I think the best part about filling orders that require an odd amount of end product means you have leftover batter with which to make stuff for yourself! This was the case with these cupcakes. I needed to make 18 mini cupcakes, and ended up with enough batter left over to make six normal sized cupcakes! I could have just cut the recipe in half, but I was anxious to try this flavor out for myself. I could not have made a better choice. These are so delicious! The cake has a spicy, almost gingerbread taste and the icing has a light citrus flavor.
Recipe below!
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp star anise extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 pound confectioners sugar
Zest from one orange
1 Tbsp almond milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients together.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add apple cider vinegar and extracts and mix until combined. Add flour mixture and almond milk and stir until a smooth batter is formed.
Pour into well greased muffin tins. Bake approximately 22 minutes, or until fork inserted in middle of each cupcake comes out cleanly.
Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, beat butter, powdered sugar and almond milk until smooth frosting forms. Stir in orange zest. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Enjoy!
I'll admit that I had time to come up with a recipe and make something delectable for you to read about today, but I chose not to. Two reasons: As I'm typing this, I'm finishing up the last of the blackberry frozen yogurt (bypassing some leftover banana ice cream in the freezer), and gave away about half of my Mayan chocolate almonds. What I'm trying to say is that I have too many desserts just laying around for me to make yet another one.The second reason is that I wanted to show off what I've done today, and what will be sold at the farmers' market tomorrow afternoon.
This is a vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting. I used real strawberries (of course!) to make a syrup, then added that to my frosting to give it a cute pink color and a very faint strawberry taste.
This is my chocolate duo!
This one has the strawberry frosting on top.
For these, I had some fresh raspberries left over from a special order, so I dropped one into the center of each batter-filled cupcake liner and baked it in, then sifted powdered sugar on top. I almost tried to mess one up so I could eat one!
This is a strawberry orange cream tart. Very impromptu kitchen experiment, so I'm not sure how it will go over, but this crust is to die for!
And this is my best seller, the chocolate coconut tart. Only five ingredients in the whole thing, yet so, so, so good!
And these are my special order donuts! I have one or two loyal customers who special order these every week :) They're a pain in the butt to make, but are totally worth the effort.
All products are 100% vegan and natural! Wish me luck for tomorrow, and hope to see some of you out there!
It's the beginning of February, and this can only mean one thing: strawberry season in Florida is so close I can barely contain myself! I bought a pint of strawberries for this recipe, and I'm lucky they lasted as long as they did in my fridge. I sat in bed last night watching Freaks and Geeks in my underwear and had some spare heavy cream sitting in the fridge, so decided to make whipped cream to go with some strawberries. I used up every last ounce of my will power to limit the amount of strawberries I could eat (which came out to a minescule three...yeah, my will power is pretty awesome). I went through all this so I could make these cupcakes for you guys :)
They are heavenly. It's as if the fruit goddess and the god of baked goods had a lovechild. My sacrifice last night could not have paid off any more than it did when I bit into these cupcakes. If there's only one recipe on this blog you decide to make, I would recommend it be this one. I would also recommend eating one while they're still somewhat warm!
I didn't want to load these down with frosting for fear it would take away from the natural goodness of the strawberries, so there's just a simple glaze on these. If you are frosting's all time, biggest, number one fan, you can put frosting on them, but I recommend letting the strawberries be the star of this one. Recipe below!
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
splash of lemon juice
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 pint strawberries, diced fairly small
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp almond milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.
In a medium bowl, cream and butter and sugar together. Add the apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add the almond milk and mix until a uniform batter forms.
Stir in the strawberries. Then pour into a greased muffin tin so all 12 compartments are equally filled. Bake for abou 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for abou 15 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling.
To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and almond milk. Stir until a paste is formed. If it's too stiff (i.e. not all the sugar can be dissolved) then add more almond milk by the 1/2 tsp. Remember, a little bit of liquid goes a VERY long way with powdered sugar. If it's too runny (i.e. it looks like soup), then add more powdered sugar by the Tbsp until a glue-like consistency is reached.
Drizzle the glaze over each cupcake and let it run down the sides. It will harden after a while. Consume immediately because you just can't wait any longer!
I know there's been a lot of cupcakes on this blog so far, but fall/winter is a time of plentiful birthdays, so I've been making a lot of them for friends. There's some history behind these cupcakes that I'd like to share with you.
Every year, I have a giant feast where I make a wonderfully decadent five-course meal in which I invite my closest friends, and the cake is the grand finale of the meal. At one such dinner, one of my friends who sat at the opposite head of the table from me, had been blown away by each course, just sat in total amazement with each bite he took.
When the cake came out, he just couldn't contain himself any longer. He started talking about how wonderful this cake was, how it was just the best food he had ever tasted. It was hard for him to find words for what he was experiencing. Finally, he came out with it: this cake was interstellar.
These cupcakes are the vegan version of this cake. I have modified this recipe to fit a vegan cupcake format. Hopefully you'll think they're interstellar as well!
This is the mess I make in my kitchen as I cook.
This is after I've hollowed them out.
Here's with the blackberry filling. If you're not a big fan of frosting, you could just eat them this way. They're gorgeous and not too sweet.
Here's the final product sliced down the middle. Recipe below.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond milk
12 oz blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
8 oz vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
Directions:
In a small bowl, mash the blackberries with a fork until a lumpy liquid is formed. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar and let sit for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract.
Mix the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Then add almond milk and mix until uniform texture is achieved.
Pour into greased muffin tin and bake for about 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into each cupcake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to let cool completely.
Once cupcakes are cooled completely, cut around the edge of each cupcake at a 45 degree angle about half-way down the cupcake so a cylindrical pyramid shape comes out of the top of each one. Then spoon blackberry mixture into each depression up to the top of the cupcake.
In a medium bowl, mix vegan cream cheese and vegan butter until smooth. Add in confectioner's sugar and mix until incorporated.
Ice the top of each cupcake. Enjoy!
So I jumped the gun a teensy bit for Thanksgiving. Fall is my favorite season, mostly because it involves pumpkin desserts! As a kid, I reveled in pumpkin pie and got as much of it as I could while it was still in season, and was always heartbroken when the holidays had come to an end and pumpkins were no longer incorporated into every dessert imaginable. 
In this vein, I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes. While I love pie, it is a pain in the ass to make, especially to make photogenically. Besides, there will probably be pie on Thanksgiving, but probably not cupcakes.
These came out wonderfully moist and deliciously spiced. The "cream cheese" frosting is very rich, so use sparingly. (I didn't realize just how rich it was, so in these pictures I loaded it on!)
They were a mouth-watering predecessor to the Thanksgiving feast. Hope you all enjoy and have a good holiday!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 almond milk (or soy milk)
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter at room temperature
8 oz. vegan cream cheese at room temperature
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 pound confectioners sugar
Additional cinnamon for dusting, optional
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together the dry ingredients. (This does not include sugar.) Set aside.
Mix oil and sugar together. Add apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and pumpkin. Mix until incorporated. Mix in flour mixture until a smooth batter forms. Add the almond milk and mix until incorporated.
Pour into greased cupcake tin so that all tins are equally filled. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.
Let cool for about five to ten minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.
While they are cooling, prepare the frosting. Mix butter, cream cheese and maple syrup until smooth. Add confectioners sugar and mix until smooth. If frosting looks too soupy, add more confectioners sugar by the quarter cup until desired consistency is reached.
Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with cinnamon, if using. Devour immediately.
Questions and comments are always appreciated!
I know what you're thinking...beets in cupcakes? But trust me, it's delicious. I first came across the idea of combining beets and chocolate in an issue of Vegetarian Times. The original recipe was for chocolate beet brownies, which I made with one of my friends who is obsessed with beets, and they were delicious.
I made these yesterday, in a rush, with an already messy kitchen. I abhor cooking under these conditions, but I was making them for a greater purpose other than for the sake of the blog. One of my dear friends was celebrating a birthday by potluck last night.
As an aside, I treat pot lucks like competitions, and I always try to have the tastiest/prettiest/most unique thing there. I am fairly neurotic, I know. This contributed to the reason I chose these cupcakes for her birthday potluck.
Also, making an actual birthday cake was out of the question. Everyone's afraid to make the first move on a cake at potlucks. So cupcakes it was.
This dear friend of mine also doesn't have a very big sweet tooth, so these really were the perfect choice. The actual cupcake part is not very sweet; the beets give it a subtle earthy flavor that complements the chocolate. The icing provides most of the sweetness, and contrasts, yet complements, the flavor of the cake.
Here are the ingredients you will need. After I had already taken this picture and began the baking process, I realized I forgot to add the salt to this picture, so you will need that too. And if you're short on time, you can used canned beats instead of fresh.
So pretty!
I am a messy cupcake pan filler! The batter comes out looking like a crazy burnt sienna color because of the beets, but they look more chocolatey once they bake.
When these come out of the oven, they are extremely fragile and hard to get out of the tin. I became despondent as I was failing at getting them out of the tin and onto the cooling rack until I got a crazy idea in my head. I put the cooling rack over the tin and then flipped it over, like you would a cake from a cake pan. GENIUS. They came out easy as....pie? Then I just flipped them over by hand after they had cooled and solidified.
I had this great idea for the frosting that didn't work out at all. I saw a flourless chocolate beet cupcake on ming makes cupcakes (number 31) where I fell in love with the fuchsia streak going through the topping, so I tried to replicate this in my own frosting. Little did I realize that the yellow color of the vegan butter would make the beet juice turn into this Eastery pastel color. Oh well.
They were a hit at the potluck, and hopefully you'll like them too! Recipe below.
Ingredients:
For cupcakes:
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup pureed beets
1/2 cup almond milk (or soy milk)
For frosting: ***
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp beet juice
Directions:
If using fresh beets, quarter two large raw beets and drop carefully into boiling water. Let boil for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain, reserving two Tablespoons of the pink liquid, peel, and puree. Set aside.
If using canned beats, drain 15-ounce can of beets, reserving two Tablespoons of the pink liquid, and puree. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium-sized bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix shortening and sugar together. Add the vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and beets. Stir together.
Mix in flour mixture until smooth, and then add the almond milk. Mix until smooth.
Pour into a greased muffin tin until each compartment is about 2/3 full. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of each cupcake. Cool on drying rack.
To make icing, combine vegan butter, powdered sugar, and beet juice. Mix until smooth.
***For the icing, since I was in a hurry, I didn't take the time to use exact measurements on it. This was the best I could estimate. If the frosting seems soupy and doesn't hold its shape, add more powdered sugar by the quarter cup until desired consistency is reached. If it's too stiff, then add more beet juice by the teaspoon until desired consistency is reached.
Once the cakes are COMPLETELY cooled, frost each cupcake. With the above icing recipe, I had JUST enough to put one layer of frosting on each cupcake, so if you like to be liberal with your frosting, just double the recipe above.
Hope you enjoy this! Questions and comments are always appreciated.
