Gluten Free: Betty Crocker G-Free Devil's Food Cake (Cupcake Style, yo!)

Hello friends. Today, I have a very important topic to bring to you all. It's one that I find very relevant to so many of my comrades-in-bad-guts. Holla at me Celiacs! This one is fo' Y'ALL!! -ahem- Yes, so on to the important topic:

That's right. Cupcakes. And not just any cupcakes, oh no. I'm talking supah chocolate, mega easy, gluten free cupcakes. Please note that I did not say healthy. Because....these aren't. There's a whole stick of butter involved in this glorious dozen of cakies.

 But come on. Look at them. Is your mouth watering? It should be. Because seriously, these cupcakes are vury niiiice.

On Thursday I made a decision. Over Thanksgiving I had purchased a box of Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil Food Cake Mix with the intent to make it as my birthday cake. Well, as you know, my mother and sister tag-teamed to provide me with awesome brownies on Turkey Day. So, the unused mix came home with me. As well as a jar of double mega heart attack chocolate frosting. Which is really bad.

Throughout this week, I've been...uhh....sampling the chocolate frosting to make sure it hasn't gone bad. I may...or...may not...have eaten over half the jar. Maybe I have self-control issues, okay? It was gluten free. -pouting-

Anyways, I decided enough was enough on Thursday and that I had to make the devil food cake or suffer the wrath of my bowels after eating the entire jar of frosting in one week. Since I've had enough bowel-wrath for one lifetime, I opted to do some baking.

Annnnd, lemme tell you: I'm really glad I did. Since my diagnosis, baking has been a major source of anxiety for me. I love to cook, and the thought of having to sort of re-learn all the awesome skills passed on to me by my grandmothers and aunts and mom was a little....terrifying. I know, I know. There are so many tutorials out there for g-free baking and blah blah blah it's so much easier than conventional baking and blurhgblahbluuuhhh. I know. I KNOW. But, there is something satisfying about kneading a yeasty, gluteny bread dough that just cannot be replaced with the sometimes-paste-like g-free doughs. It's something I have to deal with. And I am doing so by taking baby-steps into the world of g-free baking.

Aka, using mixes.

Normally, I'm pretty violently against baking mixes. But on my gluten free endeavours, I am not. Here's why:
-They are easy.
-G-free ingredients are PRICEY. If I'm going to drop big dollas on some baking goods, I want to know that it will be tasty. I'm not ready to get all experimental up in here.
-If I know which mixes I like, it is easy to tell friends and family what to make me if I come over. G-free cooking is daunting enough for me. I want to make it easy for people to make things I can eat for me, if they want to cook for me.

So, my thoughts on Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil Food Cake Mix :
Ease of preparation: *****
Five stars. Very simple. Just like regular cake mix.
Bang for your buck: ***Three stars. It was about $7/box. Which only made 12 cupcakes. I probably could have scrimped on the batter and made 15-16, but I didn't want to do two batches.
Flavor: ****
Four stars. Very chocolatey and niiice. My standard for five stars is the Tastefully Simple Brownie Mix. It's that good.
Consistency: ****
Four stars. Not gritty, but still had that minor 'gluten free flour aftertaste.' I judge this on whether or not a gluten eater can tell it's different. These cakies are just a tiny bit chewy, but still super amazing.
Overall: ****Four stars. I definitely would recommend this mix. It is rich, and certainly not the most healthy dessert option, but good for a little splurge. I paired it with Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate Frosting (which is gluten free as well)

You should have PLENTY of frosting in one can for 12 cupcakes. I swear I won't tell if you need to...uh...sample half the jar before icing them.

If your grocery store does not sell the g-free Betty Crocker mixes, I know you can buy them on Amazon. Crazy, right? They have a super cool deal where you can get six boxes at once for a mega discount. Really cool if you are going to do a bunch of g-free holiday baking!!

Alrighty, dumplings. I have waaayyy too much crafting to do. Talk to you later loves!!
Yours sweetly,
Carolyn