Gluten Free Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes (and a video!)
Serves: 12 cupcakes
 
If you are baking these cupcakes for someone with a gluten intolerance, remember to check your baking powder is from a gluten free brand. Although technically not a glutenous product, cross contamination could occur with the regular stuff so don’t take any chances. Doves Farm do a good version. Of course, you don’t have to use rice flour if you don’t have a wheat allergy, simply sub in plain flour.
Ingredients
  • You Will Need
  • For the vanilla cherry coulis
  • 280g stoned and pitted cherries (just over one punnet, you can use the rest to decorate)
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 50ml water
  • ⅛ tsp vanilla paste
  • For the almond cupcakes
  • 55g ground almonds
  • 65g white rice flour
  • 50g brown rice flour (optional, you can use all white rice flour if you prefer)
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 150g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs, whisked together lightly
  • ¼ tsp vanilla paste
  • 100ml plain natural yoghurt
  • Zest of ¼ lemon plus a tsp of fresh lemon juice
  • For the Swiss meringue buttercream
  • 3 egg whites
  • 105g caster sugar
  • 150g butter, at room temperature
  • 4 tbsp cherry vanilla coulis
Instructions
  1. To make the cherry vanilla coulis, place the pitted cherries, sugar, water and vanilla paste in a saucepan and gently heat for around 10 to 15 minutes until the fruit is jammy and the cherries burst. Remove from the heat and blend using a handheld blender or a food processor until the fruit has broken down but not completely smooth. If you prefer a smoother finish, blend until smooth and strain through a sieve to catch any cherry skins. Pour into a glass jar or container and set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180oc/160oc fan and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases. In a bowl, whisk together the ground almonds, rice flours, baking powder and salt then set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if using a handheld whisk, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Slowly add the beaten egg and beat along with the vanilla paste. The mix may look a little curdled, but the dry mix will bring it back together.
  3. Pour in half the yoghurt and dry mix, then carefully fold. Add the remaining ingredients, including the lemon zest and juice and fold together before dividing equally between the cake cases. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then remove and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
  4. To make the cherry Swiss meringue buttercream, place the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer if using, then place over a saucepan filled with simmering water. Take care not to let the bowl touch the water or the eggs will scramble. Whisk the sugar and egg until frothing and bring the mix to 70oc on a thermometer to pasturise the egg whites.
  5. Once the eggs have hit 70oc, remove the bowl from the heat and either place in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or use an electric whisk to continuing whipping the egg whites until stiff. Once the bowl is no longer hot and at room temperature, add the butter piece by piece until combined then spoon in the coulis, adding more to taste. Once the buttercream is stiff and pink in colour, remove the bowl from the stand mixer and either fill a piping bag with the buttercream and pipe onto the cakes or simply dollop and swirl with the back of a spoon for a quicker, more rustic effect. Decorate with the remaining whole cherries if you like. Keep the cupcakes in a plastic container for up to three days.
Recipe by Victoria Sponge Pease Pudding at http://victoriaspongepeasepudding.com/baking/gluten-free-cherry-bakewell-cupcakes-and-a-video/