Vegan Cupcakes

As I don't consider myself a vegan or a baker, it's funny that my newest food infatuation are these straight from heaven vegan cupcakes.

I first came across them at Dear Meg's house and back flipped. Seriously, I talked about them all the way home (35 minutes). And as she was gracious enough to send me home with the recipe, a new and wild idea began to take form....I could bake these myself. Now the idea of taking a recipe, following it, and eating whatever happens to come out at the end of it, isn't a new concept to me. But the wanting to do it myself, was*.

These were easy breezy. They don't require you to have any perishable ingredients on hand (milk, eggs) so they are perfect to make at the end of the pay period (when all that's left in the cupboard are condiments) and they are stress free to make with your small ones who might otherwise get into that raw egg.

But most importantly they hold the two secrets to great cake: they are dense, and not too sweet (so that there is actually a point to putting sweet frosting on top).

Go ahead...these vegan folks who otherwise have my sympathy for not eating cheese, know what's going on with cupcakes.

Cup Cakes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar (I like to use a 1/2 cup instead)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup non dairy milk, coconut milk, or water

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients in separate bowl, combine wet and dry ingredients, pour batter into cupcake liners, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Frosting (*Not technically vegan because of the butter)

2 oz softened unsalted butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fruit jam

1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat the butter until it's pale, beat in fruit jam, sift powdered sugar into the mix, beat in the vanilla until frosting is smooth.

*I love to cook! But where I see cooking as an art (creative and instinctual), I see baking as science...and I'm no scientist.