Epicurean Vegan

I was in a baking mood today, but I couldn’t decide between these, chocolate chip scones, or lemon madeleine cookies. Obviously, I went with these cupcakes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking. If you love to bake, vegan or not, this is a fabulous cookbook to own. Not only is it filled with easy and delicious recipes, it also is filled with lots of valuable baking tips, especially if you are new to the world of vegan baking. I found that these cupcakes are really more like muffins, but if Ms. Colleen says they’re cupcakes, then I’ll go with it. Cupcakes, muffins, whatevs—you’ll love them!

INGREDIENTS:

1-3/4 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 C granulated sugar (I used about 3/4 C)

1/2 C canola oil

1 Tbs white distilled vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz frozen or fresh strawberries, crushed or pureed (I used fresh)

For the frosting, I didn’t go with her Butter Cream Frosting. I used confectioners’ sugar mixed with almond milk.

Strawberries to garnish the tops

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease or line a muffin pan with muffin cups. I only had 9 muffin cups, so I greased the last three. Both methods worked fine.I pureed the strawberries in the food processor.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir in the strawberries. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it.

Stir to combine, but don’t overstir. You’ll be left with a light and fluffy batter:

Evenly fill the muffins cups with the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool.

Let them cool completely before icing them. I just mixed a few cups of confectioners’ sugar with just 1-1/2 to 2 tsp of almond milk to reach a very thick consistency. If you’d like, you can add a dash of extract flavoring to it. Drizzle the tops of the cupcakes with the icing and top with a few strawberry slices. Enjoy! Makes 12.