Oh gluten free, where do I begin? It seems to me that being allergic to gluten has become very prominent our society whether it be by choice or because you have an intolerance/allergy to it. Either way, I'm super glad I can eat it with no issues. For those who are less fortunate, you don't have to leave out dessert! The world has developed umpteen million different gluten free flours that you can make a million different more desserts with.
I was a little scared to try gluten free. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if my product would tasted different. I wasn't sure if I'd have to adjust making baking time -etc etc. You get my drift, I had a lot of doubts and questions. Turns out, I didn't have to be worried, which means you don't need to be either!
All I did was take a cupcake recipe and switched out my regular flour to multipurpose gluten free flour. Then, I took my coconut cupcake recipe and adapted it to one of my favorite flavor combinations - coconut orange. I think I told you about my moms orange-coconut coffee cake that's out of this world before, but if not, it rocks my socks off :) I really wanted to mimic this delicious flavor into a cupcake and I wanted everyone at work to be able to try it. So I'd like to present to you gluten-free orange coconut cupcakes. And just as a heads up to you, if you don't want gluten free- just use regular flour.
Oh and as a disclaimer - I find gluten flour to be a little grainier tasting then regular flour. I haven't done enough experimenting to figure out how to remove that... Have you done gluten free baking? Do you want to make a cupcake using your flavor combination? What flavors would you use?
Cupcake:
3/4 C. Butter
1 1/4 C. Sugar
3 Eggs
1 C. Coconut Milk - minus 2 Tbs
2 Tbs Orange Juice
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp Coconut extract
1 1/4 C. All purpose gluten free flour (King Arthur)
1 C. Coconut Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 C. Shredded Coconut
Rind of 1 Orange
Preheat oven 350 line 12 muffin wells
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix together shredded coconut and orange peel,set aside.
Combine orange juice and coconut milk, set aside.
Beat butter till light then add sugar, combine until light a fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Scrape sides and add extracts. Alternately add dry and wet ingredients starting and ending with dry. Fold in coconut/orange mix. Fill wells 3/4 full (if you use gluten free ingredients it won't rise much) Bake 18-20 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool 5 minutes in pan then transfer to rack to finish cooling.
Frosting -
8oz Cream cheese
1/2 C. Butter
3 Tbs Orange Juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp coconut extract
3 C. Powdered Sugar
1 C.Shredded Coconut + 1 Orange rind + 1 Tbs Sugar combine (may need more depending on how much topping you like on your cupcakes)
Blend cream cheese and butter. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and extracts, blend. Alternately add sugar and OJ. Once frosting is to the consistency you like frost your cakes. Then sprinkle with coconut orange topping.
Eat your heart out.
Peace.
