Maple Brown Sugar Cupcakes

Whew! It's been a while.  Sometimes life takes over and cupcakes don't get baked or blogged about.  Well it has been a few months since I blogged but definitely not a few months since I've baked.  It's good to be back and definitely delicious.

This cupcake is a maple cupcake topped with vanilla brown sugar buttercream.  As always the cupcakes are vegan and made with love and the undeniable need for a cupcake.  Experimenting with cupcakes is one of the greatest things.  If this is what you did in Chemistry in high school, experiment and eat your results, I would have been a full blown chemist or at least passed every test, well the eating part at least.

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees, line your cupcake tins and get all of your ingredients together.  The cupcake recipe yields about 21 cupcakes, not quite 2 dozen.

Maple Cupcake

2 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup almond milk (feel free to use soy if prefer)
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 + 1 tablespoon of canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons maple extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sift flour, baking powder and soda together in a separate bowl.  Mix the almond milk and apple cider vinegar together and let sit for a few minutes.  Mix brown sugar, regular sugar and oil in a bowl.  Mix the oil and sugars together for a few minutes and then add the extracts.  Mix for another few minutes until the sugar is completely saturated with all of the oil and extracts.  Add the almond milk mixture and mix for about a minute until foamy.  Add the flour mixture a little bit a time until completely mixed and you have your batter.

Fill the cupcake tins about 3/4 full with batter and stick in the oven.

Can I get 15 minutes on the clock Phil?

After 15 minutes check the cupcakes with a toothpick and the pick should come out clean.  Depending on your oven it may take a little less or a little more.

Vanilla Brown Sugar Buttercream

3/4 cup non-dairy butter (earth balance was used in my recipe)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 heaping tablespoons brown sugar
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream together butter and shortening until nice and creamy.  Add the brown sugar and mix for a few minutes until the brown sugar is thoroughly mixed.  Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until the frosting is light and fluffy.  Add the extract at the end.  If the frosting needs it you can always add a little bit more sugar.

Put the frosting in a frosting bag with a tip of your choice and frost the heck out of those cupcakes.  Make sure and let your cupcakes cool down all of the way before you frost them.

After frosting the cupcakes you can top with the nut of your choice.  I used a peanut, walnut mixture and it worked well.

This is one army of cupcakes that you won't be afraid to do battle with.

It has a maple cake flavor with a sweet brown sugary buttercream that reminds you of the frosting on a maple bar.  This is the perfect cupcake to kick back and watch the leaves fall from the trees during those chilly fall months.  So grab a cup of coffee, a spot of tea or whatever beverage of choice you enjoy on a chilly fall day is and sit back and enjoy a cupcake or two.

Tip of the day: refrigerating the cupcakes after frosting helps the frosting to set nicely.

So for now, sugar kisses and cupcake dreams.  Bake on...

Super Lemon Cherry Topped Cupcake

Well it's good to be back.  There was a two week baking hiatus due to traveling for a spectacular wedding.  Congratulations to my sister-in-law Amy and new brother-in- law Steevo on their recent nuptials.  The wedding was incredible and the fun was non-stop.  Now that I'm back so are the cupcakes.

This week's cupcake is a lemon cupcake with a bit of cherry frosting.  The lemon cupcake is oh so lemony and the frosting has a sweet hint of cherry that works well with the tartness of the lemon.  I thought cherry would go well with lemon and would be a real summertime treat.  It is almost summer and the cupcake works well for the season.

This recipe is going to yield 24 cupcakes.  Make sure and preheat that oven.  During these summer months open the windows and get a nice breeze going through your kitchen so you don't have to feel the heat, although this cupcake will cool you down with it's sweet lemon goodness.

Line your cupcake pans and let the fun begin.

Lemon Cupcake

3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of earth balance or any dairy free butter
2 cups of sugar (raw cane sugar works well)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
1/4 cup oil (sunflower was used in this recipe)
1 cup of almond milk (or soy)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

mix together milk and vinegar and set aside.  Sift together all dry ingredients and set aside.  Mix together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add oil a little at a time until fully mixed and add extracts.  Mix in the lemon zest and mix for about a minute.  Start adding the dry mixture a little at a time changing between lemon juice and almond milk until all wet and dry ingredients are mixed thoroughly.  Spoon into cupcake tin about 3/4 full and bake for approx. 15 or until toothpick is dry.

Lil Bit of Cherry Frosting

3 cups of confectioner sugar
1/3 cup of marachino cherry juice
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup earth balance butter (or any vegan butter)
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

mix together butter and shortening until smooth and creamy.  Start adding sugar about 1/2 cup at a time with a little cherry juice until all sugar and cherry juice have been used.  Add extract and beat until nice and fluffy and light.

Top the cupcakes with your delicious frosting and as a decorative addition I added sugar balls.  It adds a nice addition to the cupcake without taking away anything from the flavor.  I was going to add fresh chopped cherries but they weren't very ripe and didn't look that great.  Oh well, there is always next time, especially for these little delicious cupcakes.

Tip of the day: don't frost your cupcakes while they are still warm.  It's a little mistake that can cause all of your frosting to melt away.

So until next time, enjoy the lemony treat for summer and keep on baking in the free world.  Oh and don't forget "The Lemon Song" to go with your cupcakes.

As always, sugar kisses and cupcake dreams. 

Krystle's Farewell Coconut Chocolate Cupcakes

This week's cupcake is a coconut cupcake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and a little bit of slightly toasted coconut.  The cupcake is dedicated to my friend Krystle who is going to be leaving our mutual place of employment this week and onto better things.  We wish her all the best of luck in her endeavors and therefore dedicated this cupcake to her. 

Let's talk coconut cupcake.  I find that there really is no such thing as too much coconut.  This cupcake has coconut milk, coconut powder, coconut extract and fresh shaved coconut cooked in it as well as on top of it.  The funny thing is, it's not really that overwhelming of a coconut flavor.  It's a nice hint of coconut in the cupcake and the little coconut shavings on top adds a nice little addition to the already coconut flavor.  This cupcake was slightly deceiving in the cooking time.  You shouldn't cook it for more than 15 minutes.  I promise.  I went a minute longer and realized that a few more minutes and it would have been way too long so it was taken out at 16 minutes.  Don't get me wrong the cupcake is delicious and still soft and has a great consistency, but as a warning you have to watch this sneaky cupcake.

Chocolate and coconut.  It's good and simple, just like that.

This recipe made exactly 24 cupcakes.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Always remember to preheat the oven.

Coconut Cupcake

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of coconut powder (found this at a specialty food store)
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1 can of coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/3 cup oil (sunflower)
1 1/2 cup of sugar

Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) including coconut powder, mix together oil and sugar in a bowl, add dry ingredients and coconut milk alternating back and forth until everything is mixed together, add extract and shredded coconut and mix for approximately 3 minutes

Bake for 15 minutes.  Check the cupcakes and if there is still cake on the toothpick give it another minute or so.

Chocolate Frosting with a hint of coconut

1/4 cup of vegetable shortening
1/4 cup of butter (earth balance)
2 3/4 cup of confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup of almond milk (or soy whatever your preference)
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of cocoa powder

mix together butter and shortening and add the chocolate and sugar a little bit at a time incorporating the almond (or soy) milk a little at a time.  Add the extracts at the end and beat it, just beat it.

Toast the shredded coconut at 350 in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Top the coconut cupcakes with frosting and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.  BAM! Delicious cupcake for you.

So to Krystle, we raise our cupcakes to you, wishing you all the luck in the world.  You will do awesome because you're awesome.

Cheers! We will miss you.  By we I mean me and the cupcakes.

Tip of the week: always follow your dreams.

So leaving you this week with sugar kisses and coconut cupcake dreams.

Until next week bake on.

Everyone Loves a Hostess

This is the multi-cupcake blog week.  It's been three weeks since the blog has been updated.  First, let's start by saying Happy belated Easter.  There was an Easter cupcake that was deserving of it's own blog but unfortunately didn't get it, so this little treat will be piggybacking on this weeks cupcake, which is a vegan hostess style cupcake.  You know the kind with the sweet cream in the middle and the chocolate on top with the little swirls.  Second, there was a baking disaster last week that caused the blog to be put on hold yet again.  Here is a tip: don't overcook banana cupcakes.  Here is another tip: banana is hard to use for cupcakes so make sure the bananas are very ripe and very soft and don't overdo it on the bananas.  BUT...now that the disaster is over and forgotten (queue Aerosmith "Back In the Saddle") the blog is back.

So first the Easter basket cupcake.  This cupcake is the similar to the vegan french vanilla cupcake from a previous blog with a few changes:

Vanilla Cupcake

3 cups of soy milk
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
4 1/2 cups of flour
1 3/4 tablespoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 cups of sugar (we used raw cane)
1 cup of oil (we prefer sunflower)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoons almond extract

Heat oven to 350.  Whisk the apple cider vinegar and soy together in a bowl and set and set aside, sift all the dry ingredients together, whisk the soymilk, sugar, oil, vanilla and almond together until foamy and then add the dry ingredients half at a time until combined

bake about 15-18 minutes or until your toothpick isn't covered in raw batter.

Almond Butter Cream

1/2 cup earth balance (or any vegan butter)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening 

3 1/2 cups of confectioner sugar

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract (depending on how almond of a flavor you want)

1 tablespoon almond milk

cream together butter and shortening.  Add sugar a little at a time with a little soy.  Add almond last and whip until creamy and fluffy.

Take some shredded coconut and toss it in green food coloring and toast it in the oven at 350 for about 10 - 15 minutes.  Top with jelly beans or robins eggs (this will make it not vegan though b/c they are made with milk chocolate).  Voila! Edible Easter baskets. 

Moving on to this week's cupcake.  It's a Hostess - for this cupcake's sake lets call it a Mostess (get it me, I'm Mo).  Yep, it kind of loses the appeal if it needs to be explained.  Oh well, it's still a great cupcake. 

Chocolate Cupcake

2 cups almond milk

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup of cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar (raw sugar works well)

2/3 cup of oil (sunflower is real nice)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond

You will get about 24 cupcakes out of this recipe.   Mix the vinegar and milk together and set aside for a few minutes.  Mix together dry ingredients and set aside - sifting is good.  Mix together oil, sugar and extracts.  Add almond milk mixture and beat for about 2 minutes.  Add the dry ingredients a little a time until well mixed and there aren't any lumps.  

Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out squeaky clean.

Creamy Center and Topping

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1/3 cup vegan butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon almond milk (or soy)

2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

beat the butter and shortening together until creamy.  Add sugar a little at a time.  Add milk and vanilla when almost done with sugar.  Whip for about 5 minutes. 

Chocolate Topping (Ganache)

1/4 almond milk

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure they don't have milk in them)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

boil milk and vanilla and dump over chocolate chips stirring until melted. 

Dip the cupcakes in the chocolate and let sit for about 10-15 minutes.  Use frosting bag to insert the creamy center and another bag with a smaller tip to create the swirl. 

Oh yes.  These are a delightful little treat.  They will take you back. 

Make sure you don't have air pockets in the frosting bag when you are doing the little swirl or else you will get some of them that look a little funky.  Well, since the only place that perfection exists is in the dictionary no matter how the little swirls turn out these cupcakes are delicious. 

Coming to a close it's good to be back.

Tip of the day:  Actually tip of the last two weeks - don't walk away from your cupcakes for too long.  Always pay attention even if you set a timer b/c you may set it for 25 minutes instead of 15 minutes and then have small banana rocks.  Just saying.

Until next time, sugar kisses and cupcakes dreams.

I'M BACK IN SADDLE AGAIN! I'MMMMMMM BACKKKKKKKKKK! 

Big Waves of Mango Coconut

This week's cupcake is a vegan mango cupcake with bits of candied mango inside topped with a coconut buttercream frosting and rolled in toasted coconut.  This cupcake has big flavors like being on the inside of a big wave in Hawaii.  It helped that "The Bruce Movie" was on in the background so there was a lot of big wave surfing that added some inspiration to the cupcake.

Mango! The mango isn't a real sweet flavor but a nice mild sweet in the cupcake and the candied mango pieces not only helped to enhance the mango flavor but also added a nice texture to the cupcake.  The buttery consistency of the frosting topped with the toasted coconut really brings it all together.  Imagine standing up a surf board, coming through through the barrel of a wave and being shot out of the other side into the blue water and sunshine.  We've never personally experienced surfing a big wave but from watching this in a movie and then eating this cupcake they seem to go hand in hand.

The recipe yields about 24 large cupcakes and about a dozen babies.  Preheat the oven to 350 and give those cupcake trays a lining.

Mango Cupcake


3 cups of flour (this week no self rising flour)
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup of sugar (still using sugar in the raw)
2 cups of mango (feel free to use more if you like too much mango isn't a bad thing)
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) and set aside.  Mix sugar, oil and almond milk for about a minute.  Add in dry ingredients a little at a time and add mango a little at a time switching off until everything is well blended.  Add vanilla and coconut extract and mix for another minute.  Scoop into cupcake tins about 3/4 full.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting


1 cup of butter (earth balance)
1 cup of vegetable shortening
3 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tsp of coconut extract
dash of vanilla

Cream together butter and shortening.  Add sugar in 1/2 cups until well mixed and fluffy.  Add extract and mix for another minute.

For the toasted coconut we used shaved coconut.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread thin layer of coconut on a baking sheet covered in foil.  Bake for about 10 minutes checking periodically for the coconut to brown.

Once the cupcake has cooled you can frost it and roll it in the toasted coconut.  You can be generous with the toasted coconut because it adds a really good flavor.  Just don't eat in all in the process of baking the cupcakes.

This cupcake will make you want to be in the tropics watching or if you are so inclined participating in some surfing activities.  What would make this cupcake better? Nothing, it is very delicious and has a nice balance of flavors.

Tip of the day: gas is getting expensive, walk more.

Until next time surfs up and get your bake on.  As always, sugar kisses and cupcake dreams.

The Pistachio Cupcake Effect

The Pistachio Effect

Refers to all phenomena where foods tastes better because they require some type of work to actually consume. Examples include, but are not limited to, bone in chicken wings, crab legs, sunflower seeds, clam, lobster, assorted fruits i.e. kiwifruit and pomegranates. The name comes from the pistachio nut because it is traditionally sold in its shell and requires a nutcracker or hand wrenching to release the nut. This effect has no connection to the 2009 short film with the same name.

The above notation is taken from Wikipedia and it seems appropriate to add for this week's cupcake since it was a labor intensive process opening each pistachio by hand and hopefully it makes the cupcake taste better.  

The cupcake is a pistachio cupcake topped with a buttercream icing.  The top of the cupcake browned a little and has a little bit of a crunch to it almost cookie-like.  The pistachio is not overwhelming and not a very strong taste overall.  It is a difficult flavor to have come through strong and the first time we worked with it.  Overall the cupcake turned out delicious but again the pistachio flavor isn't very strong.  This cupcake did take a while to make and the labor of love that went into makes it all the more delicious when eating.  

Yields appox. 24 regular cupcakes and 12 minis.  Preheat the oven to 350 and line your cupcake tins.

Vegan Pistachio Cupcake

3 cups of flour (still using self rising)

2 packages of pistachio flavored jello pudding (yes it's vegan and who knew)

1 cup of shelled pistachios (this is the labor of love - you can buy shelled pistachios for a lot more money by why take away the fun of shelling them)

1 cup of butter (earth balance)

1 1/2 cup of sugar 

1/3 cup of oil (canola)

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup of soy milk

2 tsp of apple cider vinegar

Shell the pistachios and finely chop using a food processor.  Mix together the soy and vinegar and set aside.  Sift together the flour and the pudding mix and also set aside.  Mix together the butter and sugar and add the oil a little bit at a time until well mixed and then add the vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time while adding the milk mixture in between until it is all mixed together.  

The batter is going to seem really thick but trust when we say it's gonna be good.  Fill your muffin tins about 1/2 to 3/4 full and bake for approx. 15-18 minutes or until your toothpick comes out batter free.

Buttercream Frostin'

1 cup of butter (earth balance)

1 cup of vegetable shortening

3 tsp of vanilla

4 1/2 cups of confectioner sugar

1 tablespoon of soy milk

Mix together butter and sugar add in confectioner sugar a little at a time.  At the end mix in the soy milk and vanilla. 

Top your cupcakes with a few crushed pistachios.  You will need the pistachios, a baggie and something to smash them with.

It's a subtle pistachio flavor with a sweet creamy icing.  It's yum yum yum delicious.  

We were going to also top this cupcake with fresh raspberries but unfortunately the store did not have them.  Just a suggestion though as it seems that this cupcake would be good with a bit of raspberry on top. 

Tip of the day:  say hi to a stranger at least once a day.

Until next time sugar kisses and cupcake dreams. 

Draped in Red Velvet

This week's cupcake is a vegan red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing. Even though all of our cupcakes are vegan we like to just throw it in there every once in a while, maybe for the newcomer.  It's a tasty little number.  It just kind of throws it's jazz hands at you and sashays into your stomach.  The cake is nice and the icing is sweet and creamy.

The recipe that was used yielded about 18 regular cupcakes and 12 minis.  The minis are fun because it's like two cupcakes got together and had a baby.  Little baby red velvet.  A one bite cupcake baby.  We aren't saying you should eat babies but cupcake babies are okay.

Cupcake


2 cups of almond milk (you can also use soy)
2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
2 cups of sugar (still using sugar in the raw)
2 1/2 cups of flour (still on the self rising kick)
1/4 cup of cocoa
2/3 cup of oil
1 tablespoon of red food coloring
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

**note: if not using self rising flour you will need about 1 teaspoon of baking soda, salt and baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 and line your cupcake tins.

Mix your milk and vinegar together and set aside.  Sift your flour and cocoa together and set aside.  Mix together sugar, oil, vanilla, almond, food coloring and milk until frothy.  Mix in the flour mixture a little bit at a time until completely mixed and not lumpy.

Bake for about 16-18 minutes.  Check with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean.

Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting


3/4 cup of butter (earth balance)
3/4 cup of vegan cream cheese
4 cups of confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla

Mix your butter and cream cheese together until creamy.  Mix in sugar about a cup at a time.  On the last cup of sugar add your vanilla, mix together until you have a nice creamy consistency.

Let the cupcakes cool prior to frosting, otherwise you will have a cupcake that looks like it shook all of the icing off of it's top and down onto the sides.

It's a good old favorite to have on hand and come on who the heck doesn't enjoy some red velvet?

Tip of the day: don't fill your mini cupcakes more than half full.  The liners will drop into the cups once they are about half full.

Until next time sugar kisses and cupcake dreams.