One of the best parts of baking, other than mainlining frosting in secret in your kitchen, is being able to share it with people. I have a super awesome coworker who has to keep a gluten-free diet, and I feel bummed every time I bring stuff in because she can never try it. She claims she likes it that way so she isn’t tempted, but I don’t buy it for a second. She saw my blog and approached me asking if I had any gluten-free recipes I could give her to try, and it occurred to me that no, no I did not.
LINDA, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU.
In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I’ve never attempted a GF recipe before. I understood there was some type of sorcery involved to make it work – in this case, the sorcery comes via gluten-free all-purpose flour and xantham gum, which I now know requires a little bit of finesse. As a general rule, if you are dealing with GF as your ONLY dietary restriction when you bake, you can substitute GF AP flour as a 1:1 for regular flour – just be sure to add 1 teaspoon of XG per 1 cup of GF AP flour for that sweet, sweet bindery goodness.
This recipe is adapted from Table for Two’s to suit the GF qualification. On to the fun part!
Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
CAKE
- 1 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp gluten-free all purpose flour + 1 1/2 tsp xantham gum
- 10 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have any on hand, mix 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 tbsp white vinegar and let sit 10 minutes!)
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
FROSTING
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin pan with muffin liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the GF AP flour and XG. Whisk together, and set aside 1 tablespoon for coating the blueberries. Whisk together with sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. In another bowl, whisk together melted butter and egg. Then whisk in buttermilk, milk, and the lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and stir and mix until all is incorporated. *NOTE* be very careful when mixing the wet together with the dry, as xantham gum is a finicky mistress. There is a very fine line between batter and gum – it will still work fine if it gets a little gummy, but the final texture of the cake will be a little less cakey than expected
4. In a small bowl, toss blueberries with the remaining 1 tbsp. of GF flour mixture. This will make sure the blueberries won’t sink to the bottom of the batter when you add them!
5. Add the flour coated blueberries to the batter and gently fold them in until all incorporated.
6. Using a 1/4 measuring cup (or ice cream scoop), evenly divide batter among the 12 muffin cups.
7. Bake for 19-21 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes come out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
8. In the meantime, while the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting. Beat together, in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream cheese and butter with the lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt. Add in the powdered sugar gradually with the lemon juice. Beat until the frosting has come together.
9. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, put the frosting in a piping bag and pipe frosting on top of cupcakes. You can also just use a spatula for a more rustic look. Garnish with fresh blueberries if so desired!.
10. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days….or eat all immediately.
-Nicole
The War On Fondant 
Yum!! Look amazing!
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