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Posts Tagged ‘cupcake’

Single Serving Funfetti Cupcake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on August 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »


Guess what I discovered this week? Spotify’s radio station “The Best Emo Songs of All Time”. I’m absolutely dying right now! I was all about the emo music in high school. I used to listen to Dashboard Confession and Brand New ad nauseam. This was pre-Ipod days, though. I remember sitting on the bus (ugh, if I never have to ride another bus, I’ll die happy) with my CD player and I’d listen to whichever CD I had over and over again. I saw Get Up Kids, Ataris and MXPX live in concert and I’m pretty sure my life was complete when MXPX played GSF live. Ok…maybe I still have a rather large soft spot in my heart for emo music (and Chris Carrabba…) I clearly need to get an Iphone just so I can carry this radio station with me everywhere!

Know what else I discovered this week that has nothing to do with my questionable taste in music (I actually made a Spotify playlist with Drake, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift…who am I?)? That this is Wicked Vegan’s 100th post!! YEAH! I was going to post a quesadilla for this post but I realized, um…a quesadilla isn’t celebratory at all. I need some sprinkles up in this joint!

Enter, the single-serving funfetti cupcake.

Single-Serving Funfetti Cupcake
from Chocolate Covered Katie
yields one cupcake

  • 3 tbsp flour (I used regular all purpose but you could use almost anything: whole wheat, pastry, spelt, etc.)
  • heaping 1/16th tsp salt
  • 1tbsp applesauce, oil, pre-melted vegan butter, or a combo (I used coconut because it’s all I had. You could definitely taste the coconut, which was delicious, just warning you)*
  • 1tbsp plus 1 tsp liquid (milk of choice, or water)
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp sprinkles (or more or less, as desired)
  • Sweetener (Try 1 tbsp sugar or 1 packet stevia. If you use liquid sweetener, cut back on the other liquid.)

*Note: CCK says “subbing all the oil in a recipe for applesauce will give you a gummier result. Still yummy, but much denser than your traditional cupcake with oil.”

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the ingredients and pour into an oiled (or sprayed) muffin pan. Smooth top of batter. Cook for 12-15ish minutes.

For the “frosting”, I was out of Earth Balance so a traditional butter cream was out. Plus, I wanted something fast to go with the recipe. So I just melted about an 1/8th cup of chocolate chips with a tsp of peanut butter in the microwave then swirled my cupcake in it. YUM!

 This came together so fast! I had all the ingredients and it was in the oven in within 5-10 minutes. It totally hit the spot for a fast sweet treat and the best part? You aren’t stuck with a dozen cupcakes! It’s perfect for a cheat day if you’re dieting cause you don’t have to worry about the left overs

For me? I found it perfect for when I was blasting emo music and  eating my emotions regarding my relationship limbo and uncertain future. Cupcakes make everything better. =)

You should be warned that Wicked Vegan’s 1 year birthday is coming up. As is, my birthday and the first day of fall. Expect a few more celebratory cupcakes!

Best part of this post? As I was writing this, Spotify let me know I can post a playlist on a blog. It’s like they know me! So, here’s your playlist for your single cupcake adventures!

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Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on May 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »

My Memorial Day weekend consisted off:

- Tudors marathon on BBC America (seriously, Natalie Dormer made the best Anne Boleyn! All the other wives were so dull. And Henry Cavill…yes please!)

- Doing ALL my laundry, which took forever

- Celebrating a belated Mother’s Day. I baked Mom some Strawberry Margaritas Cupcakes. Dad made us some yummy grilled veggies and pasta. It was the only grilled food I had this weekend. Bummer! I’m remedying that tonight though

- Working

- Watching the new Underworld. What’s this? Underworld 5? Bring it!

- Cooking and baking…a lot! I made almond joy cake balls for Melinda’s birthday (she’s been telling me she wanted these for her birthday since I made them the first time- I’m not exaggerating). And I made these yummy cupcakes!

I know they are a bit of a cop-out because I’ve made the chocolate cupcakes before BUT the mint frosting and chocolate glaze are so yummy! I had to share them with you.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

cupcake:
My Perfect Chocolate Cupcake recipe found here

Mint cream:
from easybaked.net

  • 2.5 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tsp peppermint extract
  • 1/4 c. melted butter
  • water
  • green food coloring (optional)

Chocolate Glaze:

  • 6 oz vegan chocolate
  • 2 TBSP butter

Prepare the cupcakes according to the recipe. Allow to cool completely.

For the mint cream, mix the confectioners sugar, butter and peppermint extract together. If the mixture is not coming together, or is too dry, add a little water until it is a spreadable consistency. Add food color if you want. Spread on the cupcakes and put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes- 1 hour until the mint cream has hardened.

For the chocolate glaze, melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler (or a microwave). Once melted, spoon the chocolate on the cupcake.

Tonight, I party it up with Melinda and crew. We’re hanging out, grilling, eating and going out drinking- all the things that make a good party! Pictures (and recipes, or course!) to come.

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Strawberry margarita cupcake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on May 16, 2012 | 4 Comments »

These are the cupcakes, everyone. THE cupcakes I dreamed about making for Cinco de Mayo and couldn’t because I was sick. But I was not going to let a little bug prevent me from making them.

And they turned out delicious!

They earned me a hug from my roommate’s vegan friend, who seriously has the worst vegan diet I’ve ever heard of. He practically lives off power bars. So clearly, he enjoyed them!

They also earned me glowing reviews from my other roommate’s special guy friend. This is high praise because he is a hardcore meat eater. He even hosts a ginormous bacon festival every year. Anyway, he really liked them, too!

So, clearly, they get the non-vegan and vegan seal of approval, which basically means they’re awesome.

But, I need to give some high praises to How Sweet Eats, because I got the idea from her in two ways: 1. I’m SO addicted to her Strawberry margaritas- the traditional strawberry marg and the coconut strawberry marg. She’s turning me into a lush! and 2. She made a gin and tonic cake, which inspired me to turn it into margarita cupcakes. I salute her!

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Cakes
adapted by How Sweet Eats 

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 4  Ener-G “egges”
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly zested lime rind
  • 1/4 cup tequila, plus more for brushing the cakes
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
  • juice of 1 lime
Frosting
from All Recipes
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries
  • 1 cup vegan Earth Balance butter
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I left this out and just used the 2 1/2 cups below. I don’t love super sweet frosting.)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in sugar and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in each “egg” one at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in vanilla and lime zest and mix.

With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Add in tequila, non-dairy milk and lime juice, mixing until combined. Add remaining flour and beat until just combined.

Line cupcake pan with liners and fill cupcakes 2/3 full. My cupcakes didn’t rise too much. Bake cupcakes for 25-30 minutes. When  you remove them from the oven, poke holes in the cupcake with a fork or knife. Brush tequila on the cupcakes.

While the cupcakes are cooking, you can start on the frosting. Place strawberries in a blender; puree until smooth. Transfer strawberry puree to a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring often, until puree is reduced by at least half, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
If you want your strawberry mixture super smooth, at this point you can strain it through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the seeds and any lumps that my have remained. I did this and loved not having the seeds in the frosting but it also makes a huge mess so you can easily leave this step out.
Beat butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat 1 cup confectioners’ sugar into butter until just blended. Beat 2 tablespoons strawberry puree and vanilla extract into butter mixture until just blended. Repeat with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons strawberry puree. (repeat the sugar, strawberry puree cycle one more time if you are using the full 3 1/2 c. of confectioner sugar) Beat last 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into mixture until just blended.
The tequila in the cupcakes is super subtle. It’s the lime and the strawberry that make the  most impression and they are delicious together! I’m especially a huge fan of the lime cake. It’s super light and summery. I will definitely be bringing this to a future BBQ or summer dinner.
Cupcakes on Weds? I thought it would help get you through the week!

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The Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on February 6, 2012 | 3 Comments »

This weekend was busy but fun…minus that unfortunate game last night but we’re just going to pretend that didn’t happen.

Renee, me and Rachel. Happy Birthday, Renee!

On Friday night, I went over to my friend Rachel’s to celebrate our friend, Renee’s, birthday. We had lots of yummy food (including this black bean salsa) and I brought these cupcakes with me. They were a big hit. I won’t tell you how many Renee ate but let us just say she really enjoyed them…and probably didn’t have any grounds for yelling at her boyfriend for over doing it with the frosting on his cupcake.

Then Sunday, we had our Super Bowl party. After Rent-a-Center told me it would cost me $500 to rent a TV (seriously?!), we stuck with our little inherited TV. We had a ton of food for only 9 people, all of it delicious and most of it vegan (someone brought boneless wings but that was the only non-vegan item). Bonnie made a super yummy avocado tomato bruschetta and a chipotle hummus I may share with you later in the week. I made my black bean salsa, again, and these cupcakes, again, which got thumbs up all around. Melinda made the artichoke spinach dip I shared with you last week. It was kind of a delicious spread!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
from Brown Eyed Baker 

  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 avocado, pitted and peeled
  • 1 cup pure maple syrup
  • ¾ cup plain almond milk
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Purée avocado in food processor until smooth. Add maple syrup, almond milk, oil, and vanilla, and blend until creamy. Whisk avocado mixture into flour mixture.

Spoon batter into prepared cupcake cups. Bake 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached. Cool.

These cupcakes are so perfect because the avocado and maple syrup make them super moist and rich but not too sweet. They are just so darn good! No worries though, you can’t taste the avocado in the cupcake. It’s too mild of a flavor. The chocolate and vanilla easily mask it.

Sooo…I sort of don’t have a frosting recipe for you. For Renee’s birthday, I attempted to make vegan nutella frosting. It was a big fail…or so I thought. I was running late and instead of a fluffy frosting of amazingness to present to her, I had liquid goop.

So I bought a can of rainbow chip frosting on my way to her house…45 minutes late. Darn you nutella frosting!! I was the only vegan there though so no one cared that the rainbow chip frosting had dairy and oodles of chemicals in it. Cheers to birthday cupcakes anyway!! (Rachel, in the gray shirt, is ‘cheering’ with my cupcake and hers so I could take a picture. That isn’t my hairy arm in the foreground- promise. Sorry, Ryan…)

Then Sunday, after working all day, I had some perfectly baked cupcakes ready for thefootballgamethatshallnotbementioned and I couldn’t bring myself to make the Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate frosting from a box. Yes- it’s vegan. Yes-it’s free of chemicals. and yes- I will make it for you eventually and review it but I just couldn’t bring myself to use it on my perfect chocolate cupcakes. Nothing makes homemade cupcakes go to the dogs quicker then store bought frosting. So I dug out the massive bowl of should-have-been vegan nutella frosting from the fridge and to my delight… it was solid and spreadable. Granted, more like a icing then a frosting, but I’d take it!!

Then I piped confectioners sugar mixed with a little water for the stitching. I just used a sandwich bag and cut a tin hole in one of the corners. Super easy. Aren’t they cute? That 83 in the heart was made for my dad for his man, Welker, obviously!

My roommate, Bonnie, rocking some serious Pat's attitude. Hmm...Maybe we'll just put those Pat's jersey's away for a while...

I have the day off so I’m going to go wash all our dirty dishes from last night and maybe try to be productive. Now that the Super Bowl is over I guess I should start brainstorming some Valentines desserts for you guys? Or maybe, like that awful game last night, I’ll just pretend it isn’t happening…

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