Bake Sales Now Legal in the City of Worcester! (link)

In response to the rude shut-down of our VegWorcester vegan bake sale last month, Drew has been meeting with city officials to figure out a way to move forward on a way to hold a "legal" bake sale in our city. Good news: Bake Sales Now Legal in the City of Worcester (link) !!!

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cup flour
1 TSP baking powder
1/2 TSP baking soda
3 TSP ground ginger
1 TSP ground cinnamon
1/4 TSP ground cloves
1/4 TSP ground nutmeg
1/4 TSP salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup light molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup rice milk
2 tbsp soy yogurt

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line cupcake tin with liners.  Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk oil, molasses, maple syrup, rice milk & yogurt in a separate bowl.  Add the wet to the dry and mix just until combined.  Fill cupcake liners and bake for approx. 20 minutes. Top with vegan vanilla buttercream frosting. Happy holidays!

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

VEGAN PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP CUPCAKES

(from the book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World)

INGREDIENTS:

1 can pumpkin

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup rice or soy milk

1 TSP  vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 TSP baking powder

1/2  TSP baking soda

1/2  TSP ground cinnamon

1/4 TSP salt

1/2 cup vegan choc chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 & line muffin pan w/ cupcake liners In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, rice milk and vanilla. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon & salt. Stir together with a fork. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22-24 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let full cook before icing. The book calls for cinnamon icing, but I just used the fluffy buttercream frosting recipe and added some cinnamon.

VEGAN HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES

VEGAN HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES 

I made these creeptastic vegan cupcakes with a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and you can find it in an earlier blog post of mine (http://vegpanda.blogspot.com/2010/04/vegan-chocolate-cupcake-recipe.html) Make sure to use organic vegan food coloring to avoid icky animal ingredients and unnecessary chemical additives. You can top with any kind of vegan decorations and candy- I used plastic spider rings & Sunspire dairy free chocolate chips.

Vegan Peanut-Sun-Butter Cupcakes

VEGAN PEANUT-SUN-BUTTER CUPCAKES: 
 I made these vegan cupcakes for my mom's birthday because I know she's a fan of peanut butter & chocolate. The recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World (as usual.) I actually made a variation, using half peanut-butter and half sunflower-seed butter for the amount quoted in the recipe. I over-cooked them by about 1 or 2 minutes by accident, so they turned out a bit dry but otherwise not bad. I hope she liked these, but I doubt I'd make them again unless I get a request because I'm not a huge fan of chocolate frosting. I used Maranatha crunchy peanut butter (organic/natural and soooo freekin good,) and I also used Sunbutter natural crunch sunflower seed butter. If you're allergic to peanuts, try Sunbutter! If you're not allergic to peanuts- try sunbutter! 

Vegan Pineapple Right-Side Up Cupcakes

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4th tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1 cup crushed pineapple
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 maraschino cherries 

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

•  1 cup crushed pineapple
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

CUPCAKE DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan w/ adorable cupcake liners.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt & spices in a large bowl.
I actually used a little less of the spices (like a small dash of each.)
Combine pineapple, oil, sugar and vanilla in a blender and puree.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Pour batter into liners, just over half-full to leave room for topping.
Bake for 25-27 minutes. 

TOPPING DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients in small saucepan.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and boil for 30 seconds.
Reduce heat to low, continue to stir for one minute. Remove from heat.
Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes and then top with topping.

NOTES: This vegan pineapple cupcake recipe is from the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It was mad easy to make and insanely delicious. The cake part was moist and sponge-y (in a pleasant way) and would even be great on its own for breakfast. I get most of my groceries at Shaws and The Living Earth (Park Ave in Worcester) but there are no hard to find or special ingredients in this recipe. You can use canned or fresh pineapple and crush it yourself. I use unbleached flour and organic versions of the stuff on this list also.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE
From: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World
(Makes 12 regular size cupcakes or 24 minis)

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup soy milk (rice/almond/hemp milks also work)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar (look for raw cane sugar)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond, chocolate, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

CUPCAKE DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F and
line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a
measuring cup and set aside a few minutes
3. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract
(and any other extracts if using) to
the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour,
cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add in two batches of wet ingredients
and beat till no large lumps remain
6. Fill cupcake liners three quarters of the way
and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick
inserted into the center comes out clean.
(Bake approx 10-12 minutes if using mini-cupcake pans.)
7. Transfer to a cooling rack and let
cool completely before frosting.


VEGAN FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
(Makes 3-4 cups of frosting)

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1/4 cup vegan margarine (we use earth balance)
3 ½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted if clumpy
¼ cup plain soy milk or creamer
(rice/almond/hemp/organic milks also work fine)

FROSTING DIRECTIONS:
1. Beat the shortening and margarine
together until well combined and fluffy.
2. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
3. Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for another
5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

NOTES: I make the vegan chocolate cupcakes & vegan vanilla cupcakes
fairly often. They get easier to make each time and are fun
to decorate. You can get Earth Balance vegan margarine at
Shaws, The Living Earth or Whole Foods. The non-hydrogenated
shortening can be found at The Living Earth or Whole Foods also.
These days you can get rice or soy milk at just about every
grocery store. Almond milk and hemp milk are becoming more
common. Whole foods has the best selection, but I know
Shaws Wild Harvest section has a few organic options also.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Vegan vanilla cupcakes for the VegFest wrap-up potluck ;)