This year is the FDA deadline for creating standardized gluten free labeling. This will be a godsend to me, my family and my friends who must follow a gluten-free diet to stay healthy. The proposed rules state that a product can be labeled as gluten-free with less than 20ppm gluten. There is lots of science behind why this is thought to be a safe level. There are less than 150 days until the FDA will issue rules that will make gluten labeling as clear as allergen labeling. And it is about dang time.

Last may, Jules (from Jules Nearly Normal) baked one ginormous cake. The largest gluten-free cake ever. They got the attention of the media and the FDA.

This year, the movement is showing its support for the progress that has been made, with its campaign, Cupcakes for a Cause. (If you want to know more about what they are doing, you can visit their site or follow them on twitter).

(these are my cupcakes)

They are asking everyone to post a picture of cupcakes in their facebook event, with one for each year that you have been gluten-free. Once you post yours, you can like other people’s photos to vote for them. If your photo has the most likes, you can win a whole box of gluten-free prizes and cookbooks. So, go bake some cupcakes! There are different categories for things like kids (under/over 12, presentation, most years gluten-free, etc.), and then spread the word & invite your friends!

I posted mine, an adapted version of Kyra Bussanich‘s winning cupcakes from Cupcake Wars. Her’s were already gluten-free, but I made a few adjustments.

• First, I used vanilla in the cake, it isn’t in the recipe, but I couldn’t find any nutmeg in my kitchen, and I knew the cake needed flavoring of some kind.
• Second, I prefer Swiss meringues to Italian meringues, so I omitted the water, cooked the egg whites and sugar to 140 degrees and then whipped them. From there, the process is the same. If you do better with pictures, Sweetapolita has a great tutorial.
• Third, and this is not a point of difference, but something you should always do, please use high quality chocolate!!

I would have made up my own cupcakes, but these just sounded so very good…and they are from a cupcake wars champion after all! 🙂