Vegan Valentine’s Day cupcakes [guest post]

[Blog post by fellow flâneuse Rose from Velvet Rose Cakes]

This post is the start of my new venture as a guest blogger for flânerie féminine and I look forward to sharing my vegan baking tips with you during 2013.

Valentine’s Day is next on the baking calendar. This is a great holiday for me, because I can really indulge my feminine side whilst feeling a little like cupid’s helper at the same time.

For those of you who have never tried vegan baking, you might be wondering how it is possible to make a cake without breaking a few eggs (pun intended!). Well, I have a blog on my website explaining the ‘science bit’.

This recipe is actually from Tea with Bea: Recipes from Bea’s of Bloomsbury and I came across it whilst reading a post from Sweetapolita. It is popular with vegans and non-vegans alike!

If you are a strict vegan you will need to check all your products are dairy and animal product free.

Vegan chocolate cupcakes with rose flavored frosting

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tray with cases.

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes:

• 140g plain flour
• 50g quality cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (aka baking soda)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of cooking salt
• 110g caster sugar (golden caster sugar is preferable but not essential)
• 225ml soy milk
• 1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 160ml sunflower oil

Method:

1. In a large bowl sift all the dry ingredients together, twice. Keep your sieve fairly high to get lots of air into the mix.
2. In a separate bowl combine all the wet ingredients with the sugar and whisk together. I like to add the vanilla extract to the soy milk first to ensure the flavor goes right through the mix.
3. Lastly combine both the wet and dry ingredients together and mix in an electric mixer or with a hand mixer under well combined.
4. Spread the mixture evenly between the cup cases – I use an ice cream scoop for this. The mix will be very wet but should feel thick and look glossy.
5. Bake in the oven for approximately 18 minutes but check your cakes after 15 minutes with a tooth pick – it will come away clean if the cake is cooked. This mix rises really well and if you know your oven is fast, perhaps try baking them at 10 degrees lower to avoid them splitting.
6. Leave to cool in the tray for a few minutes before placing on a baking tray to cool completely.
7. Meanwhile you can make up your frosting ready to decorate however you wish. I decided to add rose water flavoring instead of vanilla extract and to add a little rose gel food coloring to my frosting for that romantic touch!

Basic vegan frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegan (soy) margarine
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract or your flavouring of choice. I used two tablespoons of rose water. To make a devilishly rich chocolate frosting, add 140g of chopped, melted and cooled quality dark chocolate.
• Add a little soy milk if the mixture is too thick.

Method:

1. Soften the butter a little in the electric mixer.
2. Add the icing sugar – you can sift it first if you need to – in two or three parts. You can place a damp towel over your mixer to minimise the icing sugar getting all over your kitchen! Mix until smooth.
3. Add your flavoring and mix again. Because I had to add quite a bit of rose water and as it is such a subtle taste, I added a little more icing sugar so that the frosting wasn’t too wet.
4. If you are coloring your frosting, add a little of the gel paste using a tooth pick. If you are keeping your frosting natural, you may need to mix it for a further few minutes to get a lovely pale white colour, as margarine is very yellow.
5. Once you are happy with the colour and taste of your frosting, spoon some into a piping bag or directly onto your cakes to decorate.
6. You might like to add a finishing touch as I did using sugar hearts.
7. Present to your loved one and watch them smile! Taking the time to bake for your valentine will show how much you love them 🙂

For more yummy cupcake posts:

• Website: www.VelvetRoseCakes.com
• Facebook fan page: /VelvetRoseCakes
• Twitter: @VelvetRoseCakes