Thankfully, I have yummy cupcakes to tide me over.
You really are the best, Christina!!!
Thank you Christina, that cupcake was the best I ever had!
I’m on cupcake number 2. YUMMMY.
Wow, best she ever had AND a yummy with three m’s?
Yup, that’s recipe-posting worthy for sure.
These cupcakes were for a vegan-with-training wheels in the customer service department here at work. Not only did I give her the gift of Flacos for lunch (and the addiction that follows,) her coworkers tipped me off and asked me to make some vegan-friendly cuppies for the whole crew.
I went home, opened my magic supply cabinet o’ inspiration, and there it was.
A can of strawberries. I never knew folks canned them till I stumbled upon these – or maybe the nice handsome manthing brought them home for me? He’s sweet like that. Either way, I knew it wasn’t a chocolate or peanut butter sort of night, oh no no — bring on the berries.
And would you believe it? I took pictures through the entire process to help me remember what went into them! Those who asked, you’ve got your wish — here’s the recipe.
(Yes I know, I know, I’m working on my measurements – I bake a lot by recipe first and feel second, so I add/subtract in process by keeping an eye on the textures and consistencies of batter. One day I will have a truly measured recipe for you.)
Berry Blitz Cupcakes
strawberry cupcakes with raspberry’d buttahcream
makes 2 dozen cupcakes + 3-5 for quality control tasting
Cupcake ingredients (instructions below):
1-15oz can strawberries, berries separated
syrup from the can of strawberries (I had about 3/4c) with 2T set aside for the frosting
enough OJ to bring that syrup to 1c (this eliminates the need for apple cider vinegar via the acidity of the juice)
1c non-dairy milk
1T pure vanilla extract
1 1/4c evaporated cane sugar
2/3c vegetable or canola oil
1/4c + 2T cornstarch
1 1/2t baking soda
1t baking powder
2 1/2c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
optional: pink or red food coloring if your berry cuppies must be pink
Buttahcream ingredients (sorry, no instructions, DIY status):
1/2c vegetable shortening
the 2T of strawberry-sugar-syrup you saved
1T pure vanilla extract
1/2t raspberry extract (or to taste, depending on how strong you want it)
~3-4c powdered sugar
~3T non-dairy milk
Add your OJ till the fluid measures 1 cup total…
then follow up with your non-dairy milk (I stirred mine to for the photo so you wouldn’t see the curdles, but wound up not sharing ’cause it was out of focus - but don’t worry, if yours curdles, that”s a good thing!)
Throw the strawberries in your blender or food processor and give ‘em a whirl. Add some of your liquid blend to help this.
Blend in your cornstarch. I’m not showing you what this looked like ’cause it looked like something not nice. IT TASTES GOOD IN THE END, I promise!
In your main mixing bowl, dump in your sugar. Add the oil to the sugar and mix into a slurry.
Flour next – sift if you need! Add your baking soda and baking powder in this step too – I usually do the dry mix in 2-3 batches to keep things smooth batter-wise.
And don’t forget to add the salt (I almost did) — baking is chemistry, yo.
Scrape the sides! No one likes finding the one floury-soda-y lump in their cuppie.
Dish up your cuppies, filling them about 2/3 full (about 1/2 inch from the top or so. Plaid liners optional, but fun!)
Bake at 350F for 18-25 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean. While you’re waiting, eat too many Potato Flyers.
Let them stand in the pan for at least five minutes before attempting to remove!
Make your buttahcream (I made mine soft because they were served immediately and I didn’t want them to be too sugary.) Frost. Eat. Share if you feel like making friends.
And one last reminder:
there is still time, so don’t forget to tell me what you’d make with some Bob’s Red Mill winnings! The entries for the giveaway end Thursday November 18th at 11:59PST, so have at it and happy MoFoing 
