Vegan Baking take 2.

A cupcake.  This is the first vegan baked good I tried from my sister.  I've had vegan cakes in the past, and they had been dry.  Very dry, like you need a tall glass of soy milk dry.  But these cupcakes were moist, fluffy, and didn't taste vegan in the slightest.  The recipe I'm using for my second vegan baking experiment is the "Basic Chocolate Cupcake" from this book.  The icing is from it too!

I did a double recipe, so I started with 2 cups of soy milk

and whisked in 2 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar.

This had to sit for a couple of minutes so the soy milk cold curdle.  I didn't know soy milk could curdle, and it curdled in 30 seconds.

Mix in 1 1/2 cups white sugar

2/3 cup canola oil and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Beat until it's frothy.

In another bowl, sift 2 cups of flour

2/3 cups coca powder

1 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.

Combine the dry and the wet, I did it in three batches.

Looks like cake batter!

Pour into muffin pans lined with cupcake liners, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Can I say that these are the prettiest cupcakes I have ever made?  Seriously, they are the most perfect looking cupcakes I have pulled out of the oven that DIDN'T come from a box mix (it was a dark time in my life...I try not to think about it).

Now for the icing.  This is also vegan, and from the same book.  I decided to make chocolate icing.  Beat together 1/2 cup each of vegetable shortening, and vegan margarine.  Yes, margarine sometimes has whey in it, which is NOT vegan.

Beat in 1 cup cocoa powder.

Then gradually add a box of confectioner's sugar.  While beating this in, mix in 6 Tbsp of soy milk so it remains an icing.

Perfection, and it tastes like pudding!

Time to ice the cakes, and I decided this was the moment to try out one of my new baking toys!

Let's see, load it up, and squeeze.

A little extra came out, making some cup cakes look like they were covered in poos.

And others looked nice!

And the taste?

Excellent!  They don't taste vegan!  They are rich, chocolatey, and so awesome to eat.  My latest vegan baking adventure was definitely much smoother than the first.

I hope you're enjoying the vegan baking as much as I am, and I hope you like this recipe!