My aunt has celiac disease, a disease that affects the small intestine.  Gluten damages the small intestines and that is why celiacs go on a gluten-free diet.  A couple of years ago, when my aunt discovered she was celiac, her life changed.  She had to restrict many things out of her diet such as cakes, breads, pasta and even soy sauce.  With so many things that we take for granted, we forget how much of our diet contain gluten.  Gluten is a protein from wheat but can be found in similar grains such as barley and rye.  Gluten-free cakes and cupcakes can be hard to make but we found a recipe that would make any celiac wanting more.

As you can see with this recipe, there is no flour (not even gluten free flour!).  We also made a double batch of cupcakes since we were going to two parties that day.

Put the cut butter and chocolate chips in the microwave to get it melted.

       

Crack the eggs in a bowl before adding it to the mixer.  This way you can take out any egg shells that may have dropped in with the eggs.

To measure the brown sugar, pack the sugar in a measuring scoop.  That means you have to press down the sugar so it is more packed that just scooping it.  The more packed the sugar, the more sugar in your recipe so I usually only lightly pack it.

Whenever you are measuring out cocoa powder, please remember to sift it!  This prevents any unwanted lumps of bitter cocoa in your dough.

  

We also added the instant espresso powder to the sieve and pressed it through the sieve to break it up.

Mix the melted chocolate/butter mixture with the brown sugar until the sugar is melted.

   

Add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Notice how gooey the dough is!!

I like to bake my cupcake tray on a larger cookie pan.  This makes it easier to take it in and out of the oven.  I also like to scoop the cupcake batter with a tiny ice cream scoop.  This evenly distributes the dough.

   

We baked the cupcakes for about 18 minutes.  When we checked the cupcakes at 15 minutes, we thought it looked a little undercooked so we left it in for just a couple more minutes.  The worst thing you can do with brownies is over cook it.  That’s why you have to watch it carefully when the cupcakes are about ready.

Instead of the icing that was give in this recipe, we used a cream cheese icing recipe that we always make (1-4oz block of cream cheese, 4 cups of icing sugar, vanilla extract and 1 cup of butter).  This is a basic cream cheese recipe that I use for a lot of my cupcakes.  To this basic cream cheese frosting, we added 2 tbsp of cocoa power and a bit of instant espresso.  The instant espresso was mixed with the vanilla extract to dissolve the granules.

  

We also added 1/4 cup more butter because the icing looked a little on the dry side.

The icing turned out delicious and it was nice way to top off the chocolate cupcakes.  These cupcakes was a hit at the party and you would not have known it was gluten-free!!

http://www.thekitchenpaper.com/flourless-chocolate-cupcakes-with-chocolate-cream-cheese-frosting/

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (1/2 cup chocolate chips)
• ½ cup butter, chopped into pieces
• ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten (room temperature)
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp instant espresso powder
• cupcake liners
• 4 ounces regular cream cheese, room temperature
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and chocolate and melt in 30 second increments until the butter is completely melted.
3. Whisk until the chocolate is also melted, and mixture is smooth.
4. Whisk in the brown sugar, then eggs, until smooth.
5. Sift the cocoa powder and espresso powder into the mixture, and mix until combined.
6. Fill each cupcake liner ⅔ full.
7. Bake until the tops are set, about 15 minutes.
8. Let fully cool before frosting.
9. For frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter together in a stand mixer. Mix until fully incorporated, light, and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder, then powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth, then divide evenly among cupcakes.

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