Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Icing

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Icing

Before we get to my latest cupcake recipe, I want to share something. Maybe it's the pending new moon, that cyclic siren pulling us toward our shadow, toward letting go, shedding the outworn for the sake of a fresh new start. Or maybe it's the flurry of family birthdays that cluster in June and July. My sons and I are summer babies, born into heat and greenery and the sounds of summer, the poetry of bird calls and open windows. Whatever it is, I feel like spilling the beans. Not the whole kettle. Just a handful. Between baking cupcakes.



After a certain age you get, well. Tired.

Tired of squeezing your self into one-size-fits-normal. Tired of accommodating others' expectations. Weary of scanning your body through a Madison Avenue filter. Exhausted pretending you care about Jimmy Choo's or football. Irritated at your automatic reflex to fit in, find the perfect greeting card, be nice. That nice woman. The one the neighbors like.



It sneaks in slowly on tiny paws, this anarchy. This wildness.

It starts in dreams and keeps you awake at night with its low throated hum. You can feel it growing, toothy and buzzing inside you, like some fractal shattering, cracked spiral candy. Like flinging honey and bee stings into thunder. Inescapable. A rush. A roaring undertow- this need for life.

A life lived true.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Icing- a Vegan Recipe


If you don't care for the taste of coffee, use plain water or a light rice milk in the batter in place of the coffee and make a vanilla or chocolate flavored icing.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with parchment or paper liners.

Whisk together the dry ingredients:

3/4 rounded cup sorghum flour
3/4 rounded cup potato starch, cornstarch or tapioca starch
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Add in and beat till smooth:

1 cup warm coffee (not too hot or it will make the potato starch gluey)
1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer beaten with 1/4 cup warm water
3 tablespoons light olive oil
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon light tasting vinegar

Beat the batter for a full two to three minutes until all the ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth.

Using an ice cream scoop, plop the batter into the cups and smooth the tops.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven till done- about 20 minutes or so.

Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack (don't let them sit in the baking pan too long or they'll get soggy).

Frost when completely cooled. See recipe for coffee flavored icing below.

Karina's Notes on gluten-free vegan batter:

Gluten-free vegan batters are a tad different than wheat and white flour batters. They are stiffer at first, then stretch and get sticky as the xanthan gum and egg replacer do their thing.

If the batter "climbs" the beaters, slow down the speed and slightly lift the beaters to encourage the batter to move back down into the bowl. Move your beater around the bowl in figure eights, at a slight angle. Practice your technique- soon you'll be winging around gluten-free vegan baking like a pro.



Vegan Coffee Icing Recipe

2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
2-3 tablespoons Spectrum Organic Shortening
2-4 ounces cold coffee, as needed
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla

Starting with the least amount of liquid, beat the sugar to incorporate the shortening, coffee and vanilla. if you need more liquid, add a small amount at a time. beat for two minutes or so until smooth.

If you need to stiffen the frosting, add a little more confectioner's sugar.

Chill the frosting before using it. I chill it, covered, for roughly an hour.

Frost the cupcakes. Cover in an air-tight container until serving. best eaten the first day. If making ahead of time, chill frosted cakes briefly in the freezer before wrapping individually and freezing.

Makes twelve cupcakes.