Gluten Free Black and White Cupcakes!

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to provide a gluten-free cupcake alternative for our GF ladies at church for our Women In the Church (WIC) kickoff dinner. I knew I would do chocolate because: 1. Sevierly Gluten-Free makes a wonderful mix that is so easy to use and 2. they are women after all.

But,what do do about the frosting? I was thinking chocolate again until I came across my inspiration for a black and white cupcake started when I found these lovely baking cups. 

 

Reynolds black and white
damask baking cup

I always clean my counters thoroughly before baking anything gluten-free.
One-eighth of a teaspoon of gluten can cause a sever reaction in anyone with
Celiac's Disease.

 

I mixed all the ingredients in this measuring bow. About the time I got a couple of the wet ingredients in the bowl, I realized I should have gotten a bigger bowl. But I pressed on and was able, very carefully, to mix all the ingredients.

They baked up nice. They are extremely dense and rich.

My father left me a lot of cake decorating tips. I miss him and like to think he would approve of the fact that I am venturing forth with his tools of the trade to create cakes and cupcakes for my family and friends.

Someday I will post on the cakes my father made. I particularly remember the time he made a Mayflower truck cake for my brother. That was quite the creative feat. When my dad passed away, my daughter asked, "Who's going to make our birthday cakes?"
 

I chose a vanilla buttercream frosting from the Food network. Two hundred plus reviewers can't be wrong. And I piped those puppies.

Black and white these days make me think of hot pink and if I could have made hot pink hearts, I would have. And maybe someday I will. I started out making caramelized sugar hearts, but before the caramel color was taking shape, I thought I'd experiment and add red food coloring gel. And this is the result. I would try this again in a heartbeat.

 

Next time I do caramelized sugar, I want to make orange flames with red/orange frosting. Kinda like a Harley Davidson look. I think that would be fun. I may have to talk Sam into that for his class cupcakes this year.

So, there you have it. Black and white cupcakes with pink sugar hearts on top. The cupcakes were dairy free until I added the buttercream. I suppose you could use Crisco, but would that really be buttercream?