Whey too many cupcakes

With a fridge full of cupcakes, the idea of ginger cupcakes was floated, and I just had to make more. I didn't feel like doing all the work for some of the more scrumptious ginger cupcake recipes I found, so I figured I'd just adjust the original vegan chocolate cupcake recipe.

Of course, I couldn't deal with just using water, so I whipped up a quick batch of cheese just for the whey. I can always count on a rich base if I replace water with whey...and I wasn't disappointed. I usually use 2 cups milk with 2 TB vinegar for quick fixes like this one.

I also took the opportunity to halve the recipe and test it in my mini-cupcake pans. Perfect! Although I guess it goes without saying that these aren't even vegetarian, what with the whey...

Mini-batch Chocolate/Ginger Cupcakes
Ingredients:
dry: 1/2 cup + 1 TB flour | 1/2 cup sugar | 2 TB unsweetened cocoa powder | 1 tsp ginger | 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice | 1/2 tsp baking soda | 1/4 tsp salt
wet: 1/2 cup warm whey | 1/2 tsp vanilla extract | 2 TB + 2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar
Mix dry ingredients with a fork. Add wet ingredients, except vinegar, and blend completely.
Add vinegar and immediately spoon batter into an ungreased cupcake pan, filling each section about halfway.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool completely, and use a knife to loosen the sides. They should fall right out. Silicon pans make this even easier!

These came out so great that I made another half-batch with chopped mint in place of the spices, and using only rice flour. I have such high hopes for rice flour, but it tends to have only contempt for me. The flour didn't dissolve very well (one problem was that the liquid was room temp, not warm), making the end result a little gritty. Oh, and I forgot I was making a half-batch when I added the coca powder, so I really can't blame the rice flour for the heavy little buggers we ended up with.

The Incredible, Edible, Vegan Cupcake

So the other day, also our first really hot day of the year, I really wanted to make cupcakes, but had no milk or eggs. These are the only days when I want to bake. So I went Googling for vegan recipes, which sounds like much less of a workout than it was. Amazing how many recipes included butter. I had butter in the fridge, but if you're going to do something, you might as well do it with an undeserved sense of self-righteousness.

I finally found a base recipe that could actually be considered vegan, and didn't include any soy-based products or juice, which I didn't have, at Instructables.com, compared it to a similar cupcake recipe, and voile I could make cheap, yummy, fairly-guilt-free treats. Did I mention my husband was busy working 30 hours straight at the time? I was really betting on some awesome cupcakes.

This isn't the end of my tale of cupcakeness, but I'll pause to share the recipe I used for my first batch. Please note that this is just my version of tried-and-true recipes created by very talented chefs whom you should look up and support by buying their cookbooks. Anyhoo:

Chocolate Cupcakes Ingredients:
dry: 1/2 cup + 1 TB white flour | 1/2 cup + 1 TB whole wheat flour | 1 cup sugar | 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder | 1 tsp baking soda | 1/2 tsp salt
wet: 1 cup warm water | 1 tsp vanilla extract | 1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
Mix dry ingredients with a fork. Add wet ingredients, except vinegar, and blend completely.
Add vinegar and immediately spoon batter into an ungreased cupcake pan, filling each section about halfway.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool completely, and use a knife to loosen the sides. They should fall right out. Silicon pans make this even easier!

The first batch of cupcakes was a huge hit. They were incredibly moist, light, and not nearly as oily as my previous egg-free baking attempts. Note that in the recipe above it says not to grease the pan: I found that there's enough oil in the recipe that you don't need any more.

Enjoy your cupcakes and I'll be back soon with more cupcake tales...of...interest...!