Let Them Eat Gluten Free Cake

menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • GF Flour Blend Recipes
  • Subscribe

subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • GF Flour Blend Recipes
  • Subscribe

×
Home » Recipes » Gluten Free Cupcake Recipes

Gluten Free Hostess With the Mostess Cupcakes

Published: Feb 6, 2020 · Modified: Dec 1, 2024 by Kim · This post may contain affiliate links · 10 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

These gluten free Hostess cupcakes are so much like what we remember, but ten times better with the best chocolate cupcake ever!!

gluten free hostess cupcakes with love written on the top

OOOOOO.MMMMM.GGGGGG!! If you ever had a Hostess cupcake in your BC (before Celiac) days, you MUST make these cupcakes! They’re just like the original if the original were on steroids!!!!

I’ve been having recent cravings for nostalgic treats. Little Debbie’s Swiss Cake Rolls, Twinkies, Tastycake Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, and Hostess Cupcakes. As I’ve said before, it’s not that we eat this kinda stuff every day. But every once in a while it’s nice to treat ourselves to something yummy, right?

And as much as I’d love the convenience of being able to just buy things from the store like that, it’s so nice to make something that’s spot on to the real thing but with real ingredients. Am I right?

When I was younger and would get a Hostess cupcake, the first thing I would do is peel off the fudge icing and eat it separately. Then I may have taken a bite or two of the cake part, but probably threw the rest away. Haha! If I remember right, the cupcakes were pretty dry so the only part I really liked about the whole thing was that fudge icing.

I think that’s why, for the longest time, I never really cared for chocolate cake. It was always so DRY. Of course in my adult life, I got over that adversity, mainly because I made my own chocolate cakes and they were never dry.

Gluten Free Hostess Cupcakes Ingredients

I’ve used this cake recipe in two of my posts on the blog. You’ll find it in my chocolate caramel cake and triple chocolate cupcakes. If you haven’t made this cake yet, you’ve really been missing out because it is INCREDIBLE!!!! I could seriously eat these cupcakes with no frosting or anything else on them! Here’s the list of ingredients you’ll need:

  • Kim’s gluten free flour blend — or any gf blend of your choice containing xanthan gum.
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder — I buy my cocoa powder from Lidl because I just love their store brand. It’s dark and rich and makes the BEST cakes! But any cocoa powder will work.
  • Baking powder and baking soda — these are for leavening.
  • Salt — boosts flavor.
  • Eggs — for structure and stability.
  • Milk — you can substitute almond, soy, or any other non-dairy milk. Coconut milk would be lovely here.
  • Canola or vegetable oil — in lieu of butter, which makes for a wonderfully moist cake that stays fresh longer. I’ve also tried this cake with melted coconut oil and it worked fantastically!
  • Vanilla extract — flavor booster.
  • Granulated sugar — for sweetness.
  • Hot coffee — for the ultimate chocolaty cake, this really brings out the chocolate flavor. You won’t taste the coffee, but the chocolate will be intense. Piping hot water can be substituted.
cake stand with gluten free hostess cupcakes on top

The Filling

This filling always eluded me because I wanted something that was light and fluffy, but didn’t want to use weird ingredients to get it. I’m a butter fanatic at heart, but for this filling I’m actually against butter. I know, I know. You’ll probably NEVER hear me say that again, but for now we’re gonna ax the butter.

Dare I say it, but this filling works much better with vegetable shortening. Yep, the stuff I usually hate (I rarely buy it) just does it for this filling. It’s very shelf stable and that’s what we want in the middle of these cupcakes.

Now, if you’re not about all that crap that’s in regular Crisco shortening, try Spectrum Organics Shortening, which is made from palm oil and has no hydrogenated or trans fats. BUT, if you still can’t bring yourself to use shortening, feel free to use butter. It won’t have the same texture because the butter hardens when cool and melts when warm, but it will still be tasty.

To the shortening, add powdered sugar, marshmallow cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Whip the ingredients in a stand mixer (or with a handheld) until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Filling the Cupcakes

Who wants a wimpy little bit of filling in your cupcake? Not me, that’s for sure! If I’m going through making these, I may as well load ’em up. I have this nifty little gadget (I’m not usually into gadgets, but this one works well). It’s a cupcake corer/plunger and it makes a hole in the cupcake for all that filling.

You can also use a melon baller, apple corer, or even a small knife. I like to take my fingers after using the cupcake corer and go around the inside and dig out a little more cake to make a really big well for all that filling. Then fill a pastry bag (or a ziptop baggie) with the fluffy filling and gently squeeze into each cupcake, replacing the “plug” of cake when you’re done.

hostess cupcake bitten into with filling showing

The Fudge Icing and Signature Swirl

So many of the Hostess cupcake copycat recipes out there use a ganache for the icing. I haven’t met a ganache I didn’t like, but I really don’t think ganache is the answer to this cupcake. I remember the icing being more like a fudge, something that could be peeled off (if you didn’t want to eat the cake like me 😜).

This fudge icing consists of sugar (granulated, not powdered), unsweetened cocoa, milk, butter, and vanilla. Bring the sugar, cocoa powder, and milk to a full rolling boil and boil it for one minute. Then take it off the heat and add the butter and vanilla. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool down slightly and thicken up. Then spoon it over the cupcakes.

You can leave off that signature swirl of white, but I love it and it really completes the cupcake. As you can see, I made them a little more Valentine’s Day friendly by spelling out “love” with the royal icing. See my cutout sugar cookies for more on making and using royal icing. I used a Wilton tip #4 for piping on these cupcakes.

love written on several gluten free hostess cupcakes

I promise when you make these gluten free Hostess style cupcakes, you’ll forget about the store bought ones you can no longer have because these are so much better!

gluten free hostess cupcakes with love written on the top

Gluten Free Hostess With the Mostess Cupcakes

Kim
These gluten free Hostess cupcakes are so much like what I remember, but ten times better with the best chocolate cupcake ever!!
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 50 minutes mins
Cook Time 22 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 12 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
 

  • 1 recipe gluten free chocolate cake

Fluffy Filling

  • 1 cup (190g) vegetable shortening
  • 1 cup (125g) powdered sugar
  • 1 7 oz jar (198g) marshmallow cream
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt

Chocolate Fudge Icing

  • 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
  • 3 heaping tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ⅔ cup (160g) whole milk (dairy-free milk may be substituted)
  • ½ cup (113g) butter, cut into cubes
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Royal Icing

  • 1 recipe royal icing
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions
 

Bake the Cupcakes

  • Follow the instructions according to the recipe and allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Core the cupcakes using a cupcake corer, apple corer, melon baller, or small knife. Take out a little extra cake with your fingers. Keep the small top of the cupcake ("plug") to seal the cupcake back up after filling.

Make the Filling

  • Whip all the ingredients for the filling in the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes on high. Fill a pastry bag or ziptop bag with the filling and pipe into the cored cupcakes. Replace the "plug" of cupcake on top of the filling.

Make the Chocolate Fudge Icing

  • In a small saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa powder, and milk together over medium heat. Whisk often until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a full hard (rolling) boil, whisking constantly. Boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the cubed butter and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
  • Allow the icing to cool down until it thickens up enough to spoon over the top of each cupcake. It should be the consistency of a thick sauce, such as a hollandaise or a hot fudge.

Add the Squiggle

  • Fill a pastry bag (or ziptop bag) with a Wilton #4 tip and white royal icing and pipe either continuous loops or any words you'd like to say on the cupcakes. Allow to dry completely before serving.

Notes

Cupcakes will keep at room temperature for a few days.  They can also be frozen, well wrapped, for up to one month.  Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature for a few hours.  
Keyword chocolate cream filled cupcakes, Gluten Free
Tried this recipe?Tag @letthemeatglutenfreecake on Instagram so we can see!

More Gluten Free Cupcake Recipes

  • up close picture of gluten free churro cupcakes.
    Gluten Free Churro Cupcakes
  • landscape view of banana cupcakes up close on black cake stand.
    Gluten Free Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter and Candied Bacon
  • cross section of hi hat cupcake on white plate with cupcakes and hot pink towel in the background.
    Gluten Free Hi Hat Cupcakes
  • gluten free mexican chocolate cupcakes
    Gluten Free Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

Comments

  1. Stacy sheffer says

    January 25, 2023 at 10:12 pm

    I am making these on Friday for Sunday. Should I leave out or put in fridge to maintain freshness?

    Reply
  2. Stacy says

    January 19, 2023 at 11:54 am

    Hi,
    I clicked on the link you provided for royal icing which lef me to
    The cookie recipe. I read through all cookie recipe and never found how to make royal icing there. Am I missing it somehow? Please let me know. I want to make these cupcakes tomorrow. Can’t wait to try this kind bc I love your choc cup cake recipe. Thanks in Advance!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      January 19, 2023 at 6:43 pm

      I'm so sorry, Stacy! I updated the cookie recipe in December and didn't realize I had anything else linked to it. I appreciate you alerting me to that, and have now updated the cookie post to include (once again) the royal icing recipe.

      Thank you so much for letting me know about this 🥰

      Reply
      • Stacy says

        January 23, 2023 at 10:25 am

        No problem! Thanks so much! I ended not making them yet. I will make this week instead.

  3. jo Widmeyer says

    March 06, 2022 at 11:35 am

    I have made tons of your amazing recipes. This turned out ok. The icing did not thicken enough and just ran off the cupcakes as I tried tonics them. Even after waiting 3 hours before applying the icing. Do you use a candy thermometer to get the sugar to caramelize and if so what temperature do you reach? The cook at a rolling boil for 1 minute just didn’t seem to work for me.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      March 06, 2022 at 2:03 pm

      I'm so sorry, Jo! I'm not sure what went wrong. I don't use a thermometer, but I'm wondering if you maybe didn't let the sugar dissolve before you turned the heat up and brought it to a full boil. If the sugar doesn't dissolve before you bring it to a boil, it definitely won't be thick enough.

      I hope this helps!

      Reply
  4. Richard Fuller says

    July 13, 2020 at 11:13 am

    I made these cupcakes this morning for my wife, who bec as me allergic to wheat at age 58. They were amazing!!! My wife had Hostess cupcakes as a kid, and she had been craving them ever since she became gluten free. She loved the cupcakes!!! I had some filling left over so I used that to decorate the tops of the cupcakes. Thank you Kim for an awesome recipe!!!!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      July 14, 2020 at 11:25 am

      Yay!! You are so welcome, Richard 🙂

      Reply
  5. Jana says

    July 04, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    Delicious!! It’s more work but so worth it. That fluffy cream filling was just like I remember, the fudge on the top! Almost didn’t make it to the cupcakes! The cake was soft and moist, didn’t turn into a rock over night. Best Gluten free recipes by far!! On to the next!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      July 06, 2020 at 3:37 pm

      Wow, Jana! You've been BUSY!!! I'm so glad you loved these cupcakes 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




profile picture of me and Scott.

Hey there, I'm Kim!

I won't let a celiac diagnosis stop me from enjoying my passion for baking and cooking, so stick with me and I'll show you how to make the BEST EVER gluten-free renditions of the food we used to know and love 🤗

More about me

Trending

  • landscape view of gluten free sourdough bread on white countertop with green tea towel.
    Best Ever Gluten Free Sourdough Bread

  • landscape view of mason jar filled with active gluten free sourdough starter.
    Easy Gluten Free Sourdough Starter

  • gluten free focaccia bread
    Gluten Free Focaccia Bread

  • gluten free sandwich loaf on cutting board with one slice cut out of it and propped up next to it.
    Gluten Free Sandwich Bread Recipe

gluten free pizza Recipes

  • Gluten Free Pizza Crust Recipe

  • landscape overhead view of whole pizza cut into triangles on wooden pizza peel with green towel to the side and a bite taken out of one slice.
    Gluten Free 1 Hour Pizza Dough

  • landscape view of whole gf half cheese, half pepperoni pan pizza in cast iron skillet,
    Pizza Hut Gluten Free Pan Pizza

  • copycat pizza hut pizza sauce
    Copycat Pizza Hut Pizza Sauce

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact

Copyright © 2024 Let Them Eat GF Cake, Inc.