Now I started discussing the idea of baking these cupcakes with one of my crew friends. She suggested that she could bring her vegan-cupcake recipe book. I gladly accepted, and that's when my journey of baking these little cakes began. At first it was to be a personal journey, but I ended up making 24 cupcakes for the entire crew team.
So here's the recipe, and a few of my beginning-baker comments.
(Note: The recipe itself is not originally mine. Both the cupcake and the frosting recipes come from the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. It's a very... intriguing little book, to say the least, but the recipes are easy and well-explained.)
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| My Golden Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. |
Golden Vanilla
Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt (increase salt to ½ teaspoon if you’re using
oil instead of margarine)
½ cup non-hydrogenated margarine, softened, or 1/3 cup
canola oil
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract, caramel extract, or more vanilla
extract
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 350 F and line muffin pan with
cupcake liners.
2.
Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring
cup and set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled.
3.
If using margarine: Sift the flour, cornstarch,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.
4.
In a separate large bowl, use a handheld mixer
at medium speed to cream the margarine and sugar for about 2 minutes until
light and fluffy, but don’t beat past two minutes. Beat in the vanilla and
other extract, if using, then alternate beating in the soy milk mixture and dry
ingredients, stopping to scrap the sides of the bowl a few times.
5.
If using oil: Beat together the soy milk
mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extracts, if using, in a large bowl.
Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix
until no large lumps remain.
I used oil, a healthier choice.
Being a very eager baker, I had to try the raw mixture. The taste wasn't too appealing, so knowing the little that I do know, I added two things to make everything sweeter: vanilla and sugar. I added a teaspoon or so of extra vanilla and just a dash of sugar. After beating the mixture and trying it again, the taste was surprisingly pleasing.
6. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and
bake for 20 to 22 minutes till done. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool
completely before frosting.
I put the cupcakes in for 20 minutes and by sticking a tooth pick in a couple, I knew they were ready. For me, these cupcakes were extremely white, but no worries, they are fully baked when 20 minutes do pass.
And for the frosting...
Chocolate Buttercream
Frosting
Ingredients:
¼ cup margarine, softened
¾ cup shortening
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted if there are clumps)
2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons soymilk
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Cream together the margarine and the shortening
until well combined. Add the cocoa powder and incorporate well. Add the
confectioners sugar in about ½ cup batches and beat well, adding a little
splash of soy milk after each addition. When all ingredients have been well
incorporated, add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes
with a hand mixer, 7 minutes if mixing with a fork).
I I followed the instructions exactly and had no issues. Just be forewarned, 7 minutes of mixing can get surprisingly tiresome.
Frost the cupcakes, and voila! Standing before you is a scrumptious little, animal-everything-free, treat. And judging from the opinions of 24 team members, these cupcakes are quite the treat. I wonder if my adventures into the realms of veganism will continue...
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