Sometimes great recipes happen on the go, and that is the case with this one, so please forgive the shot of this cupcake that came from my mobile phone. I needed some vegan cupcakes to take to a party the other day and made this favorite recipe. You can make it into a cake or cupcakes; simply adjust the baking time as needed. These cupcakes bake up light and fluffy and have a lovely vanilla flavour. I prefer to use real vanilla extract as opposed to artificial in all of my baking and in this recipe where vanilla is the “showcase” flavor, it is extra important. When vanilla is in the title of the recipe, it has to be real vanilla. This recipe contains no refined sugar and is very simple to make for cupcake beginners. Give it a try! Makes 16 cupcakes or one 9 “x 13” cake. For a good buttercream icing recipe and the frosting method shown in the photo, check out my post from earlier today.
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups sucanat (sugar cane natural sugar or yellow sugar)
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened (try Becel Vegan, Earth Balance Buttery Spread, or Celeb Lactose Free)
3 cups cake and pastry flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, or the non-dairy milk of your choice
1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside. Using a stand mixer or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, mix the sucanat and margarine on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Gently stir in the milk and vanilla.
- In a second bowl, sift or stir the dry ingredients together. Add them to the liquid ingredients in 2-3 batches, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix an additional 2 minutes or until combined.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter OR pour batter into a greased 9″ x 13″ cake pan. For cupcakes, bake 20-25 minutes. Cake will take 30-35 minutes.
- Frost as desired. Try this Morsels Minus buttercream icing. You’ll find it near the bottom of the post. If you choose, dye it any colour you like!
Variation
Could you make the cupcakes with granulated and/or brown sugar instead of sucanat? I would think so, although I have not tried it. If you successfully substitute, please comment and let me know how it worked out for you!
Morsels Minus 