Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (12 page)

 

 

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup crushed pineapple (in its own juice)
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated
sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 maraschino cherries or fresh
raspberries, for garnish

For the topping:

1 cup crushed pineapple
(in its own juice)
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon tapioca flour, cornstarch,
or arrowroot
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

 

TO MAKE THE CUPCAKES:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice into a large bowl.

3. Combine the pineapple, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a blender and puree. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients. Mix well; there may be some pineapple clumps that weren’t pureed and that’s fine.

4. Pour batter into cupcake liners so that they are just over half full. You need to leave some space after they rise because the pineapple topping is gooey (in a good way). Bake for 25 to 27 minutes.

5. Let cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes then move them to a cutting board or a tray that will fit on a shelf in your fridge.

TO MAKE THE TOPPING:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and stir constantly for about 30 seconds. Bring the heat down to low and stir for one more minute. Immediately use a tablespoon to scoop the topping onto the cupcakes. The topping will spread but you can help it along with the back of the spoon. Place a raspberry or maraschino cherry in the center of each cupcake.

2. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

THESE ARE LIKE
those chocolate-covered mint patties that the kids love so much. You absolutely can’t eat mint icing on its own, it needs the chocolate ganache to bring it all together. But once it is brought, it is heavenly.

 

 

INGREDIENTS

YOUR BASIC CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE
(page 37), with 1 teaspoon mint extract added to the wet ingredients

For the Mint Icing:

¼ cup nonhydrogenated shortening
3 cups confectioners’ sugar (sifted if
clumpy)
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon soy creamer or
soy milk
1½ teaspoons mint extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Small drop green food coloring liquid
or paste
QUICK MELTY GANACHE
(page 160)

DIRECTIONS

TO MAKE THE MINT ICING:

1. Cream the shortening for a few seconds to soften it. We found that it’s easier to do this with a fork than with a handheld mixer.

2. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and a splash (tablespoon or so) of soy creamer and mix to incorporate. Alternately add sugar and creamer, mixing after each addition, until all the ingredients are used and the icing is smooth and creamy. Add the mint and vanilla extracts and coloring; mix to incorporate.

TO ASSEMBLE:

1. When cupcakes have fully cooled, fill a pastry bag fitted with a #21 star tip with Mint Icing. Pipe the icing onto the cupcake in a spiral from outside in, leaving a little room on the sides for the cupcake to show
through. Let the icing set while you prepare the
QUICK MELTY GANACHE.

2. Let the ganache cool to room temperature, stirring every once in a while to keep it smooth. Don’t use it while it is still hot or it will melt your mint icing. Use a tablespoon to dollop (or plop, whichever you prefer) ganache on top of cupcakes. The chocolate should fall in the center and drip down a bit so that the pretty mint icing spiral shows through. Decorate immediately with:

3. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes to let the ganache set before serving.

WE MAYBE
city girls but we love us some campfires. And not just because we like to steal people’s bras and hide them in trees. These cupcakes will bring out the rustic survivalist in you—the rustic survivalist that knows from scrumptious cupcakes.

 

 

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
¼ cup soy yogurt
1¼ cups soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup graham cracker crumbs (see
Sprinkles, below)

For the topping:

QUICK MELTY GANACHE
(page 160) or
SHAVED CHOCOLATE
(page 29)
VEGAN FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
(page 142)
6 graham cracker rectangles, broken
in half
Extra graham cracker crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. Mix the brown sugar, oil, molasses, yogurt, soy milk, and vanilla in a large bowl.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a separate bowl and mix. Add the graham cracker crumbs and mix it up.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three batches, mixing well after each addition.

5. Fill cupcake liners full. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before decorating.

TO ASSEMBLE:

1. Spread or pipe a thick layer of
VEGAN FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
onto each cupcake. We like to use a wide decorating tip to create a swirly mountain of yumminess. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the frosting. Drizzle with ganache or sprinkle with shaved chocolate and stick a graham cracker into each cupcake. You can eat immediately for the authentic s’mores warm chocolate thing or allow to set. It tastes yummy either way.

S’mores Cupcakes

THIS IS OUR
top secret brownie recipe converted to cupcakes. They are puffier than we normally make cupcakes but we like them that way—the tops get all crackled and brownielike. Serve them pure and unfrosted, lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar, or spread with a thin layer of chocolate frosting and chopped walnuts. The cherry and bourbon are not pronounced flavors; they just add a greater depth to the chocolate. This recipe makes fifteen cupcakes so have handy some foil cupcake liners to cook a few solo. Don’t overfill the liners or your perfect brownies will sink!