YesYouCan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Many of you have asked what can you use if you do not want to bake from scratch. What if I told you that today we are going to talk about red velvet cupcakes from a box? I know, the first thing we think about is RED DYES, WHEAT, DAIRY and CHEMICALS…lots of it. Guess what? I found a red velvet cupcake mix that is Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and endorsed by both Coeliac Australia and Coeliac New Zealand. In fact, the product is also certified Identity Preservation to ensure there is no damage to the environment. I swear to you that this is real!!!

A month ago when I was at the GFAF Expo, I met the team from YesYouCan (part of the Australian company SalDoce Find Foods). They had samples of cupcakes and mixes at the booth. When I approached, they offered me to try some tasty morsels. I looked at their display and noticed they were gluten-free and dairy free. Awesome, my multi-allergy daughter and I could give it a try! Their tray had samples of vanilla and red
velvet cupcakes. I told my daughter to only try the vanilla one. Well, the YesYouCan team overheard me tell her not to touch the red ones and asked why. I went into my allergy mom mode and explained that she was severely allergic to red dyes. Well, low and behold they told me that the vivid color came from a fungi called Monoascus, not food dyes. Then they proceeded to tell me that Monascus is also known to have a medicinal value! I think I might have said a little too loudly “You got to be kidding me!”. After they stopped giggling at my comment, they handed me a sample mix to take it home.

Well today, I wanted to see just how easy it is to make these cupcakes. I looked over to my 10yr old daughter and gave her the box. “Go at it honey…you start the cupcakes and your sister will do the oven part”. She stared at me for a minute, then straightened her little shoulders and went to get a bowl and a spoon.

YesYouCan Red Velvet Cupcakes Review

Kiddo’s preparation:

Kiddo gets 2 eggs (you can also use an Egg Replacer here), 4TBS of Vegan Butter, 2/3 cup of water. The box said to use an electric mixer, my tween steps in to help her sister with that.

Tween sets up the baking:

Tween preheats the oven to 320F and bakes the cupcakes for 18-20min.

Frosting:

The frosting mix comes in the box for you to mix up with your favorite vegan butter. This is a step that my tween had to do since she was tall enough to handle the electric mixer. Depending on the various brands of vegan butter, you will have to adjust the 1TBS of water it asks for. This is because some vegan butters are softer in room temperature than others.

Taste Test:

Kiddo says “It’s soooooo…good!”
Tween says “I really like it!”
Mom says “Yummmm…”

Thoughts and suggestions:

For a gluten-free dairy product, this is actually really moist and delicious.
If you are not a scratch baker or do not want to look for organic food dyes or try to figure out how much beets would give you this gorgeous color…this is a convenient product.
It says to use an electric blender, I would agree to using a standing one or a handheld electric version. The electric blender can whip up more air into the batter and frosting than a whisk…Unless you have super strong arms.
The batter is very viscous and gooey…I found it neater to pipe it into my cupcake holders.
The ingredients are better than most gluten-free box mixes on the market.
One cupcake is 158 calories…need I say more?
Overall, I am going to order a few boxes on Amazon to make some red and white cupcakes for the holidays.