Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

I've been wanting to try a vegan recipe for a long time. Instead of experimenting, i wanted to try a well known one first. This recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. The cupcake had a nice flavor, but seemed heavier than a regular (egg and butter) cupcake. These recipe would be great if you don't have eggs but need something sweet. I just put a simple Vegan Vanilla Frosting on it.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

• 1 cup soy milk (i used vanilla flavored)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (increase salt to 1/2 tsp. if using oil instead or margarine)
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, room temperature, or 1/3 cup canola oil (I used Earth Balance, I found it at some Walmarts and Trader Joe's.
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract or more vanilla extract

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get curdled. ( mine just looked extra foamy)

If using margarine- Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and mix. In a separate bowl use a mixer to cream margarine and sugar together for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract and other extract, if using, then alternate beating in the soy milk mixture and dry ingredients, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.

If using oil- Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extracts if using, in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large clumps remain.

Fill cupcakes liners 2/3 of the way and bake for 20-22 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack, let cool before frosting. Yields about 12 cupcakes.

Vegan Vanilla Frosting

• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shorting
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup soy milk (I used vanilla flavored again)

 Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and soy milk and beat for another 5-7 minutes or until fluffy.