Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

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It all started with a sweets swap & a few attendees with a gluten allergy. As vegans, we all know what it's like to be the one left without options, so I decided to try to remedy that for the gluten free folks & try my hand at baking for them. It was my first time baking gluten free & luckily, it turned out! Moist, cakey pumpkin cookies were produced & in the end I decided they were best suited for whoopie pies. There's a lack of assembly photos, but regardless of that I wanted to post these for Kittee because she rules at life! While I used a mix of White Chocolate Chip & Dark Chocolate Chips, you can use whatever you have on hand. These would also be great with some chopped nuts!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Allspice
A pinch of Salt

1/2 cup Earth Balance, melted
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/4 cups Pumpkin Puree, canned or fresh
1 Tbsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 Tbsp Water
1 tsp Vanilla extract

2/3 cup Chocolate Chips (I used 1/3 cup white, 1/3 cup dark)
Optional: 1/4 cup Chopped Nuts of your choice

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees & prepare a sheet pan with a Silpat, parchment, or non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.

Add the dry mixture to the wet, being careful not to overmix.

Fold in the chocolate chips & (optional) nuts.

On your prepared sheet pan make even scoops of your dough, leaving space for spreading. The dough will be soft & slightly tacky, so a small disher / scoop works well for this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned.

Allow to cool completely before assembly.

Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Earth Balance, softened
1/4 cup Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, softened
2 cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted
1 tsp Vanilla extract


Instructions:
Beat together Earth Balance & Tofutti cream cheese until combined.

In small batches, add in the confectioners sugar until everything is smooth.

Beat in vanilla extract.

Assembly:
Take your cooled pumpkin cakes & pipe in or smooth on a large dollop of cream cheese filling, add another cake on top. Voilà, Whoopie Pies!

This recipe yields 12 to 16 whoopie pies, depending on your scoop size.

Farm Sanctuary FOR the Turkeys (with video) & a Sweets Swap!

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Recently, friends & I attend the 9th annual FOR the Turkeys Celebration at Farm Sanctuary in Orland. It's always an amazing time being surrounded by like-minded people, but the best part is always the animals! It was a bright beautiful day, despite previous day being less than stellar. I had been looking forward to feeding turkeys ever since my last visit to the farm for the Hoe Down & I was not disappointed.

In addition to shelter time, we had a Thanksgiving inspired meal with hundreds of other animal lovers in the People Barn. Tofurkey & gravy, cranberry sauce, apple kale salad, & sweet potatoes, were just some of the dishes available, plus a choice of Apple or Pumpkin pie. I chose the apple & was very happy with my sweet selection!

The speakers included Gene Baur of Farm Sanctuary, Emily Deschanel of Bones, & Josh Hooten of Herbivore Clothing Company & Store in Portland, OR. I found myself especially inspired by Josh's talk on activism & it was the push I needed to stop resting on the laurels of Prop 2 passing & get back to action for the animals!


Lately, I've been having fun taking video at events, so I threw together a little segment on the day. This was shot with my little Canon Powershot & edited in Windows Movie Maker, so please bear with my amateur status. Enjoy!


This weekend we had the 2nd annual PPK Cookie Swap, although this time it included a few other sweets. I made a crazy layered dessert that was most recently called a "Peanut Butter Mousse, Custard, Whipped Cream, Chick-O-Stick, Brownie Trifle", so I'll roll with that. Yes, it was as insane & rich as it sounds! I also made an option for our gluten free attendees, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, with both white & dark chips. They were very cakey & fluffy, not something I had expected for my 1st foray in to gluten free baking!

There were lots of treats to choose from like Crunchy Oat Cookies & Snickerdoodles from the Sisters Vegan, Fudge, Peanut Butter Cups, White Chocolate Macadamia cookies, Rum Balls, Caramel Popcorn Balls, Truffles, Butterscotch Oatmeal cookies sandwiched with Rum ice cream, Rice Krispie treats- oof! I have to stop, my tummy hurts all over again thinking about it! Needless to say, I consumed FAR too much & now find myself on a sugar detox. That being said, I'll always look forward to next year!

World Vegetarian Day & VBC Picnic Edition!

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This year was the 9th annual World Vegetarian Day in San Francisco & Sugar Beat Sweets was lucky enough to have a table selling vegan treats to the veg masses! While the focus of my booth was cupcakes (I made over 1,000 in 8 varieties) , I also decided to do some special treats which included cinnamon rolls, brownies in both chocolate & peanut butter swirl, & of course, the infamous candy corn from the recipe I shared last year.

As I'm sure you can guess, making 1,000+ cupcakes takes a bit of time, so I did 2 days of baking for the 2 day festival & also had to fill the orders for my regular customers! It was quite the undertaking, but luckily I had Mel from veglicious helping me on both a day of baking & a day of the festival. She also took the photos you see here, as I was busy slingin' sweets!

VegFest is always a great place to see old friends & make new ones; Amey from Vegan Eats & Treats, Laura & Meave of Vegansaurus, Megan of The Sisters Vegan, & Erin from Vegan Homemade are just some of the bloggers I was able to chat with! Also seen over the weekend, Colleen Patrick Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks, who had a booth next to mine, many of the Farm Sanctuary family who were repeat customers, chef Jesse Miner, who brought us goodies from his heirloom beans demo & of course, the crew at VegNews, who wrote a bit about us on their blog. I talked to so many awesome people, I know I am missing some here! By the way, SFoodie, the blog of the SF Weekly, did a piece on Sugar Beat Sweets, including a video. Check it out!

So, what else was there? Awesome speakers including John Robbins & Howard Lyman, food demos by everyone from Sarah Kramer to Antonio Magana, entertainment from musicians, belly dancers, & a vegan acrobat, plus free food samples! Coconut Bliss, Sheese, & Artisana were some of my favorite treats & I picked up an fabulous sampler with 11 flavors of Premier Organics spreads. Mmm, Goji Bliss!

VegFest was a fun & rewarding experience, I can't wait to do it again next year! Just don't ask me to bake 1,000 cupcakes until then. I'll have a booth at the upcoming Bazaar Bizarre, but the production scale should be much smaller.

On a beautiful sunny September day, the VBC convened for another brunch cartel. This time we opted for Dolores Park & an open invitation for all to join us, which didn't disappoint! Many new faces showed up & the food was outstanding! Best food ever? Maybe. I made a coleslaw & a Southern Style Banana Pudding with Vanilla cookies to stand in for Nilla Wafers; it turned out pretty darned good! Vanilla beans flanked the smooth, yet fluffy pudding mixture, while layers of bananas & cookies added texture.

Some of the other dishes we enjoyed were avocado potato salad, chickpea curry, tempeh sausages with roasted red pepper sauce, brownies, pasta salad, homemade beer brats with sauerkraut, & freshly baked rolls with cinnamon butter! Needless to say, it was quite the feast & I always look forward to future brunches.

Introducing Sugar Beat Sweets!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

There's a reason I've been lagging in the posting department lately & I've been waiting until things were in full swing until I let you all in on my little secret. I own a vegan bakery! Yes, Sugar Beat Sweets is a wholesale & special order bakery in San Francisco specializing in vegan, organic, artisan cupcakes, cakes, & other confections!


I've been baking away in my commercial kitchen for quite some time & things have been great so far. My clients have run the gamut from local vegans with birthdays, to VegNews, PETA, the ACLU & Sephora corporate! I've also been donating cupcakes to local animal rights groups, such as Yes on Prop 2 & Rocket Dog Rescue. I supply cupcakes to grocery stores, co-ops, & cafes around San Francisco, with plans to expand within the city & to local areas!

Sugar Beat Sweets cupcakes are available in the following locations:
Rainbow Grocery
1745 Folsom @ 14th Street

Other Avenues
3930 Judah Street @ 44th Avenue

Real Food Co.
2140 Polk @ Broadway

Ike's Place
3506 16th St @ Sanchez

Mojo Bicycle Cafe
639-A Divisadero Street @ Hayes

Harvest Urban Market
191 8th St @ Howard

Deliveries are Tuesday & Friday afternoons, so get 'em while they're fresh!

Additionally, on October 4th & 5th, I will be selling sweet treats at the 9th Annual World Veg Festival Weekend & on November 30th I will be at Bazaar Bizaare. If you're around, please come say Hello & grab a cupcake!

I truly hope my blossoming business won't keep me away from the blog world. I'll keep posting, of course, but you may see more sweet treats than ever on these pages while my life revolves around baking. Try not to get a toothache, ok?


Find out more information about Sugar Beat Sweets on our webpage & be sure to add SBS on Myspace & Flickr! We're also on Yelp!

By the way, check out the "Batter Chatter" interview I did with the awesome Jessie Oleson at Cakespy.com, it's all about the progress of vegan baking, as well as Sugar Beat Sweets!

British Bulldog's Custard Berry Tart with Biscuit Crust

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

Okay, I'll admit it, in my childhood, I was a fan of WWF wrestling. Saturdays were filled with body slams & beefy men in tights; Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, the Ultimate Warrior, Jake the Snake, Bret "the Hitman" Hart, I watched them all while yelling at the television. Needless to say, my mother was less than thrilled. What does this have to do with vegan food you ask? Well, Natalie from Bake & Destroy is currently holding a "Sugar Slam!" competition of wrestling inspired desserts & I decided to whip up an entry.

When coming up with ideas, many things danced through my head, "cupcakes with snakes popping out!", "something with blood!" & then I decided to go another route. I never make tarts. In fact, this is my first tart with a tart pan that has been sitting here a few months. Enter, the British Bulldog! I think it's safe to say he would like a tart! My trip to London had provided me with some goodies to incorporate in my dessert, namely McVitie's Digestive Biscuits (only the LIGHTS are vegan) & Bird's Custard Powder. With summer's wonderful berries flooding the farmers market & my loot from London, I set out to create a tart fit for a wrestler!

British Bulldog's Custard Berry Tart with Biscuit Crust
Ingredients:
Crust:
2 cups Digestive Biscuits, Rich Tea Biscuits, or Hob Nobs (approximately 14 biscuits), crumbled.
6 Tbsp Earth Balance, melted.
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Custard:
2 cups soy milk
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Custard Powder (try Bird's or Orgran)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split & scraped. (optional)

1 cup strawberries, sliced in to strips.
1 cup blueberries

Instructions:
For the Crust- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees & spray a 9 inch tart pan with non-stick spray.

Over medium heat, melt 6 tbsp of Earth Balance.

Crumble biscuits until you've reached 2 cups & place them in a bowl with the cinnamon.

Add the Earth Balance until a soft crumbly dough forms & then press it in to the bottom & sides of the tart pan.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes & let it cool completely.

For the Custard- Combine 2 tbsp of the soy milk, the sugar & custard powder, whisk to combine, forming a paste & removing all lumps.

In a saucepan, combine the paste & the rest of the soy milk. On medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer & let it thicken, stirring occasionally.

Whisk the lemon juice & arrowroot together, once again making sure there's no lumps. Add the lemon juice to the thickened mixture & bring it back to a simmer, continue to thicken the mixture.

Once thickened, turn off the heat, stir in the extracts & vanilla bean. Place the custard in a bowl with a layer of plastic wrap on the top of the custard, so a skin doesn't form. Place in the refrigerator until it is completely cooled, it will firm up quite a bit once cool.

Assembly- Once everything has cooled, add the custard to the crust, filling all the way to the edges. Make sure you don't leave too much custard in the middle, or your fruit will sink in & disappear.

To make a Union Jack; From top to bottom & across the sides form a cross with your strawberries, then with thinner sliced berries, make an "X" shape.

Use the blueberries to fill in the vacant spaces, leaving visible custard on either side of the strawberries to make the white lines.

Place your finished tart in the refrigerator to bring everything up to the same temperature or be a rebel & dig in! I think the British Bulldog would opt to eat it straightaway!

My Notes: This makes a light, fluffy custard that would be good with any sort of fruit. Many grocery stores carry Bird's Custard Powder, but if you don't want to use it, you can try a flour or cornstarch thickened recipe for custard or pastry cream. Most biscuits or cookies would suitable for the crust, I just love a good digestive & was thrilled to find the McV's Lights to be vegan. Many other brands of digestives are vegan, just read the label!

On another note, I was surprised to find out I am nominated for a 2008 Veggie Award from VegNews Magazine for "Favorite Veg Blog". Make sure you go vote, not only so the veggie voice is heard, but you may win some fabulous prizes! Ooh, prizes! Anyway, I am honored that VegNews thought of my humble little blog & I'm nominated with some truly fabulous bloggers & friends.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler for Everyday Dish TV & a VegBloggy Award!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

It's been ages since I've posted a recipe, but today I have a recipe & a video as well! While In Portland, I was lucky enough to hang out with Julie Hasson & tape a segment for Everyday Dish TV. I've been watching her show & reading her blog for quite some time, so I was thrilled to be invited on. Here I am on set after I taped my segment, of course I'm rocking my Bake & Destroy shirt! I decided to make a dish that's easy to make & perfect for your current Farmers Market bounty, a Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler!


Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Filling:
1 1/2 cups organic granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
5 cups fresh sliced strawberries
3 cups sliced rhubarb
2 tbsp maple syrup
Pinch of salt

Biscuit topping:
2/3 cup cold Earth Balance margarine or vegetable Shortening
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
3 - 4 tbsp ice water
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°F.

For the Filling: In an oven-safe, deep skillet, mix together sugar and cornstarch. Add the rhubarb and strawberries, mixing until coated. Add a pinch of salt, maple syrup & mix well.

Place the skillet on the stove top over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. If necessary, reduce heat slightly to maintain simmer. Let fruit cook until glossy and thickened, stirring as needed, about 10 minutes.

For the Biscuits: In a large mixing bowl, add flour and Earth Balance. Using a pastry blender, cut margarine into the flour in pea-sized pieces.

Gently stir in sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add vanilla. Gradually add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing until dough comes together.

Shape the dough into a log, and break into 8 to 10 pieces.
Form small, flat biscuits and place them evenly over the top of the bubbling fruit.

Transfer skillet to the preheated oven. If you do not have an oven-safe skillet, cast iron pot, or pan, transfer your filling into a 9x13 pan, placing the biscuits on top.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until center is firm and biscuits are golden. Let it cool & thicken before serving, then enjoy!

By the way, I am thrilled (& surprised) to say I was given a VegBloggy Award by VegNews magazine. I'm a fan of their publication, so it was nice to see my name on their pages. I'll be attending the VegNews Music / VegBloggy issue launch party tomorrow night & may even have something to do with the desserts at the festivities. Rumor has it, I'll be seeing some of my friends & fellow award winners at the party, it's sure to be a fun night!

Sugar Shock; a massive baking post!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

I am back from Portland! I had a great time seeing familiar faces, making new friends, & eating A LOT of food. I'll be covering the goods in a future post, but in the mean time, get your sweet tooth ready, as I am about to take you on one appetizing adventure that may put you in to sugar shock!

It's no secret, I love to bake! The level at which sweets are being produced is currently at an all time high around here. It may have something to do with a little endeavor I have in the works, but let's just say, they're not all for the consumption of my household or friends! With that being said, let the tour begin!

My friends Jordan & Mike got married. To celebrate, we ditched the guys & had a Girls Night Out which also celebrated the arrival of a friend's baby! I whipped up two types of cupcakes for the occasion; Vanilla with Pineapple Buttercream & Toasted Coconut & "La La Lemon"- Vanilla filled with Lemon Curd & topped with Lemon Buttercream.

I also sent home a little treat for the newlyweds; a Chocolate cake filled with a fudgy Caramel concoction, topped with Chocolate frosting & drizzled in Caramel. Not wanting to send them over the edge, I baked a 5 inch cake, the perfect amount for two to share!


An future vegan spot in San Francisco called "V Restaurant" contacted me for an event they were holding which included a bus tour & a stop in a community garden for dessert. I created this trio of mini treats for everyone to enjoy; Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies, Orange Dreamsicle cupcakes, & locally grown organic Strawberries in Bittersweet Chocolate! I went along for the tour & saw familiar faces including Aurelia from VegNews who wrote about the event for their Press Pass blog.

One of my favorite people, Laura B. the vegansaurus had a birthday! I insisted on creating a cake for her special event, hosted at San Francisco's newest veg cafe, The Usual Suspects. My first time working with a tiered cake, it leaves a bit to be desired visually, but this cake was quickly demolished! The bottom layer is Chocolate filled with Peanut Butter Caramel & the top is Vanilla with macerated Strawberries. I frosted the outside with a light & fluffy Vanilla mousse.

Mini cupcakes are super fun to make, although some would say they're more fun to eat! These mini Chocolate cupcakes with brightly colored Vanilla Buttercream were for an event at the Sephora corporate offices. While I don't believe there were any vegan in the house, rumor has it people loved them & were shocked to find out their veg status!

Finally, I bring you a fun project, a goth inspired cake! Birthday girl & awesome artist Netsui commissioned me to create her birthday cake & this is what we came up with. Despite the black marzipan skull & iron cross exterior, this cake is filled with sweetness; Vanilla cake coated in violet Strawberry Buttercream & filled with fresh strawberries!


I hope I didn't send you in to complete sugar shock! Surprisingly, this isn't all of the sweet treats I've been making & you can expect to see more posts like this in the future. Let's hope you can process it all without slipping into a sugar induced coma!

Cakes, Cupcakes, Cookies + Ice Cream; recent sweets from my kitchen!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

With all of my travels as of late, one would think there wouldn't be much going on in my kitchen, but that's quite far from the truth! Happy to be in my familiar surroundings again, I've been churning out an assortment of sweets from cakes of all sizes to cookies added to ice cream & thought I'd share some of them with you!

As you may know, I've been working on the campaign for Californians for Humane Farms & I'm proud to say, we gathered enough signatures to make it on to the ballot! If you're in California, PLEASE make sure to vote on this important initiative in November. Due to our success, we had a victory party & I decided to bring over 100 mini cupcakes to share with the celebration. Needless to say, it was a bit of work, but well worth it! I was in a rush, so the photos are lacking, but thankfully, the flavors are not; Lemon cupcakes topped with Strawberry Mousse & Chocolate cupcakes with Cinnamon Spice Buttercream. They went over well & were quickly swiped from the table, I even caught people trying to sneak over for seconds! I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the VegNews crew & they mentioned the shindig on their Press Pass blog.

The very next day was my Dad's birthday. His favorite cake has always been German Chocolate, but the rest of the family are not fans, so I opted for a cute little 5 inch cake, so he could share a slice with Ryan & keep the rest for himself. I would have liked to use multiple types of frosting, the sides always look lovely with fudge, but after the mini cupcake extravaganza & having to work that morning, I was a bit wiped out! I did use large flakes of coconut though, which makes for a bit of a different texture than the standard & Dad thought it was a nice touch!

Another event I attended was a weekly dinner co-sponsored by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society & Wellness Central. While it wasn't a potluck, I talked with the organizers & we agreed a cake would be a nice addition to the meal. With all the lovely organic fruit in season, I opted for a vanilla cake filled with Lemon Curd & topped with Strawberry Mousse. It went so quickly, I hadn't even finished my dinner before I had to run & get a slice for myself; I suppose that means it was well received?!

Ryan has been on the road a few times since we've returned from Europe & he's feeling worse for the wear. To cheer him up after returning from one of his business trips, he came home to "Thin Mint" cookies, Girl Scout stylee, a recipe from Kelly & Garrick's cookie book. Of course, I couldn't just stop there; I also made chocolate mint ice cream in my handy ice cream maker, for Thin Mint Cookie Ice Cream ala (the very un-vegan) Dreyer's. I opted to make the components separately, then combine them & re-freeze everything, which worked out great. You do have to work quickly with the ice cream though, it tends to melt faster than expected! We enjoyed the ice cream & cookies over the weekend, but I also hid some cookies from Ryan, so I could take them to friends.

One of those friends, was the awesome Amey from Vegan Eats & Treats who I met up with while sampling the vegan baked goods available in Santa Cruz with my favorite roller derby gal, Panda (aka Megan). We all had a fun day taste testing way too many cakes, bitching about life & love, & enjoying the sunny day. As for the goods we tried, I'll just say the company was better than the cake.

Well, that's all for now. I assure you there's plenty more to come from reviews to more kitchen concoctions. By the way, check out a little piece I did for Cakespy & their Cakewalk series; the first vegan cakewalk & it takes place in Berlin! Enjoy!

Twisted Valentine's Cake, Sorbet, Vegan Brunch, & a Chocolate Orange Cupcakes recipe!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

I present to you, the most un-vegan vegan ice cream cake ever! As I mentioned in my last post, I spent Valentine's Day with a group of friends. We ordered two ice cream cakes from local shop Maggie Mudd & stuffed our faces until we felt sick! The cake you see on the right was the larger of the cakes, filled with half Peanut Butter & Jelly ice cream & the other half "The Kitchen Sink", which consists of peanut butter, chocolate, & marshmallow swirls in chocolate ice cream, both on a chocolate cookie crust! We couldn't help but add the graphic on top, inspired by a walk to the ice cream shop where we saw the horrible image at a nearby butcher. Of course, we're not completely heartless! We also had a lovely heart shaped cake filled with Apple Pie ice cream on a cinnamon graham cracker crust! We also started the evening with creamy polenta & roasted vegetables, but who cares about that?! Bring on the dessert!

Is sorbet season back?! Despite the mainly cool weather, we've had a few nice days & a plethora of citrus fruit inspired me to make a Tangerine Sorbet! I used my basic sorbet recipe, but added extra Lemon juice, some zest, & the juice of one Tangelo. Very delicious! Ryan & I love this refreshing treat, even on cool nights, you can imagine you're in a tropical climate. I suspect you'll be seeing more sorbet from my kitchen as fruit starts rolling in to the Farmer's Market!

Another successful Vegan Brunch Cartel took place last weekend, with my house being the location. I decided to have a crepes theme & invite everyone to bring a favorite crepe filling for a "Make Your Own Crepe station". It turned out quite well & we were treated to delights like Chik'n & Pesto, Indian Dosa filling, Tofu & Veggie scramble, Almond filling with Coffee sauce, & of course, Banana & Vegan Nutella! We also had sides of Potato Salad, Seitan Sausages ala Julie @ Everyday Dish, & a beautiful "Heart Salad" with adorable heart shaped beets on top! Delicious, Adorable, Fun; I love crepes!

Finally, I leave you with a poocake. That's right, I said poocake! Our good friend Josh was in town to celebrate his birthday & I couldn't help but make cupcakes for him inspired by his favorite subject! At his request, these were chocolate orange cakes with fudgy chocolate-orange frosting! I used Isa's Rich Chocolate Cake recipe, but made a few adjustments to add the subtle orange taste.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon orange zest

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Sift together the flours, baking powder, & baking soda.

In a saucepan, heat the soy milk on low-medium heat. Once lightly bubbling, add the cocoa powder, whisk well until it is dissolved, & remove from the heat.

Combine the maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla & orange extracts, & orange zest in a bowl and whisk well. Add the cocoa mixture to the other wet ingredients & combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients & mix until just combined.

Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes & rotate the pan.
Continue to bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 4 to 6 minutes more, for a total of 14 to 16 minutes.

Let them cool for 5 minutes, remove them to a wire rack to cool completely & frost with your favorite frosting!

This yields 20 to 24 cupcakes.

My Notes:
This was my first time working with this recipe & I thought it produced a nice little cake! With the amount of maple syrup, I think I'll be sticking to my coveted favorite recipe which includes melted chocolate for depth, but this is still a tasty cake worth making & is much better than most recipes out there! The fudgy frosting was a delicious treat & I used fresh orange juice, instead of soy milk for my liquid, a fun & easy way to flavor frostings.

It's been far too long since I've posted a recipe, but I promise you my next entry will be a delicious & exciting item that's had a bit of buzz around the PPK! Can anyone guess what it is?!