Cupcakes - gluten free, dairy free, beautiful

My husband, who is not a baker, whipped up a batch of gluten free dairy free cupcakes today. These beautiful chocolate espresso cupcakes are boutique quality!
With the ease of product choices now available, gluten free baking is for everyone.
Mr. Schmitt baked a batch of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix. In place of the butter, he used Earth Balance Butter Stick. For frosting, he used a basic meringue, where he substituted 1/3 cup of water for 1/3 cup of espresso. This gave the meringue topping a wonderful cappuccino note that followed throughout the dessert. He topped it with a gluten free dairy free chocolate covered espresso bean. Viola! Now I'm off to enjoy my treat and thank my husband.

Erythritol Crystals to sweeten without guilt.

Erythritol, such as the NuNaturals brand pictured, is a corn based sweetener that can be used in baking to replace sugar. It is very sweet, 0 glycemic index, and safe for diabetics. The flavor seems sweeter than sugar to my taste buds, so I tend to cut back when using this in a baked goods. For those of you who are looking to eliminate sugars either temporarily, or permanently, you can look to Ertythritol and Stevia to help you make that transition. For those who are just looking to make their sweets a little healthier, consider cutting back your regular sweetener by 50-75% and mixing in the Erythritol.

How it tastes: I have used this product in a homemade gluten free brownie recipe, and I subbed the sugar 1:1. It worked good. The kids liked it, and it was plenty sweet. I have used Lakanto, which is Erythritol plus Luo Han guo (a plant), in making peanut butter cookies and that worked well, too. The main difference I found between the Lakanto and the Erythritol Crystal was a cooling effect on the tongue when using Lakanto. For an excellent understanding of the many alternatives to sugar, their health benefits and more, read Wendy's book, Sweetness Without Sugar. This is a great reference for anyone looking to reduce or remove sugar from their natural diet plan.