Elvis Cupcakes

How can I not be totally in love with a blog called Legalize Frostitution? I first heard about the  Cupcake Royale bakery while listening to The Splendid Table. As the Sterns described the Velvet Elvis cupcake, I thought it sounded like a genius idea, only I needed it to be gluten-free.

I had grand plans to make these as healthy as possible by substituting unsalted, pureed garbanzo beans with 1 cup of the flour, using agave nectar or maple syrup instead of sugar, and replacing the butter with coconut oil. Unfortunately, when I made that batch I forgot to add the maple syrup. The inedible result took the fast track to the trash. 

With my only can of unsalted garbanzo beans gone, I had to go with a gluten-free baking mix for round two. I also went ahead and used raw sugar because I was afraid maple syrup would make the batter too runny, and I didn't want another disaster.

I'm much happier with these, but I do apologize for the out of season baking cups. I kinda had to go with what I had on hand for the second batch. And hey, Halloween is only 6 months away. Just around the corner, really.

Banana Cupcakes, adapted from Martha Stewart.

1 1/2 cups gluten-free baking mix of choice

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 cup raw sugar 

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 large, very ripe bananas

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard muffin pan with gold lame baking cups. 

Whisk together the baking mix, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. In a blender, puree the bananas with the eggs, vanilla, coconut oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to incorporate, but don't over mix. Spoon into prepared pan while humming "Heartbreak Hotel." 

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 12.

Peanut Butter Icing, adapted from Ina Garten

1 cup powdered sugar (Sorry about this, guys. If I had used agave nectar the icing would have been way to thin.)

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I use the all natural kind that requires stirring up before use.)

1/2 cup coconut oil

3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Mix together until creamy. I had to refrigerate mine before using to help it firm up. Since I use all natural peanut butter, it was pretty runny. If you use regular peanut butter, then the stabilizers will probably help with icing consistency. 

I iced half of the cupcakes with the peanut butter icing and poured chocolate ganache over top. This was messy. If I decide to do these again I think I'll unwrap the cupcakes, turn them upside down, frost the top, then glaze the whole thing like a petit four. You can tell it took me a few goes to get it right.

With the other half, I waited for the ganache to firm up and then used it as a filling for the cupcakes before icing the tops.

What? You don't believe there's really chocolate filling in there? Very well. O, ye of little faith. Sorry it's blurry. The sky was darkening due to severe weather moving in at the time, so the lighting was all off. Hey, I'll take my excuses anywhere I can find them.

Oh, yeah. I suppose I better tell you how to make the ganache, right? It's the same recipe I used for chocolate truffle filling only I left out the vanilla.

Ganache:

1 cup coconut milk

16 ounces good quality chocolate

Melt chocolate using your method of choice (microwave, double boiler). Add coconut milk and stir until smooth. Allow to cool before using as a glaze, otherwise it will melt the peanut butter icing right off the cupcake tops (read: lesson learned the hard way). If using as a filling, chill it in the refrigerator until it starts to cool and thicken. You'll just have to keep checking on it, but you want it to be the consistency of chocolate pudding, maybe a little bit thicker. 

I think the filled cupcakes look better, but that's a big glob of chocolate ganache filling to bite into! For taste, I prefer the chocolate glazed cupcakes as they're not quite so rich. Next time I think I'll try making them as mini-cupcakes and see what happens.

Want tips on how to fill and frost cupcakes? Check out my Chocolate Cupcakes post. They have Spider-Man baking cups.