Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Easy and moist gluten-free chocolate cupcakes topped with a delicious swirl of chocolate buttercream frosting.
Prep Time25 minutes mins
Cook Time25 minutes mins
Chill Time50 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Fusion
Diet: Gluten Free, Low Salt, Vegetarian
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 376kcal
Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 egg (large)
- 55 g oil
- 130 ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 160 g caster sugar (granulated sugar)
- 140 g plain / all-purpose gluten-free flour (blend)
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (optional and only if not already included in flour blend)
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 40 g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 100 ml hot coffee (or 2tsp instant coffee dissolved in 100ml hot water)
Chocolate Buttercream:
- 175 g unsalted butter
- 350 g icing sugar
- 35 g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 3 tablespoon milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Cupcakes:
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together until fully combined.
In a separate bowl, sieve in the cocoa powder, flour, xanthan gum (if using) and baking powder, then add in the sugar and whisk them together.
Gradually pour the wet ingredients into the dry, beating thoroughly as you pour until fully combined.
Slowly add in the hot coffee, beating your mixture until the liquid has fully combined. Keep beating for an extra 5mins.
Allow the cupcake batter to stand for 30mins while you pre-heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C (fan) / Gas 3 ½ / 340°F.
Give the mixture a good stir and then divide the mixture evenly between the cupcake cases in the muffin tin and bake for 25-30mins until risen and springy to the touch. Allow the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack while you make the buttercream.
Chocolate Buttercream:
Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of icing sugar and all of the cocoa powder.
Add in the milk, salt and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth.
Once your cupcakes have fully cooled, add your buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe large swirls onto each cupcake. Alternatively, spread your buttercream generously on top of your cupcakes with a knife.
- You can swap the plain gluten-free flour blend in this recipe for the same amount of self-raising gluten-free flour blend and reduce the baking powder by 1 ½ tsp. Scale this up as needed for a larger batch size.
Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 408IU | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 1mg