Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes to cheer you up

I always tell people that this gluten free diet that my son is on isn't the end of the world. That it is doable and that, once you get used to it, you get very creative & then anything is possible. But there is something about this diet and this autoimmune disease that makes me cry every now & then. Sometimes it's my boys disappointment when he can't be like everybody else and a week or so ago it was the fact that my son is so incredibly scared of getting sick, that he is overcautious. That he takes his diet so seriously, that he ended up playing all by himself at after school daycare. Why? Because his friends hadn't washed their hands and he was afraid their gluten could contaminate him, so he didn't dare touch the toys they were touching. It broke my heart, because he is such a social kid and loves to play with others. Out of fear he took things a step too far. When he was little, we cleaned all the toys simply because he would put stuff in his mouth, but now that he's older, that is no longer an issue. But suddenly the fear of getting sick was too much for him. It happened after a night where he had had stomach cramps and we couldn't figure out if something had gone wrong (diet wise) that day. So he took drastic measures.

All we could do when he told us he had played all by himself was cry with him & then tell him that there was a very simple solution. As long as he had the discipline (and he has, he has shown that over and over again) to wash his hands before dinner, there would be no problem at all. He could play with his gluten infested friends and then safely eat his sandwich or fruit and not end up sick. He was so relieved, because they always do that, but he had been all by himself for nothing. 

I felt so bad for him that Gijs and I baked him cupcakes a few days later. We made him these carrot cupcakes. And because my youngest can't have that much refined sugar, we used palm sugar instead (thanks for the tip Lisette!). It's a bit different in taste, but in these cakes it works really well. Ok, we ended up topping them with marzipan and sugar figurines, but we limited the sugar intake a bit (this no sugar thing is takes babysteps ;-)).

This recipe makes 12 very large cupcakes.

These really do cheer you up, don't they?

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs beaten
• 175 grams (6 oz) of palm sugar
• 150 ml (5 fl oz / 0.25 of a pint) of olive oil
• 200 grams (7 oz) of rice flour
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons of gingerbread spices
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of grated carrot
• the seeds of one vanilla pod
• the zest of one orange
• two tablespoons of orange juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Line a cupcake/muffin tray with paper cups.
3. Put the eggs, palm sugar and olive oil in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer to a smooth batter.
4. Spoon in the rice flour, the spices, xanthan gum, cream of tartar, cinnamon, grated carrot, orange zest and vanilla seeds till all is mixed. If your dough is a bit dry, add the orange juice, you want a soft, moist batter. 
5. Scoop the batter in the cupcake cups. 
6. Put them in the oven for about 25-35 minutes until golden and risen. 
7. Let them cool for a bit before you take them out of the tray, and then let them fully cool on a wire rack until you decorate them. We used marzipan & sugar figurines, because my son just loves it and it was his treat. But you could make a mascarpone frosting as well with 50 grams (1.75 oz) of mascarpone, 225 grams (8 oz) of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla drops and 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot water. If you want to make the marzipan grass, just squeeze some marzipan through a garlic crusher. ;-)

Enjoy!