I have been asked to do gluten free vegan cupcakes. Does anyone have a recipe that they have tried? I've never made gluten free or vegan! What a way to jump in with both feet! TIA!

I have found some great vegan recipes in the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Though i haven't tried the gluten free (we have nut allergies and can't use the nut flours in many of the better GF recipes), I have had good luck with her other vegan recipes.

You CANNOT bake gluten free if there is already flour in your home or bakery PERIOD. You can call it "reduced gluten" or "low gluten" but you CANNOT call it GLUTEN FREE.

Lorileann, I just bought that book tonight. Any favorite recipes? I have never baked vegan in my bakery... no experience. I have a request from a friend.

I did the golden vanilla and filled them with macerated strawberries and while the texture wasn't as fine as with a standard white/yellow cake, they were moist and had good flavor. And I like the basic chocolate (though i have another favorite recipe that I use as my go-to chocolate cake vegan or not). The red velvet has a very moist texture, but i thought it was too chocolaty, not enough tangy buttermilk flavor. A cookies and cream would be really easy to make with the oreos and all vegan shortening icing. I haven't been through that many recipes, but i haven't had flops so far!

When I do gluten free baking, I make sure all surfaces are cleaned from flour/corn starch and make a disclaimer that they were made with GF ingredients, but because my kitchen does have flour present they might not be suitable for celiac conditions. Most people I know who are reducing or cutting out gluten are okay with that, and those who would have a dangerous reaction can know to avoid.

Thanks, lorileann

I want to know why you can not call it Gluten Free, if I do not put gluten in it then it is gluten free. Are you going to also say if I have sugar in my house I can not cook sugar free. I am confused by that statement. Is there something else that makes it so you can't say you are cooking gluten free.

Some people have such severe gluten allergies that even trace amounts can
bother them. It's always good to ask the degree of the allergy.

From what I've read, gluten allergies can be triggered by even trace amount of wheat flour. Most bakeries that offer gluten-free products and regular wheat flour products have a separate mixing area for gluten free so that wheat flour does not contaminate the gluten-free product.

If anyone wants more education on the subject of GF foods and hidden gluten here is a good article on it.
http://www.celiacsolution.com/hidden-gluten.html

I just tried the Black Forest Gluten free cake that is listed in the reciepe section here at CC and it was really really yummy. (well as yummy as gluten free can be)

Thanks for the recipe ideas everyone! I did a raspberry tiramisu gluten free vegan cupcake and it was actually really good! The bride-to-be loved it as well as some of the other guests that were just curious about it. We also have nut allergies at my house which made it a little tricky but I did find an all purpose gluten free flour that contained no nut flour.

So glad to hear it turned out good!! It is a real challenge to get Gluten free cakes to have a great flavor!!

FWIW, the Betty Crock Gluten Free chocolate cake is pretty good. And it's pretty easy in a pinch when you have to provide an alternative, but don't have the time to test and jump the learning curve of GF scratch baking. (cherrybrook farm, was just bitter and yuck).