Amsterdam - Gluten-free cupcakes : 50 irresistible recipes made with almond and coconut flour

To my mother, who introduced me to the world of cupcakes and taught me confidence in the kitchen.

I am grateful to so many people for their help in putting together this book. First, thank you to my darling husband, for tasting every creation I concocted week in and week out. Second, thank you to my two sons, J and E, for their constant enthusiasm and creative input, and for bringing their friends around to sample the cupcakes.

Id also like to thank my amazingly talented agent, Alison Schwartz; my fabulous editor, Sara Golski, with whom I have truly enjoyed collaborating on this book and the last; and the fantastic Annabelle Breakey, for her incredible photography. Thanks also to Ezra and Beulah Amsterdam, Dina Amsterdam, Marylyn Dintenfass, John Driscoll, Karin Lazarus, Jennifer French, SDK, Patrick Jelliffe, Leah Capezio, Leah Biber, Karen Shinto, Dan Becker, Emma Star Jensen, Jeffrey Larsen, Emily Garland, and Betsy Stromberg.

Finally, thanks to Helen for support, encouragement, and thirty years of friendship.

F airy cakes, baby cakes, patty cakes, little cakes whatever you call them, cupcakes are a diminutive, delightful dessert. I love cupcakes; they have a special place in my heart. In fact, like many in this country, Im slightly obsessed with them.

The first object of my cupcake affection was Magnolia Bakery in New York City. Back in the early nineties, every time I was in the Village, I made sure to stop by this adorable bakeshop. On my excursions down to Magnolia (I lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for nearly twenty years), I concluded that there are two types of peoplecake people and frosting people. While Magnolia had fabulous cakes, their frostings were even betteractually, they were obscenely good. And what better way for one person to eat a large amount of frosting than piled on top of a delicious cupcake?! I was madly in love with Magnolia.

This particular affair ended abruptly. In 1998 I discovered I had celiac disease (a multi-organ autoimmune disorder triggered by ingesting gluten). This diagnosis spurred me to bake gluten free for myself, from scratch. So I began to make my own cupcakes. Even though the cupcake is typically a gluten- and dairy-filled dessert, people with food intolerances hanker for this delightful little treat just like everybody else. Two children and many birthday parties later, my passion for cupcakes has not cooled one bit, and I am still smothering them in frosting.

While my family loves cupcakes just as much as the next, there are a number of us with food restrictions. My older son also has celiac disease, as do my sister, mother, and mother-in-law. My younger son is gluten-intolerant. As you can imagine, gluten-free cooking is near and dear to my heart (as is celiac education and awareness). My husband, on the other hand, has no food restrictions whatsoeverthough he definitely prefers a nutrient-dense, high-protein snack. I also have many friends who have an intolerance to dairy. So when I bake, Im looking to create something that satisfies everyones needsgluten free, dairy free, low in sugar, and high in protein. Thats a lot of criteria to meet! Luckily, I like a good challenge.

In May 2010 my romance with cupcakes became more publicand more involved. I featured cupcakes on my blog, elanaspantry.com, creating a Month O Cupcakes. That month-long cupcake project became the basis for this book, as I experimented to find even more cupcake and frosting flavors to satisfy the growing gluten-free audience. My children and I went through every cupcake book we could get our hands on in order to determine the must have types of cupcakes for our book, and then I set out to create gluten-free versions that rely on only a handful of natural ingredients.

My cupcake obsession did not skip a generation. Not even close. My children love cupcakes just as much as I do. My older son is a chocolate boy. It was he who decided that we needed .

My boys were also the inspiration for the Special Occasion section of this book. They love complicated, gooey confections and I love making such treats in a healthier formhence this section was born. The Special Occasion cupcakes do have more steps than those in the rest of the book, however they are quite impressive visually and are beyond decadent.

While my children were focused on fancy, fun, showstopping cupcakessuch as the . I was determined to make this vegan treat so that readers would be able to use it for the Special Occasion recipes in this book. With a variety of vegan frostings, a vegan cupcake was necessary to round out the offerings.

In addition, I slipped in several savory cupcakes to the recipe mix, which Im calling muffins. After baking so many sweet cupcakes, I couldnt resist adding a few savory, because its not always easy to find great gluten-free muffins.

Naturally, all of the recipes in this book are strictly gluten free (gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley). You will not find a recipe here that calls for even an ounce of gluten.