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.