Saffron and Cranberry Cupcakes
These festive gluten free saffron & cranberry cupcakes are topped with a rich vanilla cream cheese frosting and have a sprinkling of pistachios.
Servings: 8 cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 100g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) butter
- ½ gram (⅛ tsp) ground saffron
- 1 egg
- 80g (⅓ cup) sugar
- 75ml (⅓ cup) milk
- 120g (1 cup) flour (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 80g (2¾ oz) dried cranberries
Frosting:
- 200g (7 oz) cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80g (⅘ cup) icing sugar
Decoration:
- chopped pistachios and dried cranberries (optional)
Instructions
Cupcakes:
- Pre-heat the oven to 175ºC (350ºF).
- Line a muffin tin with cupcake cases.
- Melt the butter and then stir in the saffron. Set to one side.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and sugar together until nice and fluffy.
- Add the butter/saffron mix and the milk, and stir just until combined.
- In another bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Then, stir into the wet ingredients.
- Lastly, gently stir through the cranberries until evenly dispersed.
- Split evenly between eight cupcakes cases.
- Bake for around 16-18 minutes (in the lower part of the oven). They are ready when an inserted skewer comes out almost clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely.
Frosting:
- Beat the cream cheese together with the vanilla and half of the icing sugar.
- Continue to add as much icing sugar as you need to achieve a very thick frosting.
- Spread over the top of each cupcake (or pipe if you prefer).
- Finish iff with a sprinkling of pistachios and cranberries (optional). Enjoy!
Notes
I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.
- I have made these cupcakes with both gluten free and spelt flour. Alternatively, you could use all-purpose flour (just use the same amount of flour for all three). The texture may vary a little depending on the flour you use, but it won't affect the end result too greatly.
