Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

[fiamma]

Wildflower when I curdled the soyamilk it went like yogurt. However I made another very similar recipe from the Candle Cafe Cookbook which uses cider vinegar but you didn't have to curdle the soya milk and the vinegar and the result was exactly the same. Maybe you could try a different brand of soya milk?

[xwitchymagicx]

I still haven't got this cookbook...can't afford it either. :(

[twinkle]

You could ask your local library to get it in for you...?

[xwitchymagicx]

Yeah, maybe, I haven't been to the library in ages. lol

[inkedmiss]

I still haven't got this cookbook...can't afford it either. :(


There was a copy on ebay the other day if that helps

[Wildflower]

Wildflower when I curdled the soyamilk it went like yogurt. However I made another very similar recipe from the Candle Cafe Cookbook which uses cider vinegar but you didn't have to curdle the soya milk and the vinegar and the result was exactly the same. Maybe you could try a different brand of soya milk?

I just made these again tonight, and I was using a different brand of soymilk. :confused:

I am not sure. I am one of those people who never has their soymilk curdle in coffee/tea either. I just bought and opened this particular gallon of soymilk a few days ago too...Friday I think.

I bought that Candle Cafe cookbook on an impulse and then read bad reviews of it and was afriad to try anything...did you get anything to come out? I suppose we should switch threads for this! :D

[fiamma]

To be honest I've been put off trying a lot of the recipes (in the Candle Cafe Cookbook) because they're just too finicky. I've made the Black and White Cupcakes (omnis loved them :D ), the Vanilla Scented Pears and the French toast, all which came out OK. Use stale bread for the Frenc toast though, it works better. But I'm going off topic.

I made the chocolate cupcake from VCTOTW and was disappointed - they seemed a bit heavy to me, didn't rise too well. But the fact that your soyamilk doesn't curdle in coffee is irrelevant - here you're putting vinegar into it, so quite different! I can't say I'm wild about the ton of frosting they use - looks pretty but I find myself scraping it all off, too sweet :)
But I'm itching to make more so I'll let you know how it goes :)

[Fyvel]

I've learned to halve the recipe for frosting if I just have one batch of cupcakes. Half the recipe is just enough!

[ViveVegan]

I loved this cookbook.
I loved these cupcakes.
the whole thing was worth the money.
I havent really ventured past the golden vanilla cupcakes yet, but I intend to this week if I get enough money for ingredients.
They taste pretty amazing too :] 'cept Im having frosting issues, so I just managed to find vegan vanilla fosting in a tub. =]

[angelamc]

Do all the recipes for the vegan cupcakes call for egg substitute? This book sounds amazing and I want to get it but I am allergic to egg substitute so it would be pointless for me to buy it if every recipe used egg substitute.

[fiamma]

No, not at all. They either use soy yogurt or apple cider vinegar, and one uses banana, but there's no egg substitute in there.

[angelamc]

Awesome!! Thanks, I am totally going to buy this book on amazon right now!!:)

[eclectic_one]

I have been loving this book (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). So far I've made the Velveteen cupcakes twice (they're my definite favorite vegan dessert now), the Chai cupcakes once, the carrot cake cupcakes, and today I made the Lemon Macadamia nut cupcakes.

I made a few changes though: Velveteen is definitely better with chocolate extract (as mentioned in the book), as I've made them with and without that extract. I also like them and the Chai cupcakes MUCH better with the vegan cream cheese frosting. As far as the cream cheese frosting goes, I think it's actually better with 1/2 tspn vanilla extract and 1/2 tspn lemon juice--tastes more like "real" cream cheese frosting to me!

[eclectic_one]

I made the Crimson Velveteen recipe and thing that the cocoa power should either be reduced by half or entirely left out.
I didn't think anything should be left out...I love the hint of chocolate:D

[Wildflower]

I made the chocolate cupcake from VCTOTW and was disappointed - they seemed a bit heavy to me, didn't rise too well.

Wow, I have made these about 5 times and they come out wonderful. Did you use both the baking powder and soda like it call for? Mine have puffed up quite a lot and they turn very black and chocolately - i didn't use dutch processed cocoa like it called for, I used untreated cocoa.

[fiamma]

Yes, I did :) I followed the recipe to a T, so I don't know what happened. I also had a vanilla cupcake disaster; they tasted great because of all the vanilla (I love vanilla) but they definitely had the consistency of scones! I baked them together with another dish to be economical, and that might have been to blame. Oh well, will keep trying - I want to make the lime and coconut ones next :)

[Fyvel]

A lot of the cupcakes I make fall a bit in the center (it seems to happen randomly, but I am blaming our old stove). We make the best of the situation by seeing it as an opportunity to just fill the holes with extra icing!!

[Jamie]

I wonder if it is the oven affecting some of the problem cakes?? Or can you be overmixing them or something, or perhaps baking powder/soda is past it's best?

We have a fan oven and it seems to cook the cakes but not brown them at all so they look very anaemic - I had been putting the grill on for another five minutes at the end to brown the tops and make them look cooked. But when I tried that on my last batch of apple cinnamon muffins, with a sugar & nut mix on the top - there was a bit of a disaster in that they were blackened and filled the oven with smoke!! :o

[veganwitch]

I've been interested in this cookbook and you are all making it sound wonderful. After all, I've never met a cupcake I didn't like! But the one time I flipped through the book in the store the recipes all seemed so complicated and fancy that I thought it was beyond my basic baking skills. Guess I'll have to look through it again.

[Fyvel]

There is a section in the beginning of the book that has some troubleshooting help for the cupcakes. It lists several things that could make the cupcakes fall (or not rise enough) and having an old oven is one of them... among other things. Remember that once you mix the acid with the base (usually when you mix the liquid with the dry), the leavening action starts. The faster you can get your cupcakes into the oven once you mix the two together, the better they will rise (you lose leavening as the air escapes the batter as it sits - you can see the little bubbles rising out of it).

The recipes aren't really complicated, they just have a lot of ingredients. They can be time consuming to measure out if you're a stickler like me, but they're not difficult.

[veganwitch]

Thanks Fyvel for the help. I might try to get to the bookstore later today.

[Poison Ivy]

I've just made the Peanut Butter Cupcakes topped with the rich Chocolate Ganache...they're not very exciting to look at really but they do taste fantastic:D

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/rubysoho73/Picture016.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/rubysoho73/Picture017.jpg

[Wildflower]

Mmmm...I have just made the Basic Vanilla cupcakes, with the oil version. They taste great but SOME of them rose funny...the middles puffed up a lot, but then there is a ring around the edge that didn't, and stayed crispy.

Ahhhh...my cupcakes have foreskins! :eek:

I am not sure if maybe I added extra batter to some, and not others, and this is why it happened. Like in when I was filling the tins, I may have added more than one scoop into some... :confused:

Also, I am not using the cupcake liners...maybe they stuck to the pan too much? I oiled it.

Anyway, I mashed a few up and ate it with fresh strawberries and Praline Cream from the Professional Vegetarian Cooking cookbook, which I shall go report on in that thread. It would have been perfect with peaches or even blueberries, but I already bought strawberries, so whatcha gonna do...pralines and strawberries was OK by me. :) I may turn it all into a trifle!

How do I post a pic? I took a pic of the foreskin cupcakes....:confused:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/venus_in_faux_furs/photo/294928804250266154/0

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/venus_in_faux_furs/photo/294928804250266154/0

[Smoothie]

about a month ago, i arranged a cupcake café day at my school, where i made the vanilla cupcakes, the chocolate cupcakes, the macadamia/lemon cuppys, the peanut ones, the lemon/coconut ones and the carrot ones. OMG! it was amazing. we had a huuuge table, just with cakes. i hope to get the pictures soon (they're on the school camera..), then i'll post them on my blog! :D

[eclectic_one]

I just made the low-fat sexy vanilla cupcakes and next time I'll definitely spray the liners because 1/4 of the cupcakes probably stuck to them:rolleyes: I also didn't end up making them truly low-fat because I used some of my leftover lemon frosting (from the lemon macadamia cupcakes) for a few cupcakes and chocolate ganache for the others:p