Food means so much to my family, and to most families around the world. We store traditions in the food that we have, whether it’s $1 strawberry milkshakes at the diner in downtown Eagle Point, Oregon that I thought were huge as a kid, or pimento cheese that mom would make in big batches to bring to potlucks and Fourth of July family gatherings, or the nostalgic combo of a can of V8 and a Nature Valley granola bar that my dad stashed in his classroom and that I would munch on in kindergarten after school while I waited for him to finish grading before we walked home together. Food fixes us in time and lets us build even richer memories and share them with others. As we, especially as two white sisters from Southern Oregon, search for ways to use our voices and bodies to further the #BlackLivesMatter movement, from local protests in San Francisco, to discussions with family, food is one element we shouldn’t forget. The act of purchasing our food from black-owned businesses is a start. I just found a few packs of tea from these black-owned shops that I’ll soon sip while watching “The 13th” or doing other necessary self-education on the current issues we face. Even just the act of learning about food that is unfamiliar to us, and sharing that knowledge with others, is important, which brings me to this recipe.
I never learned about Juneteenth in school. This omission is part of a pervasive issue of who records history and, even more specifically, who is in charge of our national and state education systems and who chooses the curriculum guides that we demand that our teachers teach to. The history books my teachers were directed to adhere not only made no mention of this 150 year-old independence day, but they also failed to teach about the non-peaceful side of the Civil Rights era (perhaps only including the protest styles that white Americans were comfortable condoning), or other truly American historical facts like the time we forced tens of thousands of our own Asian-American citizens into camps across the western half of the United States. Now, more than ever, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard of learning that our white-washed history books failed to reach. It is also important that we, as white people, not put the burden of such education on our black and brown friends. Maybe we can each even make a daily goal of 10 minutes of research (from black-written sources) about topics we are ignorant of. Juneteenth was one I learned about this week. And there is a wealth of information out there, if we only look! Here is a great video on the history of Juneteenth, but don’t limit yourself to that!
Juneteenth, while not yet recognized as a national holiday (urge your elected officials to get moving on that), does involve food, and that’s one way I want to honor it (here’s a great video about great foods for Juneteenth). As a baker, a home cook, and a member of a food-loving family, every holiday for us has its food traditions. Juneteenth is no different. While I don’t have a grill to make a full cookout, I can make one of the most traditional Juneteenth desserts: red velvet cake. Red is a big theme of Juneteenth celebrations, for various reasons (look it up to see them all). Some say it’s because two of the most common drinks of West Africa that came over in the Slave Trade are red: red Kola Nut tea and hibiscus tea. Red remains a visceral symbol on Juneteenth that some say represents the blood of slaves. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate this Friday on Juneteenth (June 19th), red velvet might just be the ticket. These are my take on gluten free red velvet cupcakes! If you’re looking for other red desserts to add to your local Juneteenth celebration, here are a few ideas (though they’re less traditional!): easy summer strawberry cake, raspberry shortbread, or even these jammy strawberry brownies.
Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake pans
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 1/4 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum added (if it doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- 3/4 Cup almond meal/flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp good quality cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 Cup canola oil
- 1/4 Cup salted butter softened
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 1 Tbsp red gel food coloring
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 Cup sour cream
- 1/4 Cup milk
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 2 Cups salted butter room temperature
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- 2-3 Cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- First, preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line two cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners, then set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda, and cocoa powder, then set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, butter, sugar, and red food coloring until smooth. Add in the vanilla, sour cream, and milk and continue to beat until combined. Add in the whisked dry ingredients and stir together until smooth. Add more red food coloring if you want it deeper red.
- Spoon batter into cupcake pans – each cup should be abound 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 17-21 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean (do not overbake or the cupcakes will be dry). Let cool completely before frosting.
- While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese and vanilla until creamy. Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time and beat until smooth. Add more powdered sugar for a stiffer frosting.
- Once cupcakes are cool, scoop frosting into a piping bag and frost cupcakes!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cupcakes!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
