Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes have a moist, fluffy, strawberry-infused sponge, covered with a creamy strawberry-infused frosting! They're full of fruity flavour, naturally coloured and come together in one bowl!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten-free strawberry cupcakes, gluten-free vegan cupcakes, vegan strawberry cupcakes

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1

Servings cupcakes

Calories 274kcal

Author Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

300 g (10.5 oz) fresh strawberries , hulled
60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
8 tablespoons (8 tablespoons) maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
Pinch (Pinch) salt
150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
2 heaped teaspoons (2 heaped teaspoons) baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) beetroot powder (optional - to add red colour)

For the frosting**:

400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk ***
3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) strawberry jam (ensure refined sugar free if necessary)
Pinch (Pinch) beetroot powder (optional - to add red colour)

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Use a food processor, blender or hand-held stick blender to whizz the strawberries until completely smooth - you should end up with around 250ml (1 cup) strawberry purée.
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
Once melted, add the strawberry purée to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (and beetroot powder if using).
Mix well, adding a tiny splash of any plant-based milk if it's looking too dry.
Transfer mixture between 12 cupcake cases in a cupcake tin.
Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Once out the oven, transfer cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool completely before applying the frosting.

For the frosting:

You'll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won't happen and you won't be able to make this cream!
Open the tin upside down - the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies).
Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl.
Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy.
Add the strawberry jam (and beetroot powder, if using) and carefully mix it in.

To frost and decorate the cupcakes:

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife, spatula or piping bag to apply an even amount of frosting to each of the cupcakes.
Decorate with freeze-dried raspberries, if desired.
Best when fresh, but keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Notes

*You can alternatively use alm ond flour.

**This frosting recipe yields a medium-sized amount of frosting per cupcake. However, if you do want to apply a generous amount of frosting (like in my photos), I’d recommend doubling the amount of frosting.

***You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) thick coconut yogurt.

You can replace the strawberries with blueberries or mango.
You can use fresh or frozen strawberries - just make sure to defrost frozen ones and get rid of any excess water.

Nutrition