This year is really flying by isn't it? I can't believe that it's July already!
I'm not really a great cupcake fan, in fact when I ran my catering business I used to make cake squares instead of cupcakes. Chocolate fudge cakes, coffee cakes, carrot cakes, Victoria sponges, cherry and almond cakes, gingerbread ... All baked in a shallow tray, then coated with icing or frosting, cut into squares and given their final decorations - they used to go down a treat with customers!
Having said that, cupcakes can look amazing, especially with the fantastic array of paper cases that you can buy now. And paper cases are the reason for this recipe. I ordered what I thought were muffin cases from Funky Muffin (have a look at their website, they've got a lovely selection) but some of them turned out to be cupcake cases. So, I thought it was time to overcome my aversion to cupcakes and make an allergy friendly version.
For the cakes, I've used rice flour and ground almonds instead of flour and replaced the butter with oil. There's also rice milk in the mixture which along with the ground almonds helps to make a nice moist sponge. This is flavoured with lemon zest and a handful of dried blueberries and I've used the lemon juice to make a lovely lemony icing which is then coloured to co-ordinate with the cupcake cases. And just for an extra touch of prettiness, I've topped each one with a sugar flower, but obviously you can decorate them in whatever way takes your fancy!
Here's the recipe:
You might also like these gluten, dairy and soy free recipes:
Chocolate Hazelnut & Cherry Muffins
