So you may have noticed that I posted this blog once before. Well, the pictures anyway. It was basically blogging mistake #1040. Heaven knows the pictures are probably enough, but in case you wanted the recipe for these gluten free chocolate cakes that don’t taste gluten free, here are some words for you.
I made these cupcakes for a couple back in July. This is the last installment of the cupcake recipes I did for them. They had decided that honey poached pear cupcakes were not enough, that strawberry cupcakes alone would not cut it, and that key lime cupcakes would not satisfy by themselves. They were missing something. What were they missing, you ask? The answer, my friends, is chocolate. And, of course, a gluten free option for those friends who are intolerant of wheat gluten. Very considerate of others, they are.
I struggle with gluten free food. It’s hard to find, very expensive and finnicky to prepare. And besides that, many gluten-free cakes are hard as rocks. No one wants a cake that is as hard as a rock. So I tried to find a recipe that was interesting and cake-like. The following pictures demonstrate my fails.
My first idea was to stir the cherry jam directly into the batter before the cupcakes were baked. This turned out to be bad news. I actually have no idea why the cupcakes bubbled up like acid and remained flat without any trace of cherry flavor.
My second thought was to drop the cherries on top of the batter before the cupcakes were baked. This way, each cupcake would have a bit of cherry in it for sure.
I was a little discouraged that night. Instead of trying a new method, I used the extras on this tester to make several regular-size cupcakes…and to practice piping shells. I’m trying to get better at piping shells. It’s a struggle. Struggles, struggles, everywhere, but not a drop to drink…yet. (Name that movie. False. I’m just going to say it. My family may have watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory too much when I was little. It comes up in my blog all the time. That is so weird.)
The day before the event, I gave it a final shot. It turned a far more effective way to fill the cupcakes. First, I cut a little cone into the top of the cupcake, then spooned a cherry piece into the hole. Once covered with frosting, the cherries are perfectly invisible and meld nicely with the chocolate cake.
It worked out in the end! Like the way most couples work out in romantic comedies and the way most stomachs work out after Pizza Ranch excursions.
For yay,
L
One Bowl Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Cake
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon guar gum or 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
5 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 eggs
1 cup water
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch