Vanilla Chai Cupcakes

I made these spicy babies for my vegan co-worker's birthday. Turns out, there are 2 other vegans in the office! Who knew that so many health-conscious people worked for the government! I swiped this recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" and tweaked it for the spices I have in my cabinet:




Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk
4 chai tea bags
1/4 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated veggie shortening
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F
Spray/line cupcake tins

Heat almondmilk until almost boiling, add tea bags, cover and turn off heat. Allow it to steep for about 15 minutes. Stir and squeeze to gently extract soymilk from bags and discard.

Mix together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and tea mixture until smooth. fold in flower, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Small lumps are alright.  Fill tins and bake for about 22 minutes, or until spongy and a toothpick comes out clean.

Mix together all ingredients for the buttercream frosting with an electric mixture until peaks form.  Wait until cupcakes are cool before spreading it on top!

Vegan Lemony-Coconutty Cupcakes

While most people spend their spring breaks in warm places near water, like Mexico or California, I spent mine at my parents' house in the woods of Pennsylvania. Not that I dislike the woods-- I grew up here, in fact (which usually accounts for my disconcerting awkwardness in social settings...) After doing some yoga, sipping some tea and browsing the United Nation's website for job openings,  I decided to peruse the baking pantry. Lo and behold! The perfect ingredients for lemony-coconut cupcakes! So while I didn't get to go to the beach, I can take a bite of one of these babies and let the sun shine in.

The recipe I used was based off of the Coconut Lime cupcakes recipe in "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" (if you do not own this book, close the computer and go buy it. Seriously. It's that good). I'm usually no good at baking because I'm terrible at following instructions exactly, and on top of that, had ZERO limes in the house. So, I tweaked the recipe for lemons and added a special touch of Jess-ness and thank god it turned out delicious. (Otherwise my parents would have been extra pissed about the mess I made in the kitchen...) I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Unlike most of my recipes, please note that the icing (while delicious) is completely NOT HEALTHY. But hey, nobody eats a cupcake to be healthy, amiright?

Vegan Lemony-Coconutty Cupcakes
Musical accompaniment: Hoba Hoba Spirit, Trabando (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8k5bKfGDhI)

Cake Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup coconut milk (about half a can of coconut milk)
1/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 medium sized lemons juiced
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Icing ingredients:
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated veggie shortening
1/2 cup non hydrogenated margarine
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice
Handful coconut flakes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F
Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. If you don't have coconut oil, canola oil should do the trick.
Once the coconut oil is liquified, mix it in a medium sized bowl with the sugar, coconut milk, almond milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir thoroughly.
Next, add the flour, baking soda and baking poder. Mix until smooth
Finally add the coconut flakes. Stir to make sure everything is incorporated evenly.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cupcake looks golden and a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.

While cupcakes are baking, beat the shortening and margarine together until fluffy. add the sugar and continue to beat. Add vanilla, coconut extract and lemon juice. Beat for 5 minutes. Finally add Zest and coconut flakes and mix to distribute evenly. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Important: DO NOT attempt to put icing on cupcakes until they are completely cool. If you jump the gun on this, the result will be nasty slimy looking icing that gets all over the place. I speak from experience...

Happy Springtime!! :)