Thursday, January 26, 2012

Vegan and Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes!

While sitting in work passing out the pupcakes from two days ago, I had a request for Red Velvet Cupcakes. Coincidentally I had just found this yummy recipe on pinterest, http://www.noveleats.com/dessert/vegan-red-velvet-cupcakes/. Red velvet is a favorite of many, so i decided to give it a try.

For the past few months I have been developing food allergies and issues to so many different things, that until I can get a grip on what exactly is causing the problem, certain known allergens are being removed from my diet. Craving a cupcake, I decided to make sure this one was adapted from the above recipe to make it gluten free as well.

Preheat your oven to 350 and get all your ingredients together
For the Cake:
  • 1 cup vegan milk ( I used Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour ( I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)
  • 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons red food coloring
  • 11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract ( I used less than the original recipe called for because of the vanilla in the milk)
  •  1/4 teaspoon of almond extract

First you need to mix the milk and the vinegar into a separate bowl and the let the milk curdle with the vinegar. Set the bowl aside.

Then, sift all dry ingredients together into a big bowl.

Next add in the wet ingredients including the milk mixture.

Whisk everything together. Be careful not to over mix, some lumps in the batter are fine.
Pour into your lined cupcake pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Take your yummy yummy cakes out of the oven and let cool. Remember to let your cakes cool completely before icing... I have to keep reminding myself this =/

Now for my favorite part, the frosting....
  • 1/4 cup of softened vegan butter (earth balance in my brand of choice)
  • 1/4 cup of softened vegan cream cheese
  • 2 cups of vegan powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix everything together and enjoy!

So as far as the taste... My super picky husband LOVED them. He seemed a little upset that the entire dozen wasn't for him. But cupcakes are meant for sharing. =)





What is your favorite type of cupcake?

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Birthday Pupcakes!

Two of my darling babies have the same birthday just a few years apart.


Lilly Belle

Tucker
Since finding out that Tucker is allergic to meat and animal fat (yes, my dog is a vegetarian), we haven't been able to find any treats that do not make him sick. But today I was determined to find something that he could enjoy on his first birthday. That's when all of my google searching FINALLY paid off and I found a recipe that not only did I have all of the ingredients for, but was also Tucker friendly.

I was also excited to bake something cupcake like so I could use all of my new cupcake related Christmas gifts. I love, and I mean really love the silicone liners! They are amazing!
To make the Pupcakes:
1/3 cup of honey
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of flour (i used brown rice flour because of Tucker's food sensitivities)
1 cup of shredded carrots (about 2 large carrots)
1 egg
1tsp of baking soda
1tsp of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 for around 30 minutes.

You can make about 10 cupcakes or 1 8 inch round cake
For the frosting purée about 1 cup of large curd cottage cheese. Then top with swirls of peanut butter and a few shreds of carrot.


A few things I learned today about baking for your dog is to remember to use high quality ingredients. They have more sensitive stomachs so the more natural, the better. Also serving size is important. If you choose to do the whole cake remember to only give your dog a few bites not a large slice. Like with us, this is a treat and not a meal =)

I hope all of our four legged friends will enjoy!
Lilly and Tucker both approved!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

I am going to go ahead and apologize for the lack of cupcake material that I have been posting recently. I have been baking cupcakes, but Luke and I thought we could go without the Internet  in our new place. We learned this is an impossibility with us and running to Starbucks every day is getting a little bit old.

So bear with us, we will have live Internet connection again in about a month.

In non baking news--- we are moving! Yes, we are moving again this makes the fourth move in 6 months and trust me I am getting sick of finally feeling unpacked to only pack up again and hit the road. I am definitely feeling like a gypsy. But Luke landed his dream job, so Denver look out... We are coming to you =).

I am going to leave you with some photos of the cupcakes that I have baked since being in Columbia- I promise to have the recipes for these babies up as soon as I can....

What you are seeing is the lovely hot chocolate cupcake that i baked.... it has the yummiest marsh mellow frosting =).... the cake on the other hand needs a little more work.

I will be the first to admit that I had high expectations for this yummy sounding cupcake, and I was just a little disappointed. I had a few measurement issues when making this cake, and it turned out a bit too eggie...

But practice makes perfect and soon this little baby will be perfect, but if not the frosting is amazing and we can all eat that out of a tub =)