Gluten-Free Cupcakes: Which Portland Bakery Takes the Cake?

Whether you’ve gone gluten-free because of a sensitivity to wheat or because you suffer from Celiac’s Disease (like me), giving up gluten can be tough, especially when it comes to saying no to sweets. And when it comes to sweets there is nothing more droolworthy and hard to resist than a cupcake. Fortunately, there are many Portland bakeries that offer gluten-free (and, often, vegan) cupcakes. Whether you're a fan of frosting, cake or both—you'll be sweet on at least one of these six options.

Sweet Thing Bakehouse & Coffee Bar

Sweet Things bakery on Northeast MLK features mini cakes rather than actual cupcakes. They are little two layer cakes with filling and frosting—not for the faint of heart or, really, the solo eater. I sampled a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and ganache filling. At first, I was overwhelmed by the amount of frosting, but that excess ended up being a good thing. The cake was very dry, and what I took for ganache filling seemed more to have been a square of dark chocolate that had been melted between the cakes. The chocolate had re-hardened, though, making for a rather unpleasant combination of textures (hard chocolate, dry cake). The frosting, however, was delicious. I think I would have been better off scraping off the frosting, heating up the cake (and hidden square of chocolate) and then putting the frosting back on. I think that would have helped. Or, Sweet Things might want to consider baking the cake a few less minutes, and making an actual chocolate filling instead of using plain hard chocolate ($4.75).

Black Sheep Bakery (vegan)

The woman at Blacksheep Vegan Bakery warned me that their carrot cupcake wasn’t pretty: “It kind of sticks to the paper and doesn’t look all that good. But it tastes awesome!” She was right—it wasn’t much to look at—but the big huge dollop of vegan cream cheese frosting made it all okay. It turned out to be a helpful bonding agent, too; the cake was super moist and loaded with shredded carrots and perfumed with cinnamon, but fell apart with every attempted bite. I finally made my way through it by eating it sort of tamale style—peeling down the paper as I took a bite. It was tasty, but a mess. I was glad that it was just a regular-sized cupcake and not a mondo one, half of which I’m sure would have ended up on the floor. Would I go back and eat it again? Yes, definitely. Just not on a date or a job interview ($1.50).

Sweetpea Baking Company (vegan)

Sweetpea Bakery on Southeast Stark Street had a pretty little plate of pretty little cupcakes with swirls of pink or white frosting atop of vanilla or chocolate cupcakes. I probably should have tried the vanilla cake with pink (strawberry) frosting to break up my chocolate fest, but I can’t say no to chocolate cupcakes, especially when they come with a name like “Sundae Cupcake.” The vanilla icing did look like whipped cream, and it was drizzled with chocolate sauce, sprinkled with peanuts, and topped with a cherry. Delightful. Again, the frosting ended up being my favorite part. The cake was a bit dry, not terribly so, and the overall flavor of the cupcake reminded me distinctly of a Devil Dog. Which is not a bad thing, really. And the fact that it was 100% vegan was hard to believe, with that creamy, yummy frosting ($2.75).

Back to Eden Bakery Boutique (vegan)

Back to Eden offered up a very beautiful chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing the day I was there, but they told me, they rotate flavors often. It had a good consistency, and stayed together well, but was a tad bit dry. It was tremendously chocolatey, though, and I imagined if I had gotten there earlier in the day, when it was fresh out of the oven, it would have been significantly moister. Still, it was pretty darn good, and the folks were so nice (what is it with the Vegans? They were all so warm and friendly!), I am sure to go in to sample the rest of the cupcake choices, and the vegan soft-serve, which I hear is amazing ($2.75).

Pastrygirl

Pastrygirl has just one gluten free cupcake—another carrot topped with cream cheese. I imagine the reason she only carries one is because she is a perfectionist, and she won’t introduce a cupcake until it meets her high standards. Well, I have high standards, too, and this cupcake met mine. If someone had said to me, “Oops! We gave you the regular carrot cupcake by mistake!” I would have not only panicked about the ill-effects I would soon endure, but I would totally believe them. It was that good. This cupcake had a modest amount of frosting, but that was because there was nothing to hide or to attempt to hold together. The cupcake was fine on its own, both in texture and flavor. It held together. It melted in my mouth. It was carrot cake heaven ($2.50).

New Cascadia Traditional (vegan option available)

New Cascadia Traditional, however, takes the cake (sorry, had to do it). And the bread. And the pizza. I have yet to find something in this dedicated gluten-free bakery that isn’t the best of its gluten-free kind. I picked up a cupcake at the Portland Farmers Market, and brought it home to share with my husband, a self-proclaimed hater of all gluten-free stuff. The super moist chocolate cake, with a pudding-like chocolate filling, and topped with chocolate butter cream not only came in first for me, but passed my husband’s test as well, which almost never happens ($3.50).

Note: New Cascadia also offers a vegan option of its gluten-free cupcakes.