Gluten-Free Passionfruit Sponge Muffins With Cream-Cheese Icing

Tomorrow is the birthday of my amazing mother-in-law(to-be) Linda, who spoils everyone on their birthday (and practically any other occasion) with huge feasts and lavish cakes. Her birthday and Mother's Day are now the only chance where she escapes cooking (and, up until recently, she was expected to make her own birthday cake. How unfair is it to have sons?)

After a combined total of nearly sixty birthdays of two boys, she is over the whole chocolate thing, as well as anything chocolate-related. Much like me, she seems to prefer fruity flavours, and her all-time favourite is a decadent, fruit-covered pavlova. 

Having spent the years between 14 and 22 completely vegan, I have never made one, and was quite intimidated by all the preparation. We headed out to buy just a ready-made pavlova base, but settled for a whole bought pavlova instead.

For the gluten-free participants, which is really only myself, I decided to whip up a passionfruit sponge cake, which I changed last minute into muffins. (Say sponge muffin a few times out loud... It sounds like it could be rude, right? Right...? Maybe it is just me. Sponge muffin.)

Gluten-free Passionfruit Sponge Muffins

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour*

1/2 cup plain flour*

1 cup organic cane sugar

1 175g can passionfruit pulp with seeds

1 tbsp oil

dash of vanilla (powdered or liquid)

 

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celcius, and place sixteen paper patty cases into a muffin tray.

Crack open all the eggs and beat with an electric mixer. Hand mix in the sugar, oil, vanilla, and passionfruit.

Start to mix again using the electric mixer, and slowly add in 1/2 cup of flour at a time, adding more once it is properly incorporated into the mix.

Divide into sixteen muffin paper patties, and bake for ten minutes.

Leave to cool in the tray for five minutes, then remove. Cool for ten minutes outside the tray before attempting to ice them (recipe for icing below).

 

Cream cheese icing

1 tbsp Tofutti (dairy-free) cream-cheese

1 1/2 cups icing sugar 

1 1/2 tsps of water (or juice, if you prefer)

 

Melt the cream-cheese in the microwave for ten seconds in a glass bowl. Let cool for half a minute before mixing in the icing sugar tablespoon by tablespoon, adding a bit of water as required.