It’s that time of year!! I personally love seeing all of the cute holiday desserts people come up with. If you’re not a pro at cookie decorating, these Christmas tree cupcakes are a great starting point. My gluten free cupcakes are not only easy to make, but fun for kids to help with.
There’s no Allergy Status today since this is more of a decorating tutorial. You can use base materials that are safe for your household. Here’s what I used for my festive treats:
- Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe (banana free chocolate cake recipe, and you could use a vegan vanilla cupcake recipe too)
- Vanilla Frosting Recipe
- How to Use Natural Dyes Tutorial
- Ice Cream Cones (we used Edwards and Sons, contains soy)
- No Whey Peppermint Choco No-Nos, a gluten free, vegan, top 8 allergy free candy. Play on m-and-m’s, contains rice and seeds.
For those who can’t have soy, you may need to make ice cream cones at home. This Allergy Inspiration video gives you insight on what that looks like. After the recipe and video below, you’ll find answers to common questions for gluten free and vegan baking.
Other Tools And Ingredients
In addition to the basics up above, you’ll also want powder sugar, a small sieve, a decorator bag (we use Wilton disposables), and a decorating tip (both Wilton 21 and Wilton 32 work well for these holiday cupcakes). After you allow your cupcakes to cool completely, the decorating takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredient List For Gluten Free Vegan Christmas Tree Cupcakes
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Use Cmd/Ctrl + P to print everything.
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- Small Sieve
- Disposable Decorating Bags
- Decorating Tips (21 or 32)
Ingredients
- 1 Standard or Jumbo Cupcake
- 1 Ice Cream Cone
- 1 No Whey Chocolate Peppermint No-Nos Candies
- Vanilla Frosting
- Green Tinted Frosting
- Organic Powdered Sugar (for dusting)
Video
New To Gluten Free Baking and/or Vegan Baking?
I’d like to take a moment to answer common gluten free vegan cupcake questions. If you use the recipe linked above, you won’t have any issues at all. There are lots of resources and recipes on RAISE to help you on your culinary journey if you’re new to all of this. Check out the Membership Levels here.
Are vegan cupcakes healthy?
That depends on how you define healthy. I like to say that my recipes use better-for-you ingredients. They’re non-GMO, whole grains, etc. However, they’re still sweetened, and they are treats. If you eat three a day, that’s not healthy in my opinion. One as a treat and you’re doing just fine.
Can vegans eat cupcakes?
Yes, in fact, vegans can eat just about anything. The vegan diet only eliminates animal and insect products. there are lots of substitutes and work arounds. This Intro to The Vegan Diet resource explains this more.
What makes a cupcake Vegan?
The key ingredients you’ll need to swap when making and decorating delicious cupcakes are butter (swap for vegan butter), milk (swap for plant based milk such as almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, etc.), and eggs (swap for an egg substitute). The chocolate cupcakes used in this recipe use several methods to replace the egg, as you can’t simply use one item and have perfect results.
Does gluten free flour make cakes dry?
Sometimes. If your flour blend isn’t well balanced, or you use too much flour, your cupcakes will indeed turn out dry. The recipes here on RAISE are not dry one bit. In fact, I have a bakery that’s served thousands of people without food allergies who say my cupcakes are the best they’ve ever had. Trust me, we don’t do dry.
Why are my gluten free cupcakes gummy?
If your gluten free cupcakes are coming out gummy, there’s a god chance your flour blend is to blame. Some gluten free flours are more gummy than others. For example, cassava flour in large amounts (especially when not blended) is incredibly gelatinous. This will produce a gummy result. Related article: Gluten Free Flour ~ Where to Start.
How do you keep gluten free cake from crumbling?
If you’re gluten free only, your flour blend will be the key to producing results that don’t crumble. If you’re gluten free, vegan, and top 8 allergy free (or maybe a mix of those), you’ll need to make sure the entire recipe is well balanced. You need flour along with liquid, fat, an egg substitute, and more. These items when blended properly will produce delicious results that don’t crumble excessively. With cake, some crumbling is normal (think small amounts).
How do you make gluten free flour less dense?
To achieve a lighter, fluffier texture, you must have a good gluten free flour blend. This Gluten Free Flour article talks about this in depth and explains how to build a good blend. You can also follow all of the dessert and baking recipes on RAISE which are very well blended.
Do vegan cupcakes need to be refrigerated?
Technically no depending on the ingredients, but for maximum freshness, you should fridge your cupcakes. For my bakery (vegan, gluten free, top 9 allergy free), I suggest refrigerated for four days or frozen for four months. If you don’t like the taste of “cold” be sure to take your cupcakes out of the fridge about 30 minutes before enjoying.
If you use a frosting that contains cream cheese, your cupcakes will need to be in the fridge.
In hot weather, you absolutely need to refrigerate your cupcakes to prevent the frosting from drooping. Refrigerating cupcakes (vegan or not) also keeps them fresher longer, and slows mold growth.
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