GF Chocolate Cupcakes

So before Max was obsessed with Day of the Diesels, he loved Elmo, which is why we planned the Elmo theme for his party. But when I trotted off to the party stores locally looking for Elmo swag for his party, the shelves were bare. Apparently you are supposed to plan ahead for parties and order stuff weeks in advance. I'm like - it's just a two year old birthday party, not a wedding dudes! So I grabbed the last couple packs of (overpriced) Elmo plates form the shelf and crafted a bunch of Elmo's using my Cricut. You can find more on the Elmo craft here at my Stamping Rules blog. What we really want to chat about here is cake!


We've experimented with a bunch of GF cupcake recipes in the last year. All have been...ok. The texture is...ok. The flavor is...ok. I wouldn't not eat them, but what we really missed was a yummy, chocolate-y cupcake. And now we have one. This is a cupcake I'd eat whether or not it's gluten free!


Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Creme Filling 
(Adapted from Cakes N Bakes)


Cupcakes:
1 cup GF Flour Mix (I used Gluten Free Mama's Almond Blend)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
3/4 cup Coconut sugar
1/3 cup melted Coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Filling: 
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 small jar GF marshmallow fluff ( I said tasty and GF - not healthy)

For the cakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 12-tin muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together buttermilk, coconut sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla for 1 minute on medium speed. Turning down to low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 separate additions, making sure the mixture is fully incorporated after each addition.

Fill muffin liners approximately 2/3 full with batter and bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in pan before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add in vanilla and salt. Mix in the marshmallow fluff, beating and scraping down mixture frequently until fully incorporated. Cover filling and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

I like the Pampered Chef Easy Accents Decorator for filling and frosting cupcakes. As a matter of fact, I plan to get a second one so that I don't have to clean it out between steps! Fill your pastry cone (or the Decorator) and pipe the filling into the cooled cupcakes. You want to be sure to get enough in there - the power of the Decorator makes that part easier). I like to look for the top of the cake to rise up a bit, and you should be able to see the filling at the top.

Frosting: Cakes N Bakes did a Hostess cupcakes style chocolate ganache for the topping, but around here we lean towards a cream cheese/buttercream combo frosting for pretty much anything that's not nailed Down. yum!

Our Favorite Frosting:

1 package cream cheese, room temp
1 stick of butter, room temp
2 1/2 cups Powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese together until lumps are gone. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Frost away!

Max's turns 2!

I can't believe it, but Max turned two on December 31st. He got to have cupcakes twice (which Gabe has already put in his demand request for two birthday parties this year) because we were lucky enough to have visiting Grandparents at his actual birthday but put off his kid party to a better weekend, since most folks aren't planning to attend a kid play date on New Year's Eve. As you can see, Max was down with that plan.

We got Max the Thomas the Tank Engine Dieselworks Take N Go Set for his birthday, and I'm not sure which child was the most excited about it. Max is completely obsessed with the newest Thomas movie "Day of the Diesels". It's a fairly new obsession, expressed in constant demands to see the movie and constant refrains of "Daaaaaay Diesels! Thomas! Percy! Daaaaaay Diesels!" pretty much most moments he's not watching the movie. Gabe claims he doesn't like that movie anymore because we watched it too much...yet every time it's on he sneaks in to watch surreptitiously from he sidelines. Max also got some really cool presents from his Grandparents and Cousin Dayna sent him some cool letter blocks that he likes to stack up and knock over with a train.

A week later we had a kiddie playdate party for him. with Elmo cupcakes and a gaggle of awesome kiddos running a muck. For some reason most of the pics I took came out super blurry - I don't know what happened! We made mini pizzas that the kids got to top themselves, and then we had the BEST GF chocolate cupcakes I've had to date. I'm gonna do a separate post on them, because that recipe was a keeper! 

Then all his friends helped Max open presents, mostly one handed since he got a small Diesel 10 train and pretty much hasn't stopped clutching it since Saturday. Gabe and Ben desperately want to play with it, but Max is fully defending his turf, and no one plays with Diesel 10 but Max. He may only be two, but he's got enough pluck for a pack of kiddos. Happy birthday, Max!

Happy 1st birthday, Max!

I almost can't believe it, but our little Max turned one today! I remember when Gabe had his first birthday and we thought he was such a big boy...today we looked at Max and he was so small! Max is not quite walking yet, and he takes in everything with a thoughtful eye.

We had a super fun Winter Wonderland Brrr-thday party with good friends, yummy food, and silly games and playtime. Everyone had a good time playing Marshmallow Max. Ben and Sean mostly ate marshmallows, and Gabe preferred to play with two fistfuls of marshmallows at a time, bettering his chances. We had "ice fishing" under the (blanket) igloo in the corner and balloon snowballs to toss about. Max even ate some of his cupcake, though by that point he was one tired baby. Here's a video of the big (not) blowing out the candle moment - Max got a helping puff of air from big brother Ben, who just wanted to get a cupcake of his own!

Here's a slideshow of the photos from today.  We want to thank our wonderful friends for celebrating Max's first year with us today, Happy 1st Brrr-thday, Max!