versions ended up the same size. The wheat flour cupcake was softer
in texture but I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference in flavor.