I’ll tell you what, this was one of the most fun recipes I’ve gotten to develop and bake – there’s something about thousands of little tiny sticks of colored sugar that just exude child-like glee (even though we never really made funfetti cake consistently for birthdays when I was a kid). And who knows, with all of the days blending together being stuck inside 24/7 it might as well be my birthday, or yours! or your cat’s! or the dude’s who lives next door! Let’s just say to heck with it all and celebrate our birthdays whenever we want, thank you very much, while we’re all stuck in this amorphous blob of time that’ll drag on who knows how long. Some of you may actually have cherished childhood memories that revolve around funfetti cake from a boxed mix with funfetti frosting to match that you could slather over the two-tiered cake or just eat right out of the plastic tub. If so, this one’s for you. Nostalgia and time for extreme reminiscing seem to be the themes of every day now, so why not kick start a good memory sesh with a batch of these cheerful, pillowy gluten free funfetti cupcakes? Exactly, no good reason not to, so go ahead.
This was a bit of a high-stress recipe to put together (don’t worry, it works fine now!) – with so many egg whites, the resulting test cupcakes looked perfectly voluminous upon removal from the oven, but promptly deflated to just cupcake-liner-height after 10 minutes on the cooling rack. When I pulled one apart while still piping hot, it was spongy and way too compact. There went an entire batch in a sad, funfetti disaster. But behold! Once the cupcakes cooled completely, the texture decided to settle into a perfect, almost angel food cake-like fluffiness, dotted with bright pops of melted-in sprinkles. All hail the baking gods – they worked! The frosting was another tight-rope test of just the right sweetness and a bit of tang to balance the buttery, fluffy cake. A dollop of sour cream did the trick and, while I chose not to, you can totally add even more sprinkles into the frosting itself before piping it on (though if the colors run, you may get some exciting water-color streaks).
One note on this recipe: if you’re going for the perfectly, snow (ish) white cake to contrast with the sprinkly hues, here are things to keep in mind: don’t be tempted to add an egg yolk (yes, it’s all egg whites, but it’ll work, and the color will remain pale and perfect!), and if you have it, use clear vanilla extract or clear imitation vanilla extract! This was a crazy fun find in the restaurant supply store (the only grocery store within two miles that didn’t have a line but had TONS of bulk food items (like giant bags of gluten free 1-1 flour mix – what a find). The clear vanilla makes a huge difference in the color of the cake, and anything you use it in, really. Even the frosting is a shade lighter when using the clear vs. normally-inky-brown vanilla extract. If you don’t have clear, don’t fret, the taste will still be great and since we’re all presumably inside with dim incandescent lighting anyway right now you won’t be able to tell the difference in color! In any case, have fun with this recipe, that’s what it’s here for! (I challenge you not to smile as you dump in heaps of rainbow sprinkles). If you’re looking for more cupcake fix recipes, try out these dark chocolate raspberry ones, or if you just want something classic, cakey, and easy to toss together, try our sour cream lemon poppy see bundt! If you’re really into funfetti like we are, then you absolutely need to make our ULTIMATE funfetti cake (it’s got it all, folks!)!
Gluten Free Funfetti Birthday Cake Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake pans
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 6 large egg whites no yolks
- 1 1/4 Cup white sugar
- 3/4 Cup salted butter melted
- 1/2 Cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 Tbsp clear vanilla extract
- 3/4 Cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum
- 1/2 Cup arrowroot starch
- 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Cup sprinkles plus additional for decoration
For the buttercream:
- 2 Cups salted butter room temperature
- 3 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 3 1/2-5 Cups powdered sugar
- 3 1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line two cupcake trays with paper liners then set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form, then set aside (will take a few minutes so be patient). In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Then add in the gluten free 1-1 flour, sweet rice flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and beat until combined. Fold in the egg whites, 1/3 at a time, until fully mixed and smooth. Then fold in the sprinkles carefully.
- Spoon cupcake batter into prepared lined cupcake pans (should be about 3/4- nearly all of the way full). Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes spring back with touched.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting. While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting! In a large bowl, using the cleaned electric mixer, beat together the butter on it's own for 4-5 minutes until much lighter and fluffy (this is how you get white vanilla buttercream! just keep beating!). Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat to combine. Then add the cream cheese, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth. Continue to add powdered sugar until the frosting is stiff but pipe-able (keep taste testing it to see if you want to add more vanilla or salt as well!). Scoop frosting into a piping bag with your choice of piping tip and frost cupcakes. Top with more sprinkles and enjoy!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cupcakes!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
5 Comments
Hannah
I am currently on a gluten elimination diet advised by a doctor, so I’ve been getting creative with new recipes! The only challenging thing about these was finding sweet rice flour. Rice flour is everywhere now, but the “sweet” variety (which, thanks to much Googling, is not substitutable with regular rice flour) is a bit more unique. I eventually found it at a store that specializes in gluten-free products. I made these for my brother-in-law’s birthday and we all enjoyed them and agreed they’re delicious even if you’re not GF – kids loved them too! I halved the recipe and it still worked fine. Thanks for a great recipe for even a GF novice!
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Parker
Had these for my birthday – they were phenomenal.
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David
Delicious!