Vegan Cupcakes with fudge frosting

My Favorite Cupcakes- In Alicia Silverstone's -The Kind Diet book
(This is her title not mine :D-- you will have to read critique following recipe to see what I thought!)


Cupcakes

2/3 cup hemp or soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup safflower oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of sea salt

Fudge frosting

1/2 cup earth balance butter
½ cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup soy milk powder

NOTE- soy milk powder is sold in large amounts, so if you have a bunch left over, you can add water and make soy milk. If you don’t have soy milk powder, the frosting will be fine—just a little runnier- let it set up in the fridge.


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Combine the milk and vinegar in a medium bowl, and set aside for at least 5 minutes or until it bubbles a little. If it doesn’t bubble, keep stirring the mixture until it does. Add the agave nectar, oil, and vanilla and stir.
In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until no lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center of one cupcake comes out clean and the tops are slightly springy when pressed. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then cool completely on a baking rack before frosting.

To make the fudge frosting, use a mixer to cream the butter together with the agave nectar in a mixing bowl until very smooth. Add the vanilla extract and about half the cocoa powder, mix on low speed to combine, then add the remaining cocoa powder. Add in the soy milk powder, and beat at medium high speed until fluffy. It is runny, refrigerate the frosting until it sets up a little.

MY COOKS TIPS:

I didn't use the soy milk powder as I couldn't locate it in any of the my stores locally. It was thinner icing so I put in fridge for a little bit, and it did firm up a lot more. I also decided to throw in a little cocoa powder into the batter, as I like chocolate. This would have been okay but I should have added a little more liquid to the batter.

FAMILY CRITIQUE:
I did not tell the kids this was a vegan recipe. My son knew as soon as he bit into the cupcake. He liked the icing but thought the cupcake was too weird and didn't like the texture. He is not fond of wheat to begin with and it has that whole wheat pastry flour in there. My 12 year old said disgusting and told everyone I was trying to poison them. She only took one bite and spit all of it out. My oldest wouldn't even try it, thanks to her siblings comments. It definitely wasn't my favorite cupcake, but it satisfied my chocolate craving. All together out of the 12, I ate 3- over a couple days. Scott said they were different, not horrible. My family has high expectations of my baking and these didn't pass their test. I tried to make them look pretty and fool them by putting some of their favorite toppings sprinkled on them- some toffee bits, chocolate chips and toasted coconut. Didn't fool them, but I tried!