Chocolate Cupcakes with Carrot Vanilla Frosting

This is my ULTIMATE chocolate cake recipe, which I used for making some cute Halloween cupcakes tonight. Every year, we go all out and set up our "haunted" entryway with our special effect DJ lights, jack-o-lanterns, and this year- an old TV set playing a variety of horror clips. We also set up our huge 6' X 9' projection screen and showed movies for the neighbors. This year, we were double-booked as well, and between decorating, making food, and organizing the gigs, it was non-stop and I am SO dead right now... but hey- it's for my favorite holiday!

Our featured films this year were Coraline and Monsters Vs. Aliens. Our neighbors from across the street get out their lawn chairs every year and camp out on their driveway for the viewing. The weather was perfect this year, so we had a good crowd of neighborhood kids camp out too.

Why is it that I always wish I had more time to carve pumpkins? ...My favorite part of Halloween!

A spider cupcake (made with cookie legs)

To make orange frosting, I used carrots which worked out really well. I didn't want it to taste like carrots, but I did want it to just have enough to make it orange. I think you could add even more if you wanted.

I also used this recipe to make a decadent birthday cake for my best friend.

Chocolate Cake (makes 2- 9" rounds or about 2 dozen cupcakes)

Dry Ingredients:

3 C. all purpose flour
1 T. baking soda
3/4 C. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 C. soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 C. vegetable oil
2 C. unrefined sugar
2 T. apple cider vinegar

Spinz:

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Mix wet ingredients, then blend with dry ingredients until smooth. pour batter into prepared pans of choice and bake at 350 degrees. For cake rounds bake for 20-25 minutes. For cupcakes 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.
Carrot Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 C. cooked carrots
1/2 C. Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (room temp)
2 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Spinz:

Cook the carrots (I microwaved mine in a covered bowl with a little water for 3 minutes on high). Drain all excess water and let cool. Put the carrots and the remaining ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Cream Filled Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Toffee Sprinkles, Plus Millet Salad

I made these cupcakes for a friend's birthday bash. They're all getting sloshed, so I thought I'd make something to mellow out their alcoholic binge... Don't cupcakes soak up alcohol? I'm not an expert, 'cause I don't drink- but I have a feeling that these will accompany nicely... at least until they get sick from too much booze! I used the basic yellow cupcake recipe from the famous VCTOTW book and doubled it to make 2 dozen. Then, I also filled the centers with some vanilla cream and slathered the tops with chocolate ganache. Lastly, I sprinkled some vegan candy toffee crumbles on top for texture... Yum! Like alcohol, you should probably have these in moderation!

Vanilla Cream:

1/2 pkg Tofutti cream cheese
3 T. vegetable shortening
3 T. soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. confectioner's sugar

Spinz:

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

Chocolate Ganache:

1/4 C. vegan margarine
1/3 C. cocoa powder
1 1/3 C. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 T. soy milk

Spinz:

In a sauce pan, melt the margarine, then whisk in cocoa powder. Whisk in half of the confectioner's sugar, then the soy milk and vanilla, then the rest of the sugar. Whisk until smooth, take off heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes before frosting.

To assemble:

When the cupcakes are cooled down, poke a hole from the top of the cupcake to the center with the end of a chopstick (or something similar). With your finger, push the hole in further and make a "well" in the middle- try not to break open the tops. It helps if you have slender fingers. Put the cream filling into a pastry bag or I just used an old agave nectar bottle (squeeze bottle). Fill the cupcakes level to the top. Next, dollop a spoonful of ganache on top and flatten out with the back of the spoon. Sprinkle with crumbled vegan toffee candy. Put in the fridge to cool before serving.

I've recently discovered millet. It's a small grain that I've been steaming in my trusty rice cooker (I use this for all my grains). It's delicious, fluffy, and has a great nutty taste, not unlike brown rice. Since, my mom has been focusing on whole grains for her cancer diet, I've been mixing various grains with her brown rice to soften the texture. I've also been adding a little more water to the steamer. Luckily, she's always liked brown rice- a lot of Asians prefer white rice and have a hard time getting used to the brown.

Here, I've simply mixed in sauteed onion, some raw chopped celery leaves, hearts of palm, lemon juice, a little tumeric, and a little salt. Very light and tasty!

Fresh Apple Cupcakes

When I first became vegan several years ago, I was still learning about all the great recipe sites out there, so I made an attempt at "veganizing" recipes I was already familiar with by using my newly found product: Egg Replacer. I now know that this isn't the only substitute, but it worked well back then, and it still does now. The printed page is plenty stained and "tore-up!" So- it's probably a good idea that I put this on my blog before it completely disintegrates! The fresh chunky apples and perfect amount of cinnamon make this a fragrant, moist cake that has become a household favorite. This was originally a recipe for a regular cake, and can be made that way by pouring into a 9 X 13" pan and increasing the baking time to 35-45 minutes.

Makes about 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Wet Side-
Replacer for 2 eggs (1 T. Replacer + 4 T. water)
1/2 C. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. sugar
4 C. apples, peeled & chopped

Dry Side-
2 C. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 C. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 C. raisins (optional)
powdered sugar

Spinz:

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and water. To this, add all the other "wet side" ingredients and mix. Add the dry ingredients (except the walnuts and raisins) and mix well. Fold in the walnuts and raisins, then pour into prepared cupcake pan with paper liners. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Tipz:

Oil the top of your cupcake or muffin tin so the raised tops of your cupcakes won't stick to the pan.

Exotic Coconut Muffins

Ok, so it doesn't look so exotic in the picture... but thanks to a trip to the Asian market, the secret ingredient is "Macapuno Strings," or jarred gelatinous(no gelatin!) young coconut. This stuff makes a rich, deliciously moist crumb. It also makes the muffin shiny on top without having to brush on any glaze. The coconut itself is soft vs. the fibrous texture of dried coconut. Watch out- these can be quite addictive!

If you can't get your hands on some macapuno strings, you can substitute 1 cup of regular dried coconut.

Makes about 18 muffins

Ingredients:

1 jar (12 oz.) macapuno strings
1 C. sugar
1 (13.5oz) can coconut milk (about 2 cups)
1/4 C. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Spinz:

In a large bowl, mix together the macapuno strings, sugar, coconut milk, veg oil, and vanilla extract. Mix together the remaining dry ingredients and add to the wet until fully combined. Pour into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Done when toothpick comes out clean. Let cool a bit before munching.

Nutrition Info: 202 Calories/ 8.4g total fat/ 5g saturated fat/ 31.2g total carb/ 18.8g sugar/ 1.8g fiber/ 1.8g protein/ 233.3mg sodium/ 66.4mg potassium