Friday, February 27, 2009

Chocolate Mint Gluten Free Cupcakes










I recently received feedback that I wasn't showing anything gluten free on the blog so I thought I'd try my had at a few vegan gluten free cupcakes. I did a little research on exactly how I could eliminate all the gluten without sacrificing too much vegan goodness. I didn't want to be one of those people who just throws in a bunch of garbanzo bean flour and sugar and calls it good. In fact I refuse to use garbanzo bean flour in any baking, I don't want my cupcakes tasting like hummus. I used the same ingredients that I usually use minus the flour, in substitution I used a combination of Tapioca Flour, White Rice Flour and Quinoa Flour (which is a super protein). I can't take credit for this combo my holy bible of cupcake books, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero, always saves me in rough cupcake situations. There are a few other flours out there that I'd like to play around with and see how they mesh in gluten free cupcakes (i.e. coconut flour).

I started with the base laid out in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World tried a bactch of gluten free chocolate lavender that turned out amazing; dense, tasty and it didn't taste like hummus. For my next batch I started to substitue ingredients, playing around with coconut milk instead of soy milk and coconut oil instead of canola and adding a few "missing" ingredients and then throwing in some mint extract to see how well it played with all the other ingredients. The cupcakes turned out really fantastic, all parties agreed.

I'll be playing around with more gluten free recipes in the very near future, and posting some recipes as well.

Never-Eggs








If you're a vegan, one of the most annoying questions you get (besides "where do you get your protein?") is "what do you do about eggs?" A year ago I would have said a good egg replacement is 1 tablespoon ground flax seed, 1/2 cup of soy yogurt, or a cup of soy milk with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. That still holds true, but the more and more I bake and see what everyone else is going I realized there's dozens of ways to replace an egg.

  1. 1/4 cup applesauce
  2. 1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  3. 1/4 - 1/2 cup mashed banana
  4. 1/4 cup of silken tofu
  5. 1/2 cup soy yogurt
  6. 1 tablespoon flax seeds plus 3 Tablespoons water
  7. 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
  8. 1 cup coconut milk mixed with 1 tablespoon ground flax
  9. 1 cup soy milk mixed with 1/4 cup tapioca flour and 1 tablespoon flax seed
  10. 1/2 - 3/4 cup of coconut yogurt
  11. 1 cup of water
  12. 1/4 cup prune puree
Not quite "dozens" but I was going for a subtle Arrested Development reference. I specifically didn't mention the pre-made egg replacements because they cost too much and incorporate a lot of different ingredients which are completely unnecessary. Keep it simple is my baking mantra.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes 101










One of the best recipes you can mast is the standard chocolate cupcake. Once you have this one down you can modify it any which way to create some really spectacular cupcakes. Pictured above are standard chocolate cupcakes with a rich chocolate ganache and and variation of that recipe Oreo® Cookie Cupcakes made with a standard chocolate cupcake recipe but with mashed cookies and then topped with a vegan butter cream frosting with more mashed cookies. I'm providing three basic chocolate cupcake recipes, each one has a different binding base starting from least to most dense.

Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcake 1.0
INGREDIENTS

WET GOODS
1 cup of soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup pastry flour

DRY GOODS

1/3 cup cocoa powder (or 3oz melted chocolate)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit long enough for the soy milk to curdle and then mix in the rest of the wet goods. In a separate bowl mix the dry goods together well using a fork, then slowly add the dry goods to the wet goods. Bake at 350º for 18-24 minutes or until inserting a toothpick in the center come out clean.

Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcake 1.1
INGREDIENTS

WET GOODS
1/2 cup of soy yogurt
2/3 cup of soy/rice milk
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup pastry flour

DRY GOODS

1/3 cup cocoa powder (or 3oz melted chocolate)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk together the wet goods mixing well. In a separate bowl mix the dry goods together well using a fork, then slowly add the dry goods to the wet goods. Bake at 350º for 18-24 minutes or until inserting a toothpick in the center come out clean.

Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcake 1.2
INGREDIENTS

WET GOODS
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon ground flax seed
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup pastry flour

DRY GOODS

1/3 cup cocoa powder (or 3oz melted chocolate)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whist the ground flax seeds with the coconut milk and let sit for about 10-12 minutes then whisk in the remaining wet goods. In a separate bowl mix the dry goods and slowly fold the wet goods with the dry goods. The batter will be thick, scooping the batter into cupcake pan is the easiest way to transfer it. Bake at 350º for 18-24 minutes or until inserting a toothpick in the center come out clean.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Lemon Lavender Cupcakes










These were my first attempt at blending lavender with another flavor and I have to say it wasn't a huge success. These cupcakes were awesome, the lemon covered up the lavender which is I'm OK with since it didn't ruin the cupcakes. Next time I'll leave the lavender out of the cake and top the cupcakes with a lavender glaze. The people over at eHow have this to say about baking with lavender;

Lavender is a plant with edible flowers. The dried buds are infused into teas that many people use for medicinal purposes. Lavender can also be used in baking to impart a delicate floral flavor and color to various confections.
I'm going to try and make a chocolate lavender cupcake for James, he insists that it was his favorite cupcake at a local shop until he developed a dairy allergy.

I used the same butter cream frosting for the Lemon Lavender as I used for the Tangerine Zest, and it rocked!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Tangerine Zest Cupcakes










I've always been very fond of tangerines, I loved getting the canned version during visits at my Grandmother's house. Now I would never touch those things considering all the artificial shit they pump in. James and I were at Wholefoods® the other day and we had to grab tangerines for this tangerine baked tofu recipe we were preparing from our bible Veganomicon. I instantly thought of a making tangerine cupcakes, because that's all this unemployed queen can think about right now.

The recipe I came up with was a tangerine overload, these cupcakes were so amazing I almost wanted to hide them and develop another eating disorder. The cake itself has tangerine juice and zest, and i topped the cupcake with a tangerine butter cream frosting also with a little juice and a lot of zest. I think these are in my top ten best cupcakes thus far. I'll be taking what's left to a vegan outing tonight, I think they'll all love them or hopefully just lie and tell me they love them.

I'm a cake man, I have a strong distaste for lots of frosting a little is great if its used to highlight the cupcake and not cover up a mediocre cake. Many of the "in vogue" cupcake places (most of which do not carry vegan anything) pile on the frosting so much so that all you see is a wad of frosting. Gross. Lately I've been experimenting with vegan butter cream frosting with a lot of success with citrusy frostings. Starting with a standard butter cream frosting recipe of;

1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups of powdered sugar

Once you've creamed the margarine and shortening together slowly add in the powdered sugar adding splashes of citrus juice until well mixed. Then simply add in 2-3 teaspoons of zest and you've got a killer frosting.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Minty Chocolaty Cupcakes










These cupcakes KILLED at a vegan gathering several months ago. By far one of my all-time favorite recipes. I went a little over board on the mint, James said it was too much when he tasted the batter, thankfully some of the minty flavor was lost when I baked these.

When it comes to mixing flavors it doesn't get much better than mint and chocolate (my words). These cupcakes are really easy too, just take your basic chocolate cupcake recipe (vegan or not) and substitute most of the vanilla extract ( I usually add about 1/4 teaspoon) with about 2- 2 1/2 teaspoons of mint extract.

I like topping these with a pure chocolate ganache;

1/4 cup soy milk
2-3 tablespoons of agave nectar
4-6 oz of chocolate chips

heat soy milk over low heat, when the milk is nearly boiling add agave nectar and remove from heat. Slowly add in the chocolate chips until thick and creamy.

For a little extra gay factor I added a few mint leaves to each cupcake.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Rooibos Tea Cupcakes










I've been on a red tea (rooibos) binge ever since I found this product Red Espresso™ at a tea shop in Boston. The product is essential ground rooibos at an inflated price. We've found it a lot cheaper at local tea shops, WholeFoods® and local Co-ops for a lot less you just have to toss it in a spice grinder for a little extra grinding.

I've been tinkering with the idea of making cupcakes with rooibos since I got laid off last week (insert sobs). My first attempt was a slight failure, I made the mistake of brewing the tea in soy milk to extract the flavor. The second time around I decided to grind the tea really fine (break out the mortar and pestle if needed)

These Cupcakes have a light rooibos flavor that I complimented with a rose water glaze and an added bonus of vegan butter cream frosting.

Ingredients
Wet Goods;
1/2 cup coconut yogurt (soy yogurt works fine too)
2/3 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
Dry Goods;
1 1/4 cups pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegan sugar
4-5 teaspoons of ground rooibos tea

  • Set the Oven to 350 add cupcake liners to the cupcake pan.
  • Whisk the wet goods goods together and slowly sift in the dry goods mixing well.
  • Pour the batter into the cupcake pan and bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
I added a pink dye to the rose water glaze for that little extra "gay factor", they look fabulous!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Wasabi Chocolate Cupcakes


I found this recipe in a book (My Sweet Vegan) my friend Aimee got for me at Christmas. The flavors are awesome chocolate on chocolate with a smack of wasabi. I recommend a few taste tests before baking, my first attempt didn't have nearly enough wasabi to satisfy the heat mongers that eat my cupcakes.

I've always like the idea of combining non-traditional flavors with staple recipes. This recipe is a good example of non-traditional meets traditional done well. I've been meaning to try adding wasabi to a soy hot chocolate or using a sweet wasabi glaze on cookies and bars. Anything I try (that's successful) will make its way here.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Ghost Chile Chocolate Cupcakes



The Ghost Chile Chocolate Cupcakes are thus far the most intense cupcake I've ever attempted. My boyfriend picked some of these up at World Spice by Pike Place Market. We both liked the idea of adding this chile to a cupcake, so I began devising a way to "safely" add them to a batch.

According to World Spice:

The ghost chile, bhut jolokia, is a naturally occurring hybrid from the Assam region of NE India and move over red savina, it’s now officially the hottest chile on record and Guiness is willing to back us up on that. Not only does it pack a wallop of heat, (up to twice that of habanero), it has a rich flavor profile to go along with it. Hints of tomato and fruit will come through if it is USED IN MODERATION. So far we’ve made ghost chile chili, sweet potato pie and brownies with cream cheese swirl and all got rave reviews.
I made two versions of these cupcakes with huge success on the second batch. The heat was very intense, I couldn't eat more then one.