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One of my goals with starting tasteslikerealfood.com is to create recipes that I can share with celiacs and non-celiacs alike. Food that THEY like and I can still eat with them. And I've always had a soft spot for kids with celiac disease. Having not been a diagnosed celiac until adulthood, I've always felt bad for celiac children when I think about the dozens of birthday parties they will attend in their life and will never be able to join in the joy of eating pizza and birthday cake with friends.

As a former classroom teacher, I had many children over the years with food allergies. I never had another child with celiac disease, but I had several students with milk and nut allergies. Each student usually came with some treats that met their dietary restrictions and when we celebrated other students' birthdays in the class, those students with food allergies politely declined the treats that had been offered and went to my desk drawer to find the items that had been "approved." Those students always willingly accepted their fate, but I know they hated being "different."

But I've always thought that it would be so great to find a celiac-safe cake that non-celiacs could happily enjoy as well. I have some great meringue cake recipes from my "family" in Norway (I'll save those for another post at a later date.), but those don't fit my classification as an "American-style cupcake." Our sponge cake mix at http://www.tasteslikerealfood.com/ makes a GREAT sponge cake that I have shared many times at dinner parties with unsuspecting gluten-eaters-all of whom rave about my great cake and ask if they can get the recipe. But I've been thinking I wanted to create an "American" cupcake that all kids would line up for. Could it be done though? We've all had experiences when we had some gluten-free product that we thought was GREAT, but when non-celiacs took a taste, they didn't hold back about how rotten our food is and how they have no idea how we survive. (Admit it, you've had that exact conversation.)

I knew our mixes were really, really great, but they do have a Norwegian influence. I wanted to really create an American cupcake. So I went to work. It took many tries, but I have now found a cupcake that could easily be shared with classrooms filled with celiacs and gluten-eaters alike. Here it is:

Cream together:

¼ cup margarine (I like Imperial)

¾ cup sugar

Add 3 eggs (at room temperature) one at a time. Beat well as each egg is added.

Mix entire mixture for several minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine:

1 ¼ cup Toro Sponge Cake Flour Mix

2 tablespoons Vanilla Jell-o Cook + Serve dry pudding mix (not instant)

1 tsp. baking powder

dash salt

Add dry mix to cream mixture alternately with ¼ cup milk.

Mix well after each addition for a total mixing time of 2-4 minutes.

Add ½ tsp. vanilla