RECIPE: Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes (Vegan)

Wait, wait, wait...come on back here!

This recipe may be vegan but once you put these tasty little morsels in your mouth I promise that both you and your mouth will be instant converts and your friends will never even know the dairy is missing.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite dessert recipe books and from two of my favorite vegan chefs - Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. These uber cool chicks hail from Brooklyn and have been cooking and baking up a fury on their online cooking show - The Post Punk Kitchen - since 2003. They are also the authors of the famed, "Veganomicon." (you need to say it in the movie announcer voice...really)

This particular recipes is from, "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World," which is packed with a ton of other tasty cakey treats.

Vegan Tip: When buying white sugar, make sure to look for vegan sugar...not a bad idea even if you are vegetarian. Many white sugar refineries use bone char (charcoal made from animal bone) during processing making it less suitable for those of us with a vegan/vegetarian diet. You can find a pretty good list of some confirmed safe and un-safe companies here. Also, Whole Foods Market sells vegan white sugar at a reasonable price.

Environmental Tip: While paper liners can be fun for muffins/cupcakes, re-usable plastic liners save you money, reduce random trips to the store and provide a fantastic way to cut down on your paper consumption. I currently have a set of Wilton liners which are resilient little buggers! There are a lot of brands and a lot of styles so go get some...

And now on to the fun part...

Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes with Old Fashioned Velvet Icing:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Cooling/Icing Time: 1-2 hours

Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder (dutch pressed or regular)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil (can substitute safflower/sunflower)
2 tbsp food coloring (or a good chunk of solid paste color)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 tsp chocolate extract (I have never found this, but it has not been missed in my recipe)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. (Should be frothy.)
3. Sift (yes, it's worth it) the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and mix.
4. Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate extract (if using) and almond extract to the curdled soy milk. Whisk well to combine. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing just until large lumps disappear (do not overmix).
5. Fill cupcake liners about two-thirds of the way full as these cupcakes will rise fairly high. Place in hot oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until done, but be sure not to overbake. Let cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Old Fashioned Velveteen Icing:
It is extremely important to completely cool the cooked flour mixture before beating in the shortening and margarine. An electric mixer can be a necessary tool to get the right consistency.
You can work on this while your cupcakes on cooling. Because a portion of this icing needs to cool in the refrigerator, it is not a bad idea to begin when your cupcakes come out of the oven.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (can get vegan at Whole Foods Market)
1/4 cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance - Soy Garden is a good brand)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup superfine or castor sugar

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the flour and soy milk. Stir constantly until the mixture starts to thicken and has a puddinglike consistency, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and press plastic wrap onto the top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Allow mixture to cool completely before the next step. (as you might guess, this is very important...a warm pudding/custard might melt the fats in the next step)
2. Cream together the shortening, margarine, vanilla and sugar...then beat in the cold custard. Beat with electric mixer for 4 to 6 minutes; frosting should become lighter in color and have a very creamy texture, similar to thick whipped cream. Frost on cooled cupcakes, refrigerate for 15-20 minutes before serving.



If you make changes to this recipe with good results, please post in the comments section.