The Cupcake Underground

Back with a little digression from cupcakes.

2008-04-03T15:05:00.004-05:00

Clearly I'm not doing well at keeping the cupcakes rolling out of the oven, so I'm going to expand my blog a bit more. If I do make more cupcakes, I will post them, but from now on I'm going to post other food I make or bits and bobs of artwork. Whatever strikes my fancy, really.

So, for my first non-cupcake post, we have a very tasty avocado smoothie. I found it in The Top 100 Juices by Sara Owen. I'm very interested in juicing and raw food, especially since more fresh vegetables will be soon available again, but I don't have a juicer. For now, I'm contenting myself with smoothies made in my sub-standard blender.

This is very easy to make: basically one ripe avocado blended with about a cup of soy yogurt. I like to add a pinch of sea salt as well to bring out the flavour. Then, just sprinkle nori flakes on top and enjoy. You may want to use a spoon, as it is very thick. I have had success thinning it slightly with plain soymilk as well. This is very filling, so if you have a small appetite like me, you might consider sharing with a friend! It makes a nutritious breakfast for those of us not inclined to eat in the morning. No- it does not taste like guacamole.

Cheers!

Chocolate Wasabi Cupcakes with Almond Glaze

2007-12-31T14:55:00.001-05:00

I must admit that I'm rather embarrassed at the amount of time that has passed since my last post. Anyway, here is what I'm taking for New Year's Eve. I made the Chocolate Wasabi cupcakes from my newly arrived, wonderful cookbook My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky. I attempted to make the glaze that she included, but I have horrible luck with glazes so I had to toss it. I think my wasabi powder may have been a bit off as well, the cupcakes were barely spicy. They turned out very nicely other than my wasabi and glaze issues; I would recommend them.
I ended up throwing together this icing in desperation:

Sort-of Glaze
2 TBSP Earth Balance spread
3/4 C confectioner's sugar
1/8 TSP wasabi powder (make into a paste per package directions, adjust wasabi to taste)
1-2 TBSP soy or rice milk
1/8 TSP rice wine
1/4 TSP almond extract
A couple drops of vanilla extract
Spirulina powder or food colouring if desired

Soften the spread and then whip it with a fork. Mix in the sugar and wasabi paste with the fork until crumbly. Add all the liquids, add more soy/rice milk if it's too thick- it should be just a little runny. Drop by spoonful onto cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla-bean buttercream frosting

2007-09-02T10:50:00.000-05:00

I made these for my birthday a few days ago and took them into the library. They generated quite a bit of feedback, primarily the desire that I should have a birthday more often. Several of my coworkers also wanted to know how I kept the cupcakes so moist... no eggs, of course.

The cupcake is chocolate, and the frosting is vanilla with 1/3 pod of vanilla beans scraped in. Both are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, although I cut back the sugar by a scant 1/4 cup in the cake. I used the yellow-packaged Smart Balance spread in the frosting and was really pleased with how it whipped up... the texture was like whipped cream. I added some cocoa nibs on top for a nice extra layer of chocolate-ness. My parents brought back the cocoa nibs from Traverse City last month for me, and I've been hoarding them like magic beans... they're so good.

Oatmeal Raisin Cupcakes with Rum Icing

2007-08-01T22:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I made these about three weeks ago and am just now uploading. Shameful, I realise.

I really like oatmeal raisin cookies, so of course I decided that the world needed it in cupcake form. All I really did was substitute about 1/2 a cup of oats for flour... I pulsed them in the food processor until they broke down a little. I added a little nutmeg and cinnamon to the batter as well, and folded in some raisins and 3 tbsp. of whole oats for texture. Vanilla icing seemed a little boring, so I elected to spike my buttercream with rum. They turned out rather well, cakelike and dense, although they do look unappetizing in my picture. Most unfortunately, the icing was beginning to run due to the heat.

Chocolate Birthday Mini-Cupcakes

2007-06-12T12:34:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive- my lack of cupcakes recently can be attributed to probable Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I haven't been able to eat any sugar, wheat, etc. for a bit due to this, so it seems sort of pointless to make cupcakes unless they're for an event. The event this weekend was my boyfriend's birthday, so I made these mini chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting and red sugar on top. They disappeared quite quickly! (Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

Messy Lemon Cupcakes

2007-05-20T20:14:00.000-05:00

I'm back- here's a batch of lemon cupcakes that I made this afternoon. Hard to believe I've gone 18 days without a single cupcake, eh?

I attempted to make them a little healthier by cutting back a bit on sugar and using part whole wheat pastry flour and part all-purpose. They also have an icing glaze, which was both good and bad. Good because it's healthier than acres of buttercream frosting yet still tasty... bad because it's so incredibly messy. I think I used too much soymilk in the glaze- less may have solved the dripping problem. Verdict: Sticky yet very good. Note to self: less liquid in the icing next time...

Simple cupcakes

2007-05-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

These are just vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting- it's always those innocent, unassuming cupcakes you have to look out for.

I think I need to start cutting back on frosting: I haven't made buttercream in a few weeks because it has so much more sugar than other kinds. So there was a complete sugar rush in my system, needless to say.

Chocolate Coconut Nature Special

2007-04-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

This is terribly nerdy. When I looked at these pictures I took of my cupcakes today, they reminded me of English game-hunters slashing through the jungle, their wives enjoying a garden party, and a rarely-spotted animal seen through the brush in a nature special. (Respectively. I have an overactive imagination.) So, today, I have dorky narrative:

The cupcakes slash through the underbrush: "I say, Philip, where are the wildebeest? I'm quite melting in this heat!"

Their wives, meanwhile, conduct a garden party in a jungle clearing: "Why, Mildred, I love your foil liner. It's so stunning! Where on earth did you get it?"

We have spotted the majestic cupcake in its natural habitat. The cupcake is chocolate to better function in the wild, with coconut buttercream frosting and a ganache drizzling to optimize aerodynamics while evading predators.

(Note: I am fully aware that wildebeest and jungles are not compatible... but 'wildebeest' is just such a great word.)

Coconut Buttercream Frosting

1/4 c. Smart Balance shortening

1/4 c. Soy Garden spread

2 c. confectioner's sugar

1/4 c. soy creamer or soymilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. sweetened coconut flakes

Cream the shortening and spread together, beat in sugar, soy creamer and vanilla. Beat in coconut and spread on cupcakes.

My cupcake output may be decreased somewhat for a while; I was just hired at my old library and am finishing up this semester. Hopefully I can still make cupcakes once or more a week. Thanks to everyone that reads this, if you have any particular cupcake suggestions, let me know!

Chocolate Chai with Ginger-Cardamom Icing

2007-04-22T14:33:00.000-05:00

After last week's foray into the world of cooked icing, I was pining for it again. Today, I bring you Chocolate Chai cupcakes with Ginger-Cardamom Icing. Chai with soymilk is one of my favorite beverages of all time, and chocolate chai is even better. Besides, today's Earth Day and chocolate, ginger and other spices could be construed as... earthy. Perhaps.

I used the Chai cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and added two tablespoons of cocoa powder. I probably could have added one more, but I just wanted a nice hint of chocolate- nothing that would overpower the tea and spices. For the icing, I made the same Old-Fashioned Velvet Icing that went on the red velvet cupcakes in my last entry, but made a couple of tweaks. When creaming everything together, I added about a teaspoon of ginger powder and cardamom powder each. (It may have been slightly more, as I was adding it a little at a time.)

The spiciness of the cupcakes was very refreshing in the sunny, 80-degree weather. I elected to decorate the cupcakes with candied ginger pieces, which reinforced the tinge of ginger in the icing quite nicely. They were also a little lower-fat than most cupcakes because they use soy yogurt and less oil, which is always exciting.

Here's how I make chai, if you're in the mood after reading this:

2 cups soymilk

2 cinnamon sticks

1 black tea bag

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

sweetener of your choice, to taste (I use about a teaspoon of sugar.)

1 tablespoon cocoa powder (optional

pinch of black pepper (optional- I prefer not to use it if I'm adding cocoa powder.

In a small pot, add water, cinnamon sticks, and tea bag. Bring to a boil, cover, remove from heat. Let sit for 10 mins. (If you like the chai stronger, feel free to squeeze the tea bag at this point) Return to medium/medium high heat, adding soymilk, vanilla, sugar/other sweetener, and spices. Stir and heat through, add pepper and/or whisk in cocoa powder. Enjoy, and don't burn your tongue... I usually do.

Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes, or, A Day of Cupcake Firsts

2007-04-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I decided to make the Crimson Velveteen cupcakes with Old-Fashioned Velvet Icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It was my first time making or eating red velvet cupcakes; these are completely amazing. I love the slight hint of cocoa powder in the cupcake.

The icing is made by cooking a custard of flour and soymilk, cooling it, and then creaming it with normal frosting ingredients. (Smart Balance shortening, Soy Garden spread, fine sugar) I must confess that in addition to having never made cooked icing previously, I also have never found the occasion to make plain vanilla frosting. It just tends to strike me as boring. Possibly part of the reason I was so impressed with this particular icing recipe was that the vanilla flavour really shone through, and the custardy texture is addictive. (It also helps that I finally got some nice, expensive fair trade vanilla extract instead of McCormick's, which tends to be harsh. Shudder.)

Also, this cooked icing is wonderful because it only has one cup of sugar, as compared to the usual cringe-worthy two and a half to three cups necessary to attain volume in a buttercream. Guess what my new favorite frosting is?

All in all, a very tasty cupcake experience!

Amchur-lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

2007-04-16T16:25:00.000-05:00

What is amchur, you ask? Sometimes spelled amchoor as well, it is dried, powdered green mango. The taste is somewhat reminiscent of lemon, but milder, creamier and not as acidic in taste. I've never seen it used in a dessert before, and I've only used it in Punjabi-style bean stews, but I thought that amchur would be great paired with lemon and vanilla. I made the Basic Vanilla cupcakes from VCTOTW with a tablespoon of amchur powder added. For the frosting, I creamed Tofutti brand non-dairy cream cheese and Soy Garden spread with confectioner's sugar, and grated the zest of one lemon into it. A teaspoon of the amchur powder and vanilla also went into the frosting.

I'm saving these for after supper, so I haven't had one yet. I tested the batter and some frosting and those were both really good, so I'm assuming that the finished product is good as well. However, I promise I will update with conclusive results soon!

EDIT: I served these tonight and they were met with sounds of contentment. I must say that the amchur powder really enhanced the lemon. It gave it such a creamy taste.

Chocolate-Raspberry with Chocolate Mousse

2007-04-14T11:21:00.000-05:00

These little morsels are chocolate with chocolate mousse filling and raspberry buttercream frosting. The hearts are raspberry gummies from Foods For Living- I had to get them because they had no gelatin in them, and that was very exciting for me, heh. I made them yesterday afternoon but didn't have time to post, although I did take a few hurried pictures before running out the door. (In the shoes pictured above, of course, which I knew was foolish because they are very uncomfortable. Aren't all good-looking shoes?)

I know, it really does look like I missed the memo for Valentine's Day. Honestly, though, who needs to wait until February 14th for an excuse to make ridiculously cute cupcakes?

They are the basic chocolate cupcake, raspberry buttercream frosting, and chocolate mousse from VCTOTW. I added a little almond extract to the batter for interest, and increased the raspberry extract in the frosting as I was doubling the recipe and didn't have enough raspberry syrup.

This is my first time making the chocolate mousse, which was delicious. It basically involves whirring a package of aseptic/silken tofu with chocolate, which is first melted, double-boiler style. I used a huge chocolate bar instead of the 15 oz. or so of chocolate chips the recipe called for. I was a bit paranoid over using a new tofu recipe that my omnivore friends would be eating, but there were no exclamations of disgust. I don't think anyone actually noticed, because I couldn't even taste the tofu. After refrigeration, the mousse did stay pretty thick, so it was a little hard to fill the cupcakes with it. I know it sounds a little unsanitary (wash hands first, ha) but it seems like the best way so far to fill cupcakes with mousse or frosting is to poke your finger into the cupcake about halfway. Then you carefully swirl it around in there and attempt to pack down the cake a little to make a cavity for the filling. After that, just pipe it in until the cupcake inflates a little.

These seemed to go over really well; I can't believe I didn't try a chocolate-raspberry combination sooner. I still have 12 unfrosted, unfilled cupcakes for another get-together tonight; I need to put those together. I'm so sneaky... recycled cupcakes! Only kidding...

Ramblings, I'm afraid

2007-04-11T16:20:00.000-05:00

I had to buy this little cupcake coinpurse. The one I had previously was a little drawstring bag that I knit, and was basically useless... my change kept escaping all over the bottom of my purse. I found it on clearance for $1.80 at the goth-lite mall-rat place, i.e Hot Topic. Incidentally, I was in there because I heard tell of a necklace reading 'cupcake;' however, they didn't have it. I can only assume that their new accessories line entitled Cupcake Cult is to enslave helpless cupcake fetishizers like myself. Curse them! *shakes fist*

I realised the other day that it is very probable that I will become one of those mildly unsettling themed collectors. You know the sort: myriads of salt and pepper shakers that threaten to take over the house, or cow figurines, or needlepoint pillows... One day, I will look around the house and notice that it has become cupcake-sabotaged. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet.

More Cupcake Tattoos

2007-04-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

I don't have any new cupcakes yet for you, as we haven't finished off the remainders from Sunday. (Which, by the way, went over quite well. No one even guessed that they were vegan...) On Saturday I'll be making cupcakes for a get-together; I'm thinking chocolate with raspberry would be nice.

In the meantime, here are some lovely cupcake tattoos via Flickr. I can't figure out how to get the pictures bigger, and hopefully no one will be peeved that I linked to their picture, ahem...

pink cupcake from ren119

sacred cupcake from clarebee

balloon cupcake from xflikax

Happy Easter, everyone

2007-04-08T01:51:00.000-05:00

It's Easter, 20 degrees, and snowing at this very moment. Last week, it was 80 degrees one day. Welcome to Michigan.
This is the requisite irony-laden, weather-sabotaged Easter cupcake picture.
Right now I'm basically sleep-typing, so apologies in advance if this is badly phrased, contains tortured syntax, etc.

I definitely baked enough cupcakes for Easter. I made a total of about 170 mini-cupcakes to feed the masses- mint chocolate chip and creamsicle. Since I've made mint chocolate chip cupcakes before, I won't bore you with redundant pictures. Here are the creamsicle cupcakes:

I'm finally getting better at the swirled frosting-piping technique: the secret seems to be laying a swathe of one frosting down the side of the icing bag, and putting the tinted frosting in another flat swathe beside it. The white frosting bit here is straight-up vanilla, and the orange-tinted bit is, of course, orange-flavoured. The cupcake itself is the Golden Vanilla cupcake from VCTOTW with probably 1/4 teaspoon of orange oil added.

Cupcakes en masse- this is about 1/4 of all the cupcakes that were blanketing all spaces in the kitchen and dining room.

James and the Giant Cupcake

2007-04-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

Rhoad Dahl's classic James and the Giant Peach was one of my favorites growing up, but now I think it would have been so much better as James and the Giant Cupcake. Can't you just imagine eating your way out of a massive cupcake, soggily bobbing in the ocean? After a valiant effort, you'd break through the last layer of buttercream frosting and breathe in the bracing sea air through sugar-caked nostrils.

I drew an odd little sketch to accompany...

For Easter, my family is getting together for the big dinner, so I volunteered to bring cupcakes. I'm going to make minis again- creamsicle and then the mint chocolate chip that I made a couple weeks ago. Pictures of the creamsicle ones should be up this weekend.

Chocolate Lavender Cupcakes

2007-04-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

Here are my experimental lavender mini-cupcakes with cream cheese icing. I simmered a two teaspoons of dried lavender flowers in one cup of soy creamer for the batter, and then strained the flowers out. A tablespoon of the lavender-infused creamer was reserved for the icing, in which I used equal parts Tofutti cream cheese and Soy Garden spread. I was worried that the chocolate in the cupcake would overwhelm the lavender, but they were nicely balanced. I found a Dagoba lavender and dark chocolate bar at Foods For Living the other day, so slivers of that went on top of the finished cupcakes. Admittedly, I'm not used to having lavender in my food, but I was quite satisfied with the delicate floral flavour it brought to the chocolate. The cream cheese icing really tied everything together as well.

Cupcake Tattoo Lust

2007-03-31T11:19:00.000-05:00

Firstly, thanks to Rachel Kramer Bussel of Cupcakes Take the Cake for linking me and liking my blog. Hurrah!

I really like tattoos... but I'm too much of a pain-wuss to get one. At some point I may have to just suck it up, but in the meantime, I idly contemplate starting a collection of them. Lately I've been looking for pictures of cupcake tattoos- what else? Last night I found this great tattoo picture from 100 Cigarettes via Google:

Unless I get in an accident before tomorrow, I plan on making more mini-cupcakes. I can't decide whether I want to make chocolate lavender or lemon rosemary cupcakes... so there'll be much waffling and tortured agonizing on my part.

They Aren't Your Little Cupcakes Anymore

2007-03-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

Cupcakes are like children. They both must incubate for a set period of time. In the case of cupcakes, 15 minutes is the crucial period in which one must not open the oven door for any reason. Once cupcakes have been received into the world, they are trundled off to await cooling time. This is often accompanied by worried hands periodically checking their little cupcake foreheads for lingering heat. When those seemingly endless 30 minutes are up (less, if they're precocious and refrigerated) the cupcakes are ready to be frosted, thus revealing their true personalities. Newly bedecked and inexperienced, the cupcakes can now be unleashed upon the world. At this stage, the baker may take copious pictures to remember their little cupcakes' faces before they are gone forever. The concerned baker may lay awake at night after they have left, distressed over the unknown mouths that may be ravaging the cupcakes and callously discarding their wrappers on the floor. Tears may be shed over the indiscreet pictures that will undoubtedly surface; they will display in horrific detail the triumphant cupcake snatchers, holding their frosted prizes aloft. Soon, the baker makes new cupcakes as consolation, and the others are now only a set of pictures and fuzzy memories.

Mocha-ancho chile mini cupcakes

2007-03-29T15:12:00.000-05:00

I was trying to restrain myself from baking cupcakes until this weekend, but I couldn't stand it any longer. This afternoon I made the mocha mini cupcakes with ancho chile powder and a Kahlua mocha ganache. I sprinkled a little of the chile powder on top of the ganache to be fancy and such- it gave the cupcakes a nice deep smokiness. They turned out quite well, but I think the instant coffee powder we have on hand (Folger's, egh) is getting a bit peakish... the cupcakes didn't have as strong a coffee flavour as I would have liked. Still, they are very tasty.

I just inherited my great-grandmother's antique china, glassware, and kitchy 1960s costume jewelry, so I elected to display some of the brooches and a cake platter with the cupcakes for your delectation.

These are shrink-plastic pieces that I coloured and baked last night; I'm planning to make a necklace with them this weekend. There was an article on shrink-film jewelry in the current Adorn magazine, and I saw a similar necklace on Etsy that I can't afford, so needless to say I reappropriated *coughstolecough* the idea.

Next up: I'm longing to make some chocolate-rosemary cupcakes with lemon puddingish frosting, so hopefully that will be my next baking project. I may spring for lemon cake with the rosemary instead of chocolate, though... we'll see. I'd also really like to try making a cupcake with amchoor powder, which is ground, dried green mangoes. The best way I can describe it is as sort of lemony, but with almost a creamy sort of acidity. Maybe that would be good with rosemary...

Low-fat cupcakes? Is this possible?

2007-03-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I won't be making any new cupcakes until the weekend. This is in part due to a large Nutrition exam that I need to study for this week, and also to the fact that both my parents are attempting to lose weight. Hopefully I can make some on Saturday, although I'll probably halve the recipe to make 12 mini-cupcakes, in an attempt to streamline the caloric profile. Ganache instead of buttercream frosting would also knock out at least 250 calories. I'm contemplating a mocha cupcake with ancho chile powder and a chocolate ganache on top instead of frosting. (I plan on stealing some ancho chile powder from my unsuspecting boyfriend to facilitate this.)

Since I don't have any new pictures for you, here's an adorable blown-glass cupcake necklace from iHotto, which they carry in several colours, or at Fred Flare (Fred Flare is sold out of the chocolate one currently. Le sigh.)

More Springish Cupcakes

2007-03-25T16:42:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been in the mood for a pink and white cupcake, so what better cupcake than vanilla with sour-cherry filling and cherry brandy frosting? I used the Sexy Low-Fat Vanilla cupcake recipe from VCTOTW and filled them with some cherry sauce that was left over from making pie yesterday. I forgot that we had cherry brandy, and so was resigned to plain vanilla frosting until I remembered. Two teaspoons of brandy in about three cups of frosting gave it a nice cherry flavour.

The first cupcake of spring!

Cupcakes for Ransom

2007-03-23T22:07:00.000-05:00

I've successfully implemented my terrible plan to bring my "sister" Rhiana over to the vegan side of cupcakes. She is now constantly attempting to run off with VCTOTW and the resulting cupcakes. Tonight, we exchanged her cookies-and-cream cupcake for my mint chocolate chip one. The trade-off was a success and ended amicably, see below.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

2007-03-22T12:31:00.000-05:00

When I was younger, the primary sign of spring was not the first robin sighting of the year, but the first pilgrimage to get mint chocolate chip ice cream on the east side of town. Now that I'm vegan, ice cream no longer sounds appealing, but mint chocolate chip does. A few nights ago, I was attempting to go to sleep, and the idea for these cupcakes came out of nowhere. (I wasn't even thinking about cupcakes; shocking, I know.) Today I finally made them!
The cupcake is the chocolate cupcake from VCTOTW, with 1/8 teaspoon of mint extract added. Fortunately I had a big 14 oz. bar of semisweet chocolate from Trader Joe's, so I thought a ganache on the cupcakes to evoke a ribbon of chocolate through ice cream would be nice. I just heated a little soymilk with about half the bar of chocolate melted into it, and the consistency turned out fine. For the frosting, I creamed equal parts shortening and Earth Balance spread, about 1/4 cup each, with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract. Enjoy Life chocolate chips got sprinkled on top to finish them off after I piped out the icing with a star tip to look reminiscent of ice cream.

I was really pleased with the way these cupcakes turned out; they're definitely going to be a new favorite around here. They are the perfect balance of mint and chocolate, and the ganache adds a little something to the overall taste and texture that just the frosting wouldn't have achieved. I recommend following these with a nice hot cup of mint tea!

Non-digestible cupcake...

2007-03-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

In lieu of a real cupcake, today I present you with a knitted cupcake. The pattern is from Leigh Radford's One Skein Knits. The little pink dots on top of the cupcake are glass beads, although this picture isn't great. I was super-geeked to get the knitting books pictured below from Amazon yesterday, hence their inclusion.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to crank out a batch of mint chocolate chip cupcakes in between studying for my massive, upcoming anatomy test. A thin layer of chocolate ganache on the cupcake under the frosting sounds good; I may do that. I will have pictures up at some point tomorrow afternoon!