Rose and Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcakes

“This is the perfect vegan foodie gift for Valentines Day. They can be made without gluten or with gluten. I added rose essence to the frosting and strawberry jam into the cake bases to give them more flavour.”

Prep time - 30 minutes

Cook time - 20-35 minutes

Difficulty - Medium

Serves / makes - 6 regular or 12 small

Ingredients

For the cakes -

100g gram flour (or 100g plain flour with gluten)

50g potato starch or tapioca starch (or 50g plain flour with gluten)

1T cocoa powder

100g caster sugar

2t baking powder

75g sunflower oil

150g plant milk

2t red gel food colouring*

A small amount of oil for the pan

For the jam filling (optional) -

3-5T smooth strawberry jam

For the frosting -

200g cream cheese

1/8t rose essence

1.5-2T syrup, I used agave

For decoration -

1 packet Love Hearts

Equipment

6 hole small cupcake pan or 12 hole mini cupcake pan

Large mixing bowl

Whisk or mixing spoon

Piping bag with one thin and one wide nozzle

Method

Heat your oven to 160c/320f/GM3.
In a large bowl mix the gram flour, potato starch, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder. Add the oil and half the plant milk. Mix well removing any lumps using a whisk or mixing spoon. Add the remaining milk and food colouring, mix in well.
Put a drop of oil into each hole of your cupcake pan. Pour the batter into the pan, up to 1cm from the top.
Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes for larger cupcakes or 20-25 minutes for mini cupcakes, until they are cooked through.
Remove the cakes from the pan once the cakes have cooled enough to handle.
Put the jam in a piping bag with a thin nozzle. Push the nozzle into the top of the cakes to fill the inside of the cakes with the jam.
Make the frosting by mixing the cream cheese, rose essence and syrup using an electric beater. Put the frosting into a piping bag with a wide nozzle. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Pipe the frosting onto the cakes and top with Love Hearts.

Notes

*The red food colouring in this recipe needs to be very strong. Most red food colouring in supermarkets is not strong enough. Click HERE to see the red food colouring I use.