Vanilla Cupcakes (gf)

Happy Easter everyone! I wanted to share my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe with you, the one that I love to bake every Easter. I particularly enjoy baking a few dozen extra and delivering them to friends and neighbors.

Originally inspired by Nigella Lawson’s recipe, I’ve adapted it over the years into my own gluten-free version. I like to use a gluten-free baking mix, such as Bob’s gf Baking Mix or the Cup4Cup flour. These Cupcakes are still filled with sugar, making them a true ‘treat’!

The lemon infused Royal Icing that tops these is one of the reasons I love them so much. When left alone for a few hours a light crust will form atop each little cake, providing texture and sealing in moisture. These cakes will sit all day and still be light and moist, or keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soft grass-fed, unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup raw washed sugar

• 2 free-range eggs

• 3/4 cup gluten free flour mix

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2-3 TBSP coconut or almond milk

• for the Royal Icing:

• 2 Large egg whites ( room temperature)

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. Take everything you need out of the fridge in time to get to room temperature - and this makes a huge difference to the lightness of the cupcakes later- and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Put all of the ingredients for the cupcakes except for the milk into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel, to make a smooth dropping consistency.

3. Divide the mixture between a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers, and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. They should have risen and be golden on top. Let them cool a little in their tins on a rack, and then take them carefully out of the tin to cool in their papers, still on the wire rack.

4. Royal Icing Method:

5. Combine the egg whites and confectioners' sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the lemon juice, this will thin out the icing. Beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes.