Vegan cupcakes DO rule the world!

[sinkwriter]

My dear friend coffee_imp has been going absolutely mad trying to finish sewing her own wedding dress in time, so a few of us got together for a fun "crafting day" on Sunday. I have no crafting abilities so I was not any help with sewing, but I hope I helped her keep her sanity with some fun conversations and lots of laughing.

And I brought cupcakes. Nothing says "I love you" like baked goods. *GRIN*

Homemade cupcakes.

And in a move that might've done Emily Deschanel proud, they were even vegan cupcakes and icings. From a really cool cookbook hilariously entitled "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World", by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Come on, how awesome is that?

I chose two different recipes, and they were really fun to make:

1) The Basic Chocolate Cupcake, topped with Rich Chocolate Ganache Topping

and

2) The Crimson Velveteen Cupcake, topped with Old-Fashioned Velvet Icing

The red velvet cupcake came out a bit burgundy -- I think the measurement for the red food coloring may have been a bit too much. Next time I may try it with less and see if it comes out more bright red instead of brick red. Still yummy, though.

And that chocolate ganache was fascinatingly vegan, wickedly fun to spread on each cupcake, and totally delicious.

I'm saying, you'd never guess these were vegan cupcakes. I can't wait to try another recipe!

Click the link below for pictures of my process and final product. Hey, I never said I was an excellent decorator. That was the very best I could do. (Heee.)



The 'crimson velveteen' batter:


Both flavors before hitting the oven:



Cooling on one of the racks: (sorry for the picture quality on this one, odd lighting!)


Decorating... how fun is that sparkly icing??



Drum roll, please! The finished products:





Next time I'll remember to cut into one of the cupcakes and show it from another angle, like they would in a food magazine.

Whee! This is fun. *does a wacky baking dance of joy in the kitchen*