Gluten Free Black Forest Cupcakes

Sponge Cake vs Quinoa Chocolate Cake

A traditional sponge cake is made with eggs, sugar and flour. Gluten free bakers need a repertoire of reliable cakes that they love and for me quinoa chocolate cake is the substitute. It's made with eggs, sugar and cooked quinoa (instead of flour) and most importantly, this recipe is delicious and turns out every time. It is light like a sponge cake and can be transformed into many beautiful desserts.

Ingredients

Black Forest Cupcakes must have chocolate, cherries and whipping cream.

• Cooked quinoa - A superfood that's high in protein making this decadent chocolate cake almost feel healthy. (It's not.)

• Milk & eggs - This is an egg heavy cake so not the best choice if you are looking for a vegan cake.

• Vanilla - The flavour is important in many baked goods so don't skip it. The artificial version is a reasonable option, better than omitting it.

• Butter & sugar - It's a decadent dessert and this is what it takes!

• Cocoa powder - This gives the rich chocolate taste we love.

• Baking powder & baking soda - Many gluten free recipes use these two leaveners to make up for the missing gluten.

• Cherry pie filling - An easy filling that can be used to make Cherry Hand Pies if you don't use it all.

• Kirsch or cherry liqueur - According to German law this specialty must contain kirsch, a clear brandy traditionally made from a specific dark-coloured sour cherry from the Black Forest.

• Maraschino cherries & whipping cream - A nice finishing touch.

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ingredients - Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

Pie filling is both easy to make and easy to buy, with many gluten free brands available. When I teach an in-person pastry class we make Cherry Hand Pies so I have leftover pie filling to make these cupcakes.

But, the original inspiration for this recipe was when someone gave me sour cherries from their cherry tree. Not only were they home grown they were delivered right to my door. Thank you Barb! I made cherry pie filling with them and then these cupcakes, I wish you could have enjoyed some.

Variations

The basic chocolate cake recipe can be served as a single cake dusted with icing sugar or as a double recipe and turned into a three-layer German Chocolate Cake.

Get The Tools

You don’t really need anything special to make cupcakes but there are always tools that make each job easier. Here’s what I used.

• Ideally a food processor will give you the smooth texture you need for this cake but if you don’t have one an immersion blender or Magic Bullet would work
• I prefer a regular sized muffin tin for dainty cupcakes
• I keep trying my silicone muffin liners when I bake everyday muffins but for cupcakes I  use paper liners.
• A little cupcake corer easily removes the center of each cupcake and makes a generous space for filling compared to removing the center with a knife.
• I used a kitchen rasp with large holes to make chocolate shavings. The brand Microplane names their kitchen rasps as fine, coarse, extra coarse, large shaver and ribbon. Any boxed grater will do the job.
• Reusable icing bags or disposable with a variety of tip sizes are great, even for occasional bakers, to make beautiful desserts.