vegan chocolate cupcakes

vegan chocolate cupcakes with chai buttercream

 

I’m so glad y’all liked the pictures! I’m pretty convinced Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places on earth. On top of the photos, we also shot a short time lapse video, which I’ll post this afternoon.
But first, let’s talk birthday cake.


I’m blessed that I got to enjoy two! The first one was made by Ashley and was an absolutely diiiiiivine chocolate mint cake. I enjoyed it thoroughly after a small pizza get together with some friends last Thursday night.
The second cake I enjoyed were these cupcakes that I made to take with us to Tahoe.  Last week at the yoga studio, I experienced the most divine vegan chocolate cake with chai buttercream from a gluten-free bakery in town and ever since then I’ve been craving another slice of that cake.
So Friday afternoon before we left, I did what any cakeaholic would do on the eve of her 26th year.
I took matters into my own hands.

The chocolate cake hails from a tried and true recipe I’ve been making for years. And for the buttercream, I steeped a very strong (teeny tiny) cup of chai tea to infuse my billowy frosting with. The end result was a creamy, slightly spicy, perfect buttercream that paired wonderfully with the rich chocolate cake.

Ridiculous. I’m shocked they even lasted the car ride up.
Well, I might have eaten one in the car.

And another when we got there.
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chai Buttercream
makes 10 cupcakes
chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World <—love
Print this recipe!
Ingredients:
for cupcakes–
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
for frosting–
1 stick earth balance buttery spread (1/2 cup)
about 3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 chai teabags
2 T boiling water
2 T soy milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the vinegar with the soy milk and let sit for five minutes.
Whisk together the soy milk/vinegar, canola oil, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix until combined.
Pour batter into greased cupcake molds and bake for 25 minutes, or until springy. Let cool completely before frosting.
While cupcakes are cooling, beat the earth balance until soft. Brew the tea in the two tablespoons of boiling water and let sit for ten minutes to steep. Then, add the soy milk. Add that mixture, plus the powdered sugar and cinnamon to the earth balance and continue to beat for 10 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Frost cooled cupcakes using this method or with a pastry bag and large star tip.
Enjoy!
Time:
1 hour

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

by Mele Cotte on December 26, 2010

nocciola/hazelnut

Laying low in recent weeks has been great and the winter break that I am on at the moment has been like a cherry on top of a Sunday. Cooking, baking, cleaning and getting the house in organized order. It’s kind of freeing, really.

Part of the plan for cleaning includes posting all the dishes and desserts that I have been toting from folder to folder on my external drive. Posting the foods that I have enjoyed over the past month will only leave room for more reasons to get in the kitchen! Sounds like a good plan to me, don’t you think?

To begin that cleanse…Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes seem like a great place to start. One of my Christmas memories I spoke about in my last post included sitting around the dinner table with my family, chatting about whatever, cracking roasted nuts, getting excited when someone manages to crack the shell while keeping the nut intact. Upon further thought, I really believe hazelnuts are my favorite nut. In case I waiver on that believe, I just need to look at a sampling of hazelnut/nutella recipes on here!

Truffles
Nutella Flakey Swirls
Apple Pancakes with Nutella Sauce
Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
Hazelnut Cookies I & Hazelnut Cookies II
Yule Log with Nutella filling
The Danish Bread with Nutella filling
Hazelnut Mousse

Crazy, right? Maybe….but that doesn’t mean I am not going to add even more to the list. These cupcakes are quite pleasing, and will be made again, for sure. One note: They are flat toppers. I need to play around some more to get a dome. Nonetheless, they still taste good.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ cup hazelnut spread
2 eggs, room temperature
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
hazelnuts for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then turn it down to 350 just prior to baking

In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients to combine; set aside. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is soft, then add sugar. Add hazelnut spread and mix until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until they are well combined. Combine vanilla and milk. Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with dry. Beat just to combine. Divide batter among the muffin tins, filling each no more and 2/3. Bake 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting. Makes 14-16 cupcakes