Gluten free, nut free, lactose free - Cocoa Orange Cup Cakes

Gluten free cocoa orange cup cakes

On Sunday, the vegans of Mumbai met up for a potluck at Monika and Chintan's house. Our group provides support to new vegans, aspiring vegans and of course we do share good food in good measure. This time I was confident enough to try out the cupcakes on yet another group of 'guinea pigs'. The response was tremendous! It made me happy to see that people went in for seconds. Jr.P, Jr.H and P have always said that the cakes were great but I was silly enough to suspect a bias on their part!

After yesterday's success at the potluck I was so stoked with the kind complements that I baked cocoa-orange cupcakes and took it to my workplace this morning. Some of my friends did not realize it was gluten free. It made me grin madly! That is what gives me the confidence to share the recipe with you. It really works! Oh, by the way, the others who realized it was gluten free knew so because I have carried these before (though without orange) and they did not know it then!

Substituting nuts in cakes for the nut-allergic:
I have found that adding ground nuts such as hazelnuts, cashews or almonds gives a lighter texture and lift to vegan bakes, but since Jr.H cannot consume nuts I had a tough time getting that texture in her cakes. This time I tried adding coarsely ground, dry sunflower seeds and it gave both the texture as well the mouth feel I was looking for. Seeds usually substitute nuts very well in most recipes.

Smitha is one of my close friends and her little boy is egg, gluten and nut intolerant. He also cannot take chickpeas or roasted chana dal. We were talking the other day and she asked me whether I had a recipe for him. Here it is. I hope it makes her baby smile! Babies don't lie.

Dish: Gluten free, Nut free, Lactose Free, Cocoa Orange Cup Cakes
Allergy information: This cake contains soy milk. If allergic to soy, use rice milk or coconut milk.
Yield: 12 small cup cakes
Please note that I measure in Indian cups and these measure 20% less than American standard cups.

Ingredients:

Dry portion:
Superfine rice flour - 1.5 cups
(I use home ground rice flour.
Method: Soak rice for 1/2 hr. Rinse and drain. Spread on a dry towel and let dry completely in shade. Grind, sieve and grind till the grains are a fine powder)
Corn starch/arrowroot/tapioca flour - 1/4 cup
Baking powder (aluminium free/gluten free) - 1.25 tsp.
Baking soda - 1/8 tsp.
Edible gum (I use locally available gum called 'dink') - 2 generous pinches
Cocoa powder - 6 tbsps.
Dark brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/8 tsp.

Wet portion:
Extra virgin olive oil (I used 'borges' as they sent me a few of their olive oils as samples. They smell good and as good as the normal 'figaro' brand I use. I think I use 'frigata' for Extra virgin.)
- Just 4 tbsps. (Yes, that less!)
Freshly sqeezed orange juice, sweet one - 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup more if needed
Soy milk - 3/4 cup + 1/4 cup if needed

Method:

Stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl. I grind it together in my large mixie jar to aerate and mix. Saves me from sieving together.

Empty back into the bowl.

In the same jar, empty olive oil, 1/4 cup orange juice and 3/4 cup soy milk. Grind together till mixed together.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well till you get a uniform batter. Not very thick, nor runny. If the liquid is less, add the extra orange juice and a little more milk. A runny or pourable batter may sink after baking.

The batter should be easy to mix but remain 'scoopable'.

Pre-heat oven to 160 deg. Celsius for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile line your cupcake mould with paper cases. Dust lightly with superfine rice flour. Scoopy 1.5 tbsps. of batter in each case.

Bake for 25 minutes. If it seems to be browning in spots, turn the tray midway.

Because it happened to me:
Please do not peek in before 20minutes. The first time I did, my cupcakes sank. A few times after that they also seemed to taste good but had a dimple in the center.

I have found that reducing the quantity of soda helps. I wrote my experiences so it helps other beginner bakers. If you are a good one, please ignore. I know you have had your experiences!

I do not fancy sweetness much, so my cakes, desserts and sweets are not really very sweet. If you have a sweet tooth you might want to notch up the sugar here. Better still, keep the sugar levels the same and dust with icing sugar if needed.

Due to the seeds, this has a mouth feel similar to nutty cakes. The texture is open, not crumbly but soft. It is also held firmly just like a cake made with all purpose flour. That is because the rice is home ground, soaked, drained and ground which makes it more moist and superfine than shop bought flour. Brown rice flour may be used but does not turn out as moist as home ground flour. Results will vary if made with shop bought flour. The cakes will simply be drier.

If you are allergic to corn starch use tapioca flour or arrowroot powder. We do not get tapioca flour in India, so I haven't had the chance to try it. I am waiting for Santa Claus' second trip abroad to get some!

If the orange juice is bitter, discard and use a fresh one! I always use fresh fruits while baking and they are what I recommend. The orange juice imparts a fresh flavour.

Serving:
Let the cakes cool in the mould for a few minutes. Lift it onto a tray and let cool to room temperature. Serve soon. Do not store in an air tight container till completely cool. They sweat and also turn rubbery by evening according to Jr.H. OK, those are her observations! I found nothing wrong, but then, the gluten free girl won't lie. She must have a point there! I am told cakes go extremely well with tea but I love them with fresh fruit juice.

Look here! Jr.H found a heart and gave me half of it. Just in time for Valentine's Day!