I apologize for the long wait here in posts! We’ve been moving- the sister’s been moving on up (sorry, couldn’t resist) to a different apartment and the boyfriend’s been moving in and it’s been a period of flux- meaning that time to post has been fairly limited! That said, I’m now catching up on the backlog :). Here’s the first!:

The first batch of cinnamon roll cupcakes were a great success. As B was joining me for dinner the day after, this led me to wonder- can I make these rolls gluten-free? Being nothing short of a gluten-free expert, I knew it to be possible…. and by that I mean I lack any expertise in gluten-free baking and was doing everything incorrectly. Did I check to see if I was making the right substitutes? No, of course not! And did I think of xantham gum? Nope! At least, not until they were baked and done…. ah. So, if you follow this recipe to a T, you’ll find the dough VERY crumbly and difficult to work with- and you may be a bit frustrated. That said, if you can make some minor adjustments, it’s a nice treat for your gluten-intolerant friends.

The taste was very enjoyable, although I was told that the nutless ones were generally better. Still, I’d make them again! They’re conveniently small, and have a satisfying crunch.

Nutty Gluten-Free Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Adapted from Fastest Cinnamon Rolls at Don’t Forget Delicious (from FineCooking.com)

Ingredients:

Bun Dough:

• 3/4 heaping cup low-fat (part skim) ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tblspn soy butter
• 1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups organic rice flour
• 1 + 1/3 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 + 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Filling:

• 1 tablespoons soy butter
• 3/4 heaping cup packed light brown sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon saigon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup salted cashews, crushed
• 2 tblspn slivered almonds, crushed
• 1.5 tblspn candied pecans, crushed

Icing:

• 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• 2/3 heaping cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons organic vanilla soy milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line large or small (or combination) cupcake pan(s) with paper liners.
2. Place ricotta cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted soy butter, and vanilla in food processor and process for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth.
3. Place the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and mix together. Add to mixture in the food processor and and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (be sure not to overprocess- this will toughen the dough).
4. Emtpy the dough onto a flour countertop and knead gently into a ball (kneading process should only take about 20-30 seconds) – be careful, the dough will be VERY crumbly and will fall apart easily. Expect holes and tears if you do not add xantham gum
5. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle (about 1/2 cm thick). Take about 1/3 of the melted soy butter from the filling section and brush onto the rectangle, leaving about an inch on all sides untouched.
6. In a small bowl (you can re-use that same one from earlier), and mix together the brown sugar, nuts, spices, and the remaining melted soy butter. Spread the sugar/spice mixture over the dough as evenly as possible.
7. Roll the dough up into a long log, like a jelly roll, and get your pastry cutter ready. There will be holes and tears- do not be alarmed, if it doesn’t have a perfect shape, your icing will hide everything :).
8. Pinch the edges and the side closed, and push the two ends inward to create sharper angles (straight edges).
9. Sharply cut the log into slices that are slightly under 2 inches thick. Place each slice into one of the cupcake liners, swirled side up (as opposed to on the side). Bake for 15 minutes (my oven is hot)- possibly a few minutes more if your oven is cooler.
10. Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool. The tops should be just golden brown and with a very slight crisp. The sugar mixture should have oozed out over the edges.
11. Prepare the icing: place the mascarpone, vanilla, soy milk, and confectioner’s sugar in the food processor and process for 3-4 seconds, just until smooth and homogenous. Place a baking sheet under the wire rack, take a spoon, and drizzle (if you’re me, quite liberally) the icing over the cupcakes. Feel free to do a second drizzling later when the rolls have cooled a bit.

Mine were definitely on the crumbly side, but delicious nonetheless! I suggest baking these at varied temperatures- I tried starting at 395, then down to 385… but honestly the baking time is up to you, based on how large you make them, how many you make, how hot your oven is, etc etc.

Lemonade seems to be one of the defining items of summer, does it not? When you think of summer, one can feel this thirst for lemonade… as well as a desire for the crunch of fresh fruit. Strawberries and lemons make for fabulous partners. Vitamin C + ascorbic acid = amazing conservation. This cupcake was one that immensly appealed to those who usually dislike sweets- and love fruit. I’m glad to say they were the recipients of some excellent feedback- “I usually don’t like cakes or sweet things but these were pretty darn fantastic!” “I loved them. Those strawberry cupcakes were the best!” “I usually hate icing- but that was some really good icing.” If that’s not enough to convince you, I don’t know what is :)

The cupcake itself is very low fat- using all canola oil in favour of butter, and with plain low-fat yogurt. Yum! The icing, however… well… let’s pretend that’s equally healthy, shall we?

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Adapted from Lemon Yogurt Cupcake @ Smells Like Bean Spirit

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/3 cups King Arthur organic cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp Sicilian sea salt, large grain
• 3 large cage-free eggs
• 1 cup plain low-fat Stonyfield organic yogurt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• zest of 1 small orange
• 1/8 tsp 2x vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely-chopped strawberries
• 1/4 cup organic canola oil

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Whisk together briskly the eggs, vanilla, zest, juices (lemon + orange), and sugar in a large bowl; set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder into a small bowl.
4. Mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture in two batches, mixing briskly and thoroughly but not overmixing.
5. Pour in the oil and mix this in as well, still briskly. Then fold in the strawberry bits.
6. Pour into baking cups (small, large, both, you pick!) and bake for 18-20 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven). Then let cool in a wire rack while you prepare the icing!

Icing Ingredients:

• 7 tablespoons soy butter, softened
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 tsp 2x vanilla extract
• 2-3 large strawberries, finely chopped
• about 1.5 cups confectioner’s sugar

The ‘about’ in reference to the powdered sugar is because this depends on the consistency you’re going for. I wanted a thick, creamy icing that would pipe easily and hold its shape; but if you’re going for runnier, then add less sugar, and for a more thick icing, add more, and so forth. It’s not overly sweet, surprisingly, but that’s thanks to the lemon. It’s very rich, and goes very nicely with the airy cake.

This one’s a cupcake for friends and family who claim they aren’t dessert people. Make a batch of these and prove them wrong! :)

SPECIAL NOTE: The one complaint I had concerning these- and it was the same excat complaint every time- was regarding the texture of the cupcake around the strawberry bits, which sort of melted into the cake during baking. The cupcake became rather gooey around these parts, mostly due to the excess moisture being thrown out by the berry pieces. To combat this, try either a) drying them on a paper towel for 1-2 hours prior to baking (thanks, Jon!); or b) masserating them in sugar to ‘sweat out’ the moisture, then dry on a paper towel. It all depends on the sweetness level you would like your cupcake to have! Another alternative is to use method b but then rinse the berries thoroughly to remove the added sugar which has not been absorbed- this may reduce the sweetness by a bit.