Cupcake Friday'

Last week I made cupcakes for Jon to take to his work for Christmas - forty boxes with a half dozen cupcakes. I made Root beer float, coconut fluff, vanilla bean, cookies 'n cream, Mocha, and chocolate ginger - all were vegan. I'll post pictures and recipes for those later, because honestly they were really good and pretty simple to make so everyone should try them

Since this weekend is New Years I decided to make Margarita cupcakes for him to take today (saw one on pinterest and the concept was great but I wasn't fond of the recipe or the site where it came from...so I came up with my own using my go to base recipe)

I typically make all my cakes and cupcakes vegan because its a very moist delicious base recipe (plus you can save money by not adding eggs, and you can help your health... if you make a cupcake a little healthier than before it gives you an excuse to eat a little extra, right?) I still had vegan shortening left from making all the cupcakes for Jon's work - its soy based and still has way to much fat for my liking but it is pretty much flavorless allowing to make good frosting. I don't really care for the flavor of the vegan butter or margarine for frosting (great for baking but the flavor is too strong and overpowering in the frosting). You can always swap out the shortening for coconut oil, or regular butter or shortening (side note --- look for non-hydrogenated shortenings - those are the best)

a white cupcake with lime juice and zest, and tequila frosting (the vegan oat milk makes the cupcakes look dark)

Kates Margarita Cupcakes

(or a shot of Patron cupcakes)

makes 24 regular size cupcakes

2 cups oat milk (or any vegan milk you like)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lime juice
zest of 1 lime

1.) preheat oven to 350°; prepare cupcake pans with liners or grease the pans
2.) whisk the milk and apple cider vinegar together; set aside for a few minutes
3.) sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together
4.) beat together milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, lime juice, and zest until well combined
5.) mix the flour mixture into the milk mixture and beat until no large lumps remain (smaller lumps are fine, and be cautious to not over mix --- I make mine by hand as it comes together very quickly)
6.) fill cupcake liners 2/3 to 3/4 full and bake 18 to 22 minutes; let cupcakes rest in the pan for 5 minutes then remove and let cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

organic and vegan baking

if you over fill the cupcakes they end of looking like muffins... the height of cupcakes should come from the frosting not the batter

Patron Frosting (or any kind of tequila) 

(if you prefer to not have any alcohol simply use water instead of the patron)

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening, room temperature
2 pounds powdered sugar (most bags are two pounds, and depending on weather you might need a little less)
1/4 cup patron
3 tbsp lime juice
zest of 1 lime
granulated sugar for decorating
green and yellow  gel food coloring (whole foods sells natural dyes, or you could even add a tsp or so spinach juice, but you would need to add a little extra powdered sugar to balance the extra liquid)

1.) cream margarine, half of the sugar, patron, and lime juice together; beat for a few minutes with either the paddle or whisk attachment
2.) add the lime zest and slowly add more sugar, half a cup at time, until you reach your desired consistency, then add the food coloring - 2 drops of yellow for every 1 green (some like their frosting a little thicker, some like them a little thinner to spread. This frosting  has a strong flavor so I prefer it to be thinner and fluffy so it doesn't seem to rich or dense. I added all but about a cup and a half of the full 2 pounds of powdered sugar and it was perfect).
3.) Using a ziplock bag with the corner cut off, or a pastry bag pipe the frosting in a circle motion. Once frosted roll the edge of frosting in some sugar - kinda like how alcoholic drinks have sugar or salt on the rim of the glass.

Cupcakes ready to go to Jon's work

that's it -- super easy, good, adult only cupcakes

(Jon doesn't drink, he hasn't had a drop in his life, so this cupcake wasn't for him -- sub out the patron with some water and they are still fabulous - either way its a great cupcake)