Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Easter is right around the corner!...and to me that means trying out new recipes, which most probably will include a lot of chocolate, some cute decorations and a lot of imagination and fun in the kitchen. I think I already made up my mind about what I'm going to bake this year, but it's still a secret. ;-)

In the meantime I bring you a new vegan recipe from the famous book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, basic chocolate cupcakes. 

These are very simple, easy cupcakes to make yet really, really delicious! They greatly surprised me right after the first bite: so tender, fluffy, soft, with the right touch of sweetness and an excellent chocolate flavor. What I love about vegan bakery is that the absence of egg and dairy makes you perceive and taste more flavors, like in this recipe, where the chocolate plays the main role!

I hope you like them!

Happy Easter!

 

Receta en español aquí!

Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

(makes 12)

1 cup soy milk.

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar.

3/4 cup granulated sugar.

1/3 cup sunflower oil.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

1/2 tsp almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract.*

1 cup all-purpose flour.

1/3 cup cocoa powder.

3/4 tsp baking soda.

1/2 tsp baking powder.

1/4 tsp salt.

*I always use more vanilla extract since almond extract and I aren't good friends.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil and vanilla extract to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain.

Using an ice cream scoop, pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Transfer to cooling rack and let sit for a minute or two, then remove them from pan and let cool completely again on the cooling rack.

Tip: when it comes to vegan bakery the choice of the baking dishes are very important. If you use the wrong pan to bake, for example, these cupcakes, it'll most probably ruin the recipe and they will came out not very good, believe me. That's why I highly recommend you to buy an aluminium pan because, like the book authors say "they produce the most consistently perfect results". Your cupcakes will rise beautifully and they will have a nice soft and tender texture.