May
25, 2008
Cupcakes in May
I made me some pretty cupcakes last weekend, to bring to an open house our good friend Tiffany was having. I think they went over well. :) I got enough requests for the recipes (rich chocolate and almond), so I’m reprinting them again (with any modifications I’ve made since the original).
I added mini-chocolate chips to the chocolate cupcakes, and topped them with some neon pink frosting (Tiffany’s business colors are hot pink and black – so I thought it was only fitting). I did a chocolate version of the cream-cheese frosting rather than fudgy frosting for the almond cupcakes, it’s thicker and easier to pipe onto the cupcakes. For the cute little flowers, I colored some marzipan, rolled it out and cut it into flower shapes. Add one tiny white nonpareil in the center, and tada!
I’ve been practicing my cupcake-decorating skills, because I’ve decided that I think I’m crazy enough to make my own wedding (cup)cakes. And they’ll need to be pretty. Plus, with a proposal like that, I don’t think I could get away with having anything but cupcakes at our wedding. :) So you can probably expect to see a lot of cupcake experimentation in the near future.
Rich Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting
Makes 11-12 cupcakes.
Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chipsVanilla Bean Frosting:
1/4 cup margarine (or butter), softened
1/4 cup tofutti (or regular) cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring (optional)Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.Whisk together the soymilk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract to the soy milk mixture and beat till 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 until no lumps remain (or very few remain).
Pour into liners, filling each with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
For frosting, cream together margarine and cream cheese until just combined. Add confectioners’ sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing each addition until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and food coloring, and beat until fluffy and smooth. Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use, then pipe/spread onto fully cooled cupcakes.
Vegan Almond Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Frosting
Makes 14-15 cupcakes (or 12 and plenty of tasties).
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 ½ cups plain soymilk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup almond paste (not marzipan)
½ cup canola oil
1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extractChocolate Cream Frosting:
1/3 cup margarine (or butter), softened1/3 cup tofutti (or regular) cream cheese, softened
½ cup cocoa powder
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons plain/vanilla soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extractDirections
Preheat the oven to 350º. Line 14 muffin cups with paper cupcake liners. Lightly spray liners and top of pan with cooking spray. This will prevent the tops of the cupcakes from sticking to the pan when they rise. Set aside.Combined apple cider vinegar and soymilk in small bowl. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle). Add oil and flavor extracts and stir.
In a food processor, chop almonds until finely ground. Add almond paste and 1/8 cup sugar and pulse until well incorporated.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the curdled soymilk and almond mixtures to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth (try not to overmix it).
Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tops are puffed and lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
For frosting:
With electric mixer, beat margarine and cream cheese until fluffy. Add cocoa powder and soymilk and beat until combined. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and continue to beat until all the sugar is incorporated. Add extracts. Beat on high speed for another 3-5 minutes, or until fluffy. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.
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#1 | Reply
i miss these cupcakes. they look pretty! i’ll help you experiment with wedding cupcakes :)
#2 | Reply
All these look adorable. I have never used marzipan before and I really want to decorate my own with those pretty little cutouts. And a vegan recipe? Sweet idea. It’s nice to know that there are some healthy alternatives in the baking realm… You are mighty brave to tackle baking your own wedding cupcakes! I get anxiety just thinking about it. But it will be fun to see you experimenting here.
#3 | Reply
Hey – I’m making no claims that these are health food. :) haha.
#4 | Reply
The almond cupcakes sound really good! Do you think I could substitute the sliced almonds and paste for 1/2 cup almond meal? I don’t know what I’d do with the rest of the can of almond paste.
#5 | Reply
Eat it with a spoon! :) Or wrap it up and make another batch in a few days.
I’ve actually made it successfully without the almond paste, though I would suggest upping the almond extract maybe 1 tsp to makeup for lost flavor.
#6 | Reply
Both of those cupcakes look so gorgeous!
#7 | Reply
Gorgeous cupcakes! I like the second photo. The piping is really different.
#8 | Reply
Yum! I need to be less lazy about cupcakes and make some of my own. I know there are some great vegan cupcake recipes out there, including this one (I love almond flavor).
#9 | Reply
I think it’d be a great idea to make your own wedding (cup)cake(s)! It looks like you definitely have the skills to do it :). I love the neon pink frosting! Both of these cupcakes you’ve shared are lovely :D.
#10 | Reply
Your cupcakes were the HIT of all the food served! They were almost too pretty to eat! The almond cupcakes were wonderful! I was sad when I realized I didn’t get to try one of the chocolate cupcakes.
Thank you for sharing them with us! :-)
#11 | Reply
The cupcakes and frosting look totally professional. How about a variation of white chocolate raspberry for some of the wedding (cup)cakes? I think a summer visit is in order to practice at high altitude, for your high altitude wedding!!!
#12 | Reply
oh these are gorgeous!! i love the colour of the frosting of the first cupcakes. lovely.
#13 | Reply
The chocolate cupcakes with neon pink frosting are so rock and roll! I absolutely LOVE them! So much awesomeness!
#14 | Reply
Tag, you’re it!
#15 | Reply
absolutely beautiful. and yes, i think it’ll have to be a cupcake wedding cake. my best friend angela did that on my suggestion. she used her 7 flavor poundcake recipe. they were spectacular.
#16 | Reply
Aww pretty! I love the summer colors.
#17 | Reply
Great recipes, I used the chocolate cream cheese, with a minor adjustment for some cupcakes I brought to work – by 3 p.m. they had all disappeared. Thanks!
#18 | Reply
I’m making some sweet valentine treats for my sister and her fiance later on today and I knew exactly where to go for my recipe. I’m so excited to make these, that frosting color rocks!!
#19 | Reply
What if I made the Chocolate cupcakes without almond extract? I’ve had a really bad experience with almond extract where the end result was very bitter baked goods no one could even touch, so I would like to completely skip it if possible.
Also, can I skip the chocolate chips? I guess I can, but how much of an impact on flavor will there be? They’re mentioned in the ingredients but missing in the recipe, I think.
#20 | Reply
I was wondering, how did you get the frosting color soo bright? I actually want to make the exact thing that you made.. cupcake and all.. but I’m having a hard time finding the right shade for the frosting.
#21 | Reply
I am going to make the chocolate cupcakes either tonight or tomorrow. I got some new giant frosting piping tips and I am dying to use them.