Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with "Cream Cheese" Frosting

So here's the deal. I'd already gone to the store specifically to buy apple cider vinegar, tofu "cream cheese", and soy milk for the vegan cupcakes. I'd then made the cupcakes, and they were merrily baking away while I started mixing the frosting. Then, to my chagrin, I realized I'd used up almost all of the powdered sugar on the lemon bars from the day before. I contemplated going back the store, but I was already in pj pants, and since I can't go to the store without running into nine thousand people from church, I would've had to get dressed again, and well, I decided to experiment.

My handy dandy American's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook told me that I could substitute one cup granulated sugar + one teaspoon cornstarch + a little spin in the blender for one cup of powdered sugar. The cookbook politely said, "Works well for dusting over cakes, less so in frostings and glazes." But did I listen to the cookbook? Nooo....I thought it would totally work to grind up my sugar and cornstarch and then make vegan sour cream frosting with it. Oh well, at least the cupcakes looked good in my cutesy new cupcake caddy.

And the cupcakes themselves weren't that bad, once you got over the crunchiness of the frosting. They were moist, in an almost gummy way, like the other vegan cupcakes I made. I prefer a finer crumb, but they were still had a nice chocolatey flavor. I got mixed reviews about them at work, but the people that didn't like them were merely indifferent, and the people that liked them really, really loved them. So I think all in all, I'd give them one thumbs up.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with "Cream Cheese" Frosting

from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Cupcakes

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup granulated sugar, preferably raw

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract, or more vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Frosting

1/4 cup vegan margarine, softened

1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the cupcakes whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and let it curdle for a few minutes. Add the sugar, oil, and extracts, and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain. Pour batter into a lined muffin tin, until cups are about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes, then remove the cupcakes to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, cream together the margarine and cream cheese until just combined. Beat in the powdered sugar until frosting is smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla. Keep the frosting refrigerated if you're not going to frost the cupcakes right away.

This will make one dozen frosted cupcakes, plus an extra few tablespoons of frosting...which you can probably snack on if you actually use powdered sugar, and don't have gritty frosting!

Long Time No Blog: North Korea, Vegan Cupcakes, and Lemon Bars

Hey everyone,

Sorry, long time no blog! It's partly a result of procrastination, and partly a result of internet issues at home. And blogging at work seems a little questionable! :)

But I'm reading the book above: it's a mystery set in North Korea in 1997. It's really good so far, I'll keep you posted on my final opinion.

And I made some more vegan cupcakes, which did not turn out so well. The vegans ate them anyway, but they were less than impressed.

I did, however, make some excellent lemon bars with which I have been gorging myself all week, because Noel is out of town and isn't there to help me consume them.

More details will be forthcoming, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die. Bisous!

Vegan-friendly Baking: Cupcakes

I bake a lot (in case you hadn't noticed the title of this blog) and I end up taking a fair number of baked goods into work, since it's a really easy way to make sure that nothing gets wasted. There are several vegans at work who always look hopeful, until I have to disillusion them by informing them that there are eggs or milk in whatever it is they were hoping they could eat. So, this week I was taking cakes into work again, and I decided that it was about time that I attempted something vegan.

I have a cookbook called "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. (In case you're wondering why I own such a book, I tried going dairy-free last year, but I couldn't quite hack it. I missed cheese too much.) I hadn't made any of the recipes yet, although I had drooled over several of the pictures, so I decided to start with the very first recipe, Golden Vanilla Cupcakes, for my first foray into the world of vegan baking. I went and bought soy milk and soy creamer and even organic raw sugar, since I vaguely remember someone saying something about processed sugar being non-vegan.

The cupcakes were really easy to make once I had the proper ingredients assembled. They came out a pretty pale yellow color, and once topped with a little powdered-sugar frosting, they were quite delicious looking. They had a nice sugary vanilla flavor, I didn't miss the eggs at all in terms of taste, but the cupcakes had a slightly odd texture. The crumb was very coarse, and they were almost spongey, which I wasn't quite sure about. But, since I'd never made anything vegan before, I figured I'd just take them to work and see how it went.

They got rave reviews, from vegans and non-vegans alike. One person actually told me that it was the best day of his life to be able to eat a cupcake again! So, if you're vegan they apparently might change your life. If you're not, you might find the texture a bit odd, but the end result is still quite tasty.

Vanilla Vegan Cupcakes

from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp orange extract (or almond or caramel)

1/4 cup soy creamer

1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract

1/4 tsp orange extract

2 - 3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar together and set aside to curdle. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Beat together the curdled soy milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extract. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until mostly smooth.

Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon fill each cupcake liner until about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. They don't brown much, so stop baking when a toothpick comes out clean, don't wait for a color cue.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack before frosting. In a small saucepan warm the soy creamer over medium heat. Remove from heat, whisk in the extracts, and enough sugar to reach the consistency you want. I used just about 2 cups of sugar, which made for a thin glaze-like frosting. If you want a thicker frosting just keep whisking in the sugar. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, spread with frosting, then refrigerate to set frosting. Makes 12 cupcakes.