A Vegan Treat

I have been on a vegan baking kick for the past few weeks, and have had some great successes and some pretty awesome mistakes.  However, thanks to Isa Chandra Moskowitz at The Post Punk Kitchen and her wonderful recipe book "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World," I have found great recipes for vegan chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that no one (and I mean NO ONE!!!!!) has even suspected were vegan.

The chocolate version, with a vegan peanut butter buttercreme.

These have been such a hit that I was even able to send them into my daughter's Halloween party in her school and the kids loved them!

This is the vanilla version with a vanilla buttercreme, decorate for Halloween!

Again, you can feel free to make these cupcakes and give them to anyone with total confidence,  They will never know you are giving them a vegan cupcake (unless you spill the beans, of course).

Vegan Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Whisk the almond milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good and curdled.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.
Beat together the almond milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
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

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until 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 large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).

Lightly spray the liners with cooking spray and pour batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Get Your Mojo On!

So, my last posting had me singing the praises of a local cupcake establishment, but since then, I have come across another fabulously delicious and sweet cupcake shop right here in Weymouth, Massachusetts:

CUPCAKE MOJO!

My first introduction to the Mojo was when I saw these lovely ladies compete on the Food Network show "Cupcake Wars."  At the time, they did not have a store front, but a few months later I saw in the local newspaper that they had set up shop in my hometown.  Being the baking nerd that I am, I had to check them out.

I am SO glad I did.  From when I first entered the store, Maureen, the owner, made me feel welcome, almost like an old friend!  And on every visit since, she welcomes me by name and knows my girls as well.  The other staff that work there are just as friendly and kind, and have a great rapport with all their customers.

And I haven't even mentioned the star of the show yet...the cupcakes!!

They have a rotating menu of cupcake flavors daily.  Some flavors are more frequent than others, and they also have a great selection of seasonal cupcakes as well.  I have tried many of their flavors so far; their carrot cake is devine.  Many times carrot cake can be dry and mealy or overly spiced, but Cupcake Mojo's carrot cake is perfectly moist with a great carrot flavor and just enough cream cheese frosting to compliment the cake, without overpowering.  I have also especially enjoyed the seasonal Pumpkin Mousse cupcake (pumpkin anything rocks!),  the "Joyous Almond" (their take on the famous candy), and the Apple Cider.  They even recently made a "Hurricane Sandy" cupcake, to commemorate the coming hurricane, by topping a chocolate cupcake with a smooth peanut butter butter creme, covering that with more chocolate butter creme, drizzling it with even MORE peanut butter and chocolate, and topping it off with cut up candy bars!  Needless to say, I had to partake of this creation (what?  I needed the sugar energy to prepare for the storm).  I was not disappointed.

Learning to decorate (and eat!) cupcakes at at Cupcake Mojo in Weymouth, MA.

Cupcake Mojo also caters and has a party room for birthdays and other events.  I even had my daughter's 10th birthday there, where the kids learned how to fill and decorate cupcakes.

So, the next time you are looking for a sweet treat, get your behind over to Weymouth Landing and into Cupcake Mojo!