Twinkie Cupcakes (Soy, Fish and Nut-Free, Can Be Milk-Free)

Today is a most exciting day for me!

Today, all, is my SITS Day!

  What is SITS and what's a SITS Day?   

Well, SITS is a group of women bloggers (over 40,000!) who support each other through visiting each other's blogs, leaving comments, rallying behind each other - basically we're each other's biggest fans! :)  It's like constantly having your own personal cheerleaders who are there to answer your questions, give you tips and words of encouragement and so much more.  What's not to love?! :)

A SITS Day is like Christmas or a birthday for bloggers.  Monday through Friday, SITS highlights a blogger and that blogger gets flooded with visits and comments from other SITS girls, and today is my day to be pampered with some SITStah bloggin' love!  WOOT! :)  So awesome!

To all the SITStahs joining me today, welcome!  I hope you enjoy your visit.  To all my returning readers, I hope you'll check out SITS and get to know that wonderful community!  There are some amazing ladies there, for real!  Simply wonderful!  Lastly, to SITS, thank you for featuring me!  I feel beyond blessed to have this honor!

Ok. *tampers down the excitement just a wee bit with a deep breath, but let's out a squeal anyway*  Can you tell I'm just a wee bit excited!?!?!?! :D  Ok, ok.  Back to this post. :)

Today is my brother's birthday, you all!  Seriously!  He's 33!  How cool is that that I have my SITS Day on his birthday?  I just think that's like the best "Big Sister stole your day, bro!" thing ever! LOL :)  No, seriously, John, if you're reading this, I love you, miss you and wish you the best birthday EVER, and this recipe is JUST FOR YOU!

Ok, so when my twin sister and I were Juniors in college and my brother was a Freshman (we went to the same school - yes, we're nerdy that way!), and my brother's birthday came up, we decided that we had to throw him a little party.  My brother is a Twinkie and Oatmeal Creme Pie guy, so we decided to buy him Twinkies (since we were poor college gals) and make him a Twinkie Tower with little plastic bugs on it (we thought that was fitting since he worked in the kitchen and lived in a dorm and things get nasty and smelly...and well, you get the picture), and I think there may have been Oatmeal Creme Pies, too, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, we had our little party in the kitchen where he worked with his kitchen buddies and it was a lot of fun and made his day. :)

In honor of that memory, I decided to find a recipe for a healthier option of the Twinkie (especially since their future is looking not so good), and scoured the web for one.  I found one here by Rachel Rappaport of Coconut and Lime that looked promising.  I did modify it a little to make them cupcakes and fit the flavors a little better and there are some variations you can do to it, as well, but I must say, it is a good knock-off recipe.

Now, if you're thinking the "new Twinkie" taste, you might be a little disappointed with the recipe as is, but if you're thinking "classic Twinkie", this recipe does not disappoint!  It's got great sponge cake with a surprisingly light filling that's simply delish!  The recipe is also soy (if you use all soy-free ingredients), fish and nut-free and can be milk-free (see variations), so you can't beat that.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did (my hubby loved these and he doesn't even like Twinkies!).

Now, may I present to you, in honor of my SITS Day and my brother's birthday...

~*~ Twinkie Cupcakes! ~*~

Twinkie Cupcakes

For the cream frosting/filling:

2 1/2 Tablespoons soy-free, all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup milk

1/2 Cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 Cup cold, salted, full-fat butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the cake:

1 Cup soy-free, all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

dash of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 Cup milk, at room temperature

4 Tablespoons salted, full-fat butter, at room temperature

1/2 Cup white sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1. To make the cream filling/frosting, mix the 2 1/2 Tablespoons flour and the 1/2 Cup milk in a small sauce pan and boil over medium heat, stirring consistently, until thick.  (Note: This takes about 1 minute or so.)
    
2. Cool the mixture and then beat until fluffy before adding the confectioner's sugar, 1/2 Cup butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (amount based on preference) one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    
3. Transfer the cream to the refrigerator for at least one hour.  (Note: The cream should be cold and rather stiff when you go to use it later.  If you are going to use it as filling, don't worry - it softens when you pipe it.)
    
4. While the cream is getting cold, preheat the oven to 350^oF and line a cupcake tin with 6 to 8 liners.
    
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 Cup flour, baking powder and dash of salt and set aside.
    
6. In another small bowl, stir the 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract into the 1/2 Cup milk and set aside.
    
7. Cream the 4 Tablespoons butter and the white sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.
    
8. Beat the egg into the batter until it is very light and fluffy.
    
9. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, thoroughly incorporating each addition before adding the next.
    
10. Divide the batter equally among the prepared cupcake liners and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or until the cupcakes are just becoming golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the center cupcake comes out clean.  (Note: Do NOT over bake!  They tend to be dry if you do.  Thus is the nature of sponge cake.)
     
11. Remove the cupcakes from the oven, remove from pan and allow them to cool completely before filling and/or frosting.
     
12. If you want to fill them, using a pastry bag or cream-filling gun, fill the cupcakes with cream.  If not, or after you do this step to all of the cupcakes, use the (remaining) cream to frost the cupcakes.

Variations (Please make sure that any substitution you use fit your particular allergen needs!):

• Milk-Free: Substitute a dairy-free milk for the milk and a dairy-free butter for the butter (SoDelicious and Earth Balance are good brands).
   
• If you want a different filling/frosting that may be more towards the "new Twinkie" taste, there is a few things you can try:
• Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice when you add the vanilla to the filling recipe.  This lightens up the filling a little more and might be the taste you want.
• Use half butter, half shortening/coconut oil or all shortening/coconut oil in the filling recipe.
• Add 1/2 to 1 Cup Marshmallow Fluff to the filling recipe, either with the original recipe or with one of the variation above.
• There are also some other variations on the web if you'd like to try them.  You can go to allrecipes.com and search "Twinkies" and see for yourself or Google "Twinkie recipes".
   
• If you want an even greater "classic Twinkie" taste, use banana extract in place of the vanilla in the filling or use half vanilla extract, half banana extract.

All in all, a good recipe for a great day! :)

~*~*~*~

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If you're interested about my life with Fibromyalgia (and about the other things pertaining to my personal life that pop up there, too), feel free to check out my other blog, Fibro, Fit and Fab!

Thanks again for stopping by,

and I hope to see you all again real soon!

(This recipe was originally posted on my original site, Natural and Free.)