Le Zombie Cupcakes

Have I ever told you that Halloween is Leo and I’s favorite holiday? I mean we get into it. But I’m kinda into it to some degree year round. I wear skull and bone jewelry, black fills half of my closet, and I still look under my bed when I hear strange noises in the middle of the night. But I’m pretty sure most ladies have their fair share of black hanging around. The other two things, well…maybe not so much. Anyhow, a few days ago, while Leo was playing chase with the other kiddos at the park he whipped past me, then doubled back and panted, “Mommy— I want you to make me— some Zombie cupcakes. Green cakes and yellow icing—like zombie skin.” Uh, done.

The very next day, we drove to the All In One Bake Shop to pick up a few zombilicious decorations. I grabbed the half Barbie dolls and he grabbed the candy shaped bones and together, we went to work. Leo enhanced their flawless features with his trusty markers, and I threw in a few Barbie accessories so it looked like they got turned on their way home from a party. But something still wasn’t right, so I torched their hair for a more singed, ragged look. Stepping back, we couldn’t help but notice how oddly cute they looked, those dainty little zombies, resting in pillows of cream cheese icing…it was just too much and we died laughing in our loving of it.

If you aren’t into zombies this Halloween and want something a little less, well, scorched looking, the beauty of this recipe is that the cakes themselves are my vanilla cupcake batter, which is essentially a blank canvas for whatever you can imagine for your Halloween festivus, so get creative with the food coloring and be sure to let the icing whip for the full 3 minutes so it gets really fluffy and smears all over your lips when you bite into it. And you really don’t want to omit the plum preserves, either. Jams, jellies and preserves were spooned into muffin batters as early as the 1930′s and I used that same technique here for a slightly bloodier effect. No matter what the color, these cakes will convert you to gluten free in nothing flat. No bones about it!

So Halloween and so gluten free. Are you with me?

Gluten Free Zombie Cupcakes

2/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 tablespoon potato flour
2 teaspoons guar gum
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, preferably cultured, diced
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup organic buttermilk
food coloring of choice. I used forest green here.
1 cup plum preserves, like Bonne Maman

Makes 12 Cupcakes

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to blend. Add the butter and mix until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream until very smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk until blended. Alternating the egg mixture with the buttermilk, add the wet ingredients to the dry ones in two increments. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.

Fill the prepared muffin cups three-fourths full with batter. Spoon in a tablespoon of preserves into the center of each cake and bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes are just barely colored and springy to the touch.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Un-mold the cupcakes onto wire racks and turn them right-side up to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Icing

6 tablespoons organic sweet cream butter, softened
12 oz. organic cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
food coloring of choice. I used sunshine yellow here.

Whip the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment until pale and very smooth. Add the cream cheese and whip until you can no longer see streaks of butter, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed and add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Slowly increase the mixer to high and whip for 3 whole minutes and the icing is hopelessly fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the food coloring and mix until the color is uniform and no white remains.

Ice your cupcakes with either a piping bag and a plain tip or an offset spatula, which I did for a more disheveled look.

ENJOY!