What I love about this recipe is that it's not only quick and easy, but anyone can make it and can buy the ingredients at almost any grocery store. I was inspired to experiment out of sheer laziness - I needed to make cupcakes for a work party and was not in the mood to make a trip all the way across town to the health food store just to get the one ingredient I was missing - and it worked. I had recently heard that a few mainstream cake mix companies were now making gluten free cake mixes so I headed to the baking aisle at my neighborhood grocery store. Yep, there they were. My choices were yellow and chocolate. I was nervous about using one - especially about it ending up too dry or too grainy as is common in gluten free baking. Then I remembered a tip I had once heard about making regular mixes moister - adding pudding mix. So I did. I also added a bit of zest to give it a special twist. And then crossed my fingers.br
The cake was a hit. It was devoured. A few people asked for the recipe. They were shocked to hear that it gluten free and that the base was a cake mix. Success! Below is my original recipe. I especially love the surprise of the citrus zest in the simple cake flavor and how it mixes with a chocolate frosting. But I also recommend experimenting with your own additives to create your own special twist to a basic cake or cupcake!
Ingredients
- 1 yellow gluten free cake mix + ingredients required
- 1 vanilla pudding mix
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- Chocolate frosting
Directions
1. Heat oven as instructed by cake mix.
2. Mix together the dry cake mix and dry pudding mix. Add ingredients required by the cake mix and stir as instructed.
3. Zest in orange and lemon peel. Squeeze in a bit of orange and lemon juice. (Watch out for seeds!) Stir for 60 more seconds to mix everything together.
4. Pour into pan and bake according to cake mix directions.
5. After cooling, frost the cupcakes.
6. Enjoy!
--Alison Rose Munn
