OMG! These are delicious!!! I brought this recipe along with GFDF Lemon Cupcakes with Blueberry Frosting to the GFAF Expo in Chicago this weekend. I made the same amount of samples that I make for every trade show that I have done in the past 7 years. I always have leftovers and try to send plates of goodies home with visitors that pass by my booth. This year was different. Apparently these cupcakes were so good that guests were telling people about them at other booths. “Did you try Mama’s cupcakes yet? You have to go try them they are amazing!” This is what we heard all morning. Our cupcakes, made mini size, both flavors were all gone by 12:30 the first day of the show. I was shocked. So were our brochures and trade show give-aways. It was amazing. Now granted there were a lot more people at this show than the any other show I have attended, but with that being said, the outcome was still the same, people of all ages LOVED Mama’s cupcakes. So now you get to try them too!
I will tell you a little secret. I wanted to create a gluten free strawberry cupcake that did NOT use strawberry jello mix, like many of the strawberry cupcake recipes found online. I think they used the jello mix to make it really pink, but I didn’t understand why you couldn’t have an authentic strawberry cupcake. When I make new recipes sometimes I nail it on the first try, sometimes it takes, 2-3 tries. The strawberry cupcakes took a LOT of tries. I could not get them to turn out pink, no matter what I did. The first time, I realized, duh…you can’t use the entire egg, yellow and pink makes brown. The second time, even with egg whites they turned out brown, and the third, and the fourth. Then I decided to try beet powder. The smallest amount of beet powder, about 1/4 tsp. mixed with 1 tsp. of cold water and drained through a piece of cheesecloth will make any recipe turn red or pink. I tried it and my cupcakes turned out even browner. I scratched my head and could not figure it out. Then I remembered, beet powder mixed with baking soda changes the chemistry of the beet powder and it will turn the color brown. So if baking soda makes beet powder turn brown then it possible could make strawberries turn brown too. So on my final try, I pulled out all the stops. I used egg whites, of course, I used white sugar instead of my usual organic evaporated cane juice sugar and I eliminated the baking soda and used baking powder only. I did add 2-3 small drops of red food coloring, but this step is optional, but 2-3 drops is harmless in my opinion. The result was very PINK strawberry cupcakes. I started dancing around the room singing, “My cupcakes are pink, my cupcakes are pink!” My friend Tammy and my daughters friend Brenna who came with us to the show looked at me with a strange look, but if they knew what I went through to make these pink they would understand.
Another tip, on the Strawberries, you can use 1 quart of fresh strawberries. Use a Cuisanart or a hand puree blender to puree the strawberries. This will give you 1 cup of puree. Use 3/4 cup in the recipe and save the remainder for the frosting. When strawberries are not in season they will not produce a vivid pink color. I have found that frozen strawberries work the best. Measure out what you would think 1 quart of strawberries would be, you can add more if needed. Allow them to set out to soften before pureeing. Puree enough to give you 1 cup of puree, 3/4 cup for the recipe and 1/4-1/3 cup for the frosting.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my girls and I do and all the gluten free people who stopped by my booth at the GFAF expo! Look for the GFDF Lemon Cupcakes that I will post later today.
G-Free Strawberry Cupcakes
w/Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting 
Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour can be found at www.glutenfreemama.com You can also find in grocery stores and health food stores near you, as well as Amazon.com. If you do not have it in your local grocery store, just ask your stores manager to bring it in and order from Mama in the mean time.
If you are interested in going to one of the GFAF Expos there are two more this year. One is in New Jersey and one is in Texas. Click Here for more information.