"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud." ~ Emile Zola

06 July 2009

Baking Out Loud: The Vegan Cupcake Chronicles

I made these yummy vegan cupcakes for my partner's birthday- chocolate cake with coconut icing! Sooo moist and tasty...




I never made a cupcake in my life, vegan or otherwise, until we had a cupcake shop boom here in Pittsburgh, with several touting vegan options. Of course I sought them out, always on the search for another fabulous vegan dessert. They actually left alot to be desired, which made me want to try to make a better one myself! And so I stumbled upon Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (thanks, Isa!), a sweet little cookbook filled with endless recipes for tempting little cups of moist and flavorful cakey delight. :P

The recipe I used for these cupcakes is actually an off-shoot of Vegan Cupcake's "Basic Chocolate Cupcake", a variation I found on yum, yum kidcupcake's blog! The results? The same delectable taste, but with a deeper, richer flavor and texture... So good! The secret ingredient? Sour cream!

Instead of the coconut frosting used in yum, yum's recipe, I used Vegan Cupcake's Vegan Buttercream Icing recipe, but substituted 1 tsp of coconut extract for the vanilla and So Delicious's new Coconut Milk Beverage for the soymilk. I also added a cup of shredded, unsweetened coconut. I was really feeling all gourmet-chef-like when making these for some reason, and I decided to add a few of the ingredients using fancy, bartender like estimation rather than measuring. BIG MISTAKE! I ended up with way too much liquid, therefore had to add lots more sugar, therefore had to add more shortening and soy butter to balance things out, WHICH made the frosting overly fatty and very prone to melting at anywhere near room temperature. So, quite a mess... but VERY TASTY, both alone and on top of the chocolate cupcakes!

It was a huge challenge, but I was able to save some for the actual birthday celebration! Bottom line? Happy tastebuds and joyful tummies for both me and my partner. Yay! :)

5 comments:

Julie Webb Photography said...

They sound and look delicious! Haha, the old "I added too much wet so now I need to add more dry" game... although, too much frosting doesn't sound like a bad thing! :)

I've NEVER made cupcakes! It's on my list though so maybe I'll try these ones. :)

panda with cookie said...

Hello cupcake.

VeggieAmanda said...

These look delicious! Yum!

3 AM Art said...

Those look great. I made some today, and they exploded everywhere too much b. soda. Still taste fine, tho. I'm gonna have to get measuring spoons. :)

Too much frosting.. never a bad thing! :)

Lotus Out Loud ॐ said...

haha :) thanks for commenting! :D Julie, i can't believe you've NEVER made cupcakes! i will be waiting to hear that you've broken the cupcake barrier when you get back from your trip!

Heather- your cupcakes EXPLODED??? hahaha oh nooooo! didya have your camera around for that one? :P :)