Vegan Treats for Two: Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Hello, Vegan MoFos! I intended to begin my Vegan MoFo journey along with everyone else, but life got in the way and my blogging shenanigans had to be postponed. But here I am now and I have brought cupcakes!

My theme for this year's Vegan MoFo is Vegan Treats for Two. Are you a glutton? Yes? Me too! No? Oh, you're one of those "moderation" people with self-control and whatnot. *gives you a look*

Both Mr. Wing-It and I are gluttons. We like our cakes. We like our cookies. We LOVE our bread. Last year I stopped baking full batches of baked goods because we cannot be trusted around whole cakes. We will have the entire thing devoured within 24 hours of its emergence from the oven. Oy. That's why instead of full batches of stuff I've been baking little treats for two to keep us from eating like famished savages.

So, that's what I'll be doing for the remainder of Vegan MoFo. I'll be sharing recipes for vegan treats for two, starting with these two vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I know that my most recent blog post (from eight months ago!) is basically this SAME THING but for one, but I've modified the recipe because I cannot leave recipes alone, and also I wanted to kick off this theme with these most basic cupcakes. More variety coming soon. I promise my next blog post won't be "Vanilla Cupcakes for Three!"



A few things about this theme before I share the recipe:

. Everything has been baked in a toaster oven. Here is a thing I wrote about how to bake good cupcakes in a toaster oven. I have not tried any of these recipes in my regular, full-size oven.

. All the ingredients are weighed, even the liquids, and I'm using the metric system. Grams are more convenient than ounces or cups when it comes to baking tiny batches of things. I use digital scale which has a handy "tare" button that lets me reset the weight after I add each ingredient.Screw you, unreliable cups and tablespoons! Except for baking soda and salt and all those tiny pinches of things. For those I use my tiny 1/8 tsp from my set of Wilton measuring spoons.

. I bake everything in a Cuisinart TOB-60 toaster oven. You may need to experiment with your toaster oven to get the best result.



Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream for Two

Ingredients for the cakes:

30 grams white sugar
5 grams all purpose flour (plus more later)
15 grams vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
20 grams vegan milk (plus more later)
25 grams all purpose flour
1/16 tsp salt
1/16 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
10 grams vegan milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp vinegar

1. Preheat the toaster oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) and spray two cupcake liners with cooking spray. Place the liners in a small muffin tin. For the Cuisinart TOB-60, preheat the oven on the WARM function. (More on that here: How to Bake Perfect Cupcakes in a Toaster Oven.)

2. In a small bowl or coffee cup combine the sugar and 5 grams flour and give them a good whisking.* Add the oil and 20 grams of milk and whisk vigorously for at least 30 seconds.

3. Sift in the 25 grams of flour, add the salt, baking soda, and baking powder and fold everything slightly until you end up with a somewhat lumpy batter.

4. Add the 10 grams of milk, vanilla, and vinegar and fold gently again until everything is incorporated. Try not to over mix the batter.

5. Pour the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake liners and bake on the WARM setting for 12 minutes, then switch to the BAKE setting and bake for an extra eight minutes at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C.) If you're using a different toaster oven you may be able to use the BAKE setting from the start.

6. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Let them cool to room temperature before plopping on the buttercream.

Ingredients for the vegan buttercream:

40 grams shortening*
10-20 grams powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 tsp vegan milk if needed

1. Measure the shortening into a small, narrow cup and use a small spoon to beat it for about a minute or until it becomes fluffy.

2. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat (slowly at first to avoid a powdered sugar cloud!) for another thirty seconds or so. Ten grams is enough for me, but that's not all that sweet. Start off there and keep adding sugar until you're happy with the sweetness.

3. Add the vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined. At this point you can add that tiny bit of milk if your buttercream is too stiff. It could take a minute for the milk to become fully incorporated into the fat. Just keep at it!

4. Give it a taste and add more powdered sugar if it's not sweet enough for you. And more vanilla if you want!

5. Now you're ready to plop it onto the cupcakes. You can pipe the buttercream if you want, but I find that it's such a small amount it's not worth the trouble.


NOTES:

. Check out my blog post about baking cupcakes in a toaster oven. I know I keep mentioning that. Sorry!
. You've probably noticed that I added a bit of flour separately from the main flour. I'm using it as a binder in lieu of eggs or egg replacers. It's become my favorite way to replace eggs in baked goods.
. I use Spectrum Organics shortening which is Colombian palm oil. If you can't find a shortening you're comfortable using, you can always plop a nice blob of coconut whipped cream on top!
. This is actually too much frosting for me but I know I have a bit of a wimpy tummy. I usually make only half the amount of frosting which may not be enough for tough tummies! :)
. How do you measure 1/16 tsp of salt and baking soda? I eyeball it using half of an 1/8 tsp. My 1/8 tsp is from a Wilton measuring spoon set.





Okay, next time I'll be sharing a recipe for Orange Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache for two. Or perhaps Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes. Or maybe Peanut Butter Bomb Cupcakes. We'll see. I'm like the wind. *WHOOSH*


Comments

  1. Hello, I'm a glutton too! And I live in a two-person household! I am very excited that you're joining the VeganMoFo game, I can't wait to see all the treats!

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    1. Hello, my fellow glutton! I wish I could have joined the game along with everyone else, but I'll try to share as many treats for two as I can for what's left of it. High-five for gluttony! :)

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  2. I love your theme, it is so sweet! Literally sweet as well. I am glad you are able to join us for the rest of MoFo, I look forward to your future creations!

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    Replies
    1. Thank youuu! I'll try to make the most of what's left of MoFo. You are always a MoFo rock star - I don't know how you do it!

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  3. Replies
    1. I really hope I can stick to bloging every weekday for the rest of this year's Vegan MoFo!

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