Skip the talk. Jump straight to the recipe!
I was on a flight once, one where I’d requested a vegan meal (asking for vegetarian is asking for trouble because US airlines especially take no notice of things like rennet and gelatin). They served me my inedible “meal” (which, naturally, consisted of lettuce and rice since that’s all vegans eat), accompanied by a vegan brownie.
“Right, okay, I’ll give this a go,” I thought, and it was good. I’d even go as far as to say it was great. The texture was all smooshy and moist, and I was left wanting more. Please do not get me wrong because I am in no way complimenting airline food. I am merely using this one instance to illustrate what got me interested in the concept of vegan baking.
I tried a few other vegan baked goods after that, from cookies to cupcakes, and I was never dissapointed with any of them (that’s not to say there aren’t some extremely tasteless vegan cakes on the planet, because I’m sure they do exist).
So I was browsing the good old internets the other day because work just wasn’t going to happen, and I suddenly though “hey! why don’t I try baking some vegan cupcakes or muffins or whatever the correct British term is for cakes in little cases!” Plus I was pretty anxious to try out my new silicone muffin mould thingies since they are pretty and stuff.
I found a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for chocolate cupcakes and decided to make a few changes to achieve one of my favourite flavour combination discoveries of last year: chocolate and chili. Please forgive any inconsistencies as this truly is my first attempt at vegan baking, if you don’t count bread.
There was one thing in the original recipe I didn’t quite understand (and would be interested in any opinions on the matter). The original recipe said to mix the soy milk and vinegar together, leaving it for a few minutes to curdle before adding the other stuff. Now I tried this, but it did no such curdling. I tried the soy milk at different temperatures and all, but no curdling ensued. C’est la vie, I guess. It all turned out well in the end.
- Preheat the oven to 175 C or 350 F and prepare your muffin moulds or pan (if using the silicone there’s no need to line them).
- Mix the vinegar and soy milk together and then add the sugar, oil, and vanilla, mixing it all up nice and good.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well, but not too well (a few lumps in muffins aren’t a bad thing).
- Fill the muffin moulds about 3/4 and bake for around 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the centre comes out clean.
- If you are patient, let them cool. If you are me, eat immediately.
P.S. Cat hair bakes well.
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