When a cupcake meets a Vegan...

If you have looked at my blog at all, you know how I feel about cupcakes. They are delicious mounds of wonderfulness and any chance I get, I am making them - and then giving them away, because it would be just plain dangerous to be left at home alone with any of them.

Yet another Aquarian birthday this weekend, a dear someone (Mary/Happy Delusions) who doesn't do dairy. Won't stop me from baking, I tell ya! That is what the Internet is for - to solve your baking dilemmas, amongst other things, and then direct you in the endeavor of crafting treats without butter or eggs.

There is a new book rockin' the vegan community, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and with good reason. If the following recipe, which is attributed to that book (though found at Chow recipes online), is like the rest - I am a new believer. These chocolate cupcakes were so moist and chocolaty that no one felt they were missing anything - and that says a lot.

Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla, or both vanilla and almond extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder(Dutch processed or regular - check to make sure it does not include whey)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with paper or foil baking cups. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set to the side for a few minutes to curdle. Sift together in a large bowl all of the dry ingredients. Add vanilla,oil and sugar to the soy and beat until frothy. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mix, beating until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake pan - this is enough batter for a dozen regular sized cupcakes. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean and then transfer to rack to cool.

Note: These were awesome without the Vegan Frosting recipe that I found at the same site and at Recipezaar. I used organic granulated sugar and soy milk, unbromated/unbleached flour and pure vanilla and almond extract (never use fake vanilla - please, I beg of you!) These are all the same ingredients that go into my "fully loaded" cupcakes as well, except when I am advocating the use of Cool Whip and box cake mixes - a girl deserves to be an amalgamation of contradictions!