chocolate pluot cupcakes

i’ve been baking vegan treats for at least 2 or 3 years now and i can safely say that i’ve got the cookie down.  there are so many cookie recipes already that leave out eggs or substitute oil for butter, that a vegan cookie recipe is easy to come by and hard to screw up.

but for some reason, all this time, the cupcake has successfully eluded me.  i envied so many other bloggers who seemed to flawlessly pull off those soft-looking treats, with piles of sweet frosting and a dash of sprinkles.  every time i followed a seemingly simple recipe it resulted in flat, dense blobs that never attempted to rise and whose taste can’t seem to justify their heavy texture.

finally, i stumbled upon an amazing recipe.  somehow, just a small amount of vinegar gives this cake the soft, moist texture that doesn’t taste vegan.  and the frosting just substitutes vegan margarine for butter.  i’ve just made a few adjustments, i substituted rice vinegar for white since that’s all i had and added pluots, since they are one of my favorite fruits that just came back into season!

chocolate pluot cupcakes
1 1/2 c flour
1 c turbinado sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp rice vinegar
5 tbsp canola oil
1 c cold water
1 c chopped pluot (about 1 and 1/2, save the other half for topping the cupcakes)

chocolate frosting
1/2 c vegan margarine
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soy milk
1/3 c cocoa powder
dash of salt
2-2 1/4 c powdered sugar

prepare the cupcakes first.  sift all of the dry ingredients and then one by one add the vanilla, vinegar, oil, and cold water, mixing completely each time.  once the batter is smooth and even add in the chopped pluots last.  and you can replace the pluots in this recipe with any fruit you think goes well with chocolate.  strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pear or bananas would all work great!

fill cupcake liners almost completely full, leaving about 1 cm at the top. bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until risen and not soft in the middle.

let cool thoroughly while you prepare the frosting.

soften your margarine by letting it sit out at room temperature for about a half an hour, it’s good to start this while baking the cupcakes.  mix in the vanilla, soy milk, cocoa and salt and mix completely until smooth.  then slowly sift in the powdered sugar little by little until the mixture makes a thick, frosting like consistency.

keep in the refrigerator until ready to use, and refrigerated in an air-tight container if you are using it for later.

spoon the frosting into a piping bag and pipe heaps of frosting onto your perfect little cakes.  top with another slice of pluot and maybe a little powdered sugar for show!

yields 12 cupcakes