Gluten Free Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes

I first saw Italian Maraschino cake in What’s Cooking Italian Style Cuisine and was intrigued by the fluffy pink of the cake and the fun cherries. After trial and error to make this cake gluten free, these cherry cupcakes are a moist and light gluten free edition. They make a pretty addition to a party, shower, or for a fun treat. By using just a single small dollop of frosting, it keeps the sweetness balanced. Other fruit could be substituted as long as it doesn’t water down the batter too much. I think that candied ginger would even be a possibility- please comment if you try it.

Bonus: they are dairy free!

Some ideas for other options that I can think of to try:

• apricot, pineapple, or mango chunks
• cherry with white chocolate shaving on top
• candied ginger with pear
• baking dates with banana chunks
• strawberry with mini chocolate chips
• lemon or lime zest with coconut shavings

Keep Your Gluten Free Baked Goods from Going Mealy

Gluten free baked goods tend to become mealy very quickly sitting out at room temperature or in the refrigerator. The key to keeping your extras delish is to freeze them in an air tight container until needed and pulled out to thaw and use. This is helpful for cakes, bread, cookies, and muffins. You can freeze the cupcakes unfrosted and then frost later when they are thawed. We like to freeze the whole cupcake, frosting and all, and eat them right out of the freezer. They are denser eaten frozen compared to when they are fully thawed but taste great- feel free to eat them nice and fluffy thawed or fresh like a normal person though if you wish.

Tips for Gluten Free Cherry Cupcakes

Scroll over pictures to see instruction captions:

The wet ingredients before adding whisked egg whites should be a thicker batter not completely runny

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks

Gently fold the egg whites into the wet batter just until incorporated

Fill the muffin wells 3/4 full

Cut the tip off a baggie corner to squeeze a single dollop of frosting on the cupcake to keep the sweetness from being overpowering

Cupcakes can be frozen in a single layer in an air tight container or presented and eaten straight away.

• Whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks and folding in the batter helps to create a fluffy sponge structure.
• Resting the batter for 20-30 minutes before baking allows the batter to “meld” and decreases the gritty or sandy texture.
• Starting the baking at a higher temperature before lowering the temperature helps to lock in the height and dome of the cupcake.

Gluten Free + Dairy Free Italian Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes

Recipe by Cedarbirchmusings.comCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

Cupcakes

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

17

minutes

Moist and colorful, these pretty gluten free cupcakes are perfect for the freezer or to share.

Ingredients

• Cupcakes

• 3/4 C. Almond milk + 1 Tbs. lemon juice

• 1 C. Brown rice flour

• 1 C. Tapioca starch

• 1/2 C. Cornstarch

• 1 tsp. Xantham gum

• 1 1/2 C. Sugar

• 4 tsp. Baking powder

• 1 tsp. Salt

• 1/2 C. Lard

• 1 Whole egg

• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract

• 2 tsp. Almond or Rum extract

• 1/4 C. Maraschino cherry juice

• 1/2 C. Maraschino cherries (chopped)

• 4 Egg whites (separate for whipping)

• Cherry Frosting

• 2 C. Powdered sugar

• 2 Tbs. Butter alternative (I use Earth Balance)

• 1/2 tsp. Almond or rum extract

• 4 Tbs. Maraschino cherry juice or almond milk (as needed). Cherry juice will give a nice pink coloring, milk will keep it white.

Directions

• Mix the lemon juice into the almond milk and let sit while you gather the other ingredients.
• Combine the brown rice flour, tapioca, cornstarch, xantham, baking powder, salt, sugar lard, almond milk/lemon, whole egg, flavor extracts, cherry juice, and cherries in a mixer until well incorporated. Transfer to a different bowl and set aside.
• In a clean and dry mixer bowl, whip up the additional egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter trying not to deflate the air bubbles as much as you can.
• Set aside the batter to rest for 20-30 minutes while oven is preheating to 400 degrees F.
• Grease cupcake wells or use liners and gently fill wells 3/4 full.
  Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes and then reduce temperature to 350 degrees F without removing cupcakes from oven. Bake an additional 12 minutes until golden and internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the frosting: combine the powdered sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. While mixing add the extracts and then slowly add the cherry juice or milk until desired thickness is achieved. Put frosting into a ziploc bag, cut a corner out, and pipe just a small bit onto the top of each cupcake. Top with a maraschino cherry and serve. If there are extras: freeze in a single layer in an air tight container with or without frosting.

Notes

• Do not skip the rest time for the batter or the high beginning baking temperature.

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