Cupcakes All Around

I was suddenly in a cupcake mood after seeing Sam's happy, fluffy treats - you have to see her mocha cupcakes, and the cute lemon ones with the raspberries on top. On Sunday we were invited to a vegan dinner and I brought these cupcakes as a treat - and since I was craving for something chocolatey and lemony, I baked a dozen of each kind. Which are all gone - 24 cupcakes in less than 24 hours - not bad. These cupcakes are so good that you'll scarf them down whether you're vegan or not.

I must stress how super easy and quick these are, and full of tasty, tasty, tasty cupcake goodness. Thank you Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for the chocolate recipe - this is the second time I've baked them, and they turned out even better than the first time (they were a little deflated the first time). You don't even need to get your mixer out for these, whisking by hand works just fine. The frosting recipe is the most exciting part - a deliciously creamy, rich and chocolaty frosting that you can eat spoonfuls of from the bowl. Do not be put off by the tofu part (especially when you think about how buttercream frosting is just gobs of fat, icing sugar and colour). All you do is blend together the following ingrediants: 1 box silken tofu (the kind in the tetrapak), 6 oz dark, good quality chocolate (melted) and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Let it firm up a little in the fridge and decorate away. Not only does this frosting taste amazing, it's high in protein, low in fat, it pipes beautifully and you can eat any leftovers like chocolate pudding.

These lemon cupcakes were good and tart with nice crumb, and are based from a recipe from Bake and Destroy, to which I added some thawed raspberries, more lemon juice and more vanilla. The frosting is a lemon buttercream made from Earth Balance, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Being in a festive mood and all, I gave these cupcakes a coconut trim and sprinkles as their partywear. Wouldn't you want to dress up too?

D ate the last lemon cupcake tonight, the punk. He had three today and I only had one. It's unfair, I tell you. I guess the only thing left to do is make more.