b-tempted vegan gluten free cupcakes

B-Tempted founder Sarah Hilleary secured a £75,000 investment after appearing on Dragons’ Den last year

Gluten-free bakery B-Tempted is rolling out a new range of ‘game-changing’ vegan cupcakes and muffins.

A range of four “irresistible” cupcakes in banana, vanilla and cinnamon; chocolate and strawberry, chocolate and hazelnut; and chocolate flavours (rsp: £3 each) is already available from Whole Foods Market.

Three “melt-in-the-mouth” muffins - banana; banana and raspberry; and chocolate - will hit shelves in single (rsp: £1.50) and twin-packs (rsp: £2) later this year.

The cakes, which are both gluten-free and vegan, would be a “game-changer” for the free-from community who were “tired of sacrificing flavour in their diet”, said B-Tempted founder Sarah Hilleary, who secured a £75,000 investment from entrepreneur Tej Lalvani after appearing on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den programme last year.

Read more: Like moths to a flame: free-from category report 2018

“I first started B-Tempted when I struggled to find really tasty gluten-free cakes. I refused to believe it wasn’t possible to combine delicious flavours and textures with gluten-free ingredients,” she said.

“We have seen a huge surge in the number of people identifying as vegan over the past few years, so it was a natural progression for us to extend our product development to cater for the vegan market too.”

Sales expectations for the new vegan range had tripled following a successful retail trial, with the muffins and cupcakes proving “incredibly popular” with consumers, she added.

“We’ve been thrilled with the feedback we’ve had from people so far.”