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Old Fashioned Gluten-Free Strawberry Cupcakes for a Special Valentine’s Day

By Emily Smith

Do you remember celebrating Valentine’s day in grade school?  The day before, in art class, you would make a mailbox out of an old tissue box, cover it in red construction paper, decorate it with cut-out hearts and write your name in glitter glue, all in anticipation for the great number of Valentine’s cards you were going to receive.  And on the day of, everyone would bring enough cards for each classmate. Of course, you might have saved the really special ones for your best friends and your crush! You would go around the class delivering your Valentines and then return to your desk to sift through your mailbox looking for the one, from the one.

Oh, the fun of it!  That’s the thing about holidays, forget the stress, remember the fun! Because there is plenty to be had. Valentine’s Day for me is all about eating chocolate, an overload of pink, red, and white – and extra kisses!  

I have been wanting to make strawberry cupcakes for sometime now and this weekend turned out to be the perfect time to have a mini Valentine’s celebration at Nana’s house with Little Aiden. We made a splendid mess of things, decorated the cupcakes in an old-fashioned way (kind of like I would have when I was still in grade school!) – and finally, having the pleasure of biting into one of these perfectly pink delights.  When we came home, we surprised Mr. Smith with a dozen, minus a few, as a Valentine’s Surprise and he was quite thrilled with his early delectable present.

These lovelies are gluten-free and dairy-free.  They are moist and chock-full of strawberry flavor, that is ever so scrumptious and very hard to resist!  A perfect Valentine’s treat if I do say so myself.

I would love to hear a favorite Valentine’s Day memory you’d like to share!  And if you’re looking
for more ideas on how to celebrate the 14th, take a look here, here and here….

Happy Valentine’s Day!

p.s enter my Valentine’s Giveaway here…

Old Fashioned Gluten-Free Strawberry Cupcakes (dairy-free too!)
Makes 12

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup light buckwheat flour
2/3 cup strawberry puree (about a cup of fresh strawberries)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 egg whites
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup canola margarine, room temperature
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk

  1. In a blender or food processor, pulse strawberries until they are pureed (with some small pieces). Use 2/3 cup in cupcake mixture – if you have extra puree keep to use for the icing.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg and 2 egg whites. Add in sugar, vanilla, and almond milk, mix.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together brown rice flour and buckwheat flour. Mix in baking powder and pinch of salt.
  4. Add in margarine to dry mixture, and cut in with a fork.
  5. Pour in wet mixture, blend well – you can use a mixer on low if you wish.
  6. Add in strawberry puree, blend well.
  7. Pour into lined cupcake tin.
  8. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.
Dairy-Free Strawberry Glaze Icing
1/2 cup canola margarine, room temperature
1/4 cup strawberry puree
2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  1. In a medium bowl mix strawberry puree, canola margarine, and vanilla together. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar until a thin icing is formed.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
  2. Spoon onto cupcakes as thick/thin as you would like.
  3. Decorate with sprinkles or strawberries.
  4. Enjoy!
*This recipe is based on this original recipe by Sprinkles Cupcakes via Martha Stewart 
  (not gluten-free or dairy-free)

Posted in Cupcakes, Gluten-Free | 19 comments »

19 Comments on Old Fashioned Gluten-Free Strawberry Cupcakes for a Special Valentine’s Day

  1. david smith
    February 12, 2012 at 8:35 pm (492 days ago)

    These are fantastic and now I am feeling a little done in because I ate too many very quickly; thank you very much for this early valentine’s surprise. I love you my wife.

  2. Marie
    February 12, 2012 at 9:25 pm (492 days ago)

    Wow, these looks so yummy!
    Love the comment from your husband by the way <3
    xx Marie

  3. tinajo
    February 12, 2012 at 9:29 pm (492 days ago)

    These look super sweet! :-)

  4. Gloria
    February 12, 2012 at 10:44 pm (492 days ago)

    what nice and beautiful treats look amazing!

  5. Noémie {as ink remains}
    February 13, 2012 at 4:24 am (492 days ago)

    Oh wow – these are gorgeous and look so delicious!

  6. Gaby [The Vault Files]
    February 13, 2012 at 7:48 am (492 days ago)

    Oh these look delicious and they are so cute!

  7. koralee
    February 13, 2012 at 2:47 pm (492 days ago)

    Sending you ooooodles of Valentine’s Day love …your cupcakes looks darling! xoxox

  8. amy b.s.
    February 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm (491 days ago)

    these look and sound like the pefect valentine’s day treat!

  9. Nicole
    February 13, 2012 at 8:40 pm (491 days ago)

    They are d r e a m y delicious! Nana tested them!Happy Valentin Day!!!!!

  11. Kim Bee
    February 13, 2012 at 10:23 pm (491 days ago)

    These are adorable. I would probably take one with strawberries on top. I still have every Valentine from grade school. My parents kept all that stuff. Fun looking back through.

  12. Kim (A Very Sweet Blog)
    February 13, 2012 at 11:33 pm (491 days ago)

    Those look so good Emily. I love the cut up strawberries on top! Ohhh, how I remember sifting through a box of valentine cards and picking out the right one for literally EVERYbody in class. HaHa My mom teases me about it til this day! She would suggest one for somebody and I said NO, that’s for so and so. Particular MUCH! LOL Have a nice evening!
    http://www.averysweetblog.com/

  13. Meg {henninglove}
    February 14, 2012 at 12:10 am (491 days ago)

    oh yummy! these cupcakes look great and you can’t even tell they are gluten-free. i love your decorations on them too

  14. Michelle
    February 14, 2012 at 12:35 am (491 days ago)

    Those look seriously good… might have to try my hand :)

  15. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love.
    February 14, 2012 at 1:58 am (491 days ago)

    Oh yes, I used to love celebrating V-Day at school! All the the fun cards and of course, treats! These cupcakes are so pretty and festive!

  16. Alexa
    February 14, 2012 at 6:22 am (491 days ago)

    Oh my goodness those are so incredibly sweet. And I bet they are delish. And Happy Blog Anniversary.

  17. Fashion Meets Food
    February 14, 2012 at 3:10 pm (491 days ago)

    Oh my gosh these look so amazing! xo

  18. stringsandbuttons
    February 16, 2012 at 8:13 pm (488 days ago)

    These are A-mazing. And they look perfect for Valentine’s and any other day! Thanks for sharing! xo

  19. Saya
    February 20, 2012 at 12:26 am (485 days ago)

    Oh MY! These pics and cupcakes are saturated with so much lovey doveyness…. BEAUTIFUL colours… I can smell them from here in Sydney xo