Vanilla Bean Cupcakes With Chocolate Ganache

    

      Two of my favorite taste combinations are chocolate and vanilla. My sister recommended This cupcake recipe is from Post Punk Kitchen (http://www.theppk.com). Isa Chandra Moskowitz, the owner of PPK, is a culinary genius! The moist vanilla cake is to die for with the chocolate ganache! Put this recipe on your to-do list this weekend!

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 1 Cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 Teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 Cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch
• 3/4 Teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 Cup of canola Oil
• 3/4  Cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 1 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped (I used vanilla bean extract instead)

For the ganache you will need:

• 1/3 Cup of almond milk
• 1/3 Cup of semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons of pure maple syrup

(Makes 10-12 cupcakes)

     First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan lightly with cooking spray and line with cupcake liners. 

    Wisk the almond milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes till curdled. Sift together the flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and mix. Sift until there aren't any large lumps. 

    Mix in the almond milk mixture then blend the mixes together. 

     Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. After baking, place cupcakes on to a cooling rack. 

     While the cupcakes are baking, start the ganache. 

    

      In a small sauce pan, bring the milk to boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Add the chocolate and the maple syrup. Mix with a rubber spatula for about 30 seconds. Turn the heat off and continue stirring until the chocolate if fully melted and the icing is smooth.

     Place ganache in fridge to cool for about ten minutes. Then dip the top of the cupcakes in the ganache and set them on a cooling rack. Spoon the remainder of the ganache over the cupcakes. Place them in the fridge for about an hour. 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

        One snow day in January I was house sitting for a friend. I woke up to a good foot of snow. After getting little physical activity lately, I gave shoveling the driveway a try. Fifteen minutes and a car halfway dug out, I gave up. I collapsed on the couch covered in sweat. 

        Figuring I could find a nice young fella to do this grueling task for me, I made a Facebook status asking to trade cookies for a clean driveway. Long story short, the man that is now my boyfriend, John, came to the rescue.

        A few months later, I am returning the favor and I finally made the rewarding cookies. John wanted chocolate chip cookies. He is a steak eating, anti-vegetable carnivore who isn't so encouraging of the Omnivore life style. I figured if I can win him over on vegan chocolate chip cookies, we can move on to the next step of winning him over in vegan cooking. 

        A few tweaks later, I have mastered this recipe. My family devoured the cookies. John will try his cookies on Friday. Here's hope that he will enjoy them, since he insist that my vegan baking is "poisoning" him.

You will need:

• 2 3/4 Cups of flour 
• 1 Teaspoon of salt
• 1 Teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 Cup of margarine (I used Smart Balance)
• 3/4 Cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 Cup of vegan sugar
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla
• Egg replacer for 1 egg
• 1/2 Cup of Water
• 6 Ounces of vegan chocolate chips

First preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.

In another large bowl, beat together the margarine, sugar, brown sugar, water, vanilla and egg replacer. Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients and stir until combined well.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop one inch spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until edges are golden brown.

First adventure: Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

       

  I am a huge fan of anything red velvet. Red velvet cupcakes, Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake ice cream... the list goes on. After encouragement from my sister to try my hand at vegan baking, red velvet was the first thing on  my mind. After a few recipe tweaks and two trials, I have finally perfected my cupcakes. 

For starters, you will need:

• 2 Cups of soy milk
• 2 Teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 Cups of flour
• 1 Cup of vegan sugar
• 4 Tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1 Teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 Teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 Cup of canola oil
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons of unsweetened apple sauce
• 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 Teaspoons of red food coloring (While red food coloring is not vegan, I have seen other ways to make it, such as using beets.)

(Makes 18-20 cupcakes)

         To start with, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. You will need two cupcake pans; grease them up or use cupcake liner papers. Using a small mixing bowl, combine soy milk with the vinegar. Allow time for the mixture to curdle. In large mixing bowl combine salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar and flour. Mix in curdled soy milk mix and add canola oil, vanilla extract and apple sauce. I first blended all the ingredients together then added the food coloring. I used 2 teaspoons, but if you want the mix to be redder add more food coloring.

After mixing to where there isn't any lumps, distribute the batter into the baking pan to about 3/4 full and place both baking pans into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. After they have baked, set aside to cool down. 

 While cooling, you can start on the frosting. 

You will need:

• 1 Cup of Vegan butter
• 1/2 Cup of vegan cream cheese
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 Cups of confectioners sugar

I threw together the butter, cream cheese and the vanilla extract. Take a mixer and start off slow then go to medium speed. After the mix is even, add in the sugar. 

Frost then enjoy!