Vanilla & Red Velvet Vegan Cupakes

My first real post. To introduce myself, I'm 20years of age and I consider myself a beginning baker. It's something I've recently picked up and am attempting to run with? This blog is to share recipes, photographs, and tips I've picked up along the way. I think I will be making a list soon of things that I hope to be tackling.

Moving on...

It was my roomates 21st birthday on the 4th and I whipped up ( if you can describe it as that it took me a good couple hours ) two types of vegan cupcakes: vanilla cupcakes with a chocolate ganache & red velvet cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. I also made peanut butter cookies but those are just a standard recipe. I thought I would just share the recipe for the red velvet cupcakes since those seemed to be the favorite of the day.

I found both recipes out of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which is a great cookbook! There are a lot of staple recipes that you can build off of or there are also the author's concoctions like apricot almond glazed cupcakes ( gotta remind myself to add those to my list they sound AMAZING!!) plus beautiful photographs for only $15! I was really pleased with both cupcakes they were moist ( I've found that vegan cupcakes tend to be more moist and soft than ones baked with eggs and butter) and full of flavor. The red velvets went so fast that I caught someone hiding the last one.

Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes :

1 c soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 c granulated sugar

2 tbs cocoa powder -dutch processed or regular

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 c canola oil

2 tbs red food coloring

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 tsp chocolate extract

For the frosting:

1/4 c earth balance - softened

1/4 c tofutti - softened

2 c confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line muffin pans with liners.

* Wisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle.

* Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and mix.

* Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate, vanilla and almond extracts to the soy milk mixture. Whisk well to combine. Gently fold wet ingredients into dry mixing until large lumps disappear.

*Fill cupcake liners about two-thirds of the way full. Bake 18-20 min.

To make the frosting:

*Cream together the cream cheese and earth balance.

*Add the sugar in 1/2 cup batches and mix until smooth and creamy.

* Add the vanilla

* Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

Tip: Frost cupcakes in fairly thick amounts so the cupcakes don't crumble when frosting with a knife or spatula.