Gluten Free Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes
Oh my… these Gluten Free Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes are absolutely delicious. Super chocolatey, rich and perfectly moist (I’m sorry about that word but there really is no other that does it justice!!!).
What’s more, they’re so easy to whip up in under half an hour from start to finish and can easily be made gluten AND dairy free but you’d never know it!!
They say a picture speaks 1000 words so I’m just going to leave this here. Tell me you don’t want a bite…
So this isn’t a light, fluffy chocolate cupcake – if you want that one, click here for my Chocolate Cupcakes with Choc Dipped Strawberries .
This one is an insanely chocolatey and indulgent. Hopefully if I say “Bruce Bogtrotter cake” you’ll know the vibe I was going for here. If you don’t know what on earth I’m on about, go and watch Matilda and come back to me 🙂
Obviously the original cake from the film was a HUGE triple-tiered beast but I went for a cupcake version as I think they’re easier to whip up and decorate, easier to share and prettier but you could use the same recipe below to make a big version if you fancy it!
Quick summary of what you’ll need to do:
Its quite a different recipe from your normal creaming together butter/sugar and whisking in egg and flour. I think its actually quicker and easier than that.
- Take two bowls
- Add all your dry ingredients to one bowl.
- Add wet ingredients to the other and whisk until smooth
- Put the wet ingredients in the dry ingredients and whisk until JUST combined (doesn’t even need to be smooth for this recipe!).
- It’ll be really runny. Pour into your cupcake cases and bake
Yep, that easy. I’m really looking forward to turning this method into lots more recipes… watch this space!!!
Ingredients – info & alternatives
Here’s everything you need! Hopefully all very basic and easy to pick up in any supermarket 🙂
Self-Raising Flour: I recommend FREEE. If you want to use plain flour rather than self-raising, you’ll need to do two things (1) add an extra 1 tsp of baking powder- so 1.5 tsp of baking powder in total (2) most plain flours haven’t got ny xantham gum. This helps to bind the cupcakes and stop them from being too crumbly. Check the ingredients and if yours hasn’t got any xantham gum, add 1/4 tsp of xantham gum to the recipe.
Light Brown Sugar: this adds to the sweet, fudgy, caramel taste but if you really want to, you can replace it with caster sugar!
Choc Chips: optional but add to the fudgyness of the cupcakes. I think milk chocolate is the best but the choice is yours!
Oil: use sunflower/vegetable/rapeseed oil, NOT olive oil as that will be too heavy
Buttermilk: you can buy this from the supermarket but if you’re dairy free like me, just use dairy free milk and vinegar (cider or white wine vinegar). In terms of a dairy-free milk, full-fat soya is best (I use Alpro Soya) but if you can’t use that, rice milk or sweetened almond milk will work too.
Flora Original: this is to make the buttercream. You can substitute this for any butter or spread you like. Flora Original (which is dairy free!!!!) is my preference and it makes a delicious smooth buttercream that isn’t to heavy or rich.
FAQ’s for my Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Q. Why do my chocolate chips keep sinking?
A. I have tried every method under the sun – from coating the chips in flour to adding the chips half way through the bake and all the other weird and wonderful suggestions that Google provided. BUT the only thing that actually works (and works every single time for that matter) is to make sure you don’t over whisk your cake mix.
If you add the choc chips to over-whisked mix, they sink immediately. If you add them to perfectly whisked mix, they float ontop and then you can just quickly stir them through.
Don’t be afraid to leave the cake mix slightly lumpy to avoid over-whisking!!!
Q. I’m dairy free, can I still make this recipe?
A. Absolutely, this Gluten Free Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes recipe is EASY to make dairy free and you’d never know it was “adapted”. Its actually how I make mine and no one has ever noticed. Just make your own buttermilk with dairy-free milk and vinegar (see the “Ingredients” section above for into), and dairy free chocolate chips. All the other brands I’ve opted for are naturally dairy free too!
Q. How long will this cake keep for once its baked?
A. Another amazing this about this recipe is that the cupcakes will still be perfect for 3 days. To be honest, they hadn’t even dried out a lot by day 5!
**If you’ve got any more questions, send them my way and I’ll add them here!**
Gluten Free Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
BOWL 1
- 100 g gluten free self-raising flour
- 45 g cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
BOWL 1
- 80 g caster sugar
- 120 g light brown sugar
- 80 ml vegetable/sunflower oil
- 2 eggs
Other
- 100 g choc chips
- 120 ml buttermilk - OR 120ml soya milk & 1 tsp vinegar (see "ingredients" section in blog post above)
Buttercream
- 225 g spread/butter
- 400 g icing sugar - *you may need a little more depending on your brand of spread
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 40 ml milk - optional
Instructions
- If you're making your own buttermilk, add the vinegar to your milk now and set aside.
- Pre-heat your oven to 175oC (gas). Line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases.
- Place all of "Bowl 1" ingredients into a large mixing bowl and use a hand whisk to mix together.
- Place all of "Bowl 2" ingredients into a separate mixing bowl and use a hand whisk to mix together.>You're looking for a smooth consistent mix – take 15 seconds
- Pour half of the buttermilk and half of "Bowl 2" into "Bowl 1". Whisk for 5 seconds.>Count and don't go over 5!! You're not looking for a smooth consistent mix here, you just want to start combining it.
- Pour the rest of the buttermilk and "Bowl 2" into "Bowl 1". Whisk again, this time for a little longer until its JUST combined.>A few lumps are fine – you're better to have a few lumps than overwhisk it.
- Tip the 3/4 of chocolate chips into the mix and whisk in – just for 2/3 seconds.>If you've whisked your chocolate cupcake mix perfectly, the choc chips will float ontop when you tip them in. If you've over-whisked, they will sink. Don't worry if they do sink, the cupcakes will still be tasty – just a tip to know for next time!!
- Pour/spoon the mix into the cupcake cases. You want each case to be about 3/4 full. >It will be very thin so I find it easier to slowwwwllyyy pour the mix into the cases.
- Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips over the cupcakes
- Place into the centre of your oven for 18 mins>You're looking for the top to be springy to touch, but look very slightly undercooked (they'll keep cooking whilst they're cooling down). You can also poke a toothpick it into the middle of a cupcake and it should come out relatively clean.
- Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before moving onto the next step
Buttercream
- Place all of the buttercream ingredients into a bowl and whisk until smooth and delicious! >How to fix a common compliant: "my icing went too runny and the top layer of cake was sliding around on it!"My tip: Scrap right around the outside of the bowl and gather the butter icing together in the middle. Leave the butter icing to sit at room temperature for at least 20 mins. At that point, give it another little mix with a spoon. If it feels REALLY soft and wouldn't hold its shape, add some more icing sugar and whisk again until it feels thick. If its too thick and you wont be able to pipe it, add a tiny dash or milk and whisk
- Pipe/spoon onto your cupcakes
- Eat!!!!!
