Gluten-free Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cake Pops

-Makes 12 cupcakes or 26 cake pops

So moist and fluffy, you won’t be able to tell these gorgeous red-velvet cupcakes are gluten-free. And the cake-pops made with them - so good you can’t stop yourself from finishing the lot in one go. Enjoy the recipes!

Ingredients for Gluten-free Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cake Pops

Cupcakes:
1 cup or 142g 1:1 Bob’s red mill GF baking flour
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free baking soda
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
2 tablespoons gluten-free unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
150g granulated sugar
1/2 cup or 125ml vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 buttermilk (or replace with 1/2 cup flaxmilk + 1 teaspoon white vinegar, let sit 2-3 minutes)
1 teaspoon white vinegar (omit if making dairy-free buttermilk with vinegar)
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
2 tablespoons natural, gluten-free red food coloring, optional
1/4 cup plain hot coffee (or hot water)
regular muffin tray

Icing:
(You will need only half this recipe for cake pops and full recipe to ice cupcakes)
113g butter, at room temperature
113g cream cheese, cold
300g gluten-free icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon rind
12 raspberries, for topping

Cake pops:
300g gluten-free dark chocolate or white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup toasted grated coconut
1/4 cup chopped roasted nuts (almonds or pecans)
1/4 cup freeze dried raspberries, crumbled
Extra chocolate for drizzling, use white chocolate for drizzling if using dark chocolate as shell and vice versa - chopped
30 wooden skewers
Mini muffin trays or styrofoam, for drying cake pops

Recipe

For the cupcakes:

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Position oven rack in center of your oven. Line a 12 serving cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine the sugar and oil. Mix in the egg, buttermilk (or dairy free buttermilk), vanilla, and red food coloring until combined. Stir in the white vinegar and hot coffee (or hot water).
Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Scoop the batter evenly into each cupcake liner, about 1/4 cup per serving.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven, let them stand for a few minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool. Let them cool completely before frosting.

For the Icing:

Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk butter and cream cheese (make sure the cream cheese is cold at the start) together on high speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary.
Reduce mixer speed to low and add icing sugar and lemon rind until it is incorporated. Finally, add vanilla and mix for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Ice cupcakes, top each cupcake with a raspberry and serve.

For cake pops:

Using your hands or a food processor, crumble the soft interior of cupcakes into small crumbs. Transfer into a large bowl. Stir in 1 spoonful of icing at a time and mix until a dough comes together. You may need about 1 cup of frosting. Do not add too much frosting or the mixture will be too wet to handle; add just enough so mixture holds together into a ball when squeezed.
Gently melt chopped chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir well and microwave again for another 30 seconds. Continue to heat chocolate at 30-second intervals stirring in between until fully melted. Alternatively, you can use a double boiler on the stove to melt chocolate.
Form cake mixture into golf-ball size balls and dip stick into melted chocolate, then insert into the center of each ball without going all the way through. Place on lined cookie sheets. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until cold.
One by one, dip chilled balls into melted chocolate, swirl to cover. While chocolate coating is still warm, quickly decorate with sprinkles, grated coconut, dried raspberries, or nuts. You can also wait until the chocolate shell sets and then do a quick drizzle of contrasting melted chocolate.
Place decorated cake pops in muffin cups so they stand upright or stick them upright in a block of styrofoam. Makes approximately 26 cake pops.