Pink fluffy goodness makes me smile
Whew! What a week… I was
so excited for my first cupcake adventure, I couldn’t wait until
Thursday! Like 90% of America I am usually counting the minutes until 5
PM on Friday, but this week Thursday night held the coveted spot at the
end of my countdown. I have cupcake fever. After getting home from
work, eating dinner, then running back out because I realized I needed
more powdered sugar (which as it turned out I did not need - of course,
isn’t that always how it goes?), I was ready to bake!
I had a plan: for Neapolitan Cupcakes I wanted a layered cupcake, so it would look just the like the ice cream - a chocolate than vanilla layered cupcake with strawberry “butter”cream frosting.
First, I cut up some strawberries and put them in a saucepan over medium heat with a little water and a good squeeze of agave syrup. I didn’t really measure anything here… I figured on about 1/4 cup strawberry puree for the frosting, so I just eyeballed what looked like enough. I knew I wouldn’t need a lot of agave b/c buttercream has enough sugar already… so i just put in a little to make everything happy.
Next I made 2 batters - one vanilla and one chocolate. In future adventures I am going to attempt all my own recipes, but I figured, its the first one! I need to pace myself, right? No need to start off sprinting… so I used my favorite cupcake recipes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (do you have this book? If not, you need to get it, it is redonculous). Luckily, they both have mostly the same ingredients (except one has cocoa powder and one doesn’t - duh!) so I just made the batters simultaneously side-by-side. I filled the cupcake liners, first with the chocolate batter and then with the vanilla. This was the hard part b/c they all have to be even - but I just eyeballed it and it worked pretty well - it was messy though! I am definitely going to invest in a batter dispenser soon…
And now for my favorite part! Into the oven goes some batter, out comes beautifully formed and perfectly moist cupcake nirvana! Well, hopefully… 350 degrees for 22 minutes - I think I turned on my oven light at least 10 times to see how my creations were doing. And finally they were done!
There was some mixing of the batters which is not what I planned, but they baked up nicely. And, they had a great layered look looking from the side.
While the cupcakes were cooling - onto the frosting! Sometime during my batter mixing the strawberries cooked up and softened, so I turned off the heat and left them there to cool. Once the cupcakes were in the oven, the strawberries were room temperature and easy to work with. I pureed them in my Ninja and then strained out the seeds. It was an awesome red color and tasted fantastic! I used my own recipe for the frosting. The instructions are for a standing mixer, but you could easily use a handheld:
Scrumptious Strawberry Frosting
1 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/3 cup strawberry puree
Put the shortening in the bowl of a standing mixture and mix until smooth. Sift in the sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing until smooth in between. Make sure to scrape the bowl a couple times also, especially the bottom. After the first 2 cups, taste for sweetness and continue to add sugar as needed. Once mixed, add the vanilla and 1/4 cup strawberry puree - mix until fully incorporated. If you think the frosting needs a little more moisture, or a pinker color, or more strawberry flavor, or all three, add the rest of the puree and mix 2 minutes on high until smooth and fluffy.
Of course, when I went to make the frosting, I realized that what I needed was shortening (not powdered sugar like I thought), and I only had about 3/4 cup. I just adjusted down the rest of the ingredients and it tasted delcious. After piping on the frosting I ran out before I finished all the cupcakes, so I just spread it on the last of them - crisis averted!
The inside was not what I expected at all! But that’s cool… and they tasted delicious!! The cake was perfect and fluffy, and I could taste vanilla, chocolate and strawberry in every bite! Some wonderful vegan goodness - it was a tantalizing treat for my tastebuds for sure. 1st cupcake adventure = success!
Yummers! If heaven has a cupcake bakery, these are made there for sure.
(original post at adventuresincupcakery.tumblr.com)
I had a plan: for Neapolitan Cupcakes I wanted a layered cupcake, so it would look just the like the ice cream - a chocolate than vanilla layered cupcake with strawberry “butter”cream frosting.
First, I cut up some strawberries and put them in a saucepan over medium heat with a little water and a good squeeze of agave syrup. I didn’t really measure anything here… I figured on about 1/4 cup strawberry puree for the frosting, so I just eyeballed what looked like enough. I knew I wouldn’t need a lot of agave b/c buttercream has enough sugar already… so i just put in a little to make everything happy.
Next I made 2 batters - one vanilla and one chocolate. In future adventures I am going to attempt all my own recipes, but I figured, its the first one! I need to pace myself, right? No need to start off sprinting… so I used my favorite cupcake recipes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (do you have this book? If not, you need to get it, it is redonculous). Luckily, they both have mostly the same ingredients (except one has cocoa powder and one doesn’t - duh!) so I just made the batters simultaneously side-by-side. I filled the cupcake liners, first with the chocolate batter and then with the vanilla. This was the hard part b/c they all have to be even - but I just eyeballed it and it worked pretty well - it was messy though! I am definitely going to invest in a batter dispenser soon…
And now for my favorite part! Into the oven goes some batter, out comes beautifully formed and perfectly moist cupcake nirvana! Well, hopefully… 350 degrees for 22 minutes - I think I turned on my oven light at least 10 times to see how my creations were doing. And finally they were done!
There was some mixing of the batters which is not what I planned, but they baked up nicely. And, they had a great layered look looking from the side.
While the cupcakes were cooling - onto the frosting! Sometime during my batter mixing the strawberries cooked up and softened, so I turned off the heat and left them there to cool. Once the cupcakes were in the oven, the strawberries were room temperature and easy to work with. I pureed them in my Ninja and then strained out the seeds. It was an awesome red color and tasted fantastic! I used my own recipe for the frosting. The instructions are for a standing mixer, but you could easily use a handheld:
Scrumptious Strawberry Frosting
1 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/3 cup strawberry puree
Put the shortening in the bowl of a standing mixture and mix until smooth. Sift in the sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing until smooth in between. Make sure to scrape the bowl a couple times also, especially the bottom. After the first 2 cups, taste for sweetness and continue to add sugar as needed. Once mixed, add the vanilla and 1/4 cup strawberry puree - mix until fully incorporated. If you think the frosting needs a little more moisture, or a pinker color, or more strawberry flavor, or all three, add the rest of the puree and mix 2 minutes on high until smooth and fluffy.
Of course, when I went to make the frosting, I realized that what I needed was shortening (not powdered sugar like I thought), and I only had about 3/4 cup. I just adjusted down the rest of the ingredients and it tasted delcious. After piping on the frosting I ran out before I finished all the cupcakes, so I just spread it on the last of them - crisis averted!
The inside was not what I expected at all! But that’s cool… and they tasted delicious!! The cake was perfect and fluffy, and I could taste vanilla, chocolate and strawberry in every bite! Some wonderful vegan goodness - it was a tantalizing treat for my tastebuds for sure. 1st cupcake adventure = success!
Yummers! If heaven has a cupcake bakery, these are made there for sure.
(original post at adventuresincupcakery.tumblr.com)
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