Gluten-Free Cherry Cupcakes

These gluten-free cherry cupcakes feature a soft vanilla cupcake filled with homemade cherry jam and frosted with cherry buttercream frosting. They are perfectly sweetened, balanced, so delicious, and easy to make! 

Gluten-Free Cherry Cupcakes Recipe

These cupcakes are tender and spongy, light, infused with cherries, fruity, and just so delicious!

Whether you are making them for yourself or for some guests, they won’t disappoint! 

You will love the cupcakes if you love:

• Fruity desserts
• Cherries
• Cupcakes 
• Buttercream Frosting

What ingredients do you need?

• Vegetable oil 
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Gluten-free flour
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Lactose free milk (you can also use dairy free )
• Vanilla extract 
• Cherries (fresh or frozen)
• Water
• Cornstarch
• Butter (you can also use dairy free  butter)
• Salt

How to make these gluten-free cherry cupcakes?

They are very easy to make and no special equipment or tricky techniques are required.

There are only 4 steps that you will need to follow:

STEP 1- MAKE THE CUPCAKES

Start by preheating the oven to 350°F (180°C). Position the rack in the center of your oven. Line cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside

In a medium mixing bowl combine oil and sugar. Add eggs and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for one minute. Add flour, salt, baking powder, dairy-free milk, and vanilla extract (or paste); beat at medium speed for one minute.

Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the center springs back when touched and cupcakes are very lightly browned.

Let cool in the pan on the rack for five minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan onto the rack and cool completely before filling them with the jam and frosting.

STEP 2- MAKE THE CHERRY JAM

Place the fresh or frozen cherries with water in a pan and cook over medium heat. Once they start to soften add a mixture of cornstarch and water and let it simmer for another 5 min, stirring continuously. The sauce should  be slightly thick, if it is not thick enough add 1 more teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water

STEP 3 - MAKE THE CHERRY FROSTING

Start by making the cherry puree: place fresh or frozen cherries in a blender and blend until smooth.

In a stand mixer bowl, add butter and cherry puree and mix on a medium speed. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low for a few minutes until you get a light and fluffy frosting

STEP 4 - ASSEMBLE

• Insert a paring knife into the top of the cupcake at an angle. Hold the blade so that the flat side is facing the edge of the cupcake. It should at a 45-degree angle to the cupcake. Don't push the blade too deep into the cupcake, otherwise the frosting will come out the bottom.If you don't have a paring knife, you can use a teaspoon instead.Aim the hole to be about 1 inch (2.54cm) wide.
• Pull the cone shape out of the cupcake. Cut the cone in half and discard the pointed part. You will use the top, flat part to plug the hole at the end.
• Fill the cupcakes with the cherry jam. And  then close the hole with the top(flat part) of the cone.
• Frost the cooled cupcakes.

what flour to use to make them?

I like to use my universal homemade gluten-free flour blend. Which is a mix of the following flours :

1. White Rice Flour

2. Brown Rice Flour

3. Sweet Rice Flour (Glutinous Rice aka Sticky Rice)

4. Tapioca Flour (tapioca starch is the same as tapioca flour)

5. Xanthan Gum

If you can’t make that one, you can try with any gluten-free flour mix (just make sure it contains xanthan gum because that helps in binding the dough). The final result using different flour mix might vary slightly, depending on what flours your mix contains.

To find the recipe for my gluten-free flour mix click, HERE.

How to make these cupcakes dairy-free?

You can easily make these cupcakes dairy-free, simply replace the lactose-free milk and butter with a dairy-free alternative.

FODMAP tips:

Cherries are low FODMAP only in 20 grams per serving. This recipe requires 400g of cherries and makes 12 cupcakes, which is about 33g of cherries per cupcake. That makes this cupcake not FODMAP friendly and is advised to be avoided in the elimination phase. (To make them FODMAP friendly you can use different furry that low low FODMAP such as strawberries or raspberries)

*gluten-free tip:

If you are celiac or highly sensitive to gluten, buy certified gluten-free baking powder. Baking powder is naturally gluten-free, however, depending on the manufacturing place and process there can be cross-contamination.