Gluten-Free Strawberries and Lime Filled Cupcakes - Recipe

Here are the cupcakes ...
before adding the strawberries,
just so you can see how yummy
that secret filling looks
on the inside!

For the cupcakes:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup gluten-free icing sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. potato flour
1 3/4 cups white rice flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. guar gum OR xanthan gum

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and cool for 30 minutes.

For the filling:
1/2 cup lime curd (or key lime curd)

This is the cupcake corer,
you can find it online at my fave
Goldaskitchen.com or at your local
Williams Sonoma for about $5!

2. With an apple corer, or better yet a cupcake corer, create a hole in the center of the cupcake. (You can compost the centers, or sneak them as a snack for the chef). Fill each cupcake with a heaping teaspoon of lime curd. 




For the topping:
1 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp. gluten-free icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp. lime (or key lime) juice
4 cups small strawberries, sliced
4 tbsp. strawberry jell-o
1 tbsp. water

3. Beat the cream, icing sugar and lime juice in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Spoon onto the cupcakes and arrange strawberry slices on top. In a small sauce pan, heat the jell-o and water until melted. Brush the mixture on top of the strawberries. Chill until ready to serve. Store covered in the fridge.

Makes approximately 18 cupcakes

Gluten-Free Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes - Recipe

For the cupcakes:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup gluten-free icing sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. potato flour
1 3/4 cups white rice flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. guar gum OR xanthan gum

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and cool for 30 minutes.

For the topping:
1 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp. gluten-free icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups small strawberries, sliced
4 tbsp. strawberry jell-o
1 tbsp. water

2. Beat the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Spoon onto the cupcakes and arrange strawberry slices on top. In a small sauce pan, heat the jell-o and water until melted. Brush the mixture on top of the strawberries. Chill until ready to serve. Store covered in the fridge.

Makes approximately 18 cupcakes

Vegan Chocolate Orange Cupcakes - Recipe

For the cupcakes:2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
**see the bottom of the page for gluten-free
 alternatives to all-purpose flour**
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 cups confectioners/icing sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups cold water
2 tsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips (these are generally made with soy rather than dairy milk)
1 1/2 tbsp. orange zest
1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and sugar into a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, water, vinegar, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips and orange zest with a large spoon or spatula. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into each well of a mini muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 14-16 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.

For the frosting:
1/4 cup vegan margarine

1 tsp. orange extract
2-3 tbsp. orange juice
2 cups organic confectioners/icing sugar
2 drops yellow food coloring, 1 drop red food coloring (if desired)


2. Beat the margarine and orange extract on a low speed until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating between intervals. Add food coloring to reach desired orange color. Add small amounts of orange juice to reach the desired consistency. Frost each cupcake with a beveled spatula or piping bag. 


Makes approximately 24 mini cupcakes

Vegan Chocolate & Coffee Cupcakes - Recipe

For the cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
**see the bottom of the page for gluten-free
 alternatives to all-purpose flour**
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 cups confectioners/icing sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup hot coffee2 cups cold water
2 tsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips (these are generally made with soy rather than dairy milk)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and sugar into a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, water, vinegar, coffee and baking soda. Add the flour mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips with a large spoon or spatula. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
2 cups confectioners/icing sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. coffee, cooled
1/4 cup cocoa powder


2. Cream the margarine with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and beat until well combined. Frost each cupcake with a beveled spatula or piping bag.

Makes approximately 12 cupcakes

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes - Recipe

That's right, I said vegan. Today, tomorrow and the next day, delicious chocolate cupcakes that any vegan will love!
Vegan recipes are also great for turning into GFCF diet acceptable, swap out the wheat for gluten-free flours and you're all set, as vegan recipes contain no dairy of any kind!

For the cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
**see the bottom of the page for gluten-free
 alternatives to all-purpose flour**
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 cups confectioners/icing sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups cold water
2 tsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips (these are generally made with soy rather than dairy milk)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and sugar into a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, water, vinegar, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips with a large spoon or spatula. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
2 cups confectioners/icing sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. non-dairy chocolate milk (such as soy or almond milk)
1/4 cup cocoa powder

2. Cream the margarine with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and beat until well combined. Frost each cupcake with a beveled spatula or piping bag.

Makes approximately 12 cupcakes

Zucchini & Carrot Cupfakes - Recipe

For the cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
pinch salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vigrin olive oil
3/4 cup shredded zucchini
3/4 cup shredded carrot1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 tbsp. grated lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and oil with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in the zucchini feta cheese and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until the mixture is just combined. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into each well of a muffin tin that has been greased with butter and flour. Bake for 28-32 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 30 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack. 


For the frosting:
1/2 cup tzatziki cucumber yogurt sauce
tiny splash of vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners/icing sugar


2. In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients together until the mixture becomes thick and spreadable. Frost each cupcake and top with a sprinkling of shredded carrot if desired. 
Makes approximately 6 muffins

Cupcake Tour of North America - Cupcakes by Heather and Lori

Hello my lovelies,
I believe I've lost track of you for the past few days, the time change of being on the other side of the country is really throwing me off, so I'm sorry if my today is actually your tomorrow.

So first off, a little happiness for me, I'm excited that yesterday (or Saturday the 16th) was Heart of the Batter's 1/2 birthday (meaning it's been 6 months since I started this blog and the facebook page). And, I would like to say a huge thanks with lots of frosting and sprinkles on top to everyone who has stopped by and brought me to 3600 page views and almost 125 likes in that short time. I'm so excited to share my recipes with you and share my experiences and tips. So once again, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Now, on to cupcakes! While I was in Vancouver, in the rain, I made a quick trip to Cupcakes, or Original Cupcakes or Cupcakes by Heather and Lori (on tv known as the Cupcake Girls). I went to the shop on Thurlow. Sooo tiny, but really cute... don't you agree?

This shot is from across the street, maybe not the best shot, but I wanted to get the outside view. So cute, very pink and pastel-y. So cute inside, too. Although, there was no menu... each of the cupcakes was on display with a label to indicate what the flavor was.

I picked my 6 favorite flavors of about 15 choices, and they popped them in this nice clamshell, for $16 Canadian dollars. If you haven't seen the show before, here is a shot inside the store of the pricing and cash...

And a shot of some of the merchandise available. I was hoping to pick up a branded apron, but since this was a very small franchise outlet, they informed me they didn't have a lot of merchandise.

I would need to take a 30 minute cab ride to the flagship store to have more options. I wasn't in THAT desperate need of an apron, so I happily left with just my cupcakes.

I got the cupcakes back to the hotel and was able to share an impromptu cupcake tasting with my mom and one of our work colleagues. We each had a taste of every cupcake and discussed how we felt about each one.
So here's what we tried...

Starting from the top left (I hope I remembered the names correctly):
Maple Eh! I believe this was a vanilla cupcake topped with maple icing and canadian maple leaf sprinkles.
Buttercup. A chocolate vanilla marble cupcake topped with peanut butter icing and a mini peanut butter cup.
Nutella. A chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate hazelnut icing and a chocolate syrup drizzle with a little dollop of nutella on top.
In the second row...
Cookies and Cream. A chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate and vanilla swirled icing, filled with cream cheese icing and topped off with a half oreo.
Caramella. I believe this was also a vanilla cupcake topped with caramel icing, caramel crunch and a dollop of caramel.
Now this last one escapes me...I think it may have been called Raspberry Beret...but that could be completely my imagination... but it was a lemon cupcake with raspberry filling, lemon icing and a dollop of raspberry jam.

So, our assessment of the cupcakes...
The favorite of the group was the Cookies and Cream. The cake was moist and the swirled icing had a fairly nice flavor. My second choice was the butter cup, the marble cake was nice and the icing was certainly peanut buttery... maybe a little too much so, I found it hard to have more than 2 bites of this one. The lemon raspberry cake was nice in flavor, not so much on texture...it was rather dry and crumbly... too bad, because I really enjoy lemon cake and as a rule, I think it is rather moist. Caramella, I'm sorry to say, was rather disgusting, I had a hard time even finishing the bite I put into my mouth. I had a similar feeling with the Maple... the flavor of the icing was just so overwhelming it was taking over any flavor the cake might have and really left too much of an after taste for my liking. Nutella was not bad, the chocolate cake was again pretty moist but the icing was the draw back, yet again. The flavor of most of the icings was incredibly intense and the texture was very powdery (like icing sugar). If you like classic grocery store birthday cake icing, then you would like this...me... not so much.

The consensus of the group was that most of the cakes were moist, but lacking somewhat in flavor. The icings on the other hand were over flavored and didn't have a pleasant texture. The overall flavor of the cupcakes were due almost entirely to the frosting.

Unfortunately at this particular location they did not have any of the flavors I was hoping to try (from having seen them on tv), but there was still a good variety to choose from. Although I will continue to watch the show and had fun with the experience, I sadly have to say, I think I would rate these cupcakes 2 'cupcakes' out of 5. I love you Heather and Lori... your product really looks great, the stores are totally adorable, pricing is reasonable and the merchandise is cute... but the actual cupcakes... are kind of a pass... I really do feel sad to have to say this because I had such high hopes and I don't want to slander anyone in any way. Maybe it's just me, but I think maybe they could benefit from taking a few baking classes, or trying out some other frosting options.

So where does that leave us? If you're ever in Vancouver I might suggest giving one of their mini cupcake variety packs a try. That way you only end up with a small dollop of icing and a higher cake ratio and you get to try 12 different flavors. It's fun to see the stores and get a glimpse of 'the cupcake girls'... beyond that, don't spend your money on the full sized cupcakes... I think you'll find, as we did...a fair bit of them end up wasted.

Well, as I continue on my tour, I've hopped on a plane down to California and am currently in San Francisco. I'm excited to try a few cupcake shops here in the city and see what might be new and tasty around Fisherman's Wharf. I'm expecting there may be a few delicious chocolate cupcakes... what with Ghiradelli having made its (quite famous) home here.

Well that's all for now my traveling companions, hope to see you all next weekend for my SF cupcake updates.

Until next time,
Happy baking, caking and tasting!
Love and sprinkles, xoxo