Gluten Free Cupcake Wars

WINNER:  Black Velvet gluten free cupcake from Red Velvet Cupcakery.

OVERALL WINNER:  The only one I'd buy every day, all day (way better than my own baking) is black velvet cupcake from Red Velvet Cupcakery in D.C.  A light crunch on the muffin-top area's exterior, perfect deep, fudgy flavor, light texture (neither crumbly nor dense) and amount of frosting.  Heaven in your hand.  And the cupcake elves are aware enough to put on a clean glove to grab it with. On the website they describe it as:  This light, moist chocolate cake uses the best Valrhona cocoa powder complemented by a chocolate buttercream” to make a vegan, gluten-free cupcake truly like no other. 
SECOND PLACE in this region is Sweet 27 in Baltimore, MD.  Peanut butter or oreo cupcakes.  Really, all of them were awesome.  However, they upset my stomach and lack the crispy top I love.

GF Cutie:  The Devil Came Down to Georgia is their signature cupcake that sells out daily from this totally gf bakery.

GEORGIA WINNER:  Gluten Free Cutie in Roswell, GA.  See my full review with photos of this totally gfree bakery's wide selection of goodies here.

Sally's Bakery Red Velvet Gluten Free Cupcake

STORE-BOUGHT WINNERS:  Whole Foods Market frozen chocolate with chocolate frosting.  Defrost for 30+ seconds in microwave (watch to remove before frosting collapses).  Rich chocolate flavor, soft, fluffy texture.  Another worth purchasing: Sally's Bakery Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting.

FROSTING WARS:

And if Gigi's cupcakes are overkill on the frosting, American Gra-futti cupcakes (from the Braves game and Sandy Springs Whole Foods Market)  are greasy and dense like a muffin, not a cake.  Plus Gra-frutti are underkill on the frosting-it's barely a pat-o-butter portion.  Frosting-to-cake ratio is important on cupcakes, you see.  This, coming from a former frosting flouter, no less!  (As a kid, I used to plop cake frosting-side-down on my plate and lift the cake off of it's sugary cap to devour, leaving a buttery, sugary, uneaten mass on the dish.)
Nowadays, since The Big Gluten Free Funnel has whittled my diet (no croissants, turnovers, cannoli, etc.), I have learned to appreciate foods I never took a second look at before.  Grits, macaroons, polenta, and fudge have also been upgraded from the D-List to the A-List.  I guess this is a good thing.  Unless you're in a French Cafe or Patisserie.  So, frosting is a new addition to my "likes" list.

 

Gigi's Cupcakes- pretty to look at, I didn't finish it. Not tasty.

American Grafrutti